“Hey Troy, smells good. What are you cooking?”
“Pad thai, it’s gonna be mega.”
“Have a seat.” Aisha gestures to the sofa. “You want a seltzer?” Without waiting for a response, she moves to the fridge and pulls out two cans of La Croix, tossing one in my direction. “So,” she continues, flopping next to me, “Jasper’s obviously in crisis. How is he holding up, really?”
I shrug. “You saw for yourself. He’s—I’m worried.”
Aisha has one foot curled under herself and one knee pulled up to her chest, she nudges me with her socked foot.
“He’ll be okay. He’s surrounded by very smart, very tough wolves. And he has you.”
“I hope so.” Without opening it, I run my finger around the rim of my can. “He shouldn’t have spoken to you like that.”
Aisha opens her can and sips. “Don’t sweat it, dude. I know he didn’t mean to kick off, and I shouldn’t have let myself get all hot and bothered either. Jasper and me, we’ll be fine.”
I nod, pleased. “Good, I’m glad.” With aclickand ahiss, I open my can and drink. “I feel sort of bad too, I haven’t been around much lately.”
“It’s cool. You’re about to graduate high school, you’re getting ready for college, you’re in love. You’re a busy man.”
“Yeah, but I don’t want that to stop us from hanging out.”
Aisha looks sideways, sort of sheepishly, toying with the tab on her can.
“What?”
“Hey, look, I made a choice when I stopped attending pack events. I knew what I was doing. And you can’t help that you’re the luna in training. You have responsibilities to the pack now. Those two things don’t really mesh.”
“But still—”
“And,” she continues, cutting me off, “I’ve sort of been nervous about seeing you.”
I pull my head back, shocked. “Me? Why?”
She glances back at Troy, who gives her a reassuring nod.
“We have news.” My heart accelerates tenfold. “Troy and I are thinking of—no, not thinking—we’re planning to move. Out of the city.”
I’m pretty sure my speeding heart stops beating, and my stomach falls out of my ass.
“You’re moving? Likeawayaway?”
“Rent is insane, and my dance company has a touring branch and we just thought, now that I’m not tied to the pack, why not? Change is as good as a holiday or whatever they say.”
She sounds like she’s not wholly convinced, but sort of determined, like even though leaving is bitter, it’s also sweet.
“Would that mean you—you’d leave the pack for real?”
“It would.” She speaks slowly, considering each syllable.
“And you’d be happy being”—I gulp down a glob of saliva, not believing what I’m about to say—“a rogue?”
Aisha shuffles in her seat, readjusting her legs under her, trying to get comfortable.
“You of all people should know being rogue doesn’t mean anything. At least, it doesn’t mean you’re not still a cool, complete person. It just means ...” Again, she shrugs, like she’s trying to come to terms with everything she’s saying just like I am. “It just means you’re on your own. That’s not such a bad thing.”
For a moment I stare at her not knowing what to say. Part of me wants to respect her choices and part of me wants to scream at her:Are you freaking crazy? Why would you want to leave when I’m here? Don’t go!But I don’t speak any of that into existence.
Shyly, she looks up, like she’s scared to see whatever expression is on my face, so I do my best to look happy for her.
