“Yvonne Lang,” Aurora beams from ear to ear, the smile touching her eyes. “You’ve changed so much, I barely recognized you.”
“You remember me?” I frown, to which Aurora nods as she approaches the bed.
“Of course, I do. You were always in the library whenever I went there.”
“I never noticed…”
Aurora chuckles nervously, and for the first time, she appears mortal. “I was always sticking to the shadows. It was safer there.”
“I can relate,” I murmur, drawing in a breath to compose myself lest I become too familiar with the luna.
I can’t trust anyone yet. Aurora might have been the pack’s lowest Omega before, but she’s the Luna now, and Goddess knows if that’s gone to her head like the rest of the pack that deems others inferior based on their pasts.
Turning my attention back to my son, he reaches into his pocket and produces an empty candy wrapper, a broad, proud smile tugging his lips.
“Aunty Aurora, give me it!” he declares in a strikingly excited tone.
I smile in return at my son’s happiness, seeing beyond my trepidations and worries and discovering that this is what truly matters—Gio’s happiness.
There’s no point in running away again when it will only mean that I’m stripping Gio of the kind of stability he needs to grow up. At his ripe age of five, I can’t be on the run with him.
Where will we go if we can’t go back to Moonshine?
I don’t have a choice but to stick it out in Girdwood, though reluctance feels like leaded weights shackling my ankles as we follow Aurora out of the pack clinic and toward the east side of the village where Alpha Dawson resides.
While we head that way, the sun retreats on the horizon, and Luna Aurora gives me updates about all that’s happened over the past five years. It appears that I’ve missed a lot, but none of it fazes me since I was never an active member of the pack.
“You’re not really paying attention, are you?” Aurora chuckles lightly as she slows down and turns to me.
“Sorry,” I shrug diffidently. “I’m just trying to—"
“Settle in,” Aurora chirps in with a pleasant smile. “I understand. I won’t bore you with any more stories for tonight. But if you’re curious about anything, you know who to ask.”
I smile in acceptance of the luna’s offer, though I’m slightly confused. Aurora isn’t like an ordinary omega. At least, she’s not as reserved as I am.
Then again, she’s the main luna of this pack—theonlyluna for now.
A strange thought crosses my mind when she points to the cottage beyond Alpha Dawson’s ranch-style house. With its wide glass panels surrounding the wooden structure, it’s easy to see the plain and simple design of the house inside.
Frowning, I wonder why he hasn’t taken a mate yet. As a sub-alpha of the pack, he has a lot going for him, and he has a beautiful, cozy home that any she-wolf would be elated to live in.
I once entertained the idea that it might have been me. On that fateful night in the library, I even entertained the idea that I was in love with him, and that we’d become mates and move in together, and live happily ever after like the characters in the books I read.
Scoffing under my breath, I brush aside those thoughts when Aurora says, “That will be your home from now on. I’ve packed supplies in the fridge and stocked the cupboards. If you need anything else, I’ll stop by in the morning.”
“Thank you, Luna Aurora,” I say sullenly, wanting so badly to be truly grateful, but that would mean I’d need to open up.
I haven’t gotten over the dread of facing my old pack, and I doubt this wary feeling will ever go away. But when Gio tugs on my hand and excitedly points to the log cabin behind the mainhouse, I offer him a reassuring smile as I release his hand and allow him to trek through the snow as he sets out for the cabin.
Our new home…
It’s more comfortable than anything I’ve ever lived in—not while I was in Girdwood before, or when I lived in Sunrise these past few years. The living room is furnished with a three-piece couch in coffee colors, and the fireplace is lit to cast a soft, warm orange glow that gives the place a sense of hominess.
My body stiffens as soon as the thought crosses my mind, as if my physical vessel can’t receive the message with all the walls I’d built up over the years. I should be opposed to this place, built on the grounds of hatred and resentment, and years of hierarchical systems that threw wolves like me under the bus. The laws that govern the wolf packs are laws that should have long been forgotten, but they’re so tightly woven, no one can see that they’re not right.
But why do I suddenly feel unrestrained by the laws that govern the Snehvolk Pack? I’m on their turf again, in a cottage built for one of their leaders, yet I feel a sense of liberation that I never found even when I ran away the first time. The hairs on the back of my neck prickle, and goosebumps spread across my arms.
I blink once, and my eyelids feel heavy enough to keep my eyes closed for a few seconds. Behind my eyelids, the fireplace’s orange glow begins swirling like orbs of burning balls that grow as if they’re coming toward me.
