With most of the humans either asleep or having their last drinks before heading home for the night, the apartment complex was deathly quiet. Each tap of Miguel's claws echoed down the hallway as if he was the only living thing in the entire building.

The second he entered Alejandro's apartment, tired brown eyes rose to meet his. "Glad you're back," Alejandro whispered. He tiptoed around the air mattress Isabella was sprawled across, as tentative and quiet as a mouse. "Where have you been?"

"Out with Ralph."

"Figured he was up to something. Headache, my foot. It'll snow in July before I fall for that." Alejandro bit his lip. "Nobody tried to hurt you, did they?"

"No, he just introduced me to a few friends of his. Nothing crazy." Other than watching humans and chupacabras fighting each other until Ralph went to talk to Creosote Pack's leader. Stars knew why he'd insisted on doing that alone, but Miguel had already dealt with enough excitement for one night.

The tension left Alejandro's shoulders as a moonbeam smile graced his face, tentative and fleeting. "Hope you didn't have too much fun without me."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Miguel took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. He couldn't put it off any longer. "We need to talk."

"That we do," Alejandro said quietly.

They wordlessly made their way to the pullout couch, wincing as it groaned beneath them. Their hands found each other in the darkness, giving each other a tight squeeze. Alejandro nodded for Miguel to go first.

"Did Mr. Kaminski say anything after I left?" Miguel asked. Everything they'd argued about would be a moot point if Mr. Kaminski decided against targeting human customers.

"He's going with your idea, but we're going to have a trial night first with friends and family. And pack leaders too, if Isabella actually gets any to come." Alejandro sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "That was not a fun conversation. She's not exactly keen on talking to any of them."

"Ralph asked Creosote Pack's leader for help. Not sure how that went, though." Ralph hadn't told him much about that meeting, but Miguel had never seen him as lost in thought as he had been on the drive back to town. He hadn't even listened to music, instead silently staring ahead with a death grip on the steering wheel.

"That might help. No idea if we'll actually get any humans to come, though." Alejandro let out a halfhearted chuckle. "Can't say I'm too bothered about that."

Miguel winced, fighting to keep his spines laying flat. So he still wasn't sold on the idea. "Your folks will definitely be there."

"Of course they will, and I'm glad they'll finally get to see the restaurant. It's everyone else I'm worried about. I just..." Alejandro gave Miguel's hand a tight squeeze as his voice faltered. "I just don't want you to get hurt again."

"I won't be. I promise." Miguel pulled Alejandro into a hug, thrumming softly as his partner buried his face against his neck. Holding him close after being apart for a few hours was like watching the sunrise after a long, storm-filled night.

"You and I both know you can't promise that." Alejandro's breath tickled Miguel's scales as it hitched. Moisture fell onto his shoulder. "You saw how David was when he came. If he'd shot you..."

Alejandro wept. His whole body shook as he struggled to stifle his sobs.

"I'm still here," Miguel whispered as he nuzzled Alejandro's tears away. Scales on skin, cool on warm, they were two halves of the same whole.

But they could only stay that way if Alejandro was willing to fight for it.

"Moonbeam," Miguel said as he stroked Alejandro's back, "I need to know you're okay with this."

"Mr. Kaminski already made up his mind. And so have you." Tears no longer fell from Alejandro's eyes, but that didn't make them hold any less sadness. Staring into them, Miguel longed to do anything that would banish his Moonbeam's sorrow forever. But that was not an option, not with what he was. What they were.

"I need this. We need this." Miguel cupped Alejandro's cheek with his hand, his fingers stroking his stubble. "How can we have a future together if even The Crimson Goat doesn't welcome couples like us?"

"How can we have a future if something happens to you?" Alejandro sniffed, blinking back tears. "If someone attacks you..."

"There will always be people who want to hurt me." Miguel forced himself to continue despite Alejandro's sharp intake of breath. "We can't change that, but we can try to help people understand and accept us for what we are." Miguel swallowed, his voice thick with desperation. "I can't do this without you."

Alejandro tensed, teeth chewing his lip. Miguel watched every last twitch of his muscles as if he was waiting to see if prey had caught his scent. If it would flee.

At last, a shuddering exhale left a smile as bright as a moonbeam in its wake. "No matter what happens, we're in this together. Te amo."

Miguel thrummed with relief. "I love you, too."

Huddled together with nothing but a heap of blankets and the bear Miguel won at Zest Fest, they held onto each other as if they were afraid the other would slip away. Things had changed so much over the past few months, and they were about to change even more.

But they still loved each other, and nothing could change that.

As he lay against the plush he'd won for Alejandro, Miguel knew exactly what he wanted to name their pack. Only one plant captured both the intense hardship they'd gone through and how their relationship had endured despite it all.

Miguel held Alejandro close, stroking his back as he whispered in his ear, "What do you think of calling us Carolina Reaper Pack?"

"Like those insanely spicy wings you ate at Zest Fest?" Alejandro planted a line of kisses down Miguel's neck, each one making his thrumming grow in volume until Isabella shoved her head under a pillow. "Hard to imagine anything better than something from one of the best days of my life."

"Then we'll be Carolina Reaper Pack. May the stars shine brightly upon us for many generations to come."

"Amen to that," Alejandro said with a yawn. "Do you think Isabella will mind if we wait until morning to tell her?"

"I'll mind if you don't stop talking before sunrise," Isabella grumbled. She gave them a fanged smile that was equal parts happy and exhausted. "We can talk about how to get a pack leader to acknowledge us in the morning. Now go to sleep!"

"Guess I'd better head to bed." Alejandro extracted himself from Miguel's arms with a sigh. "You're more than welcome to join me, if you want."

Miguel's heart hammered in his throat, barely stifling a deep, rumbling thrum. "My claws—"

"Would never hurt me." Alejandro took Miguel's hand in his and brushed his lips along the length of his claws. He traced each of the sharp curves from base to tip, yet not a single drop of blood stained his skin. "You don't have to if you don't want to, but I thought it might be nice to try. You did say you missed sleeping next to your packmates, right?"

Even after all this time, Miguel ached for that closeness, and he couldn't imagine anyone he'd rather share it with. "Okay, but I swear if one of my claws even nicks you, I'm going right back to the couch."

Illuminated only by the moonlight sneaking through the window, Alejandro's room was far less busy than the rest of the apartment. There were no bottles of hot sauce, no remnants of the meals they made together, no half-finished knitting projects. There was only the baseball bat propped against his closet and a small stack of romance novels on his nightstand.

And there was the bed.

The bed that had once been the home of the bear Miguel won at Zest Fest. The bed that Alejandro had tucked him into when he'd gotten sick. The bed that held Alejandro's delicate lavender scent in every last thread.

The bed he would share with his partner.

Alejandro let Miguel go in first. It was just as soft as he remembered, nothing like that brick of a mattress at the motel. With the sheets hugging him, it was hard to imagine getting more comfortable.

Then Alejandro lay next to him.

The bed creaked softly as Alejandro scooted into position, his back pressing against Miguel's chest. "Got enough room?"

"Plenty." But he knew how he could get even more comfortable. Miguel raised his arm, tentatively reaching toward Alejandro. "Mind if I...?"

"Please." Even in the darkness, Miguel heard the smile in Alejandro's voice as both of their hearts quickened.

Miguel embraced Alejandro, pulling him close as he curled around him. Alejandro's body fit against his perfectly, as if they had been born to nest together. "This is nice," Miguel murmured into Alejandro's hair, his thrumming interrupted only by a muffled chirp. "Hope I don't keep you awake."

"You've heard me snore, right? It takes more than a little noise to stop me from sleeping." Alejandro snuggled up against him, a contented sigh escaping his lips as he brushed them against Miguel's arm. "Buenas noches, mi amor."

"Sweet dreams, Moonbeam."