“They’ll be home in a couple of hours. Call by later,” she said. “I know Lanyon would like to see you, too.”
“I will.”
They shared another long hug then said their goodbyes, and as Wyatt walked back through the cave’s tunnels, he felt lighter than he had in years. He headed for his parents’ rooms next and wasn’t sure what reception he would find. Although Wyatt had missed his parents since he’d left, neither one of them had been the warmest of people. In fact, when Wyatt had been banished, his father had barely spared him a glance and his mother had held his shoulders as she told him to, “Be brave.”
There had been no fierce hug like the one he’d just shared with Everly, and no tears had been spilled. It had all been very…civilized, considering the fact that the woman was never going to see her only child again. But she was who she was, and Wyatt didn’t blame her for it.
So, when he walked inside their rooms, he expected little more welcome than a polite ‘Hello, how have you been?’
What actually happened was the complete opposite. His mother, who had aged incredibly well, took one look at him, then burst into tears.
“My boy!” she wailed, then she threw herself at him, and sobbed into his neck, clinging to him like…well, like her only son had come home after all these years.
It seemed that time really did make the heart grow fonder. Her reaction was so unexpected that Wyatt had no clue how to react to it.
“There, there,” he soothed awkwardly as he patted her on the back. “It’s okay.”
“I’m so sorry we never said goodbye properly,” she whispered in between sobs. “I thought if you believed we didn’t care, it would make it easier for you to go. But I regretted it every day. No son should ever think his mother doesn’t care.”
A lance of guilt ran through him as, for the first time, he imagined how it must have felt for her, watching her only son driven out, trying to spare him seeing her heart breaking.
He swallowed the lump in his throat.
“I understand why you did it. And… I’m grateful.” And as he said the words, he found they were true. If there had been a teary, heartfelt goodbye, it would have been so much more difficult for him to shift into his dragon form and take to the sky only to leave her behind.
“I missed you every day,” she said. “I pleaded with the elders to let you back, but there was so much anger...”
“It’s okay,” he said again. “I made a new life for myself. A good life. But I want you to be a part of that now. If…” Shit, this was harder than he imagined. “If you want to be a part of it.”
She pulled back and stared up at him through tear-misted eyes.
“Of course I want to be a part of it. There’s nothing I want more.”
He wrapped her in his arms again, and she shuddered the last of her tears against his chest.
Wyatt spent a surprisingly emotional reunion with his mother, but his mind was never far from his mate, and after he had said goodbye to his mother, promising to return to see her again before he left, he went in search of Amelia. He expected her to still be asleep when he returned, but when he got to her room, he found her climbing out from beneath the fur pelt.
“Oh,” she said, sounding relieved. “I was just coming to find you.”
“You’re still supposed to be resting,” he chastised, as he strode forward and helped her get back under the warm fur.
“I was worried about you.”
“Why? Did you think the elders had changed their mind about executing me?”
She scowled at him. “That isn’t funny.”
“You’re right, I’m sorry. It was in poor taste. How are you feeling?”
“A lot better, still tired though which is weird considering how much I’ve slept.”
“Not all that surprising, really,” Wyatt replied. “Your body has been through a lot. You had a lot of healing to do so it’s only natural that you should still be tired.”
“I guess. I just hope I’m rested enough to fly home tomorrow.”
“Well, if you’re not, we could always stay another day.”
“Absolutely not. We’re out of here, whether I’m ready or not.”
