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And he stumbled.

Rory caught him, laughing with him. “Whoops. You okay?”

“Yes. Just adjusting to two legs instead of four.” Fen chuckled. “It’s been a while.”

“Do you want to hold onto me? I can help.” Rory’s face was right there.

“I’ll lean if you don’t mind. So do you have a cabin like this one?”

“It’s nice. Comfortable. I love it.”

“It’s very… I like this village. It seems like a mix of old and new, and everyone has a place.” Fen really appreciated that.

“Yes. It’s a huge family. A great huge family.” Rory smiled at him like he knew a secret. “So I live on the other side of the gardens. I like it there because you get to see the flowers in the springtime, and there’s plenty of places for the kids to play when I’m babysitting.”

“Do you care for the cubs often?” Fen could see that. It made sense. Rory was a nurturer.

“I’ll do whatever the pack needs, really. I think my official job is trading. I take things down to my brother’s house, trade them for other things that the pack needs, get the best deal for them. But I love the kids.” Rory shrugged and shook his head. “I don’t mind cooking. Don’t mind chopping wood. Whatever it takes to make this whole thing work, you know? We’re kind of a family, like I said.”

Fen thought that maybe Rory missed his brothers a little bit. “Do you get to go see your brothers often?”

“About once a month, less in the wintertime than in the summer. Pretty much once a month.” There was a happy warmth in Rory’s face, and it pleased Fen to see.

“Are they far?”

“Forty-five minutes in good weather, a couple hours in bad. These days, I have a setup with the sled where I can go down anytime, no matter what the snow levels are.”

He didn’t like the idea of his mate going somewhere in bad weather alone, brother or not.

“Do your brothers ever come here?”

They finally were at the gardens, and he was grateful when Rory stopped at the bench and let him sit.

He loved that Rory never even asked if he was all right, he just knew Fen needed to sit.

“They don’t come often, but they do come.” Rory sat with him, legs crossed at the ankle. “It’s beautiful out here, isn’t it? You see that cabin over there? The one with the red roof, that’s mine.”

It was a big home. Obviously loved with rose bushes planted all around the outside, obviously trying to catch hold and thrive.

He panted, trying to catch his breath. “It’s very pretty.” More than he’d ever seen, really. He and his family had lived in a one-room cabin. They’d spent a lot of time shifted to wolf form, living largely outside. Just to save space.

“I love it. It’s the first house that I’ve ever had on my own. We built it and it’s perfect. It’s not huge or anything, but it’s got three bedrooms. It’s got a bathroom with a tub. The kitchen is sweet, and it has an amazing stone fireplace.” Rory sounded so proud, as if this was what he’d always craved. “I’m still decorating, so it’s a little bare, but I did get curtains, and the weavers made me the most beautiful rugs—they’re all the colors of the rainbow. My brothers brought me furniture too, so we don’t have to sit on the floor. Come on in.”

The front porch had a painted bench on it with fabric cushions. Next to it sat a little table to put your drink on. It was so domestic and normal and—incredibly unlike anything that Fen had ever really known. For a moment, he didn’t even want to go in. His heart was pounding, and he was more than a little dizzy. It felt as if this was a trap.

“Fen, are you okay?” Rory held the door open, watching him.

“Fine.”

“Do you need some help getting up the last step?” Rory came toward him, and he backed away, almost losing his balance, the blood rushing in his ears.

“No! No, I’m fine!” He didn’t want Rory to touch him.

Rory frowned for a second, then the expression eased. “We could stay out here, if you want. I don’t mind. It’s a beautiful day.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind? I just want to enjoy the sunshine.” And to calm down. He knew it wasn’t reasonable. He knew that, but it didn’t change his body’s reaction.

Rory nodded. “Sure, sure.” He cleared his throat. “Do you want a drink? I have some goat’s milk in the cooler. I have water. I can make you tea or coffee. Either one. I can bring it out, and you can just have a sit.”