Page 52 of Pack Rage
“Tenebris,” she breathed. “I wish I could see those boys again.”
“I can help you heal, so you can try.”
With a sigh, she closed her eyes. “Call me Mama, then.”
His gaze flew to mine, emotions swirling so fast, I wasn’t certain how he felt. After a few heartbeats, he smiled. “Yes, Mama.” Then he closed his eyes, and I felt—almost saw—the magic moving from him to her.
“Blue,” Brand muttered, moving to my side. “The magic. It’s blue.”
“You can see it?”
“Yes. You can’t?” He wrapped his arms around me.
“No. I can feel it in here, but I can’t see it.” I pressed a hand to my heart. “I don’t have your eyes.”
Those silver-white eyes moved over my face. “You have every part of me, little one.”
We watched as Mama’s features softened. She fell asleep, smiling, and Grigor rose, a little shaky, as Margarette carried Mama to the bed and laid her down. Once she was lying quietly, Brand murmured, “We need to talk. Outside.”He led us all into the hallway.
To my surprise, Bradley and Margarette rushed to me, and before I knew what was going on, they’d enfolded me in a group hug. “Oh, Flor, we’re so glad to see you again. We just wish it weren’t under these circumstances,” Bradley said, before Margarette cut him off.
“I wish I could tell Glen how happy it makes me that he has you—that you all have each other.”
My eyebrows flew upward. I wasn’t sure what had changed, but something had made her get onboard with the multiple mates thing.
“And if you need us to help you disentangle fromthat one…” Bradley said. “He may have saved my life, but that doesn’t mean he gets to ruin yours.”
Someone growled softly, and everyone went quiet, but when we all looked to see who it was, the growling one wasn’t my wizard mate.
It was Brand. “We are together. Flor, me, Glen, Finn, Luke… and Grigor. Treat him with respect. We need him; she needs him. There will be no more discussion.” His pale eyes bored into Bradley, and it had never been clearer who had more power.
Bradley’s shoulders dropped a split second after his gaze did, and Margarette hmphed. “Well, we’d better discuss a few things before morning. When the moon rises tomorrow night, we won’t have the chance. We need to figure out what weapons we have, both non magical and magical, it seems. We need to plan what to do if…” Her eyes moved from me to each of my mates, and I shook my head.
“Don’t say it. It’s not going to happen.”
“Flor. It’s hard enough with one mate. When Bradley was dying…” She swallowed audibly, but went on. “I would have gone with him. You need to be prepared.”
“I am,” I declared. “I’m prepared to kick witch ass from here to the Atlantic if I have to, maybe see if water really does make them dissolve.”
I thought they’d laugh, but Grigor just mused aloud, “Water, no. But salt could be useful, depending on how much we could lay hands on.” His fingers started moving, like he was doing some mental calculations.
Margarette swallowed again, looking like she was trying not to cry. “I just can’t see how it’ll be all right. If that bitch gets her hands on even one of you?—”
“We’ll just have to hope that doesn’t happen,” Finnick interrupted.
“Hope?” she scoffed, and it was so much like the tone I’d had in my voice every time I’d said that word in my life, up until now, that I couldn’t help but smile.
“Yeah, actually. Del always told me to use every weapon I had. You know what I figured out since I left Northern? One of the strongest ones I ever had was hope, even if I didn’t know it. I always had hope that I’d get out of Southern, so I never gave up running when the bastards hunted me. I hoped that I’d find a place that was safe, so I kept fighting, and hiding, and taunting Ivan when I was kidnapped from your packlands. And I found that place, at Mountain.”
She winced slightly, probably remembering how she’d promised me that safety at her pack.
I gave her a half smile in return. “I even hoped for the impossible. That Brand could be Alpha of his pack, but not have to kill his father to get there. And that came true.”My gaze captured hers, and I saw a dawning understanding. “I hoped for friends, and I found them in the last place I’d ever imagined. My own shitty pack. I never knew that all those years, while I was struggling to stay alive and away from the males, that the girls, the women, were helping me in secret.
“And I’mtheirhope, Margarette. Without me, without my mates, there is no good world for them. So, I’m going to run with it. I’m gonna let that hope fuel me, and give me the strength to fight for a world they deserve.”
I felt Brand’s eyes on me, then Grigor’s arm slid around my waist. “Let’s find a quiet room and rest for a while, my little blade.”
“We’ll watch your mama,” Brand promised, gently escorting the Hilliers back into the room. I blew him a kiss before Grigor led me down the hall and away, Finnick following behind.
