Page 32 of Luna: Posy 2

Of course it is,said my very literal wolf. Tall Pines is several hundred miles away.

I closed my eyes as I counted to ten.

Jay ended up riding in the king's SUV, and Mase and I figured their wolves had worked out something between them.

Which is not a bad thing, I admitted as I looked over at Wyatt.

He was curled up in his seat and drawing, all of his focus on what he was doing.

"Wyatt, when did you start a new sketchbook?" I asked in a quiet voice.

"Couple days ago."

"Does your head still hurt?" Papa Bear butted in. "You shouldn't draw if your head—"

"No, Mase. 'S fine."

"Can I see what you're drawing?" I held out one hand.

With a shrug, he gave me his sketchbook, and I looked at his work with a smile.

What's he drawing?Ash and Mase linked me at almost the same time.

Lark, I said and projected the image.When she was chasing butterflies in the field.

"I think we all want a copy of this one when you're finished," I told Wyatt as I handed him back his sketchbook.

He took it without a word and turned his face to the window.

I sighed.

We knew from the first that today was going to be difficult. All of us - man and wolf - were sad to leave Posy, but Topaz, Sid, and Granite were taking it exceptionally hard. Sid shut down completely, and Topaz and Granite were whining and crying like pups who'd been left at the daycare for the first time. Garnet and Quartz were their usual silent selves, although not even they could keep their unhappiness from leaking into the bond between us.

Then, the 'incident' happened and added an extra layer of misery to an already bad day.

I'm glad I missed it all, although I'm sorry Mase and Ash had to deal with it on their own.

Now, Wyatt was both embarrassed and ashamed. Embarrassed that Posy had seen Quartz hand him his ass, and ashamed that he'd intentionally-unintentionally provoked Quartz when he knew how hard Jayden worked to control his wolf.

Or at least, that's what I thought he was feeling. He didn't want to talk to us, a sure sign he was more upset than angry. When he got angry, his fists were flying. When he got quiet, his heart was bleeding.

Such an auspicious start to a long journey, I grumbled sourly.

What is aw- aps- awpas-

Stop before you hurt yourself, Paz. I smiled a little.It means lucky. Bright. Good.Fortunate.

But it isn't, boss. Topaz tilted his head to the side, his almond-shaped eyes wide and unblinking.Granite is upset and Quartz is grumpy and Wyatt and Jay are sadand-

I know, Paz. It was a bad joke.

No way was I going to tell him I was being sarcastic. We'd had that conversation a couple of years ago and the most I could get him to understand was that sarcasm meant a lie to insult someone. He'd scolded me and told me, "Don't sarcasm again because that's just mean."

Very bad,he agreed now.At least Posy got everyone calmed down enough to leave with no arguing. That was aw-pish-ist.

He was right about that. We'd all ignored her red eyes after Ash warned us to, then she'd given us hugs and kisses and told each one of us the same thing: "I love you. Take care of yourself and your brothers."

Auspicious.I slowed it down so Topaz could hear the syllables.And yes. Our mate is amazing.

---