Chapter Thirty-four
KARL
Once they were alone, Matt poured two whiskeys and slid one across the desk to Karl.
“I can’t believe they’ve been on our doorstep all this time.” Matt huffed a laugh. “You know, if Jesse had taken a slightly different route when he was running from Cale, he’d have found his pack instead of fetching up here.”
That would have saved Matt’s pack from Cale’s murdering scumbags, Karl thought.
It would also have meant that Matt would still be brooding and drinking too much, and Jason would be lost in quiet loneliness.
Tristan would be okay, for now, but Colby would likely have been dead at Nico’s hands before long, meaning Tristan would go his entire life without meeting his mate.
As for Dave and Christian, perhaps they’d have worked things out without the trip to New Mexico, or perhaps they wouldn’t.
Then there was Bryce. Karl had never thought their beta would commit to any one shifter.
He’d been wrong. The happiness on Bryce’s face every time he looked at Tom was unmistakable.
And there was him. He’d never have met Leon.
He took a sip of whiskey, welcoming the familiar smoky taste and the long, slow burn. Matt kept only the best.
“You don’t seem that surprised about me and Leon.”
“All I knew was that I’d never seen anyone get under your skin the way he did,” Matt said, a flicker of amusement in his eyes. “I figured there had to be a reason. Just hoped you’d avoid killing each other long enough to find it. You’re together, then?”
Karl studied the amber in his own glass a moment longer before looking up. “We’re mates.”
Matt’s reaction was subtle, but Karl knew him well enough to read the shift in his eyes. Shock, slowly replaced by something else. Acceptance, maybe, followed by rueful amusement. He must be wondering why, of all the alphas in the world, he was the one to end up with such an impossible pack.
“Never heard of a cat and a wolf being mates,” he said at last. Karl knew he wasn’t doubting him but saying it because it was true.
“Doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened,” Karl said.
Matt nodded, slowly. “It doesn’t.”
They both sipped their whiskey, listening to the crackling of the fire in the grate.
“I’m glad for you.” Matt leaned forward, and there was slight sadness along with warmth in his steady regard.
“If you want to leave to be with him, we’ll understand, though God knows I don’t want to lose you.
You’re an integral part of this pack, not to mention you’re probably the only real adult I’ve got around here.
But know that we’re safe. Your work with Colby and Tom and the others means they kept us safe when you weren’t here. And you always have a home here.”
Karl’s throat was tight, and he lifted his glass to his lips to try and disguise the emotions tumbling inside him. “Thanks, boss.”
It was Matt’s job to keep them safe. The credit was Matt’s, but Matt was giving this to him.
Karl also realized, with the slow dawning of something that felt like freedom, that he hadn’t thought to ask how everything had gone in his absence.
Maybe he’d needed to trust his fellow pack members more.
Or maybe he’d needed to be out of control for once to stop trying to exert it over everything.
That wasn’t the only gift Matt had offered. Karl didn’t need permission to leave—he gave Matt his loyalty freely, not out of fear—but he had it anyway. Matt had given him something rarer, too. His blessing. And from Matt, that meant more than he could say.
They sat for a moment longer, before Matt added, “Leon has a place here too, if he wants it.”
Karl had never expected that. He searched Matt’s face and found only truth.
“I can’t say I know him,” Matt admitted, “and I know things didn’t exactly start well.
But Luna trusts him, and after everything he did for you…
” He shook his head, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
“He’s welcome here, if he wants. As part of the pack or outside it—whichever he prefers. ”
A sense of wonder and possibility unfurled in Karl at those words. He had no idea yet what Leon would want, but this offer was everything.
The world was opening up again for him, after so many years. For now, he sat back in his chair, took another slow sip of whiskey with his alpha, and let the peace of the moment settle over him.
LEON
They ended up on the bench under the big tree in the yard, a pocket of autumn sunlight filtering through the branches to blunt the chill in the air. Leon cataloged the scene automatically—open sightlines, no shadows deep enough to hide in, Ava and Joaquim keeping a steady perimeter.
Luna scarcely waited for him to sit before asking, “So?”
He took a breath. “I’ve found him, Luna. My mate.”
She stared at him for a heartbeat, searching his face like she was making sure that he hadn’t done something spectacularly impulsive.
Evidently, whatever she saw convinced her because she flung her arms around him, hugging hard enough to make his ribs think about creaking.
When she finally let go, her eyes were damp.
“I’m so glad,” she said, just in case he hadn’t quite gotten the message. “It’s past time something good happened for you.”
His throat ached suddenly, but he tried for lightness. “Even though he’s a wolf?”
“Well, it wouldn’t be you if there wasn’t a wrinkle somewhere, would it?
” she said. “No, I like what I’ve seen, Matt thinks a lot of him, and you obviously do, so I’m willing to overlook my new brother-in-law’s lupine shortcomings.
” Her mouth quirked, but then she was all business again. “What are you going to do now?”
And that was the question.
“I don’t know. I need to talk to him.” His voice came out tighter than he intended.
“It feels impossible we’ve found each other only to be split up by logistics.
” Maybe they could make a long-distance thing work.
Luna traveled so much for her role that he’d have reasons to pass through Colorado fairly frequently.
“You remember that talk we never finished?” She took his hand, turning it palm-up, studying the lines there as if they might tell his future.
“You’ll have to narrow it down,” he said, because there’d been a lot of conversations they’d started and never finished.
“About finding what you want to do with your life.” She still wasn’t looking at him, which was unusual enough to make him wary.
“I think I know why you look after me, and Bastet knows you’re good at it, but you hate the politics and the travel.
Maybe it’s time to find your own way. Find something you love. ”
She looked at him, and her eyes were damp but sure. “It won’t change anything between us. You’ll always be my pain-in-the-ass little brother.”
It hurt, being told she didn’t need him. Hurt so badly, when he’d done everything to be what she needed, to take care of her. He couldn’t look at her, studying the dirt between his feet with eyes that kept blinking because otherwise…
“I love you.” She curved her hand around his and squeezed. “But so does that wolf. And the thing is, I think you’ve spent your whole life putting yourself last.”
He glanced up, frowning, because she was way off base. If he had a fault—which he didn’t—it definitely wasn’t putting others before himself.
“Don’t try to argue with me,” she told him. “I’m not talking about the preening or the clubs. That’s its own thing. I mean the things that matter. You always make yourself the trade-off.”
Leon smirked. “You make me sound so noble.” It was the kind of line that would usually pivot him to safer ground.
Except she didn’t look away, didn’t let him dodge.
And then—God—it hit. A sudden tightness clamped across his chest, each breath a fight.
She wasn’t wrong. He’d built his whole life around her because he thought that was what he needed—to make himself indispensable so he’d never be abandoned again. It had never made him happy.
She wasn’t rejecting him. She was trying to give him something. Freedom, if he’d take it.
“I’ll think about it,” he said, his voice raw. He knew Antoni could step into his shoes almost instantly, without a ripple in Luna’s security. Which meant he’d done his job, and done it well.
And then, suddenly, he felt different. Like he was standing at the edge of something vast and frightening, and knowing he’d be disappointed if he stepped back.
“For the record,” she added, her tone light but her eyes sharp, “I know there’s something you’re not telling me about your time with Michael’s pack. I will find out.”
He gave her a deliberate, feline smile. “You can try.”
Her elbow jabbed into his ribs, his found her side in return, and within seconds they were grappling like they hadn’t since they were children. Across the yard, the cats watched, expressions morphing between scandalized and confused. A wolf was sitting down, blatantly staring at them.
Leon ignored them all, because something unfamiliar was bubbling up inside him. The promise that the future would be different.