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...?

little body wiggles with determination as Jer laughs, showing her how to

that?" I ask. I’d pictured Bun needing one of those car seats with a handle you carry around the grocery store, something to cradle her tiny body. She’s

the only option for the truck.

won’t be,"

rear should be fine. But not a

"Bucket?"

for

we were getting. Turns out there’s a lot to

few children in Andrew’s

at Caine.

response is immediate and cold.

Owen says calmly, unruffled

darkening. The air’s suddenly charged with

these kids from the beginning," I remind him. "We should follow what he wants for them. He’s the closest thing to

works, the muscle there jumping beneath his skin. "Then

no idiot. His brow arches as he looks between

that

to see how willingly he

gray eyes lock onto mine, steady and unwavering. "It is if you want it to

so 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

him,

driven by anyone else," Caine says, his voice hardening as he

hasn’t been the one to literally save their

bite back a groan. He’s just claiming the kids from their current parent without asking if it’s even okay. I get it; I’ve been doing the same in my head. But unlike a certain someone, at least I

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