Page 59 of Wolf's Endgame

“I’m not a hearts and flowers person.”

“You shock me.”

“Will you be serious?”

His smile faded and he wore the stoic expression I was used to seeing from him. “You regret it already?”

“No!” My quick answer pleased him, and he looked all smug and conquering again. I elbowed him in the ribs. “You don’t need to look so smug.”

“I can’t help it,” Cannon admitted sheepishly. “I just feel good about…everything.” His sudden frown matched my own from a moment ago. “I’m also not a hearts and flowers person. You’re right, this will become annoying.”

“Maybe it fades?”

Cannon shrugged and we walked on in silence together, both pretending that nothing had changed when everything had changed.

“Okay, this is stupid.”

The corner of his mouth tugged upwards. “Agreed.”

“So maybe we just have to accept we may be hearts and flowers people.”

“How about I promise to never give you flowers?”

“Well, I mean, it’s not like I have anything against flowers…”

Cannon was laughing under his breath, which earned him another dig in the ribs. “I suggest we take it each day at a time and see how we go. Thoughts?”

“One day at a time sounds good.” His fingers squeezed mine, and I was glad that neither of us had mentioned the whole hand-holding thing. Which felt completely natural, and I wasn’t a hypocrite at all.

“I need you to give me a full debrief when we’re back. Are you ready for that?” He was staring straight ahead, but I could feel the tension in him. “I need more than the jumbled mess you shared in the car.” He pulled me closer. “You need to tell me it all.”

“You’re not going to like it.” Taking a deep breath, I tried to loosen my fingers, but he held onto them. “You want to hear it first?”

“I do, but only because I don’t want you to have to tell it twice and cause unnecessary upset.”

“I’m not fragile.” I turned my head so he couldn’t see me. “I already told you before, you know, what happened.”

Cannon huffed out a laugh. “I never said you were fragile.” He tugged playfully at my hair. “But while I don’t want to hear what happened to you, I need to hear it once more. I need to be able to ask questions and not the word vomit you gave earlier when you were upset.” He saw my look and pulled me closer. “Which was understandable, but I need to hear it again, slower. Once for me, and I can tell the others if you need.”

“I can tell it twice if you want.” This time when I tugged at my fingers, he let me go. “But you’re right, I think you may be better off hearing it properly first.”

Cannon’s frown deepened, his eyes darkening. “Why?”

“Because I know you won’t like it, and you’re going to overreact, and it’s bad for you to do that in front of the others, and…” I blew out a breath. “Let’s just do it.”

“Do you want to stop?”

“Nope.” Shaking my head, I looked towards the town where the houses were within sight but still slightly hidden from the way we were approaching, and the feeling of returning home was strong. “We’re almost home and I’m eager to be there.”

A hand on my upper arm pulled me to a stop. Cannon turned me into him, and his finger under my chin tilted my head back to meet his gaze. “Home?”

“Yes.” My voice was confident, sure. I no longer had doubts—they were my pack. They’d been my pack the first night in the food hall, and I was desperate to return to them. “They’re my pack.”

His smile was breathtaking. “It sounds good, hearing you say that.”

“Feels good saying it.” Rising on tiptoes, I kissed him softly. “Hold onto that feeling of happiness; you aren’t going to like what I tell you next.” We resumed walking and I spoke with a low voice. “I went to Landon, as you know.” I ignored his scowl; it was only going to get worse. “Landon told me he knew what had happened to my mom and dad and he could help me find the ones responsible.”

Cannon was trying hard to keep his face clear of emotion, but I saw his jaw clench. “And you believed him?”

---