Chapter Text
As she stopped outside their apartment, Rowan dropped her bag on the floor with a heavy ‘thud’ to give her shoulder a rest. She had a feeling she’d lifted enough weights to last her a week away from the gym, after all. As she dug into her pockets for her keys, her eyes drifted to the new little placate on the wall that listed four names engraved into brass. But before she could dwell on it, her phone buzzed.
She pulled it out with a sigh, expecting it to be advertisement or spam, but instead her pack’s chat app flashed with a notification . Suddenly worried, Rowan tapped it with her thumb, bracing herself. But as soon as she saw Justin’s icon and the message ‘ It’s open, silly ;) ’, she groaned and shoved the phone back into her pocket.
Grabbing her bag and pushing the handle and door open, she called into the apartment. “You could just come and open for me instead of teasing, yanno!” The chuckle that met her made Rowan drop her bag with another sigh, toeing off her shoes into the rack before heading to the kitchen. She was used to her boyfriend being cheeky, but there were limits, even if the scent of chili and chicken was heavenly and the sight of him made her shoulders relax.
“But that would mean leaving the stove, and I’m a good beta,” Justin said , glancing over his shoulder. “Welcome home, by the way. You need a shower.”
The way he grinned made Rowan roll her eyes, but she couldn’t resist going over to wrap her arm around him from behind, kissing his cheek. She even took a moment to nuzzle his hair, burying her nose so deep she reached the dark roots. As she breathed in, his scent went straight to her nerves, making her calm down and smile. “Mmm, the gym was packed, and I wanted to try and surprise you guys with dinner,” she murmured. Without thinking about it, her thumbs were stroking his hipbones, and her chin resting on his shoulder, brown eyes falling closed.
“And then I ruined it for you. What a horrible boyfriend I am!” The joke made both of them shake with repressed laughter, and she pressed another kiss to his cheek.
“Oh yes, you’re terrible. And I guess you finished work early for once? Everything okay at the lab?” Rowan’s voice kept its soft tone, her heart beating at a calm rhythm with the man she loved, even if the feeling wasn’t reciprocated. At least, not romantically, but neither of them minded that little detail anymore.
“Yeah, the head honcho just thought we’d made such good progress with the latest tests that we deserved to go home for once,” Justin said. The reply got a grunt in return as Rowan pulled away slowly, so she could go and sit down at the table.
“That’s good to hear, I’ve been thinking of going out and kidnapping you guys back home for once.” Her tone was jovial, but as Rowan put an ankle to a knee there was something serious in her eyes, too. She loved her pack for their intelligence and admired their work ethic, but she missed them. It was hard to live together when parts of the whole were gone.
“Mmm, I can’t deny that it’ll be good to have an evening together.” Justin ignored the implications in her words and demeanor. Not that he was one to discourage her hands-on approach . But at the moment, he was busy slicing up some greens and tearing chicken, and the last thing he wanted was a gamma outbreak or bad memories. “And talk about the devil, I think I can hear the others in the stairway.”
Rowan realized that he was right, and a smile took the place of her sullen look. And as she heard the door open and the subsequent cursing from her cousin about her bag, it only grew. Soon the two remaining members of her pack were entering the kitchen, and she reached for Joy to pull her onto her own lap.
“Seriously Rowan, stop leaving your bag in the doorway,” Stella said, slanted eyes narrowing. Stepping over to the cupboards, she nudged Justin as a greeting, before beginning to take out plates and glasses.
“And you need a shower, darling,” Joy said , giggling as Rowan nuzzled her neck with soft kisses. Which only received a murmured ‘I know’, as Rowan was much more intent on hugging her girlfriend close. She knew the banter wasn’t serious, she always took care of her bag and hygiene after showing them some love. They were her priority, after all, and her cousin always forgave her and put muscle ointment in said bag, and Joy always snuggled back against her.
Her pack was a real visual mix, starting with her tall and muscular cousin Stella, who surprised most people with her work. Her hands seemed too big to work with delicate biomechanics and prosthetics, but she did so with finesse and skill. Like Rowan her skin had a smooth dark tone, eyes slanted and sharp, and once upon a time Rowan had even had the same shaved side-cut as her.
Then there was Justin, short and spindly, often teased as a noodle , but he just shrugged it off. He simply put on thick-rimmed glasses and bleached his hair blond, making bad jokes and burying himself in researching alloys. Rowan would always admire that confidence about him, and how he built himself up by taking inspiration from his fathers.
Last but not least, there was Joy on her lap, who Rowan absolutely adored. Short and fat, with a bright smile and penchant for strategy games, she was a recent law graduate and Rowan had no doubt her career would go far. She had even landed an impressive internship at the very law firm that had helped put their legal papers together.
And Rowan loved them all to death, having vowed over and over that she would die if it meant protecting them. Though death was far from her mind as Joy pressed a kiss to her temple, and the others discussed dinner by the counter. The air was filled with their scents, mingling with fresh food, and Rowan felt at peace.
She let her eyes fall closed, to just stay in the moment for a moment longer and soothe old aches. And it worked so well that she didn’t even realize her phone was buzzing in her pocket.
“Dear, your phone is kind of vibrating against my ass.” Joy’s teasing voice made Rowan grin, as she wriggled her hand under Joy’s behind.
“And we can’t have that… I’m the only one supposed to make things vibrate against your lovely ass.” Their exchange made the others roll their eyes, but it was good-natured. They’d been together five years, after all, they knew how crude and crass things could get between them.
But when Rowan saw the caller ID on her phone, her grin died. Her sudden change in mood caught the attention of everyone else, and she saw her packmates look at each other and frown. They kept their questions unspoken, though, something Rowan appreciated as she lifted the phone to listen to the message. When she finally turned to her pack, her voice was low and solemn.
“It’s my grandmother.”