I talk to Ember and Iris, hugging them both close and apologizing profusely for how cold I was.
“Hey, stop it. You weren’t yourself. We don’t blame you, we’re just so happy you’re back,” Ember says, squeezing me tight.
“Seriously, Vi. You did nothing wrong. How are you holding up?” Iris asks.
I search my feelings and they’re all so complicated I don’t know where to start. There should be no conflicting thoughts about my grand-mère, yet, I still have an ache in my chest. Even though she hurt me, even though everything was a lie. It’s a harsh reality when someone you loved and trusted can hurt you so profoundly.
She deserves to be where she is. Her punishment may even be too light. It’s hard to combine the woman who taught me everything about magic, who showed me love and gave me mycoven—with the woman who left me in an orphanage, left her daughter magicless, and only cared about witches.
Iris rubs my arm. “Hey, we don’t have to talk about it right now.”
“Thanks.” I look around and a slow smile spreads across my face as the wolves mill about, ready to take their full moon run.
Witches and wolves came together to bring me back, to give me my family and my mate back.
“Oh, just forget about me, huh?”Azure says with sass in the back of my mind, and I smile even wider.
I look around and just think about what I want to say to her instead of saying it out loud. “I could never forget about you. I missed you.”
“As you should. Let a girl run free, would ya?”
“Just give me a minute”, I tell her as I approach my mother. She seems tense, and nervous. I don’t speak, instead I wrap my arms around her, trying not to cry. But as she holds me back and I’m reminded of all the time I’ve missed with her and my father, some of the guilt goes away. Grand-mère’s love was conditional, but the people around me, they would have loved me either way. That broken shell of a woman I was before the ritual, and the true me.
My mother pets down my hair and kisses the side of my face.
“I’m so sorry, Violet,” she says.
“It’s not your fault.”
“I just wish I could have protected you when it mattered all those years ago.”
I pull back and gaze into the bright blue eyes that mirror mine. “You did everything you could. You brought me back now, you were there when it mattered.”
My mother smiles, looking over my shoulder.
“Let’s have brunch tomorrow. But go ahead,” she says.
I furrow my brow. “Go ahead and what?”
She cups my face. “Go be with your pack. I know your father is ready to run with the wolves again. Let her free,” she says.
The warm feeling of acceptance fills me. Something I wasn’t sure was possible. I look around the coven, and they all give me nods of approval. I was so scared that they wouldn’t love me or accept me once they found out what I was. But here they all are, supporting me in the way only a true family does.
“Thank you,” I say, and she kisses my cheek one last time as I search around for Silas.
It doesn’t take long. He gave me some space so I could thank and greet everyone who came here tonight, but I can feel his gaze on the side of my face. I walk over to the outcrop of trees.
The wolves are nearby, my father included, I assume.
Silas stands up straight from the tree he was leaning against as I approach. He’s cautious with me, and I don’t blame him. I can’t imagine what it was like on his end watching me slip away, or the transition during the ritual.
“Are you tired, do you want to go home?” he asks.
I smirk, tossing his flannel jacket, grabbing my shirt at the hem and tossing it on the ground. He looks at me with wide eyes.
“Well, are we going to go on our first run as a pack together or what?” I ask.
Azure is nearly prancing around in my head, ready to be let out, ready to see her mate.
