Chapter 50
Jade
Granny’s will was short and simple. The grief I felt over her passing was immeasurable but what Tracey and Lucas were going through had to be so much worse. Axel and Vivian held onto each other as if their lives depended on it. Granny didn’t like long, drawn-out things. Even after she was gone. Everything went to Lucas, which was a surprise. Lucas didn’t look at all comforted by it but in the letter she left she explained that he would need to take up the torch of this place. He would be the witch for these Pack Lands as long as he wanted it. Valentina was left a letter and so was Tracey. Neither one of them broke the seals while we were together.
Alice was recovering nicely though she milked the crap out of it. I didn’t blame her. She had taken care of everyone else for far too long. Everyone owed her.
The witches came in floods to regain their children and their dead. We had expected anger and prepared for it, but instead, they were grateful for us and what we did. Even though we weren’t the ones that had arrested him, which wasn’t exactly a bad thing. When we had talked about what would happen to Damian. We had always been final about it. He was supposed to die but now that he was going to live, I didn’t know how it made me feel. Though, Rafe did reassure me that supernatural prisons were hardcore. Damian would be tortured for years to come, if not for the rest of his life. At least he would get back what he had given us.
Like everyone knew, Valentina was left without a home. No one came to retrieve her. We expected it as much as more witches came to retrieve their children. Her face was passive with each family. They didn’t even look in her direction. Lucas reassured her that she could continue to live in Granny’s cottage until they figured something out.
Duncan was the first on the pyre. I held Rafe’s hand as he clenched his jaw and his eyes went cold. The others that were laid there with him were fathers of some of the youngest pups in the pack. My heart broke watching them struggle from the side with their mothers and parents. The elders that had been sent away were finally back for this. What an incredibly sad thing to come home to.
Axel had been severely injured defending the border with Archer and Duncan. He was lucky he made it out alive. His arm was in a sling as he sat beside his wife and two kids. Granny was to be buried behind the cottage. She wanted to be rejoined with the earth that she loved so much.
Knox had taken a wolfsbane bullet to the face. Thankfully it had just grazed his cheek. He smiled at all of us as he sported his thick bandage. We all knew it had healed already but he loved the attention it brought his way. Rafe had scarring on his back from the burns and all I escaped with was emotional trauma and more questions for my family. At least we knew Damian wasn’t Rafe’s older brother. That was about the only honesty any of us knew or believed these days.
A few days after all the funerals and madness were over, Rafe pulled me into a corner behind the manor. He tucked my hair behind my ear and kissed my lips gently. “It’s about time you stop ignoring your parents.”
My chest felt empty after all the crying we had done. “I’m not ready.”
Rafe pulled my hands into his. “You will never be ready but I think it will help you sleep.”
My eyebrows pulled together. “Oh yeah?”
We hadn’t moved in together but the thought of it was more appealing now than it had been before. On the battlefield, I had learned a lot of new things about my feelings for him. I knew that I didn’t want to live without him. I knew that my feelings were a lot stronger thanlikebut I couldn’t admit it to myself. When he had jumped on top of me as the ceiling came down, I found that I would be completely okay with figuring it all out as we went. I didn’t want to rush things but I also knew that this life wasn’t promised. I wanted to spend as much of it with the people I cared about. Including my parents, but that was more complicated than even I wanted to admit. He wrapped his arms around me and I laid my head on his shoulder. His heart pounded beneath my ear.
“You’ve been watching me sleep?” I asked playfully. I no longer cared if he snuck in my room at night. It excited me in a weird way.
“Yeah, I’ve been missing you in my bed.”
“Maybe we can arrange that.”
He pulled away suddenly. “What are you saying, Jade?”
I shrugged. “I’m saying that maybe we shouldn’t waste anymore time.”
He kissed me deeply and thoroughly before he painfully pulled away and smacked my ass. “Go talk to your parents. When you get back, I’ll have you moved in.”
I raised my eyebrows and laughed. “Confident are we?”
“I’ve been waiting my whole life for you.”
Something snagged deep within my chest and I knew right then and there that there was nothing else out there for me.He was it.The mate bond snapped into place with full force. I could hardly breathe with the weight of it. He said he already felt the mate bond, so there was no way he had felt what I just did. I rubbed the center of my chest with my palm and smiled to myself.
Nalia practically celebrated in my head. She threw a dang party in there as we walked away from our mate.I’ve been waiting for this day.
