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“Can’t complain,” he said, his expression serious.

“Well,” said Delilah, “I’m sure there’s plenty to complain about. Just last week, Callan submitted a report written entirely in Wingdings.”

“Hey!” said Callan, appearing out of nowhere. “I didn’t write it in Wingdings. The system converted it somehow.”

“A likely story,” said Brooke, apparently having been drawn over by the whiff of controversy.

“I’m pretty sure one of those clowns was responsible,” said Callan’s mate Ella, pointing to where Hector and Rhys were doing shoeys across the other side of the room while Trent egged them on.

Joining them, Zina looked over at where her mate was encouraging two grown men to drink beer from a shoe, and wrinkled her nose with playful distaste. “Sometimes I wonder about the mate bond. The universe decided that that was the best person in existence for me?”

“Sometimes I just wonder about Australia in general,” said Myrtle, who, like Zina, was from the US – and who, like almost everyone else, had gathered to watch the disgusting spectacle. “I would’ve thought that shoeys were just a myth made up to scare foreigners, but now I’m not so sure.”

“It could also just be that they’re idiots,” said Callan, and really, Tahnee couldn’t argue with that.

“I’ve got a friend who can shift into a bunyip,” Tahnee said thoughtfully. “Maybe I should send her their way after they’ve had a few more drinks, give them a bit of a scare.”

Euan looked stern. “As Agency team leader, I can’t condone those sorts of actions,” he said. He paused for a long moment. “As someone who’s been subjected to Trent’s recent attempts at singing opera in the lunch room, however…”

“Oh my God.” Zina facepalmed. “I’ve talked to him about that. Sorry, Euan.”

“No need to apologize,” Euan said. “He is entirely responsible for his own actions, no matter how annoying they may be. Especially when they’re annoying.”

The team dynamics really haven’t changed much, Tahnee thought with a pang. She was happy to see them all doing so well – but knowing that Robb was no longer the heart of the team hurt a little. It was going to take time for all of them to fully adjust.

And maybe that was why Robb had disappeared at some point. He’d been mingling and chatting earlier, somewhat less reserved with them than he had been in the past, but now he was elsewhere – and, as Tahnee peered out the enormous window, she could see him standing outside, watching as the sun began to dip behind the gum trees, their long leaves silhouetted against the glow.

Suddenly Dusty zoomed overhead once more – and as he pulled up in front of Zina he shifted into his human form, dropping into her arms.

“Oof,” she said, sagging theatrically. “You’re getting a bit too old for this kind of thing, bucko.”

Dusty laughed maniacally, and Tahnee laughed too – but she needed to be with Robb. Seeing him out there by himself made her heart hurt, even though she knew that social events weren’t really his cup of tea.

“I’ll be back in a bit,” she said – but the others barely seemed to notice her departure, caught up as they were in their friendly banter.

Moths battered themselves against the windows as the sky darkened, and Tahnee slipped outside, careful to shut the door quickly behind her.

I’ll have to remember to tell Myrtle about my friend Jake, who’s a bogong moth shifter, she thought suddenly. Myrtle was a scientist who studied moths, and Tahnee thought it might be pretty cool for her to get the perspective of what it was like to be a moth firsthand.

But for now, Tahnee didn’t want to get distracted. All she wanted to do was to be with her mate.

“How’re you going?” she asked quietly, her voice carrying in the still Outback air, and Robb turned, a pensive smile on his face.

“I’m fine,” he said. “Not going to lie and say that I’m not having a few mixed emotions right now, but I made the right choice. This is where I want to be. And who I want to be.”

“I’m so glad,” she said honestly, as she moved to stand by his side. And she really was. She’d never imagined that she could be this happy.

“Even just talking to them now is strange,” he said. “They’ve always seen me as this aloof, emotionless figure that exists primarily to scare them into doing what they’re supposed to do. I think some of them forgot from time to time that I’m an actual person.”

He laughed a little. “It makes small talk a bit difficult. How do you talk about the cricket scores with someone who thinks of you as some sort of rules-loving robot?”

“To be fair,” Tahnee said, “you do love rules an awful lot. And as for the other part: the answer is that you don’t talk about the cricket at all. That should go without saying.”

“And here I was going to suggest that we turn that empty paddock a couple of k’s to the southwest of here into a cricket ground,” Robb said musingly. “I guess not.”

“Absolutely not,” Tahnee declared, even as a part of her wondered about it. Whether or not she liked cricket was neither here nor there – if her staff and guests would enjoy it, then she’d look into it. The paddock in question was far enough away that it wouldn’t be directly connected to the sanctuary, so she wouldn’t have to think about the logistics of keeping an entire cricket ground hidden.

Why am I thinking about cricket, when I could be focusing all my attention on my mate? she thought incredulously.