by Ian Thomas
“Now, now,” Matteo called softly. “Much as I have come to love mocking him, this is the man responsible for the accords. He’s what brought all of these communities together. If it weren’t for the accords, this whole thing would have gone a very different way.”
“Think I’m gonna be sick,” Eddie muttered.
“He may be a royal pain in the ass but his heart’s in the right place.”
“Yup, actual bile. In my mouth.”
“Are they really secure?” Rebecca asked. “The accords that is? I mean after NYU, all of this really, there has to be some distrust.”
“War Wolves cleared it all up. As far as the university’s concerned the two students left for different reasons.”
“Really?”
“They’re very good at what they do,” Eddie said.
“Look around,” Rowan said, a half-smile the first any of them had seen on her for a while. “All three communities are here. Together. In grief or in support. That’s powerful. That’s stable.”
“That’s completely what we were going for,” Matteo said, a break in his voice.
Rebecca heard it and followed his eyes to McLachlan who seemed to remember things quite differently.
“Yeah,” he said, unconvinced as the group headed to the cars. “Completely.”
Ahead of them, Mouth and Jason were loitering by the black SUV, the new wolf biting his nails anxiously. He’d seen the looks directed at him all afternoon. He knew what they meant.
“Hey,” Rowan said, giving him a hug. “You doing okay?”
“Pretty sure I should be asking you that,” Jason replied as they parted.
She waved the comment off, then looked at him directly. “I’m sorry I didn’t see this in the cards. I mean I sh–”
“It’s…” But he couldn’t finish the sentence. Amid it all Jason hadn’t grieved for what he’d lost. There hadn’t been time. Not even mirror time. His life was very different now. Forever changed. And forever meant something to a wolf. He hadn’t asked for this, but it had happened, and somehow he was gonna have to make it through. Matteo put a hand on his shoulder, Mouth close at his side, Rowan standing before him, her hand holding his.
“If it helps.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a tarot card. “Pretty sure you deserve this.”
The ten of Cups. Perfect love and lasting contentment.
Jason took the card, not lifting his head to look at her or the others. The intimacy of the moment caused people to drift away until it was just Rowan and Mouth standing with him.
“Oh well, guess it’s back to normality,” Hayley said, putting an arm around Rebecca as they walked.
“What’s that?” she laughed.
“This.”
Overrated or underrated, this was their normal now. It came with pain, blood, fangs, and death. Which could have been a lot worse. But the Accords were intact, Colton was gone, and for the moment everything felt a little more settled in their world. It probably wasn’t. But Rebecca wasn’t about to say as much as they headed back to the city, she felt closer to the people around her, to her friends, to McLachlan, and Hayley was right. It all felt…well, not quite normal. But it would. And that’s what mattered.