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She thought of his chuckle over Ben, his slow kiss good-bye, and felt her lips curve in a silly s into the chair on the other side of her desk, "you’re sot a cavity"

Lara threw a soft toy a patient had gifted her at her best friend’s head "I am newly mated," she pointed out "Entitled to be s, Ava pushed her hand through the silky dark of her shoulder-length hair "True, you’re not a cynical old broad likedistinctly disheveled yesterday afternoon, accompanied by a certain Mr Stone - who had a suspicious bruise on his neck and a shirt that was buttoned up crooked"

Ava grinned, unabashed "Hey, we have a baby and a five-and-a-half-year-old with the world’s worst case of curiosity We have to get creative" Having fallen foul of Ben’s curious streak less than an hour ago, Lara grinned "Lucky you mated a creative type"

Spencer "Spence" Stone was the pack’s official photographer - not simply of joy, but of pain and war and loss He’d been out on the battlefield, had captured the only known terrestrial iraph and trans them simultaneously to the den until the flames licked over his body Even then, once he realized he wasn’t burning, he’d sole shot of the column of flahed, expression dreamy "The man is supremely blessed in the creativity depart about Spence’s proith a cagled her eyebrows, eyes the same dark brown as her son’s filled with unrepentant wickedness "Not telling But wait till you have a newborn and a teenager to deal with - I figure sweet as he is, Toby’s gonna go crazy on you any day now Then I will laugh" The idea of a baby with Walkerin her abdomen "I am so smitten"

"Told ya," Ava said, checking an incoe on her phone Her expression was suddenly one of pure delight "Sorry, I’ to ditch you

Mr Stone is back in the den, the baby’s with her aunt, Ben’s in school, and I’ve co over the speed of Ava’s disappearance tenout of the storeroom after a quick chat with Lucy

The senior lieutenant held up a s cereive the pack the heads-up - there are a lot of folks ant to make certain they’re in the den for the celebration"

His wordsin joy "We had a chat about it last night," she said, inputting a date into the calendar on the datapad "How’s that work?"

"It’ll be just over teeks after Hawke and Sienna’s ceremony," Riley said "Fine with you?"

"Sounds perfect" Walker needed to see Sienna embraced into her new position in SnowDancer and would enjoy his and Lara’s own night farand the attendant celebration was critical for the health of the pack Everyone needed a chance to dance, to forget the blood and pain of battle, and to howl their joy at theof an alpha who’d bled for the pack since he was little more than a boy

"Any plans in terms of the celebration itself?" Riley’s eyes, steady and calot a laundry list of volunteers ant to help"

Warh every inch of her body at his words "I’ll have a preliminary sketch for you in a week or so" In this, Walker was being the typical ested Frustrated, she’d slipped oiled male dancers into the plan, coically placed tassel or two That had received a response - a very fir the datapad into his pants pocket, Riley nodded "Sounds good" His expression softened "I’ood man"

"I know," she said with a sht in her , his body solid as a wall "Where are you heading now?"

"Down to do so replanted"

Lara scowled, jealous "Enjoy I’m off to slave away at more patient reports"

The paperwork kept her busy till ten after five, interrupted only by a fifteen-e and eat a snack before leaving for their afterschool activities Though Toby was old enough to supervise his cousin, Lara enjoyed spending that ti the kisses on the cheek as they’d left in the same rush they’d arrived, the children had started to expect to see her - to the point that if she w a s busy in the infir It was nice in the best sense of the word However, she’d been hard at work since sending theuilt

"Lucy, go ho the file she’d been working on at the sae roo off her hairtie to redo her sadly drooping ponytail "Ti supplies," she said, tone dry as dust "I’h Want o Better if we’re out of so"

"I’ll break out my secret-recipe chocolate brownies and bribe sos up"

"I already asked" She’d figured Lucy would appreciate the help "No luck - operations has its hands full to overflowing" SnowDancer had won the battle, but the violence had left the pack with broken or destroyed equipment, part of a forest to replant, packe to their homes, disrupted comm lines, debris from the enemy’s ships to clearthe list went on

"Da her hands on her lower back, Lucy bent over backward to stretch her muscles