Chapter 147

Sarah POV

I knew Ollie would be bringing the girls home soon and put the finishing touches on my ideas for comments I would make at the memorial when the press asked me questions.

Zane had thought the idea of attending the memorial together was excellent. Melissa gave me all the credit, which made me admire and resent her more than ever. Whitfield and Melissa’s PR team arranged for them both to make speeches as part of the ceremonies.

My role was to watch over the children and show I personally was thriving in Alpha Zane’s household, none of which would be difficult. I only worried about a journalist or two who might be looking for scandal or some juicy quote, so I wanted to make sure everything I said into a microphone on the trip would be suitably dull and supportive.

The memorial would take the better part of a day, which meant we’d travel over to Erinose Territory two days before to get settled, make sure the girls were coping with the six-hour time change, and meet with all the officials in preparation for the ceremonies. Then we’d have a day of rest, again mostly for the girls, and fly home.

Grace and Chloe would miss a few days of school, but Dr. Hayes would be traveling with us to help them keep up with their studies.

I had already gone through my wardrobe with Lainey on Zoom, and we’d picked out my outfits to look quietly luxurious and attractive without being eye-catching. It was vital that the cameras pointed at Melissa, especially when she was by Zane’s side.

“That shouldn’t be difficult to manage,” I’d said while I was looking over my shoes. How had I gotten so many? “She’s gorgeous, and the camera loves her.”

“You’re still a press darling,” Lainey had said from my tablet, which I’d propped against a chair leg. “When they come at you, don’t spare the posing and smiling. They’ll concentrate on Zane and Melissa just fine without you shirking the spotlight.”

I laughed. “I’m sure. Frankly, they’re just about the most handsome couple I’ve ever seen.”

Lainey hadn’t responded, and I looked over to see her face looking serious on the screen.

“So, this isn’t just an act, right? You really approve of this?”

“Zane and Melissa?”

She nodded.

“Of course I do. She’s an exceptional alpha, and I want her here in the territory to help Zane and to be in the girls’ lives.” That last bit had been hard to say, so I looked back at my shoes. “I think I’ll take the black flats to fill in for anything we’re not thinking of.”

“Good idea.”

I looked out over the hedge maze, smiling at the thought that the girls might be playing there soon, though lately they had become fascinated with a little creek that ran through the property and kept coming home with wet shoes.

The back of my neck tingled a little, and I turned to the right to see the girls standing in the doorway.

“Hello!” I said, realizing it was a little later than I had thought.

The girls didn’t come up to me, though, standing there with little smiles. I realized Chloe was hiding something behind her back.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

They broke out in giggles and came running up to me. Chloe handed me a thick piece of paper that turned out to be a 1(st) Place Award for Woodworking, Level One, certificate.

“You won this with that horse you carved?” I asked.

Chloe nodded and went in for a big hug. “They said it looked like it wanted to race through the fields,” she said. Over her shoulder, I watched Grace and she beamed with pride.

“This is great!” I pulled back to smile at her, all the while feeling incredibly guilty. I’d had no idea she was even in a competition. Was I ignoring her needs with all the things I had going on in my life?

“Can I put it on the fridge?” Chloe asked.

“The fridge? Something this nice? We’ll have to get this framed and hang it on the wall!”

Had Grace been a part of this competition? Why hadn’t the school told me about some art contest?

Grace laughed and told me, “The painting contest is next month.”

Oh, thank the goddess. Still, I should have realized Chloe was competing for an award.

Chloe turned to her sister and whispered something that sounded like, “Now, please.”

Grace nodded, gave me a hug, and left the room.

“I didn’t tell you about the art thing because I didn’t want you to worry about it,” Chloe told me when we were alone.

“What?”

“And if I didn’t win, I didn’t want you to feel bad about it.”

I slid out of my chair and sat on the carpet in front of her, taking her hands in my own.

“You are still my daughter, and I’m still your mother just as much as I’m your goddess-mother. I want to know everything about your life that you’re willing to share with me, and you don’t need to protect me. I’m the one who’s supposed to be protecting you.”

Chloe looked toward the door, and we both heard Selene panting before she trotted into the room. I smiled in delight as she came up to us both for scratches behind her ears. I was becoming deeply fond of her and considered her the only personally good thing that came out of that night.

I mean, yes, it was great the girls had been so smart and courageous, and I was glad to have rescued those people and seen their disgusting traffickers put in jail, but thoughts of all that did nothing to help me sleep at night. Selene’s outsized puppy paws and wagging tail warmed my heart.

“Can I ask you a question about you and Daddy?” Chloe asked quietly, still looking at Selene and petting her head.

“Yes, of course, honey.”

“Do you think there’s any chance you two might mate?”

I smiled, thinking about those early and clumsy attempts by the girls to get us to fall in love with each other.

“Your father is a wolf, and I’m a human, which wouldn’t be so bad if we wanted to get together, but he’s also the Pack Alpha, and he has a duty to his pack above all other things except his duty to you and Grace as your father.”

“But you’d want to be his mate if you could?”

“I didn’t say that.” I reached over and scratched her behind the ear. She giggled and jerked away.

“It’s not a matter that we want to be together but can’t,” I lied, the words nasty on my tongue. “It’s that we just don’t think about it because it can never happen. I’d like if you and Grace could do the same.”

“You guys might, though, if you were both wolves.”

“But we’re not.”

“It’s dumb,” she said, pouting. “You should just do what you want.”

“That’s isn’t the way the world works, and you know it.”

“I do. But it’s still dumb.”

I admit, I agreed with her.