The Light in Us

36. Teddy

36

Teddy

I crash into Wilder, wrapping my arms around him in elation. “You did it.”

He starts laughing, ragged and low as I bury my face into his chest. But I can feel his relief. “Yeah. Now I just need to work out how to be around her without bleach being a defining component.”

He squeezes me tightly. Rowan has taken Fallon off to work on her documentation, and we’ve headed down to the marketing floor, Zeke and Fox following.

“She’s perfect,” Wilder says reverently. “Just like you said.”

I almost bounce on my feet as I step back. “And she likes you. All of you.”

They all stop to look at me.

“She does,” I insist, spreading my hands out wide. “I can tell. Can’t you?”

It’s in every interaction she has with them. “She’s going to realize it soon. About the scent-matching.”

I’m surprised she hasn’t already, but then again, if her home life is as bad as I think it is, I’m not surprised.

Something tells me Fallon has no idea what it’s like to be with a pack who truly cares . It breaks my damn heart to see the way she lights up with every interaction. And I’m as determined to show her as the three alphas who converge on me with questions tripping over each other.

“Enough.” I have to laugh at the desperation in their faces. “This is a good thing .”

Fox studies me. “And you’re still not going to tell us?”

I shake my head. “That’s for her to decide.”

He sighs, but he nods. “Go on up with her. We’ve hounded her enough for one day. She liked Editorial, though. Maybe she could start coming to the morning meetings if you can make it work.”

I beam at him. “This is why I love you. You get it.”

It’s clear that Fallon has a connection to that part of the publishing world. I fully intend to nurture it. “Ed wants to work with her, doesn’t he?”

And Ed is the best editor we have.

Fox nods. “He has an intern vacancy coming up since we promoted Maggie. He was fairly close to Rick Matthews, by all accounts. I think he tried to reach out to her before, but he never heard back. And then she disappeared, and fell under the radar.”

Another path. Another possibility.

Wilder’s eyes widen. “Rick Matthews ?”

“He was her dad.” My brows draw together. “I’m going to ask Rowan to look into that side of things, you know.”

Because The Light in Us was possibly the biggest-selling adult fiction book of the decade. And yet Fallon doesn’t seem to have anything to show for it.

It doesn’t seem right to me.

“We’ll find out,” Zeke says quietly. “It’s something we can do for her.”

Damn straight.