There was no time for lounging around now that my eyes had opened. Cradling me in his arms, Graeson carried me through the woods to my trailer. He stole a kiss that left me dizzy, shooed me inside and ordered Dell to stand guard while he finished boxing up his belongings. Apparently my regaining consciousness had derailed the packing of his kitchenware, and he wasn’t going anywhere without his whisks or his impressive collection of frying pans. We had plenty of mouths to feed, so I encouraged his mania. For all he was giving up, he deserved to bring his favorite part of his home with him.

Bessemer had withdrawn his wargs from the area to give the exiled wolves and my family time to pack their things and ready for the long drive to…we didn’t know where yet.

Dell sat on the bottom step of my trailer, muscles tense, with eyes narrowed on the woods as though afraid Aisha lurked just outside her periphery. Graeson hadn’t been the only warg terrified of losing me.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come inside?” I called out to her. “I can brew some chai. I’ll even let you put ice cubes in it.”

The fine hairs lifted on my nape when she didn’t immediately answer, and my wolf aspect rose as I approached the door.

“Do you need a hand with anything?” Graeson ducked his head inside, craning his neck to see me. “Dell’s gone to finish packing.” His forehead creased. “Is something wrong?”

“No. I just—I was talking to Dell and didn’t realize she was gone.” Relieved to be back in my own home, I patted the counter. “I’m good here. It won’t take but another fifteen minutes or so for me to get everything secured and ready to roll.”

Noticing the clear plastic box on the table, he raised his eyebrows in silent question.

I waved him inside and gestured toward my collection. “These are all the items Harlow left me, minus the bunny.”

“Not all.” He bent down and picked something off the ground before joining me in the kitchen. “I brought this too, just in case.” He held out a plastic bag weighted with soggy items that dripped muddy water onto my floor in slow drops. “I brought everything that looked important.”

Taking the bag from him, I set it in the sink until I had time to pick apart its contents. I tore off a paper towel, dropped it on the floor and scuffed my foot to clean up the mess while Graeson looked on with amusement.

“Every little bit helps.” I tossed the used paper towel in the trash. “We need to figure this out. The things Charybdis said through Harlow…”

“Are you sure you want to pursue this solo?” His hand found my nape, and his heat radiated into me. “Things have changed.”

Everything—and yet nothing—had changed.