“Uh, no. Aaron came with me once to meet her, but only once, and it was a huge favor to me, from both of them.” She smiled with a hint of mischief. “Claire’s a vampire.”
It was the last sentence April expected her to utter. She stared a moment, reassessing Ember’s entire life story…which included avampire. “Wow. I’ve never even met one, as far as I know. I didn’t know they pursued friendship with humans.”
“That’s sort of a stereotype, but it’s also true for some of them. Claire’s one of a kind. She’s been a better friend than I deserve many times over the years. So yeah, to stay on your point—Claire was hard to leave. Virginia not so much, if that makes sense.”
“It does,” April said, though…what had happened with Quinn? Ember must not realize April didn’t know those details.
“I guess that’s not how you feel about Missouri?”
“Well…no, but…I also really like Harmony Ridge. The town itself, what little I’ve seen of it.”
“As small towns go, it’s pretty great. Quinn’s in high school, so I don’t have direct leads with elementary, but I’m sure they have openings. Chatter around town is they always have openings.”
It was a hope she had forgotten altogether in the last few days. Her very own classroom. Here. “I feel sort of stuck in survival mode for now, but I’ll look into it when I can. Thanks.”
“Well, take your time.” Ember shrugged, then smiled. “I only mention it because you already like our little town.”
Yes. Back to the dilemma at hand. “I’ve been trying to figure out if that’s only because of Malachi and the pack. And if so, is it valid, or am I making a mistake? But there’s not much choice, either, because the wolves aren’t going to move from here, and Malachi…”
Ember’s smile was slow and knowing. “Malachi’s your wolf.”
“I would never leave him, no matter how much of a stubborn mule he’s being right now.”
“Ah, the summary of love.” She grinned and absently rubbed her belly. “Only you can know what you should do, but it sounds like you already know.”
“It’s just…” April’s face heated, and she stared down at her hands in her lap. “Y’all are such a sweet community, and I brought violence here. I’ve intruded on this good, calm life you’ve all built.”
Ember laughed outright, then put an arm around April for a quick squeeze. “Sorry, but I have to disillusion you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, six months ago Willow’s father made a false police report against Ezra for kidnapping her.”
“Wait, what—?”
“He hates wolves just that much, and he and Willow’s mom still live in town. At this point the pack just has to hope he’s given up on being a massive dirtbag jerk. Also—oh, you might not know this. Last summer I went on a massive search for Quinn because my sister lied to me, told me now that he was a confirmed wolf pup, the pack who’d taken him in would never let me see him again. Why? Becauseshehas a lot of emotional dysfunction and was afraid to see him again.”
Well, there were the details. “Because he’s a wolf?”
“Yeah. Petrified of her own pup.”
Like Malachi’s mother. “She abandoned Quinn here?”
“For all intents and purposes, yes. There’s sort of a network of contacts who’ll connect the human parents of a young pup with the closest pack. Malachi’s phone number is in some directory, and if he gets a call from one of these contacts, he decides if his pack is capable of taking on a new pup, or if we need to pass. Basically like the old-fashioned phone tree, you know? And I get why the system exists. Quinn couldn’t have just kept living with humans and changing form every full moon. But thewaymy sister did it. Cassius and Sydney went to Virginia and picked him up, and my sister was like, ‘also I forfeit all parental rights from this day on.’ Then when I flipped out, she lied to me about it.”
So…like Malachi’s mother yet executed in a more responsible fashion. Poor Quinn, regardless.
“Anyway, I barged onto Aaron’s property accusing him and Mal of withholding my nephew from his family. As one does. Good thing we turned out to be life mates, huh?”
April’s mouth fell open. She shut it. “You physically came here? Without permission?”
“Oh yeah. All the way to Aaron’s front porch. Mal set me straight on trespassing, of course; about gave me a heart attack. Honestly that’s not the worst thing I did, but…enough of my foibles for one day.” Her smile was sheepish.
“And everything you just told me… That’s all happened here in just the last year?”
“Oh, and somewhere in between the pack found out our sweet emo-boy Trevor had been hiding a wolf ailment for years because, when they were in high school, he broke Kelsey’s heart. Come to find out, fate doesn’t take kindly to a wolf who rejects his mate, even if he thinks it’s for her own good.”
“Wait…wait.” Trevor and Kelsey? But…they were the sweetest couple in the pack. They constantly called each otherbabe, nuzzled up to each other in public, extended genuine kindness to outsiders like April, and ran on an unbelievable amount of joyful energy.
