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They were up and showered and eating the last of the food in Phoebe’s little house. Their self-quarantine was officially over.

They’d moved the table back to its original position and Theo had laughed at her as she wiped it down with a soapy sponge. Call her a neat freak, but she wasn’t about to eat breakfast on the same surface her ass had been on without a little cleaning first.

The ugly art they’d knocked from the wall wasn’t fixable but also wasn’t a great loss. Fee had tossed it in the trash.

And now as they sat across from each other, the magnitude of the situation settled on her shoulders. She was tied to Theo and he to her. Whatever they had pretended before, they couldn’t anymore. Their lives moved forward together now.

“I talked to Knox.”

Phoebe raised an eyebrow, not expecting that. “When?”

“After our fight, but before I came to my senses,” he said with a smile over the rim of his coffee mug.

“And?”

“And he thinks I should come back.”

Fee was quiet, letting Theo’s words fall between them. She’d seen this coming, of course. Theo had missed his pack, even as he’d learned to live without them, but where did that leave them and this fragile new life they were building? The new life that hadn’t even seen the light of day yet. The reality of leaving the sheets hit her hard.

She was not about to go back to clandestine meetings in the woods. Not now. Not after the past few days.

“I don’t think I’m ready for that,” he said. “Not sure I’ll ever be.”

Fee met his tropical-green gaze. “Really?”

“I had a lot of time to think about this while you were⁠—”

“Half dead?”

“Don’t fucking joke about that, Fee.” His fingers squeezed tighter around hers.

“Sorry. Go on.”

“Too much shit went down and I’m not sure I’m ready to forgive it all yet.”

“That’s fair.”

“But there’s too much left undone, you know? I don’t think we can just…”

“Hide here in the trees?”

He smiled. “Right.”

“Well, I’m glad you feel that way,” Fee said, clearing their mugs. She’d had a lot of time to think, too. They may have found Lena, but her grove was still in danger, and she wasn’t about to abandon it.

“Ruby texted and said they were meeting at the diner to discuss … well … everything. I think we should go.”

She paused, expecting Theo to grumble about helping his brother but he was up and washing their plates as soon as she suggested it.

“Good, because that fruity bread was not enough of a breakfast.” He kissed her cheek on his way out of the kitchen. “I need some meat. Let’s go.”

The diner was mostly empty when they arrived except for the largest booth in the back corner, which was already filled with Rafe, Ruby, Callie and Sawyer. Gert stood beside it. They were all deep in conversation but stopped suddenly when Theo and Fee arrived.

“Here’s our two lovebirds now,” Gert cooed and Theo was just thankful that she was in a teasing mood and not angry with him. However the nymph felt about him, she seemed to be happy as long as Fee was happy.

And the way Fee was grinning beside him, it was pretty clear she was happy.

“Here we are,” Theo said with a flourish. “Did you miss us?”