I’m sitting anxiously by Rafe’s bassinet, watching him sleep, while my mind wanders impatiently elsewhere. It’s been twenty-four hours since we heard from Cora and Roger, and I feel, just a tiny bit, that every passing minute is a knife in my heart.

Where is my sister? I wonder, sighing as I look down at my baby, barely seeing him.

“It’s okay,” my wolf says, rubbing her body warmly against my aching heart and nuzzling me with her snout. “Roger will take care of her—I know it. He can’t not.”

But what if he couldn’t? I think anxiously, my mind turning inevitably to the freak storm they hit—the storm that separated them from their guards. It seemed too precise, too convenient, too perfect to be coincidence. What if the cult trapped them and hurt them both?

I wail inwardly, my wolf giving in a little, sitting back on her haunches to raise her nose to the sky and howl with me. She still believes, but she’s overwhelmed, a little, by my despair, even though she inwardly keeps the faith.

“Ella!” I hear Sinclair shout from downstairs. I jump, turning toward the door, but I freeze, not allowing myself to hope. If it were bad news, he wouldn’t be shouting from downstairs. But something very urgent could be happening, preventing him from coming up.

“Ella!” he calls again. “Come down! There’s a car in the drive!”

I gasp, scooping Rafe into my arms. He gives a half-hearted cry of protest, and I know I should leave him to sleep—but damn it, with the cult out there looking for him, there’s no way I’m leaving him out of one of his parents’ sight for an instant. Not until I know he’s safe.

I dash out of the room and pound down the stairs, looking anxiously into my mate’s face as he stands at the bottom, a hand raised to take mine. I slip my hand into his as I reach him, my eyes not leaving his. “Is it—?” I gasp.

He doesn’t say anything, and I realize he doesn’t know. He came to get me before he could tell me. Together, we stride to the front door, which Sinclair throws open.

And I give a little moan of relief, sinking against Sinclair as my knees weaken slightly. There, in the doorway, stands Cora. And behind her—I can see Roger, speaking to her before they both open their doors and climb out.

“Cora!” I cry, tears filling my eyes as I dash toward her.

“Ella!” she laughs, giving me a big smile as I throw myself at her, tossing my arm around her neck. Cora takes two steadying steps backward from the force, but wraps her arms around me nonetheless. “Easy, sis!” she says, still laughing. “Don’t crush the baby.”

“Screw the baby,” I mutter, not meaning it at all—I made sure to hold Rafe to my side as I hugged my sister. In this moment, all I care about is that I have my sister back, safe. “Where were you?” I demand, stepping back and wiping my eyes, shifting Rafe so he’s safely against my chest. “Why didn’t you call?”

“Our phones died,” Cora says, shrugging. “We were in the storm for a long time—”

“And you didn’t have a charger?” I ask, exasperated.

“We didn’t plan to stay so long—”

“No charging cord in the car?”

“No, there wasn’t one—”

“Couldn’t have stopped at a gas station to buy one?!”

“Ella,” Cora says, stepping forward and looking into my eyes, her own wide with shock. “I’m sorry I didn’t know you were so worried. We were fine—we are fine! We didn’t want to stop anywhere on the way home; we just wanted to get here quickly. I’m sorry I didn’t think of it.”

“Well, you should have,” I say, sniffing and wiping my angry tears of relief away. “I can’t lose you, Cora. I was worried I did.”

“You didn’t,” she says, putting a warm arm around me. “I’m sorry, Ella,” she says, as Roger and Sinclair come over. “You’re right, we should have called, texted, or sent a smoke signal. It’s our fault. We were…” she hesitates, but Roger finishes for her.

“Distracted,” he says, smirking smugly and sinking his hands into his pockets.

“What?” I ask, confused, looking between them. “Distracted by what?”

Cora blushes.

Blushes?!

My mouth drops open.

Then Cora, a little chagrined but smiling at Roger, explains. “The storm was bad—we stopped at a little motel, just to weather it out.” She doesn’t say anything else, but the big smile on her face says everything.

“Oh, ew!” I shout, shoving her a little. “I’m sitting here for hours, worried to death, and you’re out there having motel sex?!”

“You should try it sometime, Ella,” Roger quips, smirking. “There’s nothing ‘ew’ about it.”

“Oh my god,” I say, realizing the implications. “Oh my god,” I repeat, taking a step forward to shove Roger and turning to Cora. “Does this mean—are you two—?” I’m unable to finish, my mouth hanging open in hope and awe.

“We’re together,” Roger says smoothly, ignoring my shove and taking Cora’s hand.

I stare at them, frozen in shock, so long that Cora’s smile falters, and she looks at me with worry. “Ella,” she starts, “are you—?”

“Yes!” I shriek, tossing my head back. “YES! FINALLY!” I pump a fist in the air and start to dance, laughing with glee. “Codger exists! Codger forever!”

“Roger,” Sinclair sighs, glaring at his brother. “You know you need to tell her these things slowly—she’s going to shake the baby!”

“I’m not shaking the baby,” I scold, giving my mate a happy glare and continuing to dance, Rafe safe in my arms, now awake and giving me a happy smile. “See?” I say. “He likes it!”

Then I turn my dance into a song, dancing around them all: “Baby Rafe is happpppy! He is also team Codgerrrr! He knewwww it was gonna happpppen!”

Sinclair laughs, putting his hands in his pockets, shaking his head but grinning. I give him a wink and wiggle my hips, and he sends me a pulse of happy lust down our bond.

“Not dating,” Roger says, putting an arm around Cora’s shoulders. “Mated.”

“What?” I gasp, laughing as I spin toward my sister and her mate. “How did that happen? Let me see!” I reach out to pull back the collar of her shirt—which looks wrecked, like it’s been through the storm and back.

“Ella,” Cora says, pursing her lips and swatting my hand away. “There’s no mark yet. We don’t know if…” she hesitates, looking at him.

“We don’t know what will happen if I try to mark her,” he says.

“Oh,” I say, raising my eyebrows. “Well,” I say, turning to Sinclair, “is the intent enough?”

“Yes,” he says, smiling at his brother and holding out a hand, which Roger grasps warmly. “Yes, it certainly is. Congratulations, brother.” Roger says something serious back, but I don’t hear it because I’m shrieking with happiness again and hugging my sister close. She laughs and hugs me as well.

“Oh geeze,” I say, laughing as I pull away. “It has been a lot of emotions in the past ten minutes,” I say, putting a hand to my head. “I thought you were dead, and it turns out you’re mated!” I smile softly at her, taking her hand. “I’m so happy for you, Cora,” I say sincerely, squeezing her fingers. “I think…it’s right.”

“It is,” she says, nodding and smiling at me. Then she looks at Roger, distracted by Sinclair, and sighs happily. “We have a lot to figure out, but…” she shrugs. “We’re going to figure it out.”

“You will,” I say, wrapping my arm around her waist. “You really will, Cora. I can feel it.”

And inside me, my little wolf gives a little howl of victory and starts to dance.