"How's he doing?" Ambrose questioned and I didn't have to bother asking to know who he was talking about.

"Surprisingly well," I admitted. "Better than I expected."

Ambrose raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued. "Really? I thought he'd be more... resistant."

"So did I. But he's trying, in his own way. Stubborn as always, but... different."

Ambrose leaned against the doorway, arms crossed. "Do you think it'll last?"

I hesitated, unsure how to answer that. "I don't know," I admitted. "It's too early to say. But at least he's here, and that's more than I expected."

"So, he's going to be here for adoption day then?"

Adoption day. I'd completely forgotten about its approaching date.

"It's right around the corner isn't it?" I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling the weight of that realization settled in. "Yeah, I guess he will be."

Ambrose studied my expression. "How do you feel about that?"

"About him being here? It's f—"

"About adopting day approaching," Ambrose corrected. "I know you've gotten pretty close to some of the kids here and..." Ambrose paused, giving me a knowing look. "I imagine it's not easy thinking about letting them go."

I took a deep breath, feeling the knot tighten in my chest. "Yeah... it's tough. Some of them have been here so long, they feel like family. And knowing that after adoption day, they might not be here anymore... it hits hard."

Ambrose nodded, his gaze softening. "You've done a lot for them, Fen. You've given them stability, a home, even if it's temporary. That's more than most could offer."

"I know," I replied quietly, glancing down at the floor. "But it's hard not to get attached. And it's even harder when they start getting attached to you."

I was excited for adoption day of course because it meant these kids wouldn't be alone anymore, but the feeling was bittersweet. Abel and Lola's tiny faces appeared in my mind and I bit my lip. It was selfish, but the thought of waking up without Abel at my side or not hearing Lola's giggles and millions of questions made my chest tighten uncomfortably.

I wanted them to find a family, of course, I did, but knowing that they wouldn't be by my side anymore was a tough pill to swallow, to say the least.

"I thought the older kids would be more excited, but they aren't," Ambrose sighed. "I think they're scared."

"Scared?" I repeated with a frown.

"Scared to get their hopes up and then realize nobody wants to adopt them," he clarified. "Scared that they're going to be left behind and have to go back to the den."

"That would never happen." I shook my head. "Even if they don't get adopted, we'd never send them back to the den."

The thought alone was cruel. These kids had already seen more than they should've been exposed to and to put them back in such an environment after taking them out and experiencing it firsthand was evil. Eviler than anything I could imagine.

"I've told them that too, but you know words can only get you so far—especially with a group of worried teenagers who don't know how to properly express and understand their feelings."

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. Ambrose was right. No matter how many reassurances we gave them, the teens had been through too much to believe everything would be okay just because we said so.

"We'll figure it out," Ambrose assured both me and himself as he stood up. "I have to go finish up the final preparations. What are you doing?"

"I'm going to walk my cat."

There was a pause and he stared at me as if I'd grown two heads.

"You're going to what?" Ambrose raised an eyebrow, clearly trying to make sense of what I just said.

I shrugged, trying to keep a straight face. "CJ needs fresh air too. It's been a while since he's had a proper walk."

If last night was any indication.

Ambrose shook his head, a small grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Only you, Fen. Only you."

He exited the room and I then took the opportunity to hurry back upstairs and down the hall toward my room where CJ, unsurprisingly, sat curled up on the bed. Seeing him there took care of one of my problems, but there was still another: his leash and harness were in Cronan's room.

I groaned inwardly. Of course, CJ's leash and harness would be in Cronan's room. Typical. I glanced at the cat, who blinked lazily at me, completely unaware of the situation he was about to cause.

"Come on, CJ," I muttered, giving him a little scratch behind the ears before entering the bathroom that connected to Cronan's room.

I stood outside the door for a moment, debating whether I could slip in without waking him. He's probably still asleep, I told myself. Just get in, grab the stuff, and get out.

Slowly, I pushed the door open and stepped inside, careful to make as little noise as possible. CJ's harness hung on the back of the chair, and his leash was coiled neatly on the dresser, just like I remembered.

I'd almost made it to the chair when I heard Cronan's voice, low and groggy.

"Fen?"

I froze my hand halfway to the harness. So much for sneaking in.

I turned and faced him. His blue eyes were staring at me confusedly and it was clear he wasn't completely awake yet, but that did nothing to stop him from pushing himself into a sitting position.

"What are you doing?"

I gestured to the dresser and said, "I'm taking CJ on a walk. I needed his harness and leash."

Cronan nodded, but the way his eyes perked up told me the conversation wasn't over. "Can I come?"

"No," I answered immediately.

Cronan frowned. "Come on—"

"You're barely awake."

"I'll be fine. You don't have to worry about me."

His response made me frown. Of course, I would worry about him whether we were on good terms or not.

I looked at him. Really looked at him. I could see the remnants of sleep that clung to him, but I could also see his stubbornness rearing its head, telling me he would try and come no matter what I said or did.

"...you can come," I finally agreed, causing Cronan to smile. "But you don't leave my side. If you do then I won't take you out with me again."

Cronan's eyes brightened at my concession, his earlier weariness momentarily forgotten.

"Deal," he said, pushing himself to the edge of the bed and stretching.

I handed him CJ's harness and leash, which he took with a nod. "Just remember, if you start feeling too tired or unwell, we head back, okay?"

He nodded, slipping on a hoodie. "Got it."

...

The territory surrounding the house wasn't necessarily big. In fact, it was smaller than most actual packs had, but that wasn't a problem really. With there being so few packs in the surrounding area, it almost felt like a private, secluded stretch of land. The trees provided a natural boundary, and the well-maintained paths made it easy to navigate. Despite its size, the area had its own charm, offering a sense of tranquility and space for CJ to explore.

As we walked, Cronan stayed close, his presence a reminder of how things had changed. The early morning air was crisp, and the soft sounds of nature filled the silence between us. CJ trotted ahead, his tail twitching with excitement as he sniffed around, clearly enjoying the chance to stretch his legs.

"I didn't think he'd be this happy," Cronan commented, his eyes focused on CJ.

"He probably missed the area," I replied.

"'Missed?'"

"This is where I found CJ. Didn't I tell you that?"

"No?"

"Oh. Well, it's nothing huge. Back when you visited your pack and I was here, I was getting ready to return to Oakwood and found CJ out here alone. I decided I couldn't leave him and took him with me."

CJ took a seat by a tree, causing Cronan and I to stop as well. The blue-eyed man's eyes focused on the cat for a minute before he took a seat on the ground and sighed.

"Tell me something about yourself," I prompted Cronan.

"What?"

"Tell me something I don't know about you."

He frowned. "You know me pretty well already."

I shook my head. "No, I mostly know the basics. You have a brother, you grew up in a pack, you were in a situationship with Arlo—"

He winced at the comment. "Okay, I get it."

"Tell me something I don't know," I repeated.

He hesitated. "My stories aren't really rainbows and sunshine, Fen."

"That's fine," I assured him because who was I to judge when I was in the same boat? "Tell me why you hate cats."

He rolled his eyes at the question, but a small smile formed nonetheless. "I don't completely hate them. It's more of a... I don't know, aversion? I had this cat once, a long time ago, and it was a total brat. Scratched me up, knocked things over, and just generally made my life difficult. My brother loved that creature though."

"You and your brother are close, right?" I questioned, remembering how he would stay with Cronan.

His smile dimmed slightly. "Yeah, we were."

"Were?"

"It's...it's complicated. I'm not close to my parents. Never have been and never will be. They've always despised the type of person I was and who I hung out with. Whereas I left the pack, my brother, Reed, stayed behind and changed himself into what they wanted."

"Why didn't they like you?"

Cronan smiled bitterly. "Because I was never going to be the perfect, alpha son they wanted. Our pack thrives on strength and my parents always wanted my brother and I to follow the path they set up for us since we were young: become alpha and beta, take mates of equally high status, have kids—the whole thing. Being gay was the first wrench in their plans, but they got over that easily enough. The big issue, at least to my dad, is that I wasn't the dominant type they expected," Cronan continued, his voice laced with frustration. "I didn't fit their mold of a perfect alpha. My dad always saw me as too submissive, too willing to bend to others rather than 'assert my dominance'. He wanted me to be fierce, commanding—it didn't help that I preferred hanging out with people who didn't fit their idea of what was 'right' for me."

I listened, noting the pain in his words. "And Reed?"

"Reed was always more compliant," Cronan explained. "He was more than happy to fall in line and take up the mantle they wanted for him. It's not that he's a bad person or anything; he just fits their vision better. He's adopted and I think part of him genuinely wanted to live up to their expectations because of that reason."

"That must have been hard," I said softly. "Feeling like you had to choose between who you are and what they wanted."

Cronan nodded. "I liked to think that I moved past it, but..." his gaze dropped. "Clearly, I still have some things I need to work on."

"Like what?" He glanced everywhere except at me and I don't know what was going through my mind, but I reached over and gently tilted his chin up to meet my gaze.

"My parents taught us that tough love was the only correct way to love someone. Exposing your feelings made you weak and left those around you open to unnecessary danger. I guess I internalized that more than I thought."

I looked at him. "And now?"

"Now I'm trying to figure out how to balance being true to myself with this... ingrained belief that showing vulnerability is a liability." He sighed, a mix of frustration and resignation in his expression. "I know I'm not the best at this and I'm not your favorite person right now, but bear with—what is touching me?!"

I blinked at the sudden outburst and watched as Cronan hurried to his feet and moved from where he was sitting. From behind him, another cat—far rounder than CJ—emerged and moved toward Cronan, rubbing against his leg.

My mate looked unimpressed by the chunky visitor, his irritation evident. "Seriously? Of all times, now?"

I shrugged. "It's fine. We can continue talking when we get back. Besides, seeing you get flustered by a cat is pretty cute."

There was a time when Cronan would've brushed off my comment or told me to be quiet, but there was none of that this time. In fact, I was surprised to see a subtle hint of red break out on his face.

I didn't know Cronan was capable of blushing, but now that I did, I already wanted to see more of it.

"Stop that," he ordered.

"Stop what?"

"Saying stuff like that. I'm supposed to be winning you over and when you say things like that, it makes it hard to focus."

"I'll keep that in mind," I told him. "Come on, we should probably head back."

I grabbed CJ, my eyes lingered on Cronan who was staring down at the fat cat with crossed arms. A faint smile formed as I stared at them.

He said was supposed to be focused on winning me over and honestly, if today was any indicator of how he'd continue to behave, he was already one step closer to success.