Chapter 33 #2
He moves across the room with that easy certainty that still trips my pulse up.
When his eyes lift to mine, my heart does that fluttering thing that almost feels like something has gone wrong with it.
Like it’s forgotten how to function normally.
I know better by now. It’s not malfunctioning. It’s simply responding.
The tension slips out of him as he looks at me, shoulders easing, jaw unclenching. I offer a small smile in return, still a little shy about being openly affectionate with the pack Alpha outside of the safety of the house, even if I know no one here would dare say anything about it.
He doesn’t share this hesitation.
When he reaches our table, he bends and presses a kiss to the top of my head before settling on the bench beside me.
Then, as if he’s decided the distance still between us is unacceptable, he hooks an arm around my waist and drags me closer until I’m pressed into his side as much as physically possible without being in his actual lap.
My body sinks into him. Relief pours through me in a steady wave, quieting the ache that slips through when he gives it the slightest opening.
“Hello, ladies,” he greets Seren and Rhosyn easily, warmth threaded through his voice.
As he does, his hand lifts to the back of my neck, fingers sliding beneath my thick hair.
He cups me there, his thumb brushing slowly over the spot he’s already told me he’d claimed as his.
The place he’s deemed perfect of his mark.
The sensation rolls through me hard enough to nearly make me sway into him.
It feels good. Too good. Possessive and gentle all at once.
I force myself to shake off the haze, grounding myself back in my body before I lose track of where we are. I angle my head toward him, and ask quietly, “Did he tell you anything about that room?””
Rennick looks between my friends and then back to me, his expression narrowing slightly in silent question.
I wave him off. “We promised no more secrets. I told them about the dream and our trip to the airstrip.”
I kept some of the pieces of the dreamlike memory to myself—not ready or willing to give them life by shaping them into words. I’m still too haunted by the way Rennick had sounded as he screamed for me and how he fought against the threads of my mother’s magic to drag it out into the open.
Rennick clears his throat and shakes his head. “He didn’t say anything other than what we’ve already suspected. Said they store magnesium chloride for the ice plus other chemicals they don’t want anyone messing with in there.”
“What about the bleach?”
“Apparently they had a crew out there at the end of last week cleaning the place up and getting it ready so they can get it restocked with everything they’ll need for winter.”
It makes sense, even if cleaning a storage shed with bleach seems like overkill to me.
Snow is already in the forecast for the coming days, and the temperature dropped hard today. The wind outside is brutal, harsh enough to cut through layers of clothes like it’s nothing.
Still, the seed of doubt plants itself deeper into my gut.
Mom wouldn’t have threaded these memories into my subconscious if they weren’t important.
A thought Seren echoes aloud without missing a beat. “Those dreams are a message from Thalassa—she left them for a reason.”
Rennick nods in agreement. “As much as I hated every second of that nightmare,” he starts, rubbing at his face and the exhaustion I see etched there. “I’m hoping another one unlocks soon and we can get more information. I’m so fucking tired of being in the dark.”
He’s just tired in general. Between the stress and mystery of what the memory implies and the weight of worrying about me, I know he isn’t sleeping well.
I feel it when we curl up in his bed or the nest when my omega half refuses to settle.
He drifts in and out, always half awake, half alert.
Meanwhile, I’m sleeping better than I ever have when I’m wrapped up in his warmth and protection.
I take his hand and lace my fingers through his, drawing it down to rest in my lap.
“I’ve had this sinking feeling for days,” I admit to him, but know Seren and Rhosyn can hear too.
“Maybe it’s just the weight of everything piling up at once, or maybe it’s the fact I know that dark coven is still out there—plotting—but I can’t shake this feeling that death is circling us.
” Rennick’s hold on me tightens immediately, his protective instinct flaring so fast it’s almost palpable.
It feels like he’s always balanced on that knife’s edge now, waiting for the moment something tries to pull me out of his arms. I look between all three of them. “I can’t handle losing anyone else.”
“We won’t,” Rennick answers without hesitation, his voice firm with Alpha conviction.
Rhosyn nods across the table, her green eyes holding the same steadfast faith.
“With Lowri’s wolves officially joining Pack Fallamhain,” she begins, and that still shocks me a little, still makes gratitude swell in my chest. They lost their leader.
The safety of their home. Everything they knew.
And now they’re putting down roots here and starting fresh.
“And with Amara and her coven, and now Rook and his men up at the north border, this territory is more protected than it’s ever been.
” She lifts her chin toward Rennick. “We can still put in a call to Alpha Faolan like we planned before everything…you know, fell into chaos and caught on fucking fire.”
Rennick makes a noncommittal sound before his jaw tightens. “At the very least, we should warn him about the coven. Make sure his omegas are being watched and protected.” His voice takes on an edge. “For all we know, his pack has already been targeted too.”
His anger burns hot for the coven, old and freshly stoked all at once, but the wreckage beneath it belongs to the omegas they’ve taken and killed, and it bleeds through each of his words.
“Who’s Alpha Faolan?” I ask.
Before anyone can answer, Seren stands abruptly. Ivey stirs against her chest, the baby’s face scrunching as soft, fussy sounds start to build. Seren rubs her back and bounces gently, eyes apologetic.
“Shit, sorry, guys. I need to get her back,” she tells us, already half turned away from the table.
“Noa, let me know how the rest of Elio’s visit goes.
And if you find out anything else about whatever the hell is happening out at that shed.
” Her eyes hold mine as she reminds me, “Thalassa thought whatever it is was important. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have bothered leaving that memory as one of the first ones for you to remember. ”
“You’re right,” I tell her, brow furrowing a little at the way she’s already moving away from us. “I’ll check in with you later, Ser.”
She leaves, but something feels so off about the abruptness of it. I frown at her back.
Weird. What the hell was that?
Once she’s gone, Rhosyn turns back to me. “Alpha Faolan is based in Montana,” she explains. “From what I’ve heard, he’s a pretty intense dude and his pack is a little more…” Her mouth twists as she searches for the right word. “Beastly?”
Rennick’s broad shoulders lift. “Anything I know about Pack Faolan comes from other people, so take it for what it’s worth.
But from what I’ve heard, they’re strong believers in letting their wolf instincts and natures lead.
They’re not at all interested in fitting into human society and live pretty isolated up in the mountains—even more than we are.
Alpha Faolan is five or so years older than me, and I’ve only crossed paths with him once at a pack summit.
Never spoke to him. But his territory is one of the largest in the region, and we thought he might make a solid ally. ”
I nod slowly, letting the information settle.
I’ve heard a lot of names over the years at the sanctuary. Omegas arrive with their stories, and the names woven into those stories tend to linger. The alphas who hurt them. The packs they came from before everything went wrong. I can list dozens without trying. But Faolan…
“I’ve never heard that pack name before,” I tell them.
“If his omegas are being targeted too, none of them have made it to me.” My chest aches at the thought.
“But giving him a heads-up is the right thing to do. For his omegas’ sake.
The more prepared people are, the fewer will end up carrying the same scars as Siggy, Elio, and Hattie. ”
My work has always begun after the breaking.
After the violence has carved its mark and all that’s left is the choice between enduring or surrendering to the wreckage.
I know how to mend, how to help these souls survive the aftermath.
But if there’s even a narrow window of opportunity where I can stand in front of the harm instead of behind it—where I can try to prevent it before it starts—I won’t turn it down.
“I’m going to head back to my office and go through my contact list,” Rhosyn decides, standing from the bench. “We need to warn as many packs as we can now that we know who’s behind this.”
“Good call,” Rennick tells her.
“I’ll keep you updated,” she says over her shoulder as she heads for the door.
The lodge grows quiet around us. Rennick and I sit together for a few moments, each lost in our own thoughts. Planning. Worrying. Processing.
Then he nudges me gently and tips his chin toward my laptop. “What are you working on?”
I sigh and wake the screen up. “When we left Ashvale, we packed what we could, but some of our supplies are pretty barebones. Hattie and Elio need more nesting materials and clothes.” Especially since it looks like both Nightingales will be flying the coop sooner than later, Elio to Gareth and Corbin, and Hattie to the cabin shared with the Craddock wolves she’s grown close with.
“And the general store here doesn’t carry what they need.
I’m also low on some herbs and ingredients I usually keep on hand.
Zora doesn’t have any, and I’d normally just restock at the apothecary, but that’s not an option right now.
I was checking to see if Silverthorne carried what I’m looking for anywhere. ”
Rennick scrolls through the listings. “You probably won’t find the medicinal stuff you want there, but there’s a big box store about two hours from town.
They’ve got a decent nesting section. Clothes and basics too.
We send people there a couple times a month to load up when we’re between flown-in shipments. ”
That store definitely wasn’t there when I was growing up here. Back then, getting to something remotely like that was a whole-day ordeal, and I dreaded every minute of it.
“Can we go?”
His brows knit. “When?”
“Tomorrow?”
He pauses, clearly balancing his responsibilities against my wants, and guilt flickers through me for stealing so much of his attention.
Then I think about the years that were taken from us, the better part of a decade spent apart while our bond stretched itself thin just to endure the distance and damage.
We’re still piecing ourselves back together from that.
And that’s why I decide hoarding him for myself isn’t indulgent. It’s overdue.
“I think we can make that work,” he says finally.
“Really?” I question, a little surprised by his easy acceptance. “Are you sure? I’d say I could go alone or take Canaan, but we both know that’s not an option.”
I can barely handle when he’s not in the same room as me, so a different zip code is out of the question.
He bends down and nips at my bottom lip, playful and claiming in the same heartbeat “If you think I’m letting you leave this territory without me, you’ve lost your damn mind, baby.
” He kisses the smile he draws from me before adding, “Between Canaan, Amara, Cerys, and now Rook, I’m comfortable leaving for a day.
We’ll head out early and be back before dinner. ”
“You’re sure?” I ask again, searching his face.
“Your Nightingales’ comfort matters to you,” he tells me simply, fingertips skimming along my jaw.
“And you matter to me.” His gaze locks with mine.
“Being in your presence isn’t a burden, sweet one.
It’s what allows me to breathe and endure everything else.
And some time away—alone—will be good for us. ”