Two Months Later
“Ready?” I ask Aurora with a mischievous chuckle, ensuring that my hands are wound around her eyes tightly enough so that she doesn’t see through my fingers.
She nods against the restriction and giggles as she touches my hands on her face. “I don’t know what I should be ready for, but I am.”
I continue to chuckle, drawing out her anticipation for a few more seconds until even I can’t wait any longer. Slowly removing my hands from her face, I wait with bated breath as Aurora gasps when she takes in the view in front of her.
“Elias…? What is this?” she whispers disbelievingly as she stands staring ahead of her.
I walk over to her side and slip my hand over hers.
“Well, this used to be my parents’ house. The one that—”
“The one that burned down, I know. I caused that fire,” she interjects quickly, shaking her head until she turns to me with her mouth agape. “But there’s a house here now. A new one.”
I nod as I smile warmly. “It is new,” I concede with a lighthearted chuckle. “It’sourhouse now.”
Aurora gasps again, letting me guide her down the cobblestone pathway toward the porch as I explain that I tasked the builders with constructing a new house in place of the one that burned down, wanting to create a home that would house the love between us.
“With the little one almost on his way, I wanted us to have a special home built just for us,” I continue, unlocking the door and stepping aside for her to enter.
She’s speechless, her caramel brown eyes twinkling appreciatively as she gazes all around, in awe of the fittings and fixtures that match the natural feeling she seemed to be inclined to. I noticed her tastes from when I visited her cabin and from seeing the way she decorated my private cabin while we lived there.
Aurora walks in and runs her dainty fingers across the sheet of vines hanging beside the window, turning to me with a broad smile as she cradles her growing belly. In just a week’s time, we’ll meet the future Alpha of The Snehvolk Pack, and our family will be complete.
“It’s perfect, Elias,” Aurora praises, a pretty blush creeping on her cheeks. When she curls a finger in the air and calls me over, I’m like a loyal pup making my way to her, my mouth watering with the thought of her kisses.
As I place my hands on either side of her ripe belly, I’m about to dip my head at her lips when I’m rudely interrupted by a mental mind link trying to get through. Groaning, it’s only by Aurora’s insistence that I drop the shield and allow Dillon’s voice to come through.
Though we haven’t heard anything about the demon’s whereabouts, we’re well aware that it’s still at large, out there somewhere just waiting for the right moment to attack. Now that our baby—the one Aurora had a prophecy about—is about to be born, we have to be on guard.
That’s why Aurora’s gentle encouragement for me to take the call doesn’t come as a surprise. She’s become a fierce,resilient Luna who prides herself on taking care of this pack by my side.
“I’m sorry for the interruption, Alpha Elias,”comes Beta Dillon’s apology. “Alpha Dawson has brought someone injured in. He says she used to be a member of the Snehvolk Pack.”
Aurora hears the mind link, too, and frowns. Is it the demon again? Has it attacked someone after months of being quiet?
A flicker of worry shudders through me as I take Aurora’s hand and lead her out of the newly built house, making my way to the clinic when I’ve given instructions to Dillon to bring the stranger there.
***
“Just like the prophecy, she has silver eyes…” Aurora comments as she stands staring through the frosted-glass window on the door that leads into the room where the woman, Yvonne, has been kept for observation.
The stranger is asleep after being brought into the clinic, which had also been revamped after the fire broke out months ago. Dawson explained that she was an old member of the Snehvolk Pack, and that he’d found her and her child in the forest, and she was badly injured. He hasn’t come out of the room while Rissa checks the woman up, and it’s given us enough time to see the drowsy woman’s eyes.
“Do you think she’s the stranger from the vision?” I ask, standing behind Aurora, my hands smoothing her shoulders.
Aurora nods hesitantly. “She’s no stranger, though. If what Dawson says is true, then Yvonne was a member of ourpack. But I can feel it in my bones that it is her from the premonition.”
“Hm…” I murmur, staring into the room where the stranger lies asleep while Dawson speaks to Rissa. I’m not sure what she is or how she ties in with the prophecy, except that her eyes match the description of the vision I was able to catch a glimpse of when I held Aurora’s hand.
“She might be the answer to creating a safer home for us and our child,” Aurora laments. “But she just got here, and we can’t pressure her into anything, just as I’ve been trying not to put pressure on our unborn child.”
Aurora turns in my arms slowly, lifting wary eyes at me.
“We’re not even sure if we can trust this woman yet,” I add with a grunt. “But whatever happens, I’m gonna trust your instincts on this one. If she’s the stranger from the prophecy, I trust that you’ll know how to handle this.”
Aurora smiles wistfully as she flings her arms around my neck.
