“I didn’t know that,” Robbie said quietly. “Not that it went back that far.”
“There has always been him and me,” I said. “And I think there always will be, no matter what we decide to do. Even if we’re just friends. Or allies. Or something more, there will always be him and me, because that’s what we chose.”
“You love him,” Robbie repeated.
I didn’t have it in me to deny it. “For a very long time,” I said, staring out to where Joe had disappeared.
“I’m sorry,” Robbie said, sounding hurt and confused. “I shouldn’t have—”
I held out my arm for him, and he rushed over, curling into my side, his head near my chest as he wrapped his arms around my waist, claws prickling my skin. He trembled as I dropped my arm onto his bare shoulders, running my hand through his hair.
We were quiet for a time.
Eventually, he sniffed. “So,” he said. “Kelly is kind of cute.”
I tilted my head back and laughed.
WE FOUND the packs in the forest late into the night.
I pushed Robbie toward them. He shifted and fell on four legs. He looked back at me once and nodded before turning and trotting toward Rico and Elizabeth.
Carter and Kelly watched him warily but didn’t make any a
ggressive movement toward him. Gordo arched an eyebrow at me. I shook my head. Nothing further needed to be said.
Joe sat along the outside of the group, looking at his mother as she gnawed on what had been a rabbit at one point. His ears twitched as I approached, but that was all the acknowledgment I got. I didn’t think he was upset, but I could have been wrong.
I sat next to him, leaving enough space between us that we didn’t touch.
His throat was still red, but the blood looked tacky. The wound had healed.
I said, “He didn’t mean it.”
Joe huffed.
I said, “You don’t understand how it is for him. You weren’t here.”
Joe growled low in his throat.
I ignored it. “He didn’t mean it. Not like you think.”
Joe didn’t look at me.
“Tomorrow,” I said, and this time, it was a promise.
I didn’t say anything more.
We watched our packs as they ran together. As they lay together. As they bickered and laughed and howled out their songs together.
We sat there for the rest of the night.
And I didn’t say anything as Joe moved closer to me, pressing up against my side as the sky began to lighten in the east.
love
I WENT into the garage later in the day so Tanner and Chris could go home and get some sleep. They blinked at me blearily before yawning and heading out toward the SUV where Elizabeth waited to take them away.
Before I’d gotten out of the car, she’d stopped me with a hand to the arm and said, “Whatever you decide, make sure it’s the right choice for you.”