Misty
We finish dinner and eat Mom’s burnt Solstice cake. The kids get tucked into bed upstairs, and for a while, the adults sit out on the covered deck, sipping wine–except for me and Aviva (we were given hot chocolate) and pouring drams of Grandpa’s best and favorite whiskey. I listen to stories about my grandparents that I’d never heard before and lean my weight against Cole, his arms wrapped around me, warming me against the chill of the rain and brisk ocean air.
It’s after midnight when we finally go to bed, falling into the covers, curling up nose to nose.
“Mom got you a stocking,” I tell him in a whisper. “Watching us open them is her favorite part of the whole day, so act really surprised and excited about it, okay?”
He runs his fingers through my hair. “I will.”
I want to ask about his mom and sister but their whereabouts, and the status of his relationship with them–whether they know what he had to do to his own father, her mate–we haven’t talked about it.
I tell myself we all need time–Cole most of all.
He rolls to the side, reaching to the floor where his bag rests against the bed.
“What are you doing?”
He groans softly as he rolls back over with something in his fist. “I had a plan for this.”
“For… what?”
“We were going to go for a walk after dinner, on the beach under the moonlight, and I was going to… do this properly. But it’s raining and….” He sits up, kneeling on the bed. I balance on my elbow, absolutely perplexed by the rosy stain on his cheeks.
He fights for words for a moment, his eyes distant and glassy–fixed on his pillow. But then his eyes meet mine and… he doesn’t need those words. I can see it in his eyes.
“I love you,” he whispers, the words heavy, desperate, and full of feeling.
“I love you,” I whisper back. “Are you… going to propose to me yet, or are you going to wait until tomorrow?”
The color on his cheeks deepens. “How did you–”
“Sydney told me, like… five minutes after we got here.”
Cole closes his eyes and lets go of the breath he was holding, murmuring something under his breath that sounds a whole lot like, “Evander was right; Sydney is the one to look out for.”
But he smiles, then chuckles, then… laughs.
I sit up all the way, beaming at him, at the sound of his happiness. It’s the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard.
“Gods dammit, Misty. Yes, I’m proposing to you.” He unfurls his fingers, revealing the ring.
It’s gorgeous. Simple and elegant. But the diamond is… familiar.
“Is this the diamond of faith?”
“Half of it,” he says, holding it up. “I talked to Ella and Ryatt, and your dad, about it. It was lodged in my armor after the battle and I felt… I felt, and they felt, like it was rightfully yours.”
Grandma told me the same thing. My powers sing in agreement.
“Where’s the other half?”
“In a safe in the castle in Crescent Falls. Your mom helped me choose the setting. She said the whole diamond would be too heavy–”
“Is this what you’ve been doing all week while telling me you had meetings with Alphas about the future of Tarsian?”
His blush deepens. “Not–not totally.” He chews his lip, looking suddenly boyish and nervous. “So… would you like to boss me around for the rest of our lives?”
I shoot him a cat-eyed glare.
He smirks, extending the ring. “Will you do me the honor of being not only my mate but my wife?”
I rise up, clasping his face between my hands, and kiss him hard. “Yes,” I breathe, my eyes filling with tears–happy ones, finally. “I was planning on it!”
He smiles against my lips. I feel him slip the ring on my finger.
We don't do more than kiss–not while sharing a house with my entire freakin’ family–but we’re woken in the earliest hours of the morning by my bedroom door creaking open and three small beings creeping into the room and crawling onto the bed. Brie peels my eyelids open, blinking down at me.
“Missy?”
“Hmm?”
“The Yule Wolf came,” she hisses.
“Brie, it’s four in the morning.”
“He left presents!”
I groan, rolling with the little girl in my arms, smooshing her to the bed. She squeals in delight, but now Aris and Blake are jumping on the edge of the mattress, chanting, “Get up! Get up! Get up!”
The sound of the coffee grinder floats through the air, followed by several muffled voices and the first smells of coffee being brewed.
Cole swings his legs out of bed, grabs the boys and tucks them under each arm, and walks into the hallway. Aris and Blake’s peals of laughter echo through the house as it wakes for a very early start to the day.
It’s Winter Solstice, after all.
By 4:30 A.M, all of us are tucked on the couches in the den with cups of coffee and hot chocolate, blearily watching the kids rip into presents. Laughter and joy drifts through the air, but there’s an undercurrent of suppressed grief. A week ago, this wouldn’t have been possible. A week ago, Blake and Liam would have lost their mother and father. Aviva and Ryan wouldn’t be opening a present for their unborn child–a blanket, sown by hand by Cosette, who’s spending the holiday in Crescent Falls with her family.
My dad wouldn’t be kissing my mom on the temple before handing her a neatly wrapped box. Ryatt wouldn’t be kneeling with his grandson, inspecting a new toy train.
I catch Kenna’s gaze. She’s wearing the same slightly lost expression I am. She gives me a weak smile and the smallest, saddest shrug.
Two stockings still hang on the mantle, full to the brim with treats and cards… letters… the goodbyes we didn’t get a chance to say.
I wade through a sea of wrapping paper and snatch Cole’s gift before Blake can get his greasy little paws on it.
“This is for you,” I say, plopping down beside him and crossing my legs. I twiddle my thumbs in anticipation as Cole arches a brow and begins tearing at the poorly wrapped present.
“So, that’s where all the tape went,” Mom teases, a stack of new novels from my dad–likely romance, given what she believes is a hidden treasure trove of books in her office.
I frown playfully at her as Cole rips the paper free.
“It’s silly,” I say over the incessant chatter and buzzing of the toy cars whizzing around our feet.
“It’s… not.” His eyes meet mine. “Where did you get this?”
“Kenna helped.”
Kenna smiles and waves at the mention of her name but quickly goes back to wrenching wrapping paper out of Maeve’s fingers while she tries to stuff it in her mouth.
We’d taken a bit of a scenic route to Maatua. Kenna met us in Tarsian, and we jumped to Moonrise first, where Cole had a whole thirty minutes to recover before we swept him to Veiled Valley, where Kenna and I spent an evening doing some last minute shopping while Evander and Cole wrangled the kids.
Brie, Blake, and Aris appear at our knees, gazing into the finely made wooden box resting on Cole’s thighs. Liam glances up from his train and darts toward us, pushing and shoving his way in front of Cole.
“Ohhh,” Liam beams, wide-eyed as Cole lifts the stethoscope from the box.
He lost his medical kit in Oasia–in the fire that swept through the castle after his first battle with Richard. It’s the only detail he’s shared about that night so far.
“Misty,” he breathes. “This is… thank you.” He gives me a kiss and then realizes my entire family is watching, and pulls away, but I’m feeling incredibly smug. I’m on cloud nine.
He examines it while all three children lean in, forgetting about their new toys. He tests it on Brie, who giggles wildly as Cole smiles down at her, listening to her heart.
“Here, look.” He takes it off and gently places the ear tips in Brie's tiny ears, then presses the diaphragm to her chest. “That’s your heart. That bump, bump, bump.”
“My turn?” Liam begs, his eyes–a soft, bluish violet–going wide. “Peas?”
My heart squeezes as Cole gently guides the kids through using his new stethoscope. Everyone gets a turn.
“Trash bag?” Ryatt asks, pointing at my dad, who rises and shakes out a bag, the two Alpha King's setting to work cleaning up the wrapping paper and discarded toy boxes.
By 6:00 A.M, the kids are already starting to rub their eyes, ready for naps. Ryatt and Dad bicker over who gets to make the pancakes–a family tradition started by Grandpa Maddox. Mom and Ella get ready for their own tradition–a long walk along the beach–without the kids.
But there’s one present left. Cole brings it to me, sitting back down on the couch while the kids roll around with their toys on the rug in front of us.
Maeve is slack in Aviva’s arms, both of them fast asleep on the opposite couch. I smile at the image and quietly rip the paper away.
It’s a book. Smaller than average and bound by fresh leather. There’s no title engraved on the cover.
I look up at Cole, thinking he’d be smiling and a little pink in the cheeks in anticipation for my reaction, but he looks grave.
I open it.
It’s a printed rendition of the Book of Whispers.
Cole purses his lips for a moment, his eyes holding heavy on mine. “Richard had the pages copied and printed, thinking that if he lost the book, he could still use the spells. He was wrong about that,” he begins, gripping my knee. “This is strictly for your research. The original book held the magic, but this is just… words. The magic is gone.”
“The book took pieces of Richard's soul every time he used it, didn’t it?”
“I think so, but… you have an opportunity to figure that out for sure.”
I let the book rest in my lap and wrap my arms around his neck, holding him tight. I would have never admitted that I felt a sliver of regret the moment Cole stabbed the book, the power of the diamond tearing through the book’s magic and destroying it, turning its ancient pages to ash. I wanted to know what else was inside, what secrets and knowledge were housed there from people, from gods, long lost to time.
Cole must have known that about me. That I have to know everything. Even if it hurts.
The scent of breakfast drifts from the kitchen while we remain in a tight embrace, wordlessly letting ourselves feel everything for the first time since the battle. Our shared grief. Our shared heartbreak. Our confusion over our conflicting feelings–being both incredibly, utterly happy and unbelievably devastated at the same time.
Things will be different a year from now. Next year, there will be a baby between us, gnawing on Cole’s fingers while I pass out gifts. We’ll have moved on from this uncertainty. We’ll have new memories that will force the memories of the past few weeks to fade.
We spend the next two days with my family before returning to Tarsian again… for the last time.