Page 7

7

LEO

S omething was wrong with Ven.

It had only been a day since our encounter with Alric, and I figured at least half of it had to be stress from the battle, but I sensed it was more than that. She was so jumpy, and despite the fact that the house was full of pretty jubilant celebration, my love seemed withdrawn. She smelled stressed as well, almost like she was grieving.

None of that made any sense. While I was still upset with her for getting so involved in the battle, she hadn’t been hurt. I couldn’t remember chunks of what happened, and a lot of it was blurry and unfocused, but as far as I could recall, she’d been a huge help. Also, she’d had incredible aim with those little smoke bombs. They had been incredibly effective on all the non-shifter enemies apart from the brothers.

“Hey, where should I put this leg of lamb?”

I looked away from the kitchen window to the shifter who had entered. He was a large, strapping fellow, and related to America in some way, but I couldn’t remember his name.

“In the freezer. We’ve got enough fresh food that we won’t be able to get to it for a bit.”

That was certainly a change for us. Although Ven had been a truly incredible host and worked quite hard to make sure we had enough to eat, I knew it had been difficult on her. She didn’t make a lot of money, and the demands of the shifter diet were intense , to say the least. Thankfully, Ricky’s hunting had really supplemented things, taking the expensive protein demand off Ven’s beautiful shoulders, but now… well, we were practically swimming in food.

A lot of shifters and magic folk were grateful we’d returned their kidnapped family members. It hadn’t been easy as some of the enthralled ones had fought us tooth and nail, but those effects wore off as the hours passed after we’d eliminated the two brothers. As for all the shifters stuck in their animal forms, it had taken a simple kiss on the snoot from Ven to break the curse.

I still didn’t understand how that worked, but I knew better than to question it. There had always been something more to Ven that I couldn’t quite explain. She wasn’t a shifter, and I knew for a fact she wasn’t a witch or some kind of mindwalker. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t something. After all, I knew better than most that the world was full of strange and unexplainable things. Why couldn’t the woman I was desperately in love with also be a little strange and mysterious? I owed her everything, and I would quite happily spend the rest of my life making it up to her.

“Sorry, man, your freezer is full.”

“Huh?” Oh, right. The shifter with the leg of lamb. My memories about the prices of things were still pretty hazy, but I was fairly certain that lamb was an expensive treat Ven couldn’t usually afford. Definitely not something I wanted to waste.

“Perfect timing!” America said, popping her head in from the living room. “One of my tías is bringing a big ol’ standalone freezer for you.”

I smiled. That was one problem down. “You really don’t have to.”

“I’m not doing anything. She insisted. Says it’s the least she can do for the pack that brought her niece and nephew back to her. Honestly, you’re gonna have to get used to this stuff. Those warlocks have been wreaking havoc over several states ever since your pack first went ‘poof’. I don’t think you quite understand how many people you’re helping.”

I didn’t really know how to respond to that—words still weren’t exactly my strong suit—but I did feel my face flush.

Although I tried my best, I’d never really felt like I was that great of an alpha. The role had been pushed on me when I was far too young. I’d had to take out the usurper who had killed my father, and I’d made a lot of mistakes that hurt my pack. But now? Now, it felt like I was finally becoming the alpha I was always meant to be. Someone who could be relied on. Someone others looked to when they were in trouble and needed protection.

“Thank you, America.”

It was strange to think how the random coyote shifter Ven had run into at Chadwicke’s estate had helped our cause so much. We never would have been able to stage the attack on Alric’s auction without her. Hell, we wouldn’t have even known about it if it weren’t for Esperanza’s reckless actions. That eagle shifter was just a kid, and yet she was already responsible for saving so many lives.

“Ain’t nothing to thank me for. I’d still be that asshole wannabe drug lord’s property without you and Ven. You got me back to my family and freed all of us from the contracts he had us locked into. The very least I can do is help you free others.”

“Not everyone would be so generous,” I said, wanting to make sure America understood how much I valued her.

Before the curse, I’d never really thought about it, but now I was beginning to think the way different shifter species were so insular and stayed so far apart from each other was more harmful than helpful. Why were we so separated? Why was there so much tension between us? The deep divisions that went so far back made us much more vulnerable to people like the brothers. And the benefits of banding together had already been proven. We’d successfully destroyed the medical facility where I was trapped and killed two more brothers while stopping an auction where many of our magical kind would have been sold off to humans and others with duplicitous ideas. That was a pretty big deal.

Perhaps too big of a deal, and something to tackle at a different time. Right now, I needed to make sure a certain gardener was okay.

“If you’d excuse me, I’d like to check in on Ven. Make sure all that curse-breaking isn’t wearing too heavily on her.”

“Good idea. I did say hi to her a bit ago, and she smells very stressed. I figure she’s not used to having so many of us boisterous types hanging around her quiet place.”

Oh. I hadn’t even thought of that, and I felt stupid for not doing so. Ven’s place had been cramped for a while with me, Ricky, and our two rescues from the medical facility. But now there were close to two dozen people on her property. Not all in her house, of course—there was no way everyone would fit. Some of them were camped out in tents, others had brought campers, and several more were still struggling with adjusting to having their freedom back that they slept under the stars in their animal forms. Not to mention there were still several shifters whose memories were so fuzzy that they couldn’t remember their names or where they’d come from. My heart ached for them, since I knew what a personal hell that was. So, yeah, maybe my worries about something deeper were unfounded and Ven was simply stressed from having so many people in her space and talking to her at random.

Perhaps it shouldn’t be so surprising that she had escaped to her garden. It was her safe space, after all, but I doubted it was quite able to do its job as effectively as usual considering people were walking up to her every ten minutes or so.

Now I was about to join the fray. Oops. Hopefully, my presence would be more of an assurance than a hindrance.

With a nod to America and her cousin, I headed out. Ven was on the far side of her garden, where her newest vegetable bed was. It was the one we’d built together for growing longer-term tubers, garlic, and other things that took more than a season.

It was funny. Before I met Ven, I knew almost nothing about plants or gardening. It simply wasn’t my field of interest. But now? Now I knew so much, and I found it all endlessly fascinating. Granted, all the knowledge I’d gained was only a drop in the bucket compared to Ven’s, but she never made me feel stupid when I asked a question. She never acted impatient or annoyed. In fact, most of the time she seemed pretty excited to share with me. Her joy was infectious, which was why it was so troubling for me to see her clearly perplexed and uncomfortable. If she was burdened, I wanted to share that with her as much as I wanted to share all the lovely garden things.

“Hey there,” I murmured as I approached her, not wanting to startle her if she was deep in thought. With so many shifters around, it was easy to forget that Ven’s senses weren’t quite as enhanced as mine. The last thing I wanted was to make her jump if she was feeling prickly, overstimulated, or vulnerable.

“Oh, uh, hey.”

I didn’t quite understand the trepidation in her tone. She sounded like a teenager who had been caught doing something they weren’t supposed to, which was weird since she was just puttering around in her garden. But it did cement the fact that something was definitely going on with her.

“Are you all right?” I asked as gently as I could. As worrying as her strange behavior was, it also felt kind of edifying that I knew her so well I could tell something was wrong from a few words. It wasn’t all that long ago when I was locked in my animal mind, completely on my own and disconnected from everything. Now? Now, I had so much.

And I would do whatever I had to do to protect it.

To protect her .

“Of course, I’m all right. Why wouldn’t I be?”

Well, that was about as convincing as a scam call from an unknown number.

“Because we all just went through a fairly traumatic battle, and you ended up saving my life, yet again. At this point, we’re gonna need to start keeping a tally.”

She offered a nervous giggle at that, but it wasn’t the laugh I knew and loved. I couldn’t quite figure out what was bothering her. Granted, I had a lot of gaps in my memory of what had happened. I didn’t actually know who had struck the final blow to Alric. Maybe it had been especially violent and Ven was struggling with that. While she did want the brothers dead, she struggled with blood and the grittier side of things.

“Oh, I don’t know about that.”

“I do.”

She sent me a soft look, but I knew her well enough to see the pain behind it. But there was also a wall, and I was barely peeking over it. Something had happened to put the beautiful woman I adored on guard. I knew from experience how isolating that could be, and I desperately wanted to help her.

“Would you like to go on a walk with me?” I questioned, holding out my hand. I tried to say it in a way that put zero pressure on her; if she wasn’t ready, I wasn’t going to insist. “We haven’t been to our cave in a while.”

That was how I thought about the cave now. As ours. And how wonderful the last time had been. Despite everything that had happened, I remembered it as if it had happened a couple of days ago. The two of us laughing as we ran through the rain. Going into the house completely drenched and taking a blessedly hot shower together.

Bliss.

I missed that kind of physical intimacy, craved it even, but we didn’t have the time and certainly not the opportunity. I hoped that would change soon. Maybe when there were a fewer people with exceptional hearing around and less slave auctions we had to bust up.

“A walk?” Ven asked uncertainly, her eyes flitting this way and that.

It didn’t sit right with me to see my confident, normally cheery mate so off-kilter. Even when she’d sat next to me when I was stuck in my wolf form and espoused about things I couldn’t quite grasp, I’d always gotten the sense she was sure of herself at her core. That didn’t seem to be the case now.

I wanted to assure her, to get my Ven back, so I gently cupped her chin and tilted it up.

God, those eyes. They still struck me speechless. Those deep, deep pools of chocolate brown shone amber whenever the light struck them. They contained so many emotions, so many thoughts I wanted to tap into.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, my love, but I thought it might be nice to step away from all the... personalities we have visiting.”

Ven heaved a sigh, and I swore I saw a glimpse of the normal her. “You know what? That’s a great idea.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

I yearned to kiss her, but I could tell it wasn’t the right time. Truthfully, it was hard to think of a time when I didn’t want to kiss Ven. She was everything I could ever want in a match and more. For all the bad luck I’d had in my life, I would always be grateful that the path I’d been on led me to this amazing woman.

I mean, I wouldn’t have minded a little less turmoil and struggle, but I would go through all of it again if it meant it ended with me at Ven’s greenhouse door.

Reluctantly, I let go of her chin, and she took my hand. As we walked off into the trees, I reminded myself to slow my strides. Ven’s legs weren’t nearly as long as mine, and if I didn’t pay attention, I’d drag her along—the exact opposite of a relaxing walk.

We didn’t speak much, but that was okay. We didn’t need to. Ven was definitely processing things as we made our way to our secret cave. It was a bit amusing how a place meant to be an emergency shelter had turned into a secret fort for us. A getaway from the hustle and bustle that had developed in Ven’s cabin. It definitely wasn’t a quiet place any longer. Part of me hoped that, in time, Ven would be more comfortable around large groups of people. After all, packs weren’t small. At least, they weren’t supposed to be. At the moment, mine consisted of four shifters and the beautiful woman I was in love with. Not exactly an impressive force.

And yet, we’d accomplished a hell of a lot.

I kept that thought to myself, however, and waited for Ven to initiate conversation. I had expected her to relax once the sound of rushing water became audible—it was one of her favorite sounds—but even when we were close enough for a human to hear it, she was still agitated. My concern grew with every passing second, and I couldn’t help but wonder if something terrible had happened while she had been on her own in the mansion.

I cursed myself because I had been worried about that possibility. I hated the idea of putting Ven in any danger, but I had to respect that she was one of the few people in our group who could do what she did, and she did have an incredible knack for getting others to safety. She’d definitely proven that time and time again.

“Ven, you don’t have to tell me anything, but I can see something is bothering you. I hope you know you can trust me with whatever it is. I’m here for you.”

Although words were still very much not my thing, they always came easier whenever Ven was involved. Her very presence made me a more insightful person. Or maybe it was just that it was so easy to communicate with her. I didn’t know which it was, but I wanted her to talk to me.

“I…” She swallowed hard. While normally I would watch the column of her throat bob up and down, now was not the time for it. “Do you not remember what happened?”

What happened?

“You’re going to have to be a little more specific than that. It was a long fight, and I was in really rough shape there at the end.”

“Yeah, you were,” Ven agreed, although she didn’t sound happy about it. “He was going to tear you limb from limb.”

Oh, was that what she was so upset about? It probably said quite a bit about me that her concern made my inner wolf preen. I didn’t exactly enjoy being in danger or being hurt, but I was incredibly lucky to have a partner who was so torn up about it. Ven truly did care for me. To her, I wasn’t just an alpha who had to protect the entire pack. To her, I was Leo.

“But I’m here now, and I’m safe. I know I got a little hurt, but not nearly as bad as at the medical facility.” It had taken me more than a week to recover from that. While all my joints were pretty sore, I would be right as rain in maybe another day or two. “And I’ve got you to take care of me.”

“Of course, I’ll take care of you,” Ven said, but she sounded defensive instead of relieved. Or maybe not defensive, but… guilty? It wasn’t a tone I was used to. Maybe I hadn’t hit the nail on the head like I had thought I did.

“Ven, did something happen when I was unconscious?”

“You really don’t remember?”

She sounded so tortured that it was my turn to feel guilty.

“I remember being surprised to see you in the hallway when we took down Nikolas. And then I remember ordering you to go before I had to deal with another wave of Alric’s personal security detail.” I racked my brain, trying to put the foggier pieces together. I used to pride myself on my sharp memory even in stressful situations, but ever since the curse, recall wasn’t nearly as easy as it used to be. It was frustrating, and I hoped I could get it back in time. Whole chunks of that night were gone or obfuscated by an impossible-to-navigate haze.

But I kept trying, because something was clearly bothering Ven, and it seemed like she expected me to know what it was.

“Wait, you came back, didn’t you?” It was barely there, but I felt like there was a mental image of her standing in the middle of what had once been a wall. “I... I think I remember you trying to distract him.”

“I did,” she said, still so softly. “Because he was going to kill you.”

“Clearly it worked. I’m here and all in one piece.”

“No, you don’t understand.” Suddenly Ven whirled to face me, tears shimmering in her eyes. “He was going to kill you right there in front of me, and then kill everyone else he didn’t take as a slave. I had to stop him.”

Had to stop him ? “I… I’m not following. What am I missing, baby?”

“You really don’t remember at all? You don’t remember his pipes wrapping around my ankle and yanking me up into the air? You don’t remember offering to trade yourself if he let the rest of us go?” Her voice grew more high-pitched as she spoke. “You don’t remember that he was literally tearing you limb from limb and making all of us watch?”

Oh.

Now that she mentioned it, I could see how it would be upsetting.

“I’m sorry,” I said, ardently trying to access those memories. They had to be somewhere in my cavernous head. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the picture she was painting, and to my surprise, some blurry moments rose to the forefront.

I had been so shocked when she showed up again that I’d mentally begged her to run. There were flashes of metal chasing me, catching me. Alric’s malevolent sneer, so sure he had all of us dead to rights.

Because he did. Faintly, I recalled saying something when I saw that Ven was strung up like the rest of us, hanging upside down like a fish about to be gutted at the market. Panic had swamped me, and I’d outright begged because nothing mattered as long as Ven was safe.

And then… I remembered waking up.

Clearly, I had missed a lot. Like what had actually happened to Alric? How had we all escaped? How was Alric even dead? Because the last thing I remembered was him not only alive and well, but kicking our asses.

“I had to save you, okay? I need you to understand that. I didn’t do it on purpose. I just wanted him to stop.”

Tears fell freely down her cheeks, and I was well and truly baffled. I thought harder, reaching into the depths of my mind to figure out what had upset her so much. I had been so elated when I woke up and heard of our victory, I hadn’t even thought about the greater details of what had happened.

Then I saw it in my mind’s eye. Flashes of green. Vines moving like snakes. Moving like the metal pipes the warlock manipulated. Wait. That couldn’t be right... Could it?

“You did something.”

“I didn’t just do something, Leo. I killed him. And it wasn’t like I just ended it. I made it painful. I tortured him! I didn’t mean to. I wanted to save us all. And I’m not sad that he’s dead, I just... I can’t help but feel like a monster for how I did it. I don’t even know how I did. None of this makes any sense.”

I put my hand on her shoulder. “Ven, Ven, you’re not a monster. I don’t understand what you could have?—”

“It was the plants! I can’t explain it, but somehow, I… I summoned them. They went wild, and it was like they were listening to me.” She winced. “Well, kind of listening to me. I didn’t want them to do quite what they did, but it was like they developed a mind of their own. And like I said, I’m not sorry that he’s dead. I... Leo, it was so awful .”

She grabbed my wrist and stared deep into my eyes, her voice utterly beseeching. At the contact, a wave of soothing coolness rolled through my body. It was a pretty strange thing to feel when my partner was so distraught.

Even stranger was that the more she spoke, the more I could remember. How the ballroom had practically turned into the set of Jumanji . How vines moved of their own accord, how thorns flew through the air.

Had Ven done all that? Surely that was impossible. And yet what other explanation did I have for what happened to Alric? If someone else had killed him, I was sure they’d be bragging about it. But then again, if Ven had somehow harnessed some insane green witch powers, wouldn’t someone have told me?

Or had everyone assumed I knew and that we’d kept it a secret for her protection?

There were a lot of discussions to be had.

But first, I needed to take care of my love.

“Hey, hey, Ven, you did what you had to do. We’re all alive because of you. That’s something to be proud of. No more of these tears, okay? You’re not a monster, baby. You’re a hero.”

“But how did I do it, Leo? I’m human. I’ve always been a human! And as far as I know, humans don’t have the ability to spontaneously control plants.”

“Honestly, I don’t know. The only beings I’m aware of who could have anything like that ability are green witches and nymphs.”

“Could I possibly have gotten through this much of my life without knowing I’m a witch?”

“No, I don’t think so. From what I’ve heard it becomes very obvious during puberty. Spells accidentally going off during sleep, prophetic dreams, magic leaking out if they get too angry. Besides, I’d be able to smell if you were a witch, and I can tell you most decidedly that you are not.”

Although I made sure to exude only calming pheromones and keep my tone level, I was incredibly puzzled. That night had been awash with blood and violence, but I had tried my best not to lose control like I had at Chadwicke’s. I’d killed those who needed to be killed and spared those I could, and the only reason I had done that was because of Ven. She had shown me so much generosity and kindness since the day she’d found me in the woods. I knew down to the very marrow of my bones that she made me a better person, and in turn, a better fighter, so it tore me up inside that she thought she was some sort of monster for doing what she had to do with a strange power that came out of nowhere.

“A nymph, then?”

“Well, I’m pretty sure you’re not that, either.”

“How do you know?”

“For starters, they’re green, and they don’t really have feet or a corporeal form. Humans sometimes mistake them for ghosts, but really nymphs are elemental entities that live within a lot of natural structures—large trees, lakes, sacred rocks.”

Ven’s eyes widened, and I realized there was still a lot about my world she didn’t know. Maybe once things calmed down, I’d give her a proper run down, but that seemed impossibly far off in the future.

“I suppose it may be possible that you have nymph blood somewhere in your ancestry, but that would possibly be the rarest thing to happen on this continent. I don’t think they’re able to crossbreed, considering their rather intangible nature.”

“So, you have no idea what I could be or how I did what I did?”

Hating the fear in her voice, I pulled her into my arms and hugged her tightly.

“No, I don’t, but I’m not exactly a scholar. I’m sure we can find someone who knows what you could be, but for the moment, I’m not worried about it. I’m proud of you.”

“You wouldn’t say that if you saw what I did. I eviscerated that man. Shredded his skin up like he was confetti.”

It was hard to imagine my sweet, thoughtful Ven doing something like that, but at the same time, I didn’t doubt it. My love had a fierceness to her, a never-ending determination to take care of those around her. If some ancient power had randomly manifested in her, it made complete sense that it would be unstoppable against an enemy.

Although I was insanely curious about what could possibly be going on, that took a back seat to making sure Ven was okay—as okay as she could be considering the situation.

“I would say it even if I saw all that, Ven. You shine a light on everyone around you. You’re a true gift to me and pretty much everyone else you touch in your life. I know you can’t see it right now, and I won’t tell you how to feel, but I will be here every step of the way to remind you that you are not the monster that mean voice in your head says you are. You were a desperate person in an impossible situation, and you saved our lives.”

“Thank you,” Ven murmured before squeezing me back even harder. It was the longest we’d had physical contact in ages, and I cherished it. Our situation wasn’t exactly ideal, but I was determined to be the best partner I could be anyway.

“Anytime. And I mean it. Why don’t we go back to the house and get you something to eat? I think you’ll be amazed at how stocked the fridge is.”

Ven let out a shaky laugh. “Jeez, it was already chock-full before I went out to the garden. Is there even more now?”

“There’s enough now that one of America’s tias is bringing us a spare freezer.”

“Holy shit!”

Holy shit, indeed.

The two of us held each other for a bit longer before returning back to the house, still hand in hand, and although she was still quite stressed, I could feel that some of Ven’s internal struggle had eased. I knew there would be flare-ups and other pitfalls on our journey, but I was determined to be there.

Fate had already separated us once. I wouldn’t allow it to happen again.

There were only two warlock brothers left.

I couldn’t believe it. After all the harm their family had caused, and with how impossibly powerful they seemed, only two of the original seven remained. That never would have happened without Ven, and I made sure she knew it. Sometimes my praise embarrassed her a little, but I figured I was making up for lost time. Far too many people in her life had taken her for granted, and I wasn’t about to continue that pattern.

So far, no random plants had burst into life in the house, and no vines had tried to strangle us. After our little talk, I asked around, and it turned out three or four of my battle companions had seen her use the ability and assumed we’d been keeping it secret. I played it off like we had, but on the inside I was as puzzled as ever. Not for the first time, I wished I was a bit more educated on magical beings. I knew wolf shifters inside and out because I was one, but as for every other magical type? I only really knew their weaknesses and how to kill them. Not exactly a great way to exchange culture.

With our expanded numbers, we were able to cast out a lot more tendrils to look for leads on the remaining two brothers. They now definitely knew someone was hunting them down, because the last two had disappeared, and no one had a clue where they might have gone. It was frustrating, but not entirely unexpected. Their own hubris had allowed us to take down three of them in such a short time. If they had done their due diligence, they’d have stopped us after we took out Chadwicke.

“Any report from the eagle shifters?” I asked Ricky as I pored over a couple of the reports from our scouts. The reports were detailed, but it had some southern and Latin slang I wasn’t familiar with. I could usually puzzle it out with context clues, but it took me a little longer and demanded more concentration.

“Esperanza is banned from doing anything until she finishes her college admissions essay, but the new one, Alicia, is following up a lead in Wisconsin.”

I glanced up at him. “Wisconsin? You really think they’ve gone that far?”

“She seems to, and considering her background as a mercenary, I figured it’s best not to question her instincts.”

Right. It was getting harder for me to keep an active roster of everyone helping us, but Alicia was one of the shifters who had come to us after we’d started returning the formerly enthralled shifters to their families. One of the victims who’d had memory problems was Alicia’s sister. As soon as the woman’s memories had returned about three-and-a-half days after the gala, we’d gotten her back to her family. A couple of days after that, Alicia showed up, swearing fealty until we took out the last remaining warlocks that had plagued our kind for so long.

She wasn’t the most talkative, but she didn’t have to be. She knew what to do and how to get things done. I was honestly surprised she’d never tried to go after the brothers on her own, but apparently she had been overseas when her sister was taken and had no idea who was behind it until we’d reunited them. Again, another way that evil family profited off the separation between the different species of shifters and other magical beings. When everything was said and done, if we survived, I would make sure things changed. I would make sure we were united as magical entities.

“Let’s hope they’re not. It’ll be difficult to get a sizeable force out there without being noticed.” I paused, then stood up to study the map America had hung on the wall of the living room. It was littered with sticky notes where important events had happened and at areas that had special significance to our search.

“Hey, Ricky?”

“What’s up boss?”

“Do you ever wonder why the brothers have always seemed so determined to stay in this tri-state area? Chadwicke was the only one who traveled, and he was still always within four hours. Is there something significant here we don’t know about?”

“It’s hard to say. We don’t know a lot about these guys beyond the fact that they get a real kick out of subjugating every other type of magical person they come across. Mindwalkers, shifters, even other witches. We found pretty much all of them amongst their victims.”

“Huh. Something to keep in mind. Maybe there’s an angle here we’re not seeing.”

“I’ll look into it and see if anyone else has any ideas. No stone left unturned, right?”

“Right,” I agreed before my gaze went to the entryway of the living room. I smelled Ven before she entered the kitchen. “I’ll be right back.”

“Yeah, yeah, take your time, you lovesick puppy. I’ve got to sort through these reports anyways.”

“I am your alpha, you know,” I said, even though I took absolutely zero offense at what Ricky was saying.

“Yeah, my lovesick alpha. Now, get to your lady.”

I huffed a laugh, then did exactly that.

“Hey there,” I said, ducking into the kitchen. Ven wasn’t alone—I was pretty sure the only place any of us got any privacy was the bathroom, or the two of us in her bedroom—but the two shifters sitting at the table were both reading books and idly munching on trail mix.

“Hey!” she said, putting a bundle of greens in the sink and turning the water on. “How’s planning going?”

Ever since the gala, Ven had taken a step back from being involved in our rather ramshackle process of finding the last two brothers, but I knew better than to comment on it. She had a lot on her mind, and I knew she was still grappling with the strange plant powers that had come and gone out of nowhere.

“It’s going. No significant updates. What’s all this you’re washing here?”

Although I was glad we were one step closer to ridding the world of the awful band of brothers who had destroyed so many lives, I missed the simpler times of hanging in Ven’s garden and learning everything I could from her. I missed the days when it had been just her and me, slowly reconnecting to who I was and how we could be together.

“Some fresh herbs I wanna use for a roast tonight. I’m about to put it in so it can cook all day.”

“Wow, that’s quite a lot of them. I’m sure it’s gonna be delicious.”

“It’s not just for dinner. There’s a lot of the stuff I use for healing balms and teas in here. I’m going to hang some up to dry in the greenhouse. I swear, my herbs are growing faster than ever.”

I didn’t say anything, but Ven still stiffened. We hadn’t really talked about her spontaneous plant abilities, but I got the distinct feeling she was hoping it was a one-and-done thing. As much as I would love that for her, I didn’t think it was all that realistic. Although I’d heard of a few cases of people randomly finding out they had magical heritage, I’d never heard of anyone developing abilities for one night. No one-night stands with magic if you were a magical being.

“It’s gonna be okay,” I murmured, coming up along beside her and wrapping my arm around that lovely plush waist of hers.

“I hope so.” She let out a heavy sigh before resting her head on my shoulder. I appreciated that neither of the shifters in the room chimed in, as I knew they could hear us no matter how softly we talked. Shifter etiquette could be tricky in that way.

We were quiet for a while as Ven washed her herbs and I set them in a colander to dry. Was my help all that productive? Not really. But it was nice to spend time together. After everything that had happened, I cherished our limited peaceful time more than ever. Although I was hopeful about us going after the last two brothers, nothing was ever guaranteed.

Ven moved on to starting to prep the roast, and I was even less useful to the point of being in the way, so I sat down and kept her company while she did her thing.

Like usual, time passed incredibly quickly, and the next thing I knew, she was sliding the prepared roast into the oven to cook for several hours. I knew from experience that the whole house would smell absolutely incredible by the time it was done, and I couldn’t wait.

At the same time, though, I could wait, because I didn’t want to waste a single second with her. And since she was free for the moment, I didn’t feel bad asking to monopolize her time.

“Hey, do you wanna go on another walk? See if we can find any mushrooms in the woods?”

She smiled softly at that, which was exactly my intention. Mushrooms tied all the way back to that very first time we’d met, when she’d found me barely clinging to life after I’d managed to escape from the pair of enthralled bear shifters hunting me down.

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

“Fantastic. Then, let’s go.”

For the second time in a few short days, we held hands as we strolled off into the woods. I might have been wrong, but it looked like there were even more tents than before, which didn’t make sense considering how many people we’d sent home. Had more supporters shown up? Or were our more long-term guests expanding their lodgings? I should probably ask Ricky so I could stay on top of things.

“There sure are a lot of people here,” Ven commented as we made our way to the tree line. Her tone was ambiguous enough that I couldn’t quite tell how she felt about it.

“Does it bother you?”

“Sometimes it’s a little loud, and it is definitely much more crowded than I’d like. But... it’s kind of what I imagine having an actual family is like. It’s nice, all of us being together, on the same side, working toward something important, knowing we have each other’s back. It makes the world a lot less lonely.”

I couldn’t agree more, and for a moment, I was struck by the realization that Ven had never truly experienced pack. Because pack was more than a group of people hanging out together. It was even more than family. It was a spiritual connection that went right down to our deepest instincts, binding us all with a camaraderie that could rarely ever be broken. The closest thing humans had were their direct family, but from what I understood, Ven had never had that either. No wonder she’d been so lonely. I didn’t understand how someone so kind and so incredibly wonderful had spent so much time rejected by those meant to cherish her.

“It is nice,” I agreed, letting the conversation fade.

I resolved that as long as it was in my power, I would never, ever, let Ven be alone like that again.