“You can, I mean we’ll have to introduce you as a distant cousin, but our doors are always open to you, Juneau. Once a Wilde, always a Wilde,” he said, using our unofficial family motto.
I’d cried again at that, my pack surrounding me to help mop up my tears.
Before he left, Nick gave me an envelope that had yellowed with age and a folder. “That’s a letter from my great-grandfather and the folder is your inheritance. We couldn’t put it under your name, but I’ll help you access the money when you’re ready.”
“I can’t accept this,” I said as I flipped through it, all of the numbers starting to make my vision swim as I stared at them.
“It’s yours, Juneau, either it sits in a bank account forever or you use it, the choice is yours,” Nick said as he enveloped me in a hug that reminded me so much of my brother. He even had the same sweet apple scent that Nicky used to have.
The folder had also contained the combination to the family mausoleum. It had taken me a month to gather my courage to visit and now I was staring anxiously up at the angel that sat over the door.
“I’m sure,” I said to Bat, pulling him down by his scarf for a kiss.
“We’ll be right outside in case you need us,” Rex said from where he was leaning against the back of a stone bench, Podcast hugged to his front for warmth.
Storm and Doc offered me encouraging smiles and I felt all of their comfort through our fresh bonds.
Podcast had gone into heat two weeks ago and his only request was that we all be bonded by the end of it. So I now wore their marks like jewelry. Bat had bitten me on the side of my neck, his mark nestled against my pulse. Doc and Storm had both picked a shoulder, their marks mirroring each other.
Through their bonds with me I could feel Podcast almost as much as if he had bonded with me himself.
I shot them all one last look before I typed the code into the electronic keypad, waiting for the light to turn green before I pushed the mausoleum door open.
It was a large space, all of the Wildes having been buried within its walls for generations.
I knew where my family would be, though, because my mother always said she would be buried near my father.
I found them easily.Nicholas Wilde VII, beloved husband, father, brother, and son. That was what my father’s tomb read. My mother was just below his, and Nicky and Ivy’s were in the next row over.
I ran my fingers along the carved marble until I found Timothy and Dorothy’s.
“Hi, everyone,” I whispered, my voice breaking up the imposing silence of death that hung in the air of the mausoleum.
My family was gone. It made me want to crumple into a heap on the floor and weep. But with the immense sadness came the realization that they were all together. I wasn’t sure if I believed in any sort of god, but somewhere deep in my bones I knew that they had to be together.
With a shuddering breath I reached into my bag and pulled out the letter. I’d left it unopened until I could gather the courage to read it with them nearby.
I sat on the little bench that was situated in the middle of the mausoleum, in the same spot that my mother used to occupy when she would come to visit my father, and broke the wax seal on the envelope.
The letter was short, and it started with my nickname.
Hello, Tot,
I’m not sure if you will ever read this letter. I have a hard time believing Mother when she says that you are living in the future with the alpha pack of your dreams, so please forgive me if she is right about that. It’s been a few years since she told me that tall tale and I always figured that it was her way of coping with your disappearance.
I always just let her… but she’s gone now. I’ve just returned from her funeral and I needed someone to talk to. You were always that person for me, so you can imagine how tough it has been since you left.
I blame myself for leaving you all by yourself the night of the gala. I’ve gone over it millions of times in my head and I just can’t figure out a way someone could have snatched you up and gotten you past dozens of servants without anyone noticing. So, I suppose I’ve also come to believe Mother’s tale of you falling through the mirror into the mysterious land of 2022.
I don’t think you were ever meant to live in our time. You were too headstrong and adventurous. I would have pitied whatever alpha or pack you settled for. I hope your future alpha pack keeps you on your toes, because you need it.
I suppose I should also update you on Timothy. The idiot finally admitted to himself and the world that he was in love with your lady’s maid. I only approved of the marriage to keep him from razing through the female staff in his efforts to make poor Dorothy jealous. I am proud to report that the manor’s turnover rate has dropped to almost nothing after their wedding.
Ivy and I finally had a baby, a little girl we named Nicolette. Mother got to meet her before she passed and cried because she looks just like you did when you were little. I think I’m going to call her my Tot as well as I’ve missed saying it out loud.
I wish you could have met her. I can tell she’s going to change the world, just like you wanted to.
All that being said, I think that I’ve droned on long enough for a man talking to himself. I don’t know what I’ll do with this letter, maybe I’ll seal it and tell my descendants to bring it to you when and if they reach 2022.
