Sally looked around and then back to Jen. “Where’s Titus?”
“Gavril carried him off after he ate. He’s in good hands. Oh, Dec, I forgot to tell you.” Jen cast a dangerous smile at him. “I ordered Slate a wooden castle playhouse.” She paused and then smiled wider. “Actually, I ordered two.”
Wadim and Zara walked in on the tail end of Jen’s statement, and Zara smiled big. “Is this another Alpha-Luna argument I get to give commentary on?”
“No.” Decebel grunted. “Commentary is completely unnecessary.”
“I kind of feel like it is necessary,” Jacque said.
Jen nodded. “Agree, totally necessary.”
Without even thinking about it, Sally gave a thumbs-up as she dug her fork into her eggs. “I’m with them.” It felt so good to feel a part of her pack. She wasn’t even close to being over anything, but, for the moment, she was surrounded by people who loved her, and she fit with them.
Breakfast continued much the same way. Jabs being passed between Jacque and Jen, or Jen and Decebel, or Jen and Fane. It didn’t go unnoticed that Jen was the common denominator in all the arguments. Even Zara got a few in on Wadim, which completely tickled Jen.
“Do you have to argue with everything we say?” Jacque finally huffed as some of them began to stand and take their plates to the sink.
“Red, think about how boring life would be if we all just got along with each other all the time.”
“I think some would call that peaceful,” Fane said.
Jen snorted. “That’s not peaceful. That’s complacency. There’s nothing wrong with a good, healthy argument to make you see if your own opinions are air tight.”
“Jen, we were talking about the brand of diapers Slate seems to do best in. Why on earth do our opinions on diapers need to be airtight?” Jacque asked.
“Having a firm footing on where you stand on diaper brands is essential to having a quicker shopping experience when you’re in the store with a screaming child. You don’t have to think. You just grab what you already know is exactly what you want.” Jen smiled as if she’d just said the smartest thing since Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.
Sally snorted. “Sorry, Jen, but that was lame.”
“I think that should be my next T-shirt,” Wadim said. He ducked as a biscuit flew over his head.
Lilly walked in with Cypher by her side, and his hand reached out and snagged the flying baked good. He didn’t even miss a beat as he took a bite out of it and nudged his mate forward.
“Good morning,” Lilly said, her brow raised as she looked around the room. “Should I be concerned that there is food flying across the kitchen?”
Vasile stood from his place at the head of the table and shook his head. “It really isn’t breakfast if Jen hasn’t thrown a baked good at someone. And now that she has, I’m going to get started on my day.” He pressed a kiss to his mate’s lips and then left the room.
It wasn’t long after Vasile left that the room gradually cleared until Sally, Costin, Jen, Jacque, Alina, and Lilly were the only ones left.
“Why do I feel like this is an intervention?” Sally asked slowly.
Jen smacked Jacque’s shoulder. “I told you she’d think that. We totally should have ambushed her in bed.”
“And that wouldn’t have felt like an intervention?” Jacque asked.
Sally bit her bottom lip as she shook her head. “No, that would have felt like Jen being the nosy cow we know and love.”
“Good point,” Jacque said. “Next time we’ll do it your way.”
“If you would all just learn to do it my way the first time, then we wouldn’t get into half our usual messes,” Jen grumbled.
Jacque was about to argue, but Lilly held up her hand. “We have more important things to discuss.”
The two girls nodded. Jen added, “You’re right. I can berate y’all later.”
Sally met Lilly’s eyes as the woman who was like a mom to her smiled. “I’m not going to sugarcoat anything. You have us worried … really, really worried. Last night while you slept, Rachel took a look inside your head.”
Sally’s eyes widened, and her chest felt tight. “She looked into my mind?”
“Without her permission,” Costin growled.
Sally put a hand on his arm, hoping to calm her wolf down. She wasn’t happy about Rachel getting in her head, but she didn’t want her mate doing something he’d regret either.
“Sally, you know why we did it,” Jen spoke up. “The things you were saying, sweetie. We couldn’t just pass them off as you being sad.”
Costin’s head whipped around to look at her. “What things were you saying?”
Sally knew exactly what they were talking about. She’d basically told them that taking her last breath was looking better and better as each day grew worse and the darkness inside of her continued to eat away at her soul. The healer closed her eyes. She didn’t want to look at him when she answered, but Sally should have known better than to think he’d let her get away with it.
“Sally, mine, open your eyes and look at me.”
She did.
“What did you say that had them scared enough to let a healer in your head without your consent?”
She opened her mouth, and then closed it, opened it again, and closed it. She knew she looked like a gasping fish out of water. Her eyes darted to the others, and Lilly gave her an encouraging nod.
She finally breathed out. “It would be easier for me to show you. I can’t say it, not to you, Costin.” She reached for his mind through their bond and, with much sorrow in her heart, showed her mate just how far she’d fallen into the dark depths of her own mind. She let him see the dreams, the times she cried in the shower, unable to catch her breath. She showed him the anguish she felt just before Jen and Jacque broke into the bathroom. She confessed she’d entertained thoughts of leaving this world. It broke her heart to let him see those things, and she felt shame choking her airways.
“Shhh, Sally.” She heard his soothing voice in her mind. “There’s no shame here, beloved mate. You never have to hide from me, never.”
Sally felt his arms come around her, and she opened her eyes. They were alone. Everyone had left and she found herself grateful for their consideration. Falling apart with Costin was hard enough, she didn’t need more of an audience. She looked up at Costin and stifled a sob as she saw a tear roll down his chiseled cheek. She had caused that. She just kept hurting him.
“Hey,” he said gently. “My tears are for you, Sally, not because of you. Your pain is my pain. Your sorrow is my sorrow. Every smile that you give me is mine. Every tear you shed is also mine. I don’t know what it will take to prove to you that nothing has changed between us. We’ve been through hell, but we can either let it make us stronger or we can let it destroy us. I personally would prefer the former.”
Costin stood and knelt in front of her. It was then that she saw the basin of water, a washcloth, and a towel.
“Thank you, Alina,” he said as the Alpha female, which Sally hadn’t even noticed, left them.