Page 22 of Cam's Treasure

"Come on."

The packland was crowded like it only got during the parties. Since our clan had grown so much in the last decade, Noel had moved the party from his and Caleb's backyard to the packland's center ages ago, and people milled everywhere, chatting with each other and munching on various finger foods that were laid out on long tables at the edges of the clearing.

A ten-year-old girl with long, wispy black hair and bright blue eyes ran up, peering at us curiously.

Smiling, Micah kneeled down in front of her. "Hey, Lena. Do you remember us?"

Her brow furrowed, and then she grinned. Turning around, she raced back into the crowd, shouting, "They're here! They're here!"

"I guess that answers your question."

After that, we wereswamped. Everyone wanted to say hello and hear about our trip and catch us up on everything we'd missed.

If I couldn't feel the love that filled the air from everyone, I'd be overwhelmed by the sheer number of people wanting to talk to us.

"Alden!" I grinned at the fair-haired unicorn—the last of his kind—and his dryad mate, Elian. Elian rarely strayed out of theSilent Creek Park, the land he was bonded to, so his presence here made me doubly happy. I'd been planning to visit him and Alden at the park later this week, but now I wouldn't need to.

"Cam, Micah, it's so good to see you. Mistvale just isn't the same without you two," Alden said, making me grin.

"Aww, did you miss us?"

"Can't you tell? Everyone did."

A lump lodged itself into my throat, and for once, I had no reply. Sensing my emotions, Micah gave my hand a squeeze, then excused us away, dragging me to a quiet spot between two cabins.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. It just hadn't quite hit me how much I missed everyone until now."

Micah gave me that soft, understanding smile of his, then leaned forward to kiss the corner of my mouth. "I can relate to that. I thought everyone being here would be too much, and while I'm working overtime to keep my shields up, I'm glad."

Damn, I couldn't imagine being Micah right now. He was probably expending most of his energy on his shields so he wouldn't be assaulted by the thoughts of everyone, and here I was making him exert even more energy to comfort me.

"Hey, I don't mind. I rarely get to comfort you anyway," Micah said with a grin, then winced. "Sorry. I had to focus on your mind to keep my walls up, so I can hear everything you're thinking. I can stop if you—"

I shook my head, cutting him off. "You know I don't mind. My thoughts are and will always be open to you."

Because I love you, I added mentally, and Micah smiled widely. There wasn't much I wouldn't do to make him smile like that.

Micah

We waited for a few more minutes, sharing some chaste kisses, before making our way back into the thick of it.

In the time we'd been gone, Noel, Jai, and Papa had called everyone over for lunch, and now some of the people roamed around with plates of food in their hands—or a glass of blood, in Papa and Niall's case—while others sat on the stoops of various cabins.

"Oooh, food!" Cam made a beeline for the large tables covered in bowls and dishes of various foods. Some dishes had been cooked by the aforementioned trio while others were brought in by the other clan members.

I spotted pitchers of Aeron's fancy blood drinks—he was a necromancer, but his mate, Niall, was a vampire, and he enjoyed making new drinks for him—and cookies, cakes, and various sweets fromShe Bakes, She Brews, which was owned by one of the newer clan members, a witch named Iris. There was alcohol too, but nothing stronger than beer and wine.

I was tempted to just have dessert for lunch, but Cam knew me too well, and he filled two plates with food, his pile double mine—dragons had big appetites—before handing one to me.

"Come on. Let's mingle."

I followed Cam back into the fray, and we got separated as I chatted with Kezan about clothes and his shop,Wish For It, while Cam was pulled away into some kind of debate between the twins, Neel, Paxton, and Dean. Knowing them, the twins and Dean were probably planning some kind of mischief while Neel and Paxton tried to talk them out of it. What had they beenthinking, callingCamto talk some sense into them? Did they not know him at all?

"Would you like to come back to work at the shop? I never found an assistant manager quite as good as you." I stared at Kezan, surprised by his offer.

I'd loved working at his clothing boutique, loved seeing the customers' faces light up when they found their perfect outfits.

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