Page 67 of Luna Rising

Ewan, Zach, and my mother stopped walking when they reached town and waited for Brooke and me so we could all enter the lodge together.

Winter had created the temporary passage from Arcane Falls to the center of town, and Gemini wolves were marching out of the portal carrying backpacks and duffle bags full of their belongings. Because no one knew if they would ever be able to go home again. I understood that uncertainty and knew their pain.

Members of my former pack congregated in the lodge lobby, all talking and crying and comforting one another, while the council tried to assign them rooms and keep some semblance of order.

At first, I had a hard time tamping down my irritation. He was my father, my blood. I lost more than an alpha. My dad was dead, and I never got to say I was sorry.

“They loved him. That should make you feel good. He touched all their lives. I hope to achieve even half the adoration he did.” Ewan rested his hand on the small of my back.

“I know. You’re right. I think I just want to be mad, you know?”

“I do. And later, when we’re alone, you can be mad and bratty and sexy. Right now, be a good little Luna and make the Gemini wolves feel welcome.” His hand slid lower, so it rested on the curve of my ass and he stretched his fingers to feel the bow on my panties through my dress as he leaned closer to speak directly in my ear. “And when we get home, you’re going to take all that aggression and you’re going to fuck me like you mean it.”

My cheeks heated. Incentives were good, especially in this situation. They helped me well the urge to lash out at someone. I didn’t want to feel so much anger, and the tiny slice of my brain that dealt with rational thoughts knew that the Gemini wolves had loved my father and should share in our family’s grief. But I was angry. So, very angry, mostly with myself, but it was easier to project it onto them.

“You understand me so well.” I kissed his cheek. “I love you.”

“And I love you. Stop stalling. If you need me, I’m here. Go.” He nudged me to send me on my way.

I had worked the situation up in my head, worried that the Gemini wolves wouldn’t be as forgiving as Brooke when it came to my fuck ups. Except, they were. They cried and told me how much my father meant to them. Older wolves wanted to tell me stories about Dad’s misadventures prior to settling down with my mother and having Zach and me. A young couple thanked me for the house Dad helped build when he found out they were expecting a new edition to their family.

It was simultaneously sweet and heart-wrenching. Every time someone used the past tense when talking about Dad, I fought to keep the waterworks from pouring down my face.

My vampire eyes drew a few uneasy looks, and some weren’t as receptive to me as others. But most of my former pack was happy to see me, and I was happy to see them, even if the circumstances sucked.

We stayed at the lodge until all the wolves had come through the passage. My father’s beta Noto was the last. He’d always been sort of like an uncle or an older brother that I’d never wanted. He paid his respects to my brother and Mom, and then he came straight for me. The reunion with Noto was harder for me than any of the others, save my family. And part of that was because my Aunt Tamlin wasn’t with him. She was the one who’d banished me from Gemini lands and the reason I’d worried so much about everyone’s reaction to my new undead glow up. She was the reason I never spoke to my father again before he died.

“She’s not coming?” I asked Noto.

He shook his head. “Merrick exiled her last night, when he learned about your encounter with her.”

I didn’t know how to feel. One of my father’s last acts as alpha was exiling his own sister because of me. I loved him even more. Still, I didn’t like the thought of her out on her own. The Zodiac Council had already shown an active willingness to kill my relatives. If history was any indication, it wouldn’t be long before the hunters came for anyone who shared my blood. I held a lot of hatred in my heart for her at that moment, but the tiny kernel of love was much stronger.

“Well, I’m glad you’re here,” I said after a super long pause.

His jaw worked back and forth. “What choice did I have? Someone had to come check out the mate you chose without the permission of the Gemini council. And Zach already thinks the sun shines of his ass.”

Zach and Ewan were awfully chummy. I had noticed them speaking a lot throughout the night but sort of figured it was about alpha stuff. It hadn’t occurred to me that they might become friends. I found the prospect horrifying. Why? I didn’t know. I just didn’t like it. Friends shared things, private, personal things. And I didn’t want Zach and Ewan swapping stories about me. I realized that was hypocritical. In my defense, I was friends with Brooke long before my brother got the stick out of his ass and realized he was in love with her.

“Don’t worry, Mom hasn’t quite warmed up to him either. I mean, it’s gone better than I would have anticipated.”

He laughed. “I hope I’m there when she finally gives him an earful. When she found out she’d missed her wedding, her wolf came out in the kitchen.”

I shuddered at the thought. Only once ever had I seen my mother’s wolf make a spontaneous appearance. When mine first emerged.

Noto placed a hand on my shoulder, his expression sobering. “We’ve all missed you, Zara. Your father most of all.”

I shed my first tears since entering the lodge. “I’ve missed you and everyone so much.”

He squeezed my tense shoulder muscle, a glint forming in his dark gaze. “One day, I want to hear about your time since we last saw each other. Because, kid, I’m hearing all sorts of wild rumors.”

“The truth is….”

How did one sum up so many experiences that had both shattered me and made me whole? I’d learned to live as a fae while trying to find one of my bond mates, then visited Mat’s vampire city and met an absolutely terrifying creature named Madeline. I had rejected my wolf’s true mate to reunite with my original soulmate. Through eerie dreams of the past, I’d learned Stavros and Zosia had conceived at least one child—when this happened remained unclear—and that line descended all the way down to Brooke. Then I’d played a part in tearing the fabric between worlds and letting blue bat people through, traveling willingly to a place called the Cursed Realm where I’d been minutes away from becoming a prostitute before a caster called Webber saved me so I could save Winter and we could all go in search of a vampire cure together. But only after I fed another eternal protector my blood, of course.Not to mention the most devastating night of all, when I’d married Ewan and died on my bonding night because his jealous ex—a woman who’d betrayed me centuries earlier—wasn’t happy about the union. Was there a word that encompassed all that?

“… complicated. One day, though, remind me to tell you about the time I crashed a royal celebration to save a fae from a king who wanted to use her like a battery.”

He laughed. “I can’t wait.”

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