Chapter 20
Selene’s POV
The celebration at the Pack Syndicate Research Center didn’t end with the feast.
Somehow, inevitably, it spilled into the streets of Yoria.
Someone suggested finding a KTV lounge–until we remembered this wasn’t the heartlands, and Yori
cities rarely catered to Pack traditions that loud.
Instead, we picked a nearby tavern with private rooms for rent and slipped into one of the larger booths upstairs.
The heavy bass from downstairs barely leaked through the thick walls.
At first, I thought I could relax.
I was wrong.
The moment we entered the private room, chaos broke loose.
It was like the entire Pack unshackled itself all at once.
Laughter, shouting, off–key singing the room exploded with sound and movement, the wolves no longer contained by their usual strict schedules and protocols.
I stuck close to Ethan as we made our way through the crowd, following him into the booth.
The familiar comfort of his presence kept me anchored as we found a corner seat.
Just as I was starting to settle, a mischievous glint caught my attention.
Ryan Stone, one of Ethan’s old Packmates from his apprentice days–lanky, energetic, with a wolfish grin permanently plastered on his face–was eyeing Ethan like a predator circling prey.
He leaned in, wagging a finger inches from Ethan’s face.
“Looks like you haven’t taken even a single step forward, huh, Caldwell?” Ryan teased, his voice carrying easily over the noise.
Ethan’s ears turned bright red.
“Stop talking nonsense,” Ethan growled, and with a long arm, he hooked Ryan’s neck in a loose chokehold and slapped a hand over his mouth.
“Ignore him, Selene,” Ethan said, shooting me a flustered glance. “Ryan talks faster than he thinks.”
I nodded, feeling a small smile pull at the corners of my mouth.
I wasn’t used to seeing this side of them–their Pack–bond camaraderie outside the clinical, precise atmosphere of the lab.
But it wasn’t unpleasant,
They weren’t mocking.
They weren’t judging.
They were just… being.
Real.
And for the first time in a long while, I realized how much I had missed this kind of easy, noisy belonging.
Ryan struggled against Ethan’s grip, mumbling unintelligibly.
When Ethan refused to let go, Ryan’s eyes gleamed with mischief.
He spat into Ethan’s hand.
Ethan recoiled immediately, yanking his hand back with a look of utter betrayal.
The entire booth roared with laughter.
Even I couldn’t hide my grin.
“You fight dirty, Ryan!” someone howled from across the room.
Ryan shrugged, looking insufferably proud.
Chapter 20
“It’s called psychological warfare,” he said, puffing up his chest.
“Attack the mind, not the muscles.”
The teasing finally drifted back into the general chaos of the tavern.
By
time drinks were flowing freely again, I had relaxed enough to sip from my own glass without feeling like I needed to bolt.
The conversation shifted to the future, to upcoming experiments, to possibilities.
And then–of course–the attention circled back.
Elder Daniel Clark, who had managed to avoid being dragged into most of the drunken antics, stood with a wineglass raised high.
“Tonight,” he declared, “we honor two of our brightest stars-
Ethan Caldwell and Selene Hartwell!”
Cheers erupted.
All eyes turned to us.
Ethan and I both half–rose from our seats, lifting our glasses in awkward acknowledgment.
But before either of us could sit down again, a sharp–eyed Packmate shouted,
“Wait–what’s this?”
Heads swiveled.
I looked down-
and saw Ethan carefully picking green onions out of my dish, setting them neatly on the side plate without even glancing up.
Heat flooded my cheeks.
The teasing was merciless.
“I knew it! I said something was off!”
“I saw Ethan giving Selene his jacket during the night shift last month!”
“Bet he’d carry her across a battlefield if she sneezed!”
Ethan froze, then scowled fiercely and shoved the plate toward me.
“Mind your own damn plates!” he barked, his ears flaming red.
The laughter only got louder.
Somehow, despite the heat in my face, I laughed too.
It wasn’t cruel.
It wasn’t invasive.
It was… warm.
Alive.
Belonging.
I sipped my drink, hiding my smile as best I could.
Ethan sat rigidly beside me, pretending to be very, very interested in his own food.
But when I peeked sideways, I caught the faintest glimpse of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth..
Maybe he didn’t mind the teasing after all.
Maybe, just maybe-
neither did I.
As the night wore on and the chaos settled into soft laughter and lazy drinking, I leaned back against the padded booth. Chapter 20
My heart felt lighter.
The world outside could wait.
Tonight, we had each other.
And for the first time in what felt like forever,
that was enough.
Maybe even more than enough.
