And she does.
“Smells good,” she says, leaning against the doorframe. “What’s for dinner?”
“Stir fry,” Elias says. “Hope you like bell peppers, ‘cause Archer here got a little carried away.”
He flips him off without looking up from the cutting board. “You’ll eat what I give you and like it, asshole.”
Blue laughs, easy and warm. “Careful, Elias. He might poison your portion.”
“Nah, that’s more Darius’s style,” Elias says, and then his face falls as he hears what just came out of his mouth.
An awkward beat, but Blue just rolls her eyes. “Speaking of your illustrious leader, where is His Royal Assholeness?”
I shrug. “Not sure exactly. It’s unlike him to miss a meal.”
“His loss,” Blue says, snagging a piece of carrot from my cutting board. She pops it in her mouth and makes a face. Then she nods. “Okay, this is going to be good.”
I try not to smile, but fail again.
Silas is already setting the table. Four places, not five. He catches my eye, and I see the question there. I give him a small shake of my head. Darius will eat when he’s ready. Or he won’t. Either way, I’m not dragging him back tonight.
We sit down. Blue takes her usual spot between Silas and Elias. I’m across from her, where I can see the full table. Old habit—the second-in-command always faces the door.
The food is good. I say that without ego. It’s just a fact. And Blue eats like she’s enjoying it, not like she’s starving, not like she’s shovelling it in to survive. She eats slowly, chewing, tasting. She even takes seconds without being offered.
Elias says something about the training earlier, and Blue shoots back a response that makes him choke on his food. Silas shakes with laughter across the table. I watch Blue’s face as she tries not to grin at Elias’s sputtering.
It’s a perfectly mundane evening. Four people eating dinner, talking shit, and laughing at Elias.
Normal.
I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. Not for Blue specifically. I didn’t know she existed until she came tearing through our territory with enough fury to set the whole forest on fire. But this feeling, this sense that the pack might actually be whole again. That the hole we’ve been working around for ten years might finally have something to fill it.
I’m careful not to let any of that show on my face. Blue doesn’t need the pressure. She’s not here to fix us. She’s here because we dragged her here, and the fact that she’s choosing to stay is already more than we deserve.
After dinner, Elias pulls out a deck of cards, and we migrate to the couch. Blue tucks herself in next to Silas, not seeming to notice how close she is, but Silas sure does. I can tell by the way his breathing changes. But he stays perfectly still, not wanting to spook her.
Smart man.
“That’s not a real rule,” Blue says, pointing at the card Elias just played.
“It is now,” he says, grinning.
I sigh. “It’s not.”
Silas reaches across and flicks Elias’s card off the table. Elias clutches his chest in mock outrage, and Blue laughs.
Elias leans in to see my hand, his shoulder pressing against hers, and stays there.
She shoves him. “Personal space, Dandelion.”
He moves back exactly one inch.
We play until the fire burns low. Blue wins two rounds, which she lords over Elias with the kind of glee usually reserved for children and supervillains. Elias demands a rematch, and Silas flicks his card off the table. Blue laughs so hard she snorts, making her laugh harder, which makes all of us crack up.
The best night I’ve had in years.
I don’t say that out loud, but from the look on Silas’s face, he’s thinking the same thing. Elias, too, underneath all the clowning. We’ve been surviving for a long time. Going through the motions and keeping the pack alive because that’s what we do.