Page 11 of Blood Moon
“Already done,” Zane said, walking into the room. “Get over here and give your daddy a great big wolf hug goodbye.”
I looked at Zane, and even though he seemed upset, I could see he knew Aria was going to be okay, and we needed this to happen fast. Not only for our sake but also for hers.
“Take her down to everyone. I’ll go find the suitcases and pack up her stuff.”
“Don’t forget Mr. Whiskers,” she said about the black cat that was her favorite and only stuffed toy. “He doesn’t want me to go, so I have to take him.”
“How about Boots?” I heard Braden ask from outside the room. “He’s going to miss you the most.”
“I can take Boots, Uncle Braden?” she asked with excitement.
“Well, Boots won’t have it any other way,” Braden answered with a laugh. “Go with daddy and help him pick out your favorite things. I’m going to talk to mommy for a second.”
Aria nodded and quickly zoomed past us in search of her father.
“Someone needs to tell her that I’ll be okay,” I said.
“Yeah, we heard you informing her about that.”
“You shouldn’t listen in on conversations, Uncle Braden. It’s rude,” I chided.
“Ah, I guess I got my manners from you.” He chuckled, and then I felt him by my side at her dresser.
“Why are you letting her take Boots, he’syourcat,” I asked, going through all of Aria’s clothes, more upset now than before.
I felt him run his hand down my back, “Because that cat will protect her. They may fight like brother and sister, but Boots is pretty savvy on things and will alert Val if her head is up her ass and something’s not right.”
“God,” I sighed, “I can’t believe it’s come to this.” I turned to him. “Meeting you and your cousins, my life has not only changed for the better, but it also seems like it’s for the worse.”
He frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Think about it. I’m not trying to be a damn martyr—or maybe I am, I don’t know—but since I was forced into this life, we’ve dealt with nothing but shit. It went from Enzo being your longest enemy, to us being hunted, to Val being killed and then brought back to life, then there’s the merge with the wolves, and a damn witch trying to force you all to get me pregnant.” I felt anger bubbling up in my veins. “Turns out the fucking witch was a damn demon that no one saw coming, the dead shifters working for the demon and Lucifer…” I stopped there and shook my head. “Fuck, Braden, how do we swallow all this shit? Now, we have to go align ourselves with my evil dad—and, what, turn him good? Then we have a final showdown with the devil? All while we face the facts that Aria is bad for all of us. It’s all too much. It’s fucked up.”
“That’s the truth, but trust me, being an immortal and alive for the amount of time I’ve been?” He ran his hand along my cheek. “You get used to fucked-up twists in life. This is no different. In fact, maybe it’s better.”
“How so?”
“We know what lies ahead of us. We know who the enemy is and what we have to do to destroy the fucker.”
“I’m still trying to wrap my head around a war with a fallen angel.”
“It’s a war with evil itself. A war wewillprepare ourselves for. We can’t do that so long as we’re all imploding.” He brought his lips to my forehead. “Listen, I think that your mind is reverting quickly back to the questioning human mind. Until we can bring you back up to where you were before, stop questioning everything. We need you strong and ready with us. You’re honestly the strongest one out of all of us and the binding force that keeps this unit together. We need you in the game, Ellie.”
“I know. Damn it. I even feel weaker—more afraid, I think.”
“It’s natural, especially with your human emotions taking over. We’re going to get back to where we were, beat an evil fucker’s ass, then enjoy our little Aria again. Right now, we all need this so we all can be strong and ready.”
“Then, let’s handle shit,” I said, shoving the human emotions down, ready to end Lucifer with my bare hands if I could. A mother’s wrath…I guess that’s what would get me through most of this. Who knew, my brain was shuffling all sorts of emotions, and right now, I had to give my daughter an energetic and exciting send-off.
I needed to take it one step and emotion at a time. That’s what I would tell myself until I felt strong again.
7
We decided to blow off any outside help, which was a stupid decision, and we all knew it, but we’d rather have the one who Val trusted the most work with Aria, not us. We’d all managed this shit before, and with the hope that our bond wasn’t too far gone, we decided to let fate take over for us and hope that with Aria not siphoning from us anymore, our bond might regenerate on its own.
An entire month had passed, and everyone here was finally getting past the fact that Aria had left us behind. That’s honestly how it felt. It wasn’t us sending her off, it was her leaving us. Val said we’d feel this way, something about Aria’s unknowing hold over us.
We were starting to switch gears, and it was a breath of fresh air. The shifters kept to themselves, Zane taking the lead on them, and letting us know that it would take time for them to return to the bond that we’d all formed. He, Nakia, and Bren felt the draw toward us, but that was all that was left.
