“Always.”
We climb to the third floor, where Sera converted one of the smaller archive rooms into a comfortable space with chairs and soft lighting to help those who might be experiencing sensory overload. She settles into a chair and begins nursing while I lean against the desk nearby.
“Your aunt told me about the other packs,” I begin. “The ones asking for your help with their curses.”
Sera doesn’t look up from Elara. “What do you think?”
“I think you’ll want to help them. That watching other women suffer under magical suppression will eat at you until you do something about it.”
“You’re not wrong.” She adjusts Elara’s position and adds, “But I also have responsibilities here. The support groups need consistent leadership, and I can’t just abandon them to help strangers.”
“You wouldn’t be abandoning them. You’d be expanding the work you started.” I move to sit in the chair beside hers. “We could train more facilitators to handle the groups here while you travel to assist the other packs in Badlands. Or we could bring the other packs here for training before they attempt their own rituals.”
“We.” She looks at me, finally, eyes soft. “You’d come with me?”
“Did you think I’d let you face a potentially dangerous situation without backup? I’ve read enough historical accounts to know these things can go wrong in creative ways.”
She throws her head back and laughs. “Of course you have. What would I do without my historian?”
“Probably make reckless decisions and give me premature gray hair.”
“You already have gray hair. Right here.” She reaches over and tugs gently at a strand near my temple. “Elara gave you those.”
“Elara is perfect and has never caused me a moment of stress.”
As if on cue, our daughter spits up on Sera’s shoulder. We both laugh while Sera grabs a cloth to clean up the mess.
“Definitely your timing,” she comments.
We sit in comfortable quiet while Elara finishes nursing. These moments have become my favorite part of parenthood. Not the big milestones or celebrations, but the small, private times when it’s just the three of us existing together.
“I want to help them,” Sera announces after a while. “The other packs. I remember what it felt like to live under that suppression. To believe something was fundamentally wrong with me because I couldn’t feel the way I wanted to. If I can spare other women that suffering, I have to try.”
“Then we’ll figure it out together. We always do.”
She moves Elara to her other breast. “My mother came by yesterday.”
“How did that go?”
“Better than I expected. We had tea and talked for two hours. She told me she can finally tell me she loves me without fighting through magical barriers. That every time she says it now, it’s like breathing for the first time.”
The emotion in Sera’s voice makes something behind my ribs squeeze. “That must have meant everything to hear.”
“It did.” She looks down at Elara. “And she brought enough prepared food to feed us for a month. She also said you’re good for me. That I smile more now than I have in my entire life.”
“You do smile more. So do I.” I watch our daughter nurse contentedly. “Your mother isn’t the only one making up for lost time.” I reach over and take Sera’s free hand, lacing our fingers together. “Your whole pack has transformed. The difference between now and two years ago is remarkable.”
“Some are still struggling. Thora especially. Forty years of emotional suppression don’t disappear overnight.” Sera squeezes my hand. “But she’s trying. They all are. That’s what matters.”
Elara finishes nursing and promptly falls asleep against Sera’s chest. We sit there for another few minutes, neither of us wanting to break the peace of this moment.
Finally, Sera speaks again. “I had a vision last night.”
My wolf perks up with interest. Sera’s visions are always significant, even the small ones. “What did you see?”
“Another pack. Far north of here. Their women are suffering under a curse similar to ours, but older. Maybe four hundred years. Not one Lydia has identified.” She looks at me with those pale blue eyes that can still steal my breath. “They need help, Reeyan. And I think we’re meant to provide it.”
“Then we will. When Elara is old enough to travel safely, we’ll go north and see what we can do.”
