My fingers dipped into the water, and I swirled them around, watching the ripples forming on the surface as my reflection shimmered and warped. When I was a kid, I had always felt a connection to the water here. It was the place I had felt most comfortable. I used to pretend the water was talking to me, that I would ask it a question, and it would respond.
Why am I here?I asked the water, my fingers swirling and creating rippling patterns.Just tell me what I’m supposed to do. I don’t belong here.
The roaring of the waterfall seemed to intensify. I glanced up, watching the cascade as the rushing sound formed into words.
You are here because this is where you belong, and they need help. Stay. Everything will make sense soon enough.
I listened to the sound as it subsided back into rushing water, trying to figure out whether I had only imagined that or if those words had been real. Despite myself, deep down, I felt they were real. What they meant, though, I had no idea. But if I was supposed to be here, if I really belonged, then maybe things would work out for the better after all.
As I thought this, a shadow loomed over me, blocking out the sun. I craned my neck upward, half-expecting to see a cloud covering the sun. With a sharp jolt, I saw Elias looking down at me, the sun behind his head, illuminating his dark, shaggy hair almost like a halo.
My stomach lurched at the sight of him, an old twinge from years ago. I stood up, the water sloshing with the movement, droplets halfway up my calves dribbling onto the hot stone and drying in seconds.
“Hi,” I said.
“Hey.” His eyes swept the oasis. “I didn’t know you liked it here.”
You don’t know a lot of things about me,I thought, though I kept it to myself.
“It’s pretty,” I said. “And I wanted to show Grace around.”
His eyes landed on Grace, who was currently dipping beneath the water, dodging one of the kids as they played what looked like water tag. “How is she adapting?”
The question took me by surprise. “Well. It took her some time to get used to the situation and her grandparents. But I think she likes it well enough. We’ll see what happens when she starts school. I registered her, and she starts next week.”
He watched her play for a long moment. My heart thundered, wondering if he had noted the similarities in our eyes and noses. I hadn’t dared bring up the truth about Grace. I hadn’t known how to approach it. I didn’t know how he would react to finding out he’d had a daughter I had kept from him all these years.
I didn’t feel bad about hiding it. He had abandoned me and thrown me out. If he was willing to do that to me, I wasn’t going to risk him doing the same to my daughter. Still, ever since seeing him again, a small smudge of guilt had started spreading through me, growing larger each day. Not telling him when I lived in a different town was easy. Keeping it from him at close quarters was something else entirely.
The train of thought charging through my head spun around and around, carrying me with it so intensely that his next words took me by surprise.
“And how are you adapting?”
I frowned, forcing myself to pivot even as his words didn’t make sense. They sounded almost foreign coming out of his mouth.
“How am I adapting?” I asked, sounding a bit like an idiot as I parroted him.
He nodded.
I wasn’t sure why the question caught me so off guard. Maybe it was because he hadn’t exactly given me much choice in the matter one way or the other, so it didn’t seem like he cared. Or maybe it was I remembered the spoiled kid I once knew, who would never bother asking.
Stalling, I glanced over at Grace as I chewed over the question. Elias was still waiting for an answer, glancing from me to the small cluster of children playing what might have been Marco Polo or might have just been tag while I formulated some form of response. I could at least appreciate him trying to give me space to gather my thoughts. After a long moment, I sucked in a breath, then exhaled.
“I never wanted to be back here,” I said, surprising myself at the honesty. “It was never part of the plan. I thought I’d left this place for good. So being back here is a shock, to say the least.”
“It’s for the good of the pack,” he said.
I snorted. “I’m aware. You made that perfectly clear when you kidnapped me.”
“I didn’t kidnap you,” he shot back.
I raised my eyebrow, lips pursed as I stared him down.
“I’m just following pack tradition.”
“I’m well-aware,” I replied. “Still, it would have been nice to have had a bit more of a discussion before you dragged me here. One minute, I’m living an everyday, normal life. The next, you show up, tell me I’m to be your luna, and haul me off back here.”
“We’re on a bit of a deadline,” he reminded me.
