Grace of a Wolf by Lenaleia

Chapter 167: Grace: There’s a Lot to Learn

Getting a car seat is a lot harder than I thought... and we haven’t even left the campsite yet.

It never really occurred to me we can’t just take a big rig like ours into a random store parking lot. Some of them aren’t easily accessible for something closer to a semi truck than a regular car.

I squint at the map on my tiny phone screen as Lyre zooms into a spot just off the highway.

"Your only option nearby is going to be this Walmart," she says, toggling the satellite photos. "See? They’ve got the space for overnight parking."

"We aren’t staying there overnight."

"No, but that means they have enough room."

Right, right.

"Funny it’s another Walmart," I mumble. It’s where I met Lyre.

"It’s always another Walmart. Get used to it." She smirks a little before zooming back out. "Anyway, you remember what I told you, right?"

I nod automatically. "Only two to three hundred miles a day, don’t put out my slides in a parking lot, and try to park to the back so we aren’t bothering the others."

"Our tanks aren’t very full, but don’t forget to stop by a dump site, especially one with extra fresh water. And always turn off your—"

"Water pump if we stop to use the bathroom," I finish for her. "I remember."

The RV life crash course she gave me feels like it happened years ago instead of days. So many rules I never knew existed for a life I never planned to lead.

Owen and Caine pause by us, done inspecting the truck. Owen is some sort of car seat guru, apparently, and he’s our tie-breaker on the seating arrangement.

His silver-gray eyes meet mine immediately. "You can fit a forward-facing car seat in the truck," he says. "In the front."

Forward-facing...?

then look over at Bun, who’s currently worm-crawling through the dirt with Jer. Her little body wiggles with determination as Jer laughs, showing her how to improve her technique. They’re both going to have to change before getting

one of those car seats with a handle you carry around the grocery

the only option for the truck.

won’t be," Caine

seat facing the rear should be fine. But not a

"Bucket?"

They’re for

we were getting. Turns out there’s a

his throat. "It would be better to put a few children in Andrew’s

smug look I shoot at Caine. See? There isn’t enough room. Take that,

is immediate

isn’t up to you," Owen says calmly, unruffled by the

suddenly

kids from the

there jumping beneath his

he’s using, and Owen’s no idiot. His brow arches as he looks

not that

see how willingly

steady and unwavering. "It is if you want it to

black and white for him? As if claiming something makes it real. As if saying we’re a family means we suddenly know how to be one. I wonder how he’s lived his life to

are for him, and that’s the

by anyone else," Caine says, his voice

man hasn’t been the one to literally save their lives and take

asking if it’s even okay. I get it; I’ve been doing the same in my head. But unlike a certain someone, at

I know one thing as absolute fact. Caine definitely never listed Owen in his future