Ariella
Mom gives me a look.
I just shrug. I know what she’s thinking…
“Thank you.” She hugs me hard before rushing out of the Escalade to run into the house. Mom is crazy fast… I smile but I get distracted cuz I can smell Davonyé from here, and I know that the others must smell him, too.
I get out the car—along with Grandad Victorio and Junia—and look behind me at the rest of my family staring at me.
“Did you do that?” Uncle Demetrius asks, slowly closing his door.
I nod. “Amarey needs feeding.”
I walk past them all and head to mine to check on Davonyé. I know they’re shocked, I can feel it, but they need to get used to my role.
Cuz shit is only gonna get more interesting.
I sense Dad’s wares around the house. Dad has a select number of wares that he trusts implicitly to surround our home in times like these, and they're always at Hold One because that's the closest one to the house. They're so loyal; they travel everywhere with him. They even ate the woman who was basically responsible for mom losing her first baby and bullied her all through school.
Their loyalty runs deep.
I run up to my room, and even though Davonyé ain’t going anywhere like this, I still feel relieved to see him. I can sense him when we’re apart, and he’ll be able to sense me, too. That way if we’re ever separated, we can find each other. All mates have that skill.
I sit beside him and look down at his perfect face. My body shudders as I feel myself getting aroused. Ugh... His scent is drivin’ my mind and body crazy.
“I’m back, Baby…” I touch his face, but he doesn’t move or make a sound – inside his mind or out of it. “I’ve gotta go to the main house now, though. We found some informants at the holds, so we’re gonna have to talk about what to do next.” I kiss his forehead before I leave him again.
God… I miss him.
And in all truth, it ain’t just because of the way he makes me feel when he puts his hands on me, it’s more that I miss his company. He always makes me feel good.
I really can't wait till he wakes up tomorrow night.
***
Before I even leave my house, I hear the heated discussion currently happening in the kitchen of the main house. The closer I get, the more intensely I feel the anger and anxiety that everyone feels, too.
My memory theory was right. I’ve seen the past of each of the wares we have held in the holds. As soon as I met the others, their pasts opened to me. There isn’t much information to gleam from them, though. They’re all in similar situations. The most shocking thing I saw was from the last man. Maximus’ pack is huge. Not as big as Samsons, but it’s big. And the tranquiliser he has is savage. It was definitely made for mom, but now that she can’t die or feel pain, I don’t know exactly how it will affect her, if at all.
Everyone else, though…
They’d been at Samson’s old hold for quite a while before news of our venturing out there disrupted them. He’d been growing his numbers by sending wares out to pick up easy targets passing through the surrounding towns.
I feel uneasy, though, because he isn’t just taking humans…
We don’t particularly need a lot of numbers to defeat them, we just need their location, and Mom. You’d think it’d be easy to find such a large group of travellers, but Alaska is vast, with many places to hide.
“We need to make them talk!” Uncle Quis says.
“Damn right!” Uncle Demetrius shouts.
“Calm down, Boys,” Grandma says. “Getting angry isn’t going to change the situation.
“I do not know about the last three,” Grandad Gamba says, “but I would do the same for my children. As bad as that is.”
Grandad Gamba used to be reigning Alpha before my Mom took her place with Dad as Sovereign. Him and grandma also used to be able to hear each other’s thoughts, but Aura only gave them that skill to help the chain of events that led to Mom and Dad accomplishing all they needed to win the war.
“Abriya and I ain’t unsympathetic to the reasons why these wares have decided to betray us, but they’re still guilty and must be treated as such until we can get to the truth. If they had of just come to us as…” I hear him sigh and know he must be so frustrated with it all. “This all could’ve been over by now.”
There’s silence before I walk into the kitchen, and then I feel an emotion that I’ve only really felt from Davonyé, and that’s admiration. I don’t expect to be worshipped like Aura, but I am an Elder, so I hope that everyone eventually respects me in the position. Aura basically said I've been given this role to help us all.
Dad narrows his eyes at me and smiles. “You kept that quiet.”
I shrug. “I wasn't certain I could do it, but Mom needed to get back so I'm just glad it worked.” That technically isn’t a lie. I am gonna discuss the whole porting thing with Mom and Dad, but I honestly didn’t know that I’d be able to port whole cars and shit.
Crazy…
I stand beside him and he pulls me into a hug. “You did good up there.” He releases me. “Your mother and I are more than proud of you.”
“I try my best.”
He sighs as he returns his attention to the others. “You all need to eat. Once Abriya finishes feeding Amarey, we'll continue this discussion.”
The others reluctantly agree and soon begin preparing food for everyone. Aunt Asha and Uncle Quis decide to hunt, and Grandma and Grandad Gamba begin seasoning up chicken from the fridge.
“Can I get a word, Ari?” Uncle Dee says, appearing beside me at the island.
“Sure.”
We go up to the spare bedroom. “Everything okay?” I ask, sensing his trepidation.
He nods. “Yeah… I just wanted to make sure we’re good after the other day.”
I frown. “Oh. Yeah, course we are. I was just being sensitive.”
He runs his hand over his faded hair. “Nah, you weren’t. Cee-Cee made me realise that I was bein’ insensitive. You ain’t long changed either, so I was out of line.”
I see the memory of Aunt Cecile and Uncle Dee.
“You gotta apologise, Dee. That’s her mate. How would you feel if someone did that shit to me? Huh? She’s only been changed a little while, and she has all that magic now… Don’t let this ruin your relationship with her, Boo. I know she’s forgivin’, but still. You need to make it right…”
“Honestly, it’s fine. I’d forgotten all about it.”
Now I feel his remorse. I can tell what Aunt Cecile said has been playing on his mind. “Still, I don’t want it coming between us.”
I give him a reassuring smile. “It hasn’t. Honestly.”
He’s relieved. “Alright. How’d he take his change?”
“He hurt, obviously, but he did so well.”
“Yeah, Clarence said he did.” He gives me a look. “He said it was a dominant change.”
“It was. I’m sure you’ve noticed the scent.” Ughhh… “I know I have.”
“Everyone has. I’ve only seen a couple dominant changes before, and I felt bad for the brothers. You know anyone can become a dominant, right? But to change and immediately be one, that ain’t too common.”
“I know. I thought he might be…”
“He’ll need his own pack eventually.”
I blink up at him. “I never thought of that…”
“He’ll need to assert his dominance over others. That includes you.”
I try not to blush. Shit… that’s what I want. “I know that.”
“I just wanted to give you a heads up cuz I didn’t know if Clarence was gonna go into details about that side of shit.”
I smirk. “Probably not, but I’m sure Mom will.”
“True. You’re a strong woman, Ari, it was only right that your mate would be the same. I know things might be hectic for you right now, but I know you’re gonna master the hell out of this Elder shit. And you know me and your Aunt Cecile are only at the end of the phone if you ever need to talk.”
“I know, and I appreciate it. You know you’re my faves.”
He pulls me into his arms and hugs me tight. “And you know you’re mine. I love you, Baby Girl. I ain’t gonna lie and say I wasn’t feelin’ a kinda way when I realised you never told me about the whole magic thing.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. I just needed time to come to terms with it. I only kinda told Davonyé at first. Not even mom and dad knew.”
He releases me and holds my shoulders. “I know I gave him a hard time, but I’ll be good from now on, alright? And it ain’t just because he could probably kick my ass.” He shakes his head and lets my shoulders go. “I respect how he’s dealt with everything. Even coming here while you were out with Clarence, training. That shit took guts. But you’re my niece and I’ll always be protective over you, no matter how powerful you become.”
I smile. “I know, and I love you for it. And Aunt Cecile…” And talking of Aunt Cecile… “Any news on a mini Dee or Cecile yet?”
He smiles hard at that. “Not yet. We wanna get the Maximus situation dealt with first.”
“Good idea.”
“Yeah, but one is coming soon.”
“Good. He or she can grow up with Amarey.”
“Yeah. We’re thinkin’ of stayin’ close to you guys after all this is over.”
“Really?”
He nods. “Really.”
I’m more than happy about that. “Well I’m glad. I’d love to see you more often.”
“Us, too.” He punches my shoulder and I roll my eyes. He always used to do that to me, but this punch was definitely more forceful.
“I won’t punch you back. You might cry.” I open the door for us to leave and I hear him chuckling to himself.
“I probably would. Your mom’s punches are hard as fuck.”
***
We return to the others and I help cook. Amarey makes his rounds with everyone while he’s awake, and he’s gushed over repeatedly. I feel him getting sleepy a little while later, so when Aunt Asha is asked to make her famous rice and peas, I take him from her. I magic a rocking chair beside the window in the kitchen and snuggle him to my chest.
He looks up at me and I admire his glittering gold eyes as they begin to close. I quietly sing Big Bad Wolf to him, at the amusement to the others in the kitchen. Mom rolls her eyes, but I just smile as I recite it word for word from a memory.
His eyes fully close and I stop singing, but I study all his little features and listen to his heart steadily beating. I feel like there’s something special about Amarey the longer I look at him. He’s got an aura about him that makes me feel like he’s destined for greatness.
I kiss his forehead and briefly close my eyes. He makes me feel so content when I hold him.
“How does it feel to have a little brother then?” Grandad Victorio asks.
I look over to him by the stove. “Amazing. He’s just everything.”
“He is,” Mom and dad both agree.
“I feel like he’s destined for such great things, too.”
“All children of ours will be,” Dad says, making everyone groan.
“What?” It’s true.”
He might be right… I definitely feel something…
I zone out of the room and wonder when I’ll hear from Aura again, and what I’ll learn next. I feel like it won’t be long before she releases the next abilities in me.
I settle Amarey in his bassinet and then help mom with the potato salad.
“You alright?” I ask her.
“Yeah.” She kisses my cheek. Mom and me are basically the same size. The shorties of the family. “I love you.”
“Love you, too, Mom.”
***
We all sit in the garden to eat while Amarey sleeps in the kitchen. Dad soon brings up what happened at the holds, though, and I feel everyone's moods switch.
“Dad, before you go into that, I need to tell you all something.”
He nods.
“So, there's no need to interrogate any of the people at the holds. I already know their stories. The first woman was telling the truth. They have her son and daughter. The others are in the same situations and don't currently know anything that can help us. They were meant to return to Samson's hold but can't now that they've moved. They aren't in contact with him by any other means. The last man had contact with him more recently. After seeing his memories, I'd say that Maximus has roughly five hundred wares and rising. He's snatching easy targets and siring them. Xara was right; they've been told that mom and dad are the enemy and that they killed his family. I can't gain access to Maximus’ thoughts, though, so I don't know more than that about him, but I do know that the tranquilliser is just as bad as it was before, and that its main purpose is to silence mom. I don't know if it will still affect her now that she can't feel pain or die, but what I’ve seen of it being used on other wares, the effects are basically the same, but the difference is, there is no blood to cure them, so they’re left to starve and eventually die.”
“My God,” Mom says.
“Yeah.” I shudder. “They practically waste away from the inside out, and they feel everything, too.”
“Lord,” Aunt Cecile says. “I can't even imagine.”
“We need to send wares out to Davonyé's sisters,” Dad says. “And we listen for any news of their whereabouts.”
“I think that's a good idea. The wares at the holds can't help us, but at least we know that for the moment, they're still in Alaska.”
Dad nods. “Alright. Ariella, tomorrow, you contact Davonyé's sisters. Get an address so we can send some wares out there.”
“They’re family now, too, and we need to make sure they’re protected. See if you can convince them to come here,” Mom says, and the others agree.
“I will.”
Dad sighs and mom holds his hand. I know she’s trying to reassure him.
Poor dad. He must feel so stressed.
“Let's have a drink,” he suggests.
“Hell yeah,” Uncle Quis says. “I'll run home and get the good stuff.”
Oh, God... That means kush, and extra strong absinthe...
***
I return to mine just after two in the morning. The family are all staying at Mom’s except from Aunt Asha and Uncle Quis cuz they live so close. I get dressed into shorts and a tank, and then after using my magic to bathe Davonyé and redress him in clean sweats, I lie beside him. He's warm as hell because he's still regenerating, and I'm glad, otherwise, this woulda been like lying next to a corpse.
I think about what my Uncle Dee said to me earlier and wonder how hard it's gonna be for Davonyé to control his behaviour when we're out in public.
Mainly when it comes to me.
We still have the whole situation with Carisse to deal with yet. I know it's wishful thinking, but I just wish she'd go back to Ontario. But I suppose it doesn't matter too much because if I end up studying from home and Davonyé gets his clothing line sorted, he might not even go back to school.
And there's the fact that we'll have to move soon. Mom doesn't think I know, but I heard her talking to dad a few months ago about the next place they'll live. I think mom wants to go back to the UK, but that would mean moving everyone's continents around.
Either way, I think we'll be moving soon.
I just wonder what Davonyé will think of that, and whether he’ll even wanna go. Maybe this will become our territory? Davonyé is gonna need a pack of his own...
I push my thoughts away. I might not need much sleep, but I still need it, so after kissing Davonyé on the forehead, I close my eyes.
Sleep…