Page 206 of Drown My Sorrow

Aspyn leans into me, and I wrap an arm around her stomach, holding her close to me.

When we told her we weren’t staying, she cried for an hour. I know how hard she and Gael tried to adapt to this life, to see if they could live here. They tried, but it’s not for them, but also not for the rest of us. Plus Beau, Shale, and Keagan were getting seriously scary.

I miss the ocean. I can’t stand waking up and not hear the rocking motion of the waves. Opening a door and smelling the briny air.

It was an easy decision to make once we sat down and talked about everything with the family honestly. Ryn and Locke will help guide Bailey in the industry, and Charles will guide him in management. They were more than happy to understand, and Auggie and Charles came up to Gael and I after and hugged us for a long time.

Then, to my surprise, thanked us.

I refocus on the briefing, trying to pay attention, but I’m bored, and now that the Boothe house is packed up, I’m itching to leave.

We escape quietly after that. Bailey and Charles escort us down to the street.

“We’ll see you soon,” Kelly says with a smile. “I promised you surfing lessons.”

Bailey shrugs. “I’ll take surfing lessons when you take riding a bike lessons.”

Kelly cracks up, laughing hard and with abandon. It’s mesmerising. “I know how to ride a bike, so make sure you get a good wetsuit before you come down.”

Bailey bristles but then pauses. I follow his gaze to a man in a long black jacket. I can’t see his face or any details, but I get an intense sensation that he is watching us intently.

Bailey simply lifts his hand, flips him the bird, and goes back to a conversation with Shale about when he should come to wherever we end up.

The truth is, none of us are sure. We’ve found a few islands that will offer us an amazing potential home, but we’re going to go and have a look, and when the right one feels good, that’s where we will find a place and settle down.

None of us wants to live in a city. We all want to live on an island like the ones we’ve been living on.

Kelly suggests we go back to Kala, and I agree. It’s busier, but there is a hotel there for family who might want to come and stay.

We pile into the car, and when we get to the airport, pile into the plane. The lightness infects the whole pack, and even the air hostess relaxes and giggles with Aspyn.

Our omega is the most excited about this. I’d asked her why, and she said because the house is white.

I’d asked her what house. She couldn’t tell me, just said that she saw something, and the house is perfect, and it's white.

She curled up against me and fell asleep after that and slept almost the entire flight there.

“You are my everything. I didn’t even know I was missing you until I found you.”

She grins, revealing she wasn’t sleeping. “We just kept finding each other. I can't help but think the universe was on our side.”

“Keagan, what is that?” Beau wrestles a box away from Keagan and looks at it. “Ooh, it says it helps with pain. It’s not meds, it helps the muscle. Keagan this was really thoughtful, I’m surprised at you.”

Keagan snarls and lunges at Beau, but the seatbelt sign comes on.

“We’re here!” Aspyn says breathlessly.

Shale takes her hand and holds on tight.

“Are you ready?”

“I’ve been ready forever!” Aspyn sings out and laughs.

I stare at her as we land. I don’t care about the island, where our home is, or anything as long as I’m with her.

I’ve been ready for her forever, too.

Chapter fifty-four

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