Chapter 80: Homestead: Part 2

“Mead… ddd… oww.” I try to wriggle free of those clawlike hands and the lipstick-smeared attack on my face, giggling wildly at the ridiculousness, but she’s relentless.

Finally, once I’m sure every inch of my face is in matching rouge red from her lips, she lets me loose.

“Oh, my god, my baby girl, she’s come to me, and now I can die happy knowing my hermana is home.”

She’s being overly dramatic, her accent heavier than usual with the surge of emotion she’s spewing. She’s still holding me in her arms, but I have to say the feeling is mutual.

I’ve never been so happy to see another femme in my life.

I throw myself at her for a second hug, this time one I can take part in, and she squeezes me once more so I get to wrap my arms around her properly.

I can tell Colton has moved away as his invasive presence releases the stranglehold on my heart, and a glance tells me they’re at the rear, removing his mother’s bed as members of the pack move in to help.

There’s a lot of chatter as people figure out who’s coming out of the truck, and I can feel the whispers spreading through the pack as the atmosphere is charged with shock and excitement.

I can see some pulling out the machines and cabinet and putting ramps in place.

It’s a hive of activity over there, with Doc directing with that unique accent of his above the drone, issuing orders to his new mass of helpers.

“Let me look at you.” Meadow drags my attention back to her and holds me at arm’s length.

Even though it’s dark out here, lights from the vast, towering house standing tall in front of us illuminate this area enough that we can clearly see each other.

That was the light that hurt my eyes when I woke up.

“You look so good, so healthy. Your hair has grown, you’re losing your puppy face, and… oh, God! What are you wearing?”

Meadow’s face and tone drop as her eyes run up and down my attire, and she visibly gawks. The look of sheer disgust enveloping her expression makes me laugh.

“Escape clothes!” I shrug under her scrutiny, amused by how she’s now holding the arm of my sweater between two nails like it’s a dirty rag before letting go to rub her fingertips as if to expel the grime.

I’m not dirty, but her reaction is priceless as she shakes her head at me.

“Why do you keep letting that boy pick your clothes, huh? It’s not a good look. Colton has no taste for female things. I mean, he dated Carmen for two years, which says it all, chica.”

She bobs her head from side to side, waving a pointy red nail in the air, and I let out an involuntary snort-laugh. She’s so ‘hood sometimes; I love her to bits.

“He didn’t. Dress me, I mean. He found me like this. It’s all I had on hand.” I look down, pulling at the gray sweats a little as I take in my baggy outfit and oversized boots, but it’s not as bad as she’s making out.

“We need to remedy that. Once we get our luna inside and comfortable, you and I need to burn these. Maybe bury them and perform some kind of last rites.”

She tugs at the hemline of my sweater and then runs a set of talons through my hair to push it off my face and draws me back to her.

“You do look different, though… like you only left for a few weeks, but you’ve grown in years. You look beautiful and less tortured. My baby’s growing up so fast.”

It’s an insightful perspective, but she’s right. These past weeks, I felt like I’ve matured and grown as a person in subtle ways. Eating less, exercising more, I probably look slimmer.

And I knew I had shed puppy fat while being out there in the wild.

I’m no longer in that frame of mind that I’m some feeble no one that isn’t important. I know I’m the center of something, and this is where I need to be for now.

I’m not sure about being less tortured, given my current situation: cheating mate, relearning my past, and finding out my entire pack was murdered.

I would say I’m just handling it better than I would have a few weeks ago. I feel mentally stronger.

“Why, thank you, although I’m tired. I need sleep. I must look a wreck, but you’re right. We need to get Sierra inside.” I nod to where they all seem to have everything under control.

I catch sight of the bed coming into view, and Colton stuck to his mom’s side, her hand in his once more, even though she is still dead to the world.

He’s looking at her fixedly and with so much adoration that it makes me feel wholly broken as I watch him.

I long for that without complication, without this mess between us. To have him look at me the way he’s looking at her, that unconditional love that’s so hard to find.

We move out of the way as they swing past, and I flatten against the truck as the entire entourage gets by us and follows close behind.

Meadow slides her hand in mine and guides me with her to tag on at the end when they get past.

“Ahh, Alora.” A voice comes from my side, and then I’m divebombed by an enthusiastic male who, footballer-style, wrestles me into a hug before I’m hit from behind by another, with equal stealth and strength.

I almost fall over with the weight of two heavy boys hugging the life out of me. Then, unable to breathe and unsure if this is an attack, I crumple almost to my knees.

Domi and Remi nearly choke me to death, ruffling my hair, picking me up between them before I get ground into the mud and receive a kiss on each side of my face in unison.

It’s sloppy, wet, and a bit eww, but overall, it’s kind of sweet.

“Our little sister came home. Our puppy!” they both state in synchronized perfection, sounding like a melody in their singsong playfulness.

I get yanked from side to side, set on my feet, and then let go just as Cesar appears in front of me, Meadow moving aside with a look of joy and smiling like a proud mother.

“Don’t you ever do that again, Missy! Do you know how worried your pack has been?” Cesar swoops between the twins.

His accent is equally as heavy as his mate’s, with a stern, paternal tone to match that serious frown he is giving me.

He delivers a less ferocious cuddle, a quick squeeze, and a kiss on the cheek before he pulls back, and the rest of the sub-pack seems to appear around me.

Mateo, Radar, and Jesús all crowd in at me, and I guess they were part of our escort to get us here.

All of them take turns to lean in and welcome me back with a quick embrace, a peck on the cheek, and a few words of welcome until I’m blushing and awkward with all this attention.

“We missed you. Don’t run like that again. We’re your pack, man. We were all crazy worried,” Jesús says, and he bops me on the head with a soft fist.

He shakes his head at me, a real frown on his face that shows his genuine emotion.

“Yeah, kid. Little pups like you shouldn’t be out there alone!” Cesar reiterates his earlier statement.

“Colton has been unbearable, dude. You, girl, are getting chained to him, so we don’t have to endure that again,” Mateo says.

He pushes the twins aside and clears a path in front of me as he tries to move us along.

Meadow ducks into the center beside me, catching my arm in hers, and starts walking me in behind the boys as they turn and lead the way.

Some turn to walk backward as they interact and throw me smiles and genuine looks of relief that I’m home. I can feel it all around me that it’s real and honest.

My adopted pack’s genuine relief and love swell my heart so much it hurts.

None of them are faking it at all, and I don’t question where that particular femme of Colton’s is because, right now, I don’t want to know, and I don’t care.

“You missed a war. Colton put his daddy on his ass. It was epic,” Jesús says.

He seems a little too gleeful over that fact, skipping sideways in front of me somewhat boyishly, and Mateo playfully shoves him in the shoulder out of the way, a warning tone to his words.

“Shut up. Colton hears you talking like that, and he’ll put ~you~ on your ass. You know how sensitive he is about all this right now.”

“Yeah, pipe down, bro. He’s only a few feet ahead. Have some respect,” Radar, the voice of reason, says. He leans in and pats me on the arm in afterthought, with a nod, and a wink, to say, hey.

That always terrifying white eye is blank, dead, but his good one is kind of shiny and happy, and it makes him a little less scary to look at.

The scar isn’t as much of a visual draw as when I first met him, and he steps in, speaking a little lower, nearer my ear.

“Welcome back… and thank you. For finding her. She’s been missed for so long. Some of us were losing hope.”

There’s a strange tone in what he says, a distant look in his eye, and as he talks, his gaze wanders to the bed ahead of us.

He shoots off instantly to catch something one of the cart-pushers drops, scooping it up before it hits the ground and merging into that hobble of people to replace it on the bed.

“Radar always had a thing for Sierra. You’ve no idea how much this means to him for her to be home,” Meadow whispers in my ear, hushed, so the rest don’t catch on.

It’s like it’s some unknown secret, and I quizzically glance her way.

“What? Isn’t he too young? Aren’t they like son and mother age?” I flash a look at him again in the crowd, then back to her in confusion, but she shakes her head.

“Radar is our papi. Every pack has a mature mentor. He’s older than all of us—mid-thirties. He went to war as part of Luna’s guard.

“He got that scar on his face by protecting her with his life, and it almost ended him. Goddamn silver and wolfsbane. I shudder to think.

“He’s always been a slave to Sierra and never mated because his heart lies with her, devoted and loyal. It’s kinda sad to be that crushed on someone, that even in their absence, you still pine for them.”

Meadow is hushed, but the torn tone of genuine empathy drags through her voice, a hint of actual pain for her packmate.