Chapter 12
Late July, evening
The garlic butter in the pan was marching toward its destruction.
Zoe knew.
She knew Rex knew; he’d already told her something was starting to smell weird all the way from the bathroom.
But she only needed to check her laptop one more time, to make sure she got no email. Notifications on her phone were notoriously wobbly—okay, they really weren’t, but what if they were today? Checking would just take a moment.
She clicked. Held her breath.
No email.
Alright.
Alright.
She jogged to the pan, took it off the heat, and stirred it. “Saved it,” she sing-songed.
Rex walked into the kitchen and leaned against the counter, arms crossed.
It really didn’t matter that she was pretending not to be freaking out.
There was no situation in which that man, leaning like that, would not qualify as a full-on thirst trap.
He’d just come out of the shower, his hair still wet and unruly, and he would taste—
He raised an eyebrow. “Should I call Owen and tell him to take the long way here? Like, forty-five minutes longer?”
“That would really help the anxiety I clearly don’t have.” She took a long breath in. “But I would feel bad. It’s the first real dinner since you moved in here, and I was looking forward to it. You should keep the idea, though.”
“The idea is always there.”
She pulled his arms open and snuggled into him. “You know how much I love consistency. And you.”
She rose on her tiptoes to kiss him, light on his mouth, then rested her head on his chest. Her system relaxed the second his arms wrapped around her.
Ping.
The sound sliced through the kitchen.
Zoe froze.
Rex kissed her hair.
The phone lit up on the counter.
For one very heavy second, neither of them moved.
Then Zoe lunged. She grabbed the phone, glanced at the screen, and bolted to the computer. It was not graceful or dignified, just a barrage of feet and urgency as she sprinted to the kitchen table. She tapped randomly on the keyboard to wake it up.
Come on, come on, come on.
She opened her email.
Clicked.
Come on, come on, come on.
The screen loaded.
Rex was just behind her, close enough to be there if she needed him, far enough not to crowd.
The report opened.
Lines of data. Charts. Numbers.
Her eyes moved fast. Faster. Scanning, cross-checking, skipping ahead—
Then stopped.
She stilled.
And before the next thought could form, she turned and jumped on him.
He caught her—he always did—hands on her as she wrapped her legs around him and threw her fists in the air, trusting he would still hold her. “It worked!” she screamed. “It freaking worked!”
Then she was kissing him, laughing, the bond flooding with relief and happiness—hers, his, it didn’t matter. It was theirs, and it was glorious.
“I love you so much,” she said between kisses.
“You did it, Moonbeam.”
“We did it. There was no doing this without you, and the pack, and Lachlan... We all did it, Rex! The forest is okay. It’s great, actually.”
He walked them to the kitchen island and sat her there.
His hands cupped her face, his mouth on hers, then her neck, and she was absolutely not stopping what was happening because the forest was healthy and he was right there and what do you know, she was on the table already and happy to be his dinner and—
The door opened.
“Where’s my Alpha and Omega at?” Owen’s voice boomed through the house.
“We can will him away,” Rex growled against her mouth.
“We could.”
“I’m one sniff away from leaving anyway,” Owen said, walking into the kitchen, leading a chuckling Callie by one hand and holding a box in the other. “But I’m also bringing meat, so...”
Zoe looked at Rex. “He brings meat.”
“He does.”
“And we have news.”
“We do.”
Owen dropped the box on the kitchen island. “What news?”
Later, she heard through the bond.
She hopped down from the table and went to hug Callie, then Owen.
“We just got the results back from the latest run the pack did in the forest.” She pulled back and looked at them properly. It was an important moment, and she was going to give it the weight it deserved. “The forest is healthy. It’s back.”
Owen paused, like his brain needed a second to catch up. Then he threw his hands in the air, grabbed Callie, and spun her once, twice, fast. Kissed her loud. Then he turned back to Zoe. “You absolute genius.”
“The team, my friend,” she said, sliding under Rex’s arm. “The team.”
And that was the beginning of a long, happy night. Of a long, happy life.
Rex and Owen argued over grilling the meat.
She and Callie talked about them arguing over the meat, and because the wine Callie had brought was excellent, that topic turned hot real fast. The kitchen filled with sound and smoke and laughter, and Rex’s hand found Zoe every time he passed close to her.
At some point, she looked up and caught him watching her from across the kitchen.
And if she hadn’t known, if the bond wasn’t already overflowing with love, she would have known then, by the way he looked at her.
She thought of June. Of crouching in the underbrush with a notebook, her herbs failing one by one, the forest going quiet in ways she couldn’t understand. Of standing in her shop, thinking she could figure it out alone.
She had been so certain, and so wrong, and she had never been more grateful for it.
She smiled back at him, and something moved through the bond that didn’t need words.
You’re home.
And everything was finally where it belonged.
Forever.
THE END
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LINK TO The Full Moon Fix
SNEAK PEAK INTO JADE and TOM’S STORY
WINGING IT - LOVE EDITION
CHAPTER 1
People of the Alliance (Also referred to as Magiks) Protection Act
Clan Leadership Preservation – Purpose
The purpose of this Act is to recognize and respect the traditional governance structures of clans while ensuring compliance with state and federal laws.
Preservation of Clan Leadership Autonomy
The federal government shall not infringe upon the right of clans to determine their own leadership according to their customs, traditions, and internal rules. Clans retain full autonomy over their leadership selection processes.
Section 1.03: Compliance with State and Federal Law Notwithstanding Section 1.02, all clan leaders and members must comply with applicable state and federal laws. This includes, but is not limited to, laws pertaining to civil rights, public safety, and criminal justice.
Section 1.04: Enforcement and Penalties Failure to comply with state and federal laws may result in legal action, penalties, or sanctions as prescribed by applicable statutes. This Act does not provide immunity or exemption from prosecution under state or federal law.
Article II: Effective Date
...
Article III: Severability
....
Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled.
From the annals of the Oreads of the Easter Cascade clan, written upon the sacred scrolls.
When the last ember of the Chief life’s fire goes out and a hushed reverence sweeps through the valley, the spirit of the Mountain shall awake.
To guide the venerable to rest.
To shepherd the new to their rightful place.
This leader is not to be determined by mortal means, by the strength of arms, or the cunning of mind.
The Mountain shall speak, whispering its will by granting the gift of the wind’s breath to the chosen one. The one carrying the power to sway the hearts of men and the minds of beasts.
And when the new chieftain is revealed, the clan shall gather at the foot of the Great Ascent, where the stones bear the marks of generations past. There, in the shadow of the ever-watchful peaks, the chosen one will bow to the Mountain to swear an oath as old as time.
To listen with the patience of the rocks and the wisdom of the trees.
To guide like the steady river carving its way through the valley, unwavering and true.
To protect like the towering firs, whose roots run deep and branches shelter those in need.
To inspire like the dawn's first light, heralding new beginnings.
To heal like the cool breeze that soothes the weary.
To lead with the strength of the mountain, unyielding and eternal.
So it is written; so it shall be.
NORTH CONWAY, NH, MAY
“Aw, fuck me.” Jade Stoneheart looked at the reflection in her bedroom’s mirror. “You’ve got to be kidding me right now.”
She turned this way, then that.
Yep.
Wings.
Attached to her back.
She got wings.
Fucking legit wings.
Which meant two things, one more horrifying than the other. No. Actually, they were both equally horrifying.
First, her grandmother Lyra, the now Venerable Chief of the Eastern Cascades Oread Clan, was dead.
And second, the Mountain, the freaking Mountain she’d left behind ten years ago, had spoken. Her getting wings meant it picked the next clan leader, the next chief, the only oread with wings.
Her.
Jade would have laughed at the notion. Like, a full belly laugh, with tears in her eyes. It would have been such a hard laugh, she might even have peed herself a little. Because yeah, once an oread, always an oread, and all that was true, but technically, she’d left.
As in, she’d moved to the other freaking coast.
She lived by another mountain now, thank you very much. And okay, the White Mountain Range might not be as dramatic as the Cascades—kind of short. No pure, untouched, primal beauty of glaciers to fill her spirit. The forests weren’t as lush. But she’d left for a reason. And that reason still stood.
Obviously, her Mountain didn’t get the message.
Because, wings. Wings that appeared after a horrible night made of half-nightmares, a lot of sweat, some pain, and the inability to wake up. Oh, and on top of everything else, they broke her favorite PJ t-shirt.
Fucking wings.