Page 24 of Oracle
My eyes popped open in shock. “Language, Morgan!”
Pfft. You, scolding a child? You’re a natural at this whole parenting thing.
Shut it, Lux.
I heard her laughter echoing in my head, but she did as I asked.
Morgan was still a kid and I had never known her to have a potty mouth before. What the hell was she prattling on about that had her cursing? It had to be something serious and alarm bells were blaring loudly in my head.
A scowl graced her face as she bit back, “You curse all the time and so does everyone else around here. You can’t expect me to not pick up on those habits too.”
Lux was right, and so was Morgan, though. I felt like such a stereotypical, boring adult when I chided her. I couldn’t seem to help myself, however. “You are not an adult, and just because you are surrounded by us vagrants doesn’t mean you have to lower yourself to our levels. You are a young, beautiful woman with your life ahead of you.”
Thinking of a stupid song I’d heard from some older women in the pack lands, I muttered it, probably botching the words a bit, “She is elegant and has taste, she is beauty and grace—”
“And she will kick you into outer space!” Morgan ended, jumping out of bed and mock kicking the air like it was an enemy.
I couldn’t help but laugh at her antics and enthusiasm. This kid was so amazing.
Perhaps whatever she had mumbled about wasn’t serious, seeing as she had all this energy for jokes.
She smiled broadly at me and motioned with her hand, “All right, let’s go, sleepy head.”
Groaning, I asked,” Go where?” before pulling my pillow over my face and snuggling it like an old friend.
“Can’t tell you! It’s a surprise,” she answered in a sing-song voice full of excitement that I couldn’t ignore. It was so precious and I loved hearing her so happy. I couldn’t crush that by refusing to get out of bed.
“All right, all right,” I begrudgingly mused, but let a small smile curve my lips up so she knew I wasn’t truly annoyed.
Reaching out for my hand, she tugged me out of the room, practically skipping down the tunnels, dragging me behind her. It took about five minutes to traverse the tunnels until we came to the dining hall. “I suppose I could eat,” I hedged, staring at the door in confusion. “Is this the surprise?”
Did she think I didn’t know where the food was anymore since my long slumber? I didn’t have amnesia.
She huffed, clearly exasperated with me like a typical teenager as she dropped my hand and rolled her eyes. “Open the doors and go inside for your surprise, silly.”
Raising one brow at her, I took a few steps up to the wooden door and laid a hand on it to push it open as she directed. But just before I could, Morgan’s soft voice stopped me. “Kira?”
Glancing back, my heart swelled as she looked at me with so much adoration and said, “Try to relax, just for tonight. You deserve this.”
She didn’t give me a chance to respond, instead turning around and scampering off and leaving me curious as hell about what was going on.
Her heart is pure gold, I swear.
It really is.
So many thoughts swirled through my mind about wanting to see the woman she would grow into. I wanted her to know her worth always and to never accept less than what she deserved, because she truly was one in a million.
But she was right, I needed to try to relax in these down moments instead of fretting over things I couldn’t change. When did she grow up so quickly?
Trauma has a way of doing that to people. She’s continued to lose those who have loved and provided for her, so naturally she’s going to begin to want to do that for herself. She’s scared she’ll continue to lose people, and then who will she have to rely on?
She will have my mates, I know it. Even when I’m gone.
Taking a deep breath, I turned back and opened the door to the dining hall but immediately stopped. My hand flew to my mouth as it dropped open in shock at what I saw. The long tables and benches had been pushed to one side, leaving the rest of it wide open.
In the center of the space was a large blanket adorned with multiple different flower petals and lanterns with candles burning around the four corners. The sconces of fire in the wall had been blown out, darkening the room other than the warm glow of the lanterns. Glasses of wine were in the middle with a plate of meats of cheeses, giving me flashbacks to serving the pack a similar spread back home before I had shifted.
Home.
