Page 139 of Family: Posy 4

"Yes, I can." His grin nearly split his face. "I am whatever Lark says I am because mate is always right. I am also a little wolf. Garnet and Mase say I will always be a little wolf even if I grow to seven feet tall!"

That was a lot of words and thought for his 'little wolf' brain, and I let a teeny smile flit across my lips.

"Thanks, Sid."

"For what?"

"For being you, I guess," I said gruffly.

"Who else would I be?" He tilted his head to the side with a confused frown.

I snorted, then slung an arm around his shoulder, pulling his head down several inches to accommodate our height difference.

"Let's go home to Lark."

"Yay!" He pulled out of my hold to punch his fists into the air. "Ashy said I can cuddle her as much as I want tonight."

"You'll have to pry her away from our brothers."

"They had their turn." He giggled. "Q?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

I didn't say those words very often toanyoneexcept Lark and Posy, but after tonight, the words were the least I owed the pup.

"I love you, too, Sid."

With a squeal, he wrapped me up in a bear hug, lifted me clean off my feet, and swung me around. I rolled my eyes, but let him have his moment, hanging there in resignation and waiting for it to be over.

"I'm happy, Q!"

"Good. Now off." I made a shooing gesture with one hand, and he giggled as he set me down and dropped his arms.

As we set off, he prattled on and on about anything and everything that popped into his over-stimulated brain. He was so hyper and jacked up on adrenaline, it was going to take hours to calm him down. Thankfully, it was a long walk back to the guest house.

My ear was chewed off -notliterally - by the time we reached the front walk, but at least he was winding down.

"Q?" he said as we went up the porch steps. "You 'member what you said, right?"

I'd said a lot of things tonight, but I knew which one was foremost in his mind right now.

"Yeah. Don't worry. I didn't forget your precious popcorn."

In his excitement, he jumped up and down, making the porch shake.

"But what about Lark?" I asked.

"She can have some, too." His big eyes shone with child-like innocence. "I will share with my darling."

Dammit! It isn't fair that he's so fucking pure and I'm...

You,Jayden filled in when I couldn't find the right word.You're you. You're Quartz, and you have many good qualities.

Iknow that!I hissed.Not my fault everyone else is too blind to see them!

Jayden chuckled, although it turned into a yawn.

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