Page 28 of The Pack

Zara

The warmth of the morning light brushed against my face, gently pulling me from sleep. For a moment, I stayed still, not wanting to disturb the peaceful quiet.

I shifted slightly, and the heat of a body pressed against mine made me pause. My lips curled into a smile as I realized I wasn’t alone. The rise and fall of Magnus’s chest beneath my cheek was steady, his arm draped possessively around my waist.

On my other side, Callum’s hand rested on my thigh. Killian was sprawled at my feet, his face buried in the crook of his arm. Thorne leaned against the wall, his eyes closed, but his presence calming to me, even in sleep. Tobias sat nearby, his dark eyes open and thoughtful as he looked out the window, the faintest hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

I thought about my brother, Logan, and the way he’d appeared in the middle of the chaos and life-threatening danger, bringing with him a pack of his own. He was alive. He’d survived. And while we didn’t have answers yet, there was hope—hope that we’d find a way to make this new, fractured world a little less perilous.

Magnus stirred beside me, his eyes blinking open, soft and unguarded in the morning light.

“Morning, my lass,” he murmured, his voice rough from sleep.

“Morning,” I whispered.

Callum shifted on my other side, stretching lazily. “She’s awake,” he said with a smile, the ever-present warmth shining in his eyes as they met mine. “You slept longer than we expected.”

“Must’ve needed it,” I said softly, though the memory of the night before brought a faint blush to my cheeks.

Killian let out a groggy chuckle, his voice muffled by the blanket. “If you keep sleepin’ this well, lass, we might start thinkin’ you belong right here in our bed every night.”

“Quiet,” Tobias muttered, though there was no real bite in his tone. He turned from the window, his dark gaze locking onto mine. “How do you feel?”

“Better,” I admitted, my voice calmer now.

Magnus sat up slightly, his hand brushing over my hair. “Good,” he said simply. “Because we’ve got work to do.”

I frowned, glancing between them. “What happens next?”

Thorne opened his pale blue eyes, his expression as calm and calculating as ever. “We leave,” he said, his voice clipped. “Dublin’s too dangerous for us to stay here. Logan and his pack might choose to stay here, but it’s not the place for us.”

The mention of my brother sent a pang through my chest, and I stiffened. Leave? After everything I’d gone through to find him? I had been clinging to the hope that Logan was alive, pushing forward when everything felt hopeless, and now, after only one night, they expected me to just walk away ?

I swallowed hard, looking to the stairs, knowing Logan was probably still down there.

My throat tightened at the thought of leaving. “I just found him,” I whispered. “I can’t leave him already.”

Magnus exhaled slowly, shifting to his side and turning my chin up to face him, his silver eyes locking onto mine with quiet intensity. “Zara, I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but this city isn’t safe. You know that.”

I bit my lip. “I know,” I admitted, my voice shaking. “But?—”

“No buts,” Tobias cut in. “You saw what we fought yesterday. Those things aren’t stopping. If we stay, it’s only a matter of time before we run into more.”

“We barely made it out alive,” Callum added, his voice gentler, but no less firm. “We won’t be that lucky twice.”

“And Logan?” I asked.

“His pack has their own path,” Magnus said.

For a moment, silence settled over the room.

“And me?” I asked, my voice quiet.

“You’re with us,” Callum said firmly, his hand tightening on my thigh. “Always.”

“You don’t get to shake us off now, lass,” Killian added. There was an uncharacteristic softness under his usual mischief.

I smiled, the warmth of their presence grounding me. “I think I can live with that.”

Magnus took my hand in his. “Whatever comes next, we’ll face it together,” he said softly.

I nodded, his words settling over me like a comforting, warm blanket. Whatever lay ahead—I wasn’t alone anymore.

For now, that was enough.

Yet, as I looked out the window, the ruins of Dublin stretching to the horizon, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was only the beginning.

And that there was so much more to come.