“I am glad we are doing this. I have missed just spending time with you. We always could do anything or nothing and be comfortable.”

  “Nearly. Do you not remember that one time with your extended family?” Amari raised a hand to cover her mouth. “Your cousin wouldn’t let my use of the wrong fork go.”

  “I forgot about that. Family can be a bit much” Benjamin grimaced. “When it was just us we never had an issue.”

  “Things were simpler back then. Teenage problems are not quite the same as adult ones. Both can be world altering.” Amari’s mind flitted to Nova. She was so similar at that age, rash and volatile emotions driving her to sometimes reckless choices.

  “Is something more going on?” Benjamin took a sip of his water.

  Amari choked a bit on her water. Her brows pulled together in a familiar perplexed look etching a line into her face.

  “I am man enough to admit, I have driven past your place on occasion, hoping for an opportunity to catch you and have a proper date.” Benjamin answered the question in the air. “I got to be a bit worried when you never seemed to be at home. When I would visit the hospital I kept missing your shifts.”

  “You are checking up on me?” Amari teased, hiding her interest in his answer.

  “Hoping to have another meet up to spend some time together. I am used to having to make my own opportunities.” Benjamin causally commented.

  “It has been easier with Nova to have her around the family.” Amari widened her eyes. That was an understatement. Built in watchers were a lifesaver.

  “I should have guessed. Diana’s or Rema’s?”

  “Diana’s. It is like being back at the group home. We are all down the hall from each other.”

  “How did Diana end up with her home?”

  “I wasn’t around for that decision.” Uncertainty pressed Amari to circumvent the truth. The alpha king pulled some strings to grant her that property, though that wasn’t common knowledge.

  “Just curious, your pack is so small, that I am surprised that even one member can live off territory for a prolonged time. I mean with you gone, how did that work?” Benjamin leaned forward, holding her gaze with piercing eyes.

  “That is at the level of the Alpha and Beta, perhaps their heirs, not for lowly pions like me.” Amari hammed up the dramatics.

  “You know what I mean.”

  “I do.” Amari pushed back her plate. Light awkward tension settled between them.

  “I was just hoping for information that would prove my thought.” Benjamin placed his hand palm up on the table inviting her to take it. “A thought that maybe there was a way…”

  “Way to what?” Amari leaned on her folded hands. The edge of the table bit into her palms.

  “I have heard stories of couples remaining part of their original packs.” Benjamin tilted his head a slight shrug to his shoulders.

  “Who has done that and been successful?”

  “It seems that if the packs were neighbors and had existing peace treaties, members were able to enter into relationships without renouncing their pack bonds.”

  “Whoa.” Sitting back in her chair, Amari's eyes looked around the table without taking anything in. Her incisors gently pinched her thumbnail. Her mind floated as she rapidly blinked.

  That was not where she expected this conversation to land. Pressure to get Orion to surrender the Polaris pack territory and fold into the ranks of the Morningstars. That was always the angle Alpha Morningstar pushed when he cornered her in those insufferable Morningstar events.

  “I just dropped an anvil on you, I can see it.” Benjamin placed his card on the check. “How about I walk you to your car and we make a plan to talk about this again when you can wrap your mind around it a bit.”

  Amari nodded mutely. This humbly spoken new possibility rocked her. Curiosity crashed against the charge for Diana and part of the siblings to unbiasedly investigate. Not to mention the need to protect the direct link established to the Alpha King’s domain. It kept the magic further from detection on territory patrols. How would retaining your pack bonds and a treaty of peace affect the regulations of pack members needing to live on the pack’s territory or the lines may be changed in order to maintain the protection needed. These regulations are why some packs collected members. More members meant the likelihood of your territory growing to accommodate. Growth usually translated to influence and power a pack could wield. Would Alpha Morningstar release that opportunity? Did he even know? Amari looked up at Benjamin as he held out his jacket to protect her from the night air. Had Benjamin actually thought this through?

  ****

  “Where is Nova?” Elias pulled a stack of papers off the copier. Looking between the sheets, he placed a few on the table. One he tacked onto the wall, a yellow sticky note slapped onto it. He scrawled a question mark onto the little square.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Still fuming in her room. I can’t prove I didn’t do the thing she accused me of so we are at a bit of a stalemate at the moment.” Amari hopped up onto the table. She looked through the remaining sheets. Elias found a number of occurrences of fae entering our world. Right now, she watched his mind filter through the information trying to find the pattern of how it was possible.

  “What are you going to do about that Mom?” Max entered the room tossing a ball of red yarn to Elias who deftly caught it from the air.

  “What we all wished someone would have done for us, particularly Orion and Rema who had to learn the hard way.” Amari smiled, pressing a thumbtack into the wall. Despite Nova’s fears, there were boundaries and responsibilities in being part of the family. One way or another she would need to accept that she would not always get her way. Emotions have their place. They are a warning to you that something is going on within you but they do not need to reign over your actions. Amari wished she had listened to the hard learned example Orion and Rema set. Self-control would serve her better as a Mutare and in building solid healthy relationships. The healing started now. Amari sighed to herself. Listen to the emotions as the warning system that they are, but let your training lead you to doing the smart, healthy thing. Amari shook her head, that would be dealt with later. “What do we know?”

  “Too much and not enough to spot a pattern. Yet.” Elias tapped the other piles of stories pulled from history neatly separated by fae kind.

  “Then let's get started. What are we looking for?”

  “Well we can look for something simple to start.” Elias unfolded a large map of the area. With a nod, Max lifted the other corner to level it centered on the wall. Secured, Elias shuffled the row of different colored yarn. “Locations. If there is no discernible pattern then we can go onto the next color and variable.”

  ****

  Amari stretched, the cool air refreshing, she breathed in the aroma of the grill. Her mouth watered instantly. After a full day in the small room now dubbed the “war room” with Elias and Max, she was ready for a late dinner. The murder board covered in intersecting red lines by lunch now had a few yellow added to the mix. She rubbed the strain from her eyes.

  “Food will be ready soon, are you and the boys ready to take a break from destroying my wall?” Diana called from the grill.

  Amari bit her lip. Thousands of little punctures now dotted the drywall. “I have been ready for hours. How does Elias do this all the time?”

  “You know him and his puzzles.” The grill hissed up flames as Diana flipped a burger. “If there is a pattern to be found, he will find it. But that is not really what is bothering you is it?”

  “Stop scenting me.” Amari pushed Diana in the shoulder, careful to not push her into the heat.

  “It’s not your scent I am reading. Have you seen your face?” Diana shook her tongs in tight circles at Amari.

  “Why are you chuckling?” Amari looked at the massive burgers over the glowing greyish coals.

  “How many times did the old bitties curse you with having one just like you when you were older?” Diana pointed to the window of Nova’s room.

  “Too many.” Amari’s shoulders dropped.

  “Nova will be okay.”

  “I know. But…”

  “Pack bonds?” Diana closed the lid to the grill.

  “Yeah.” Amari hesitated. Stepping over, she pushed the sliding door shut.

  Brows raised, Diana set the tongs on the side of the grill. Waiting, she leaned against the railing, crossing her arms.

  Amari stared at the steadfast face. There were a few more lines, especially around the corner of her eyes, but it was the same face Amari grew up staring at across tables, tents, and floors. Gentle eyes that saw right through her, Amari breathed out. “Have you heard of this possibility that you do not have to relinquish your pack bonds to be in a relationship with a Mutare of another pack?”

  “I wondered if this would come up.” Diana placed her palms on the railing, smoothly lifting herself onto it.

  “And?”

  “And I wouldn’t stop you. None of us would.” Diana sighed. “We want you to be happy, but there is a lot under this bridge.”

  “I know, but Nova.”

  “Only Nova?”

  “Mainly.”

  “I don’t trust him. He smells off and…” Diana partially rolled her eyes. “You know I don’t say that lightly.”

  “He seems mature now. Humble even.”

  “Look I am not one to hold someone to who they were, heck I wouldn’t want anyone holding me to the girl I was, but there are a lot of variables here, AC.” Diana’s ears pulled back for a moment before she pushed further. “You know you surrendered those big decisions when you signed on the dotted line.”

  “I know.” Her promises were stacking up. Amari tangled her fingers in her hair blocking out the world with her arms. Promises warred within her. Alpha King, her family, Nova. Now Benjamin wanted a piece as well. She breathed out between tight lips. Lifting her head, she let her hands fall. “Was that only like a month ago?”

  “Life comes at us like a freight train.” Diana hopped down. Crossing over, she placed her hands on Amari’s shoulders. “But ride or die.”

  “What are we riding or dying on?” Max stepped out from the door.

  “Life.” Diana called over her shoulder.

  “Oh yeah. That is a given.” Max said with playful indignation in his voice. “I thought maybe you were talking about the possibility of planning a Pack bond ceremony?”

  “Not yet. Nova hasn’t decided and I am not going to pressure her on this.” Amari looked up to the window, now cracked. “However, to get out of her room, that will happen tomorrow.”

  “Oh. She's not going to join us around the fire tonight?” Elias had a slight pout. “She is good at puzzles, I was hoping to talk with her.”

  “Sorry, bud. I think that it will be “adult swim”.” Amari sorrowfully smiled. Each member had easily accepted Nova as part of the family. She hoped Nova would choose them back.

  “Nice. we can actually ask Amari what kind of shenanigans she got into up north.” Max pulled her into a headlock ruffling her hair.

  “Nothing that can’t be said in mixed company.” Amari grunted as she twisted from the hold.

  “Sure.” Max needled.

  Amari chased Max down the stairs and around the back yard.

  Diana whistled. Seamlessly, she balanced the burgers on a plate bringing it to the table. “Come on you ruffians, foods ready.”

  “Sweet!” Max beelined for the stairs, clearing them in one smooth leap. Huffing as Amari landed on his back.