Chapter 51

Killian

The reunion was awkward, to say the least.

“Are you sure you can leave your child?” Elena asked after things had settled down again.

Natalie had settled onto the couch, pulling me down next to her. She refused to let go of me, keeping contact with me no matter how I shifted or moved. I tried not to fight against it, even though the familiar woman next to me seemed like a stranger.

“Oh, he’s not really mine,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “His mother died in childbirth, shortly before I was brought here, and Toro was desperate for a woman to step in as a surrogate. I was the only one who could stop his crying when I held him, and we’ve been bonded ever since.”

“I see,” Elena said, her face betraying her words.

“Of course I love him dearly, like my own child,” Natalie added, defending herself, “but I’ve always known that it was temporary. Soon enough he’ll begin his training with his father’s team, and he won’t need a soft bosom to cling to anymore.”

Natalie looked at me as she spoke of her ‘soft bosom,’ and I did my best to remain calm about it. In reality, she was quite flat-chested, her small breasts delightful in their own way. But there was no question that the other woman in the room had the softness that I now craved.

“And now that we’re back together,” she said, stroking my thigh, “I can look forward to finally having children of my own.”

I felt the heat of Elena’s rage and jealousy from across the room, and intervened quickly before she could erupt.

“Natalie, you should know,” I said carefully, suddenly slightly fearful, “that after you left, Elena and I married. I needed a Luna, and it turns out that she and I are Fated Mates.”

Natalie looked between us, thinking at first that this was a prank. Then her eyes fell on Elena’s hand, the ring I’d had made for her glinting in the light.

“Oh,” Natalie said, fitting puzzle pieces together. “Oh I see.”

Suddenly her hands were off me and she was standing, walking towards Elena. “I suppose I should congratulate you, sister,” she said, embracing her, “you always wanted what was mine, and now you got it.”

It didn’t take a psychic to know that she was being sarcastic and slightly cruel, and I could just hear whispering to know that more was said into Elena’s ear. Elena’s eyes were crimson as she absorbed whatever secret message was imparted to her, but she held her ground.

“I’ll just get my things, I don’t have much,” Natalie said, pulling away and wiping her hands on her dress as if they were contaminated by touching Elena. “Toro is strict, but he knows he can’t keep me forever.”

In the end, he demanded payment for the woman he had kidnapped— “she wanted me to take her,” he told me with a salacious wink— and I obliged, if only to secure our exit faster.

The journey home felt longer than the one that brought us up there, perhaps because Natalie’s voice jabbered on incessantly about everything she’d missed in the past three years.

She explained that there was black hole in her memory from the Rogue attack and her kidnapping, and she only remembers showing up in the new Pack and being treated like a common she-wolf. In spite of her years within the Silverclaw boundaries, she never felt accepted by them.

“You’ll never understand,” she said, seeking pity, “how awful it is to be an outsider.”

I saw Elena wince but she stayed silent. Elena never knew her parents, had been adopted by a family that hated her, and then married to a man who longed for another woman. She knew that feeling better than anyone.

I tried to reach out through our Mate link, but she wouldn’t acknowledge me.

“It will be so nice to back where I belong, with my family,” Natalie said, her words clearly meant to include only me.

“Your mother will be so happy,” Elena said, “especially now. Natalie, I hate to have to tell you this, but Alice has been sick. Her surgery and treatments have gone well though, and I expect your presence will help to heal her even faster.”

Natalie’s face twists into an odd expression. Her eyes looked troubled, but her mouth was stuck in half a smile. For a moment it looked like she had no idea who Elena was talking about, and I worried the amnesia had wiped out more of her past than we thought.

“Yes, well,” she said finally, “it will be good to see her again.”

Elena looked slightly horrified by the less-than-sentimental response, but Natalie changed the subject quickly and the moment was left behind.

Rhoda was immensely confused when we showed up again, this time with another woman who acted like my Mate. Luckily there were no more barroom brawls.

The morning of our last day of travel, Natalie looked radiant and rested, while Elena’s eyes were red all the way through. I guessed she’d be unable to sleep, like me in the other room, and most likely spent the night crying. I let her keep her dignity by not mentioning it.

We arrived back at Waning Moon late in the evening, only a few lights on in the houses we passed on our way in. Natalie was glued to her window, practically panting with excitement, like a child entering an amusement park.

She burst into the Alpha mansion with a loud “Honey, I’m home!” like she was on a sitcom, startling the house staff who were closing up for the night.

Natalie started hugging the butler, that maids, and even the cook who responded with a startled “huff” at being touched by someone who was bringing so many outside germs into her kitchen. In another moment, it might have been endearing to watch her opening doors and reminiscing on the brief time she lived here. But at this hour, and given the surprise circumstances, all the witnesses were forcing smiles and sharing glances with each other and hoping the charade would end soon.

“It’s just so good to be back among my own people,” she said after she finished her mini reunion tour of the first floor. “And how great it will feel to be back in my own bed. I had to share a room with a serving girl in Silverclaw, and her whimpering at night was atrocious.”

Elena looked at me, her face drawn in worry.

“Natalie, I think,” I said, walking on eggshells, “I’ve had them make up the guest room on the third floor for you, for tonight.”

“Oh, right,” she said, slightly offended. She looked between me and Elena, nodding with mock-understanding. “Of course, it’s not my room anymore, is it?”

Elena dropped her eyes, the meek woman who lived in the shadow of her sister appearing again for the first time in months.

“I hope you sleep well, sister,” Elena said, then climbed the stairs. I didn’t have to guess that she would sleep alone tonight, but I couldn’t get my mouth to form the words to tell her to share my bed. I had to let her go for now.

I turned back to Natalie, who seemed to read the situation better than I would expect. A smirk was forming at the corner of her mouth, and her eyes told me she thought she still had a chance with me in spite of my marriage to Elena.

And, unfortunately, when our eyes met a flood of past emotion flooded my system. She knew how I was feeling, and gave me a sultry look before turning slowly and walking up the stairs. My eyes were glued to her long legs, remembering how good it felt to have them wrapped around my waist when I made love to her.

“Oh, I already told the cook,” she said over her shoulder, “but I think we should have a banquet. I’m sure the Pack will want to celebrate my return.”