Ariella
It's been almost two days since the others went out to Alaska, and they still haven't tracked down Maximus. I just wanna go find them myself, but I'm also trying to do as I'm told. This isn't about how I feel or what I wanna do. This is a process and I’ve gotta trust it.
No matter how I really feel...
It's annoying because I know for a fact that if Mom was out there, Maximus would’ve been found by now. She can track through the ground much further than all of us, and her scent reach is crazy long.
I've skipped school today, too, but I’ve used magic to get away with it. Carisse is gettin’ on my last nerve with her thoughts about me and Davonyé, but I’m distracted anyways because of Davonyé being away from me. There's a full moon tonight, too, and I'm seriously feeling it.
Mom and Aunt Asha are, too.
The house is quiet and none of us like it. Don’t get me wrong, we ain’t alone. There are still men surrounding the house, but a hell of a lot more of them now that dad’s not around.
I down my glass of water in the kitchen before returning to the living room where Mom and Aunt Asha are. I fall onto the sofa opposite them and sigh with frustration. “How do you cope being so on edge when dad ain't around, Mom?”
She looks up from Amarey who she’s feeding. “I don't,” she snaps, but then she sighs. “I'm sorry, Sweetheart. Full moons aren't no fun when your mate isn't around to… y’know.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Aunt Asha agrees. She pulls out her phone and starts typing on it. I hear her writing out a text to my uncle and quickly block her out.
“Yeah, I can tell already.” I swear my pussy’s screaming for Davonyé's dick.
‘Bae, it's hard enough tryna keep my dick soft without you thinkin’ shit like that,’ Davonyé complains.
‘I'm sorry.’ I calm myself but still feel antsy. Ugh... I might have to pay him a secret visit later. I'm horny as fuck.
‘Shit, Ari, you better. I miss you. And I miss your juicy pussy. I’m starving.’
‘Damn… don’t talk like that…’
“So what you think’s gonna happen once they find them?” Mom asks.
I try not to think about the ache between my thighs and focus on Mom instead. Amarey’s finished feeding, so she does up her top before settling him on her chest. She rests her body back to get comfortable, so I widen the sofa so that she can fully relax with her feet up.
She gives me a look and so does my Aunt.
“Fighting. I'm hoping to port us out there when the time is right.”
“And when will that be?”
I shrug, curling my legs up on the couch beneath me. “I’m not sure yet. But soon.”
“I know you won’t be able to tell us everything, but I can’t help but want to ask.”
“Same,” Aunt Asha says. “I think it’s amazing, the things you can do.”
“It is, but I’m also still a ware so my feelings about this whole situation are the same as yours.”
“We know, Sweetheart.”
Ugh… I’ve seen glimpses of things, but I can’t tell them about them yet. “There is something I wanted to talk to you about, Mom. I don't think Marron is really Tinashe’s mate.”
I can see and feel both their surprise. “What makes you think that?” Aunt Asha asks.
“Cuz she’s so upset about Clarisha but not that focused on her mate, and to me, as much as I love you all, Davonyé is my number one priority.”
“And that's how it should be,” Mom says. “Most definitely. Mates come before anyone. Except your children.”
“Right. I feel like that's why she never went after him when she could still feel him. Because I know for a fact, I would hunt the whole world for Davonyé. Nothing would keep me away from him.”
“Same,” Aunt Asha says.
“Most definitely,” Mom agrees.
“Yeah, well, I haven’t seen her future yet, but I know from the past that their attraction towards each other was strong. ‘Mate’ strong, however? I ain’t so sure.”
“Well, you know that your Uncle Demetrius thought that Seren was his mate at first, so it could just be that she was meant to be turned and that was the way it happened.”
“True. And it’s like Aura’s said time and time again, everything is meant to happen in a certain order. If she hadn’t been turned by Marron, then she wouldn’t have been living near her sister. And that means she wouldn’t have been able to alert us about them disappearing. I know she always wanted to be a teacher. Her plans were to finish school and move to Africa to teach young kids there.”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” Aunt Asha says. “She’s a really sweet girl. Me, Cecile, and her were talking about all sorts when she was here the other day.”
“Yeah,” Mom says. “You can tell they come from a close family because she couldn’t say enough nice things about her mom and siblings.”
“They are really close, and I know that’s what terrifies her most, telling her mom something’s happened to Clarisha.”
“We’ll find them,” Mom says. “Your Dad’s close. I had a vision this morning and he’ll soon be headed south.”
I see the memory of it and see that it’s the same as what I’ve recently seen. “Good. I just wanna get this over and done with so we can all move on.”
“Yeah…” Mom gives me a look. “Talkin’ about moving on. Your Dad and I have been thinking about moving everyone’s continents around. We’ve been here twenty years now, and there’s only so long we can tell people that black don’t crack.”
Aunt Asha and me laugh at that, but mom rolls her eyes.
“We have a few options; we could make everyone move within their continents, or we could move them completely.”
“I haven’t seen anything to do with moving anyone yet, but I think as time goes on, I’ll see more.”
“Of the future?”
“Yeah.”
“Wow…” Aunt Asha shakes her head. “I can’t even imagine what it’s like to be you.”
I smile. “It’s crazy, but it is amazing, too.”
“I bet.”
“Mom, I told Harmony about being an Elder. It’s okay for her to know, so don’t start worrying about it.”
She nods. “That’s fine, Sweetheart. I’m sure you know when the right time is to tell the rest of our kind. You can’t keep it secret forever.”
“No, I can’t.”
“And so you shouldn’t,” Aunt Asha says. “You’re an Elder to help all of us. It’s a good thing.” She falls silent for a moment. “Talking of Harmony… I know you’ve been busy, but I don’t suppose you know what’s been wrong with her lately, do you?”
I shake my head. “No. Why?”
“She’s just so quiet at home, and I feel like something’s wrong. She won’t talk to me or her dad about it, though, no matter what we say to reassure her that she can.”
“She hasn’t mentioned anything to me.”
Poor Har… I’ve been desperate to get involved after finding out what happened, but that’s another thing I have to be patient over.
But it won’t be too much longer for her now…
“Maybe take her for some girl time,” Mom suggests. “Full works. She’ll talk.”
“I hope so.”
I feel her concern and realise I’m gonna have to speak to Har. She’s crazy to think that her parents ain’t gonna start noticing something’s wrong.
She needs more than me there for her, too.