Page 17 of Tis the Season for Sass
“Fine.” Ginger tried like hell to calm her racing heart as they entered the enormous front door.
“Seriously, I wouldn’t have brought you here if I knew you’d get all stressed out.”
“It’s okay. I’m fine. My wolf has been off, even before everything that happened last night. Running hasn’t helped her to relax.”
“Ginger, this is Rafe. He’s our Alpha and this is his mom, Grace,” Sofia said, making the introductions.
“Hi. You have a lovely home.”
The house was stunning with floor to ceiling windows covering an entire wall. A large stone fireplace took up every inch of the opposite wall. The hardwood floors and walls were pristine—like she had never seen before. And the smell—Gods. It smelled like home.
“Lorna! It can’t be?” Grace was stunned by the woman standing in front of her. “How is this even possible?”
Ginger glanced to Sofia and shrugged. She had no idea what Grace was talking about. “I don’t know who Lorna is. I’m sorry. My name is Ginger.”
“Rafe! The resemblance is uncanny, isn’t it?”
“This is getting stranger by the minute,”Ginger said to her wolf.
“I know these wolves,”her wolf confessed.
“What? How is that possible?”she asked.
“She looks exactly like her. Right down to the flecks of green in her otherwise blue eyes.” Rafe replied.
Sofia was as equally puzzled as Ginger by Grace’s initial reaction. “I’m not sure what’s going on, but Ginger is my friend who’s visiting from Crescent Bay. Something very strange happened to her last night when she went with Chance to visit one of the remote cabins on the mountain. Go ahead, Ginger, tell her what you saw.”
Ginger recounted her supernatural encounter in every detail, including as much of the broken memories as possible.
Grace shot Rafe a knowing glance. Turning to Sofia and Ginger, she waved to the sofa. “Have a seat, there’s much to talk about. And even more to discover.”
13
“Odin’s what?” Ginger found Grace’s own premonitions to be unexpectedly incredulous.
“You must believe me, Ginger. You were visited by the Gods, and Odin’s hunters.”
“And…the memories, if that’s what they are…what do they mean?”
“You’re from Crescent Bay, right? But what do you really know about yourself?” Grace asked as she cautiously approached.
“I don’t know, really. I don’t know anything about myself at all. I have no idea who my parents were. I was bounced around several foster families until Sofia’s family had taken me in. That was when I moved to Crescent Bay. I don’t know where I’m originally from...but when you first saw me, you said I looked familiar. And even my wolf told me you seemed familiar. Who is it that you said I resemble?” Ginger had never been more confused in her life. What the hell was going on?
“There is something about your aura, something quite rare and powerful. Cloaking majik. And if I’m right, only the Black Paw Alpha can open it.”
“May I?” Rafe slowly approached Ginger.
“Yes,” Ginger replied. She had no idea what the Alpha intended to do, but whatever it was, she hoped like hell he would answer her questions.
“Close your eyes.” Rafe placed his hands on her temples and closed his eyes. He released his majik, slowly sending the wispy tendrils into her mind.
She didn’t know why she trusted him, but she did. A sense of calm and peace washed over her the second he touched her. He didn’t seem threatening to her. He was genuinely curious.
Ginger gasped.
“What are you—who is that?” The shattered memories assembled, like a jigsaw puzzle, miraculously completing itself. Images of people she didn’t know rushed into her mind.
“See that? These are memories that you have from when you were a baby.” Rafe walked her through the visions she was now seeing.
