I heard honking as we were nearing the borders of their pack. Bells placed herself between me and the oncoming vehicle, ever the protective big sister, but relaxed when she saw Cade and Chris in the cab of the truck.

“What are you doing, Little Warrior.” Chris was jumping out of the vehicle the moment it rolled to a stop.

“Walking home for lunch,” I answered, confused. I told him we were leaving, and would be waiting for him when he was out for lunch in about an hour.

“Why are you two walking? You could have just taken my truck,” Cade chided, getting out of his car and walking toward his mate. “What if someone ran you over?”

“It’s a thirty-minute walk from our borders to Crescent Moon, Cade. And, there’s nothing but pack lands in between,” Bells replied.

“If you need to go to and from, take my truck, My Queen,” Cade insisted, making me smile at the new term of endearment he had for Bells.

I looked up at Chris, whose lips were pursed as he looked down at me.

“You going to tell me to take the car, too?” I asked, trying to hide my grin, knowing what his response would be.

“Not until we go buy a new one. Your car is too low to the ground, and the shock absorbers are shit. You need something better.”

“I’ve driven that Cavalier since I graduated high school. It’s in good condition,” I countered.

It had a couple of dents from where I lent it to Areli, but I kept it well-maintained. Dad never understood why I wanted his first car, instead of a new one, as my graduation present, but what could I say? I was a sentimental fool. He taught me to drive in that thing.

“Not good enough. We're getting one that’s safe for the most important people in my life. Take Cade’s until then,” he finished with a grin, making Bells snort, but Cade simply nodded his head in agreement, making me roll my eyes.

Between these two, Cory and Lucien, we weren’t allowed to do anything remotely thought of as potentially risky. They kept ganging up on us and Evie. While I appreciated it more than Evie and Bells, I drew the line at walking.

“We’re just walking. Walking is good for the pup,” I reminded him.

“Not when you’re leaving pack grounds,” Chris argued, his pleading eyes making me want to agree.

I knew he worried more than others because we weren’t mates. He couldn’t feel if something was wrong with me like others could. I smiled up at him and gave him a tiny nod, making him relax a little.

“Fine, can you drop us off at the borders then so we can go snack?” Bells also caved, and my smile turned into a grin.

She’d been getting very snackish lately. Those twins were hungry little things.

“Get in,” Cade motioned to his truck. We all crawled in, and he drove to Crescent Moon, but after we crossed the borders, Cade still wasn’t stopping.

“I thought you were dropping us off?” Bells asked.

“I decided we were having an early lunch,” Cade answered.

“Oh really?” Bells asked.

“Well, that and Cory called. Evie was having a craving for chimichangas for some reason, and he's been at the stove for the last hour.”

I bit my lip to stop from laughing. Bells called the chupacabra, chimichanga, this morning as we recounted the struggle to catch it, to Evie when we took her a morning snack to her office.

We arrived at the pack house a few minutes later, and went up to the alpha floor to eat lunch with everyone. The chimichangas were very tasty and I ate too much, so I needed a nap after. Chris tucked me in before heading back to work, giving me a kiss that made me wish he would play hooky with me. A few minutes after he left, though, I smiled when I heard a familiar knock on the door. Bells walked in moments later with one of Adam’s stuffed toys, and crawled into bed with me.

I was just falling asleep when I felt Evie pulling at the mind link.

‘Hey,’she started.

‘Hi. Everything okay?’

‘Cory had to go to the office in town, and I have the afternoon off. What are you up to?’

‘Bells and I are in my room, about to nap, wanna join?’I offered.