Aviva
A calm has finally settled over Silverhide. The shift in the energy after we brought the kids home was palpable almost immediately.
Now, it’s late afternoon. The sun is warm and bright, but the threat of rain hangs over the mountains where dark clouds simmer over the peaks. I walk toward the house where Sydney and Sarah are resting with their girls but stop when Maddy steps out of the house, her face bright and cheeks pink with excitement. She spots me and stops, smiling widely, and motions me over before reaching up to pull her long, dark red hair into a bun on the top of her head.
“How are they?”
“Oh, they’re just fine,” she smiles, smoothing the fabric of her yellow shirt over her midsection. “They’re just beautiful. I’m so happy for Sarah and Sydney.”
I look up at the second story windows, which are open to let in some of the last warm, early autumn air. “Do you think they’ll be able to travel home soon?”
“Sydney is a little worried, of course, but Sarah’s ready to get home. She wants to be in her bed, which I totally understand. Ryatt’s been bouncing around all day, but he’s supposed to come to take us all back to Crescent City. Sarah doesn’t think her powers can spirit us home on her own.”
I nod, sighing as the clouds begin to creep toward the sun, casting long shadows over the village center.
“I was just about to go up to your house to love on Lexa for a while.” She smiles, lovingly squeezing my arm.
“Please do,” I reply, taking a shallow breath. “I’m trying to find Logan right now, but he seems to have disappeared.”
“I saw him running around with a few of the boys from the village about twenty minutes. They looked like they were heading to the creek.” She turns from me, walking in the direction of my house on the far edge of the village. Behind us, hammers split the air as the first level of the new pack house rises, at least a dozen men working around the clock to have the first version of it built by the time the snow flies.
I squint at the sun again, trying to gauge how much longer we have until that happens. It’s been exceedingly warm so far, after all.
I tuck my hands in the pockets of the flowy, dark blue dress hanging from my shoulders and turn back toward the creek following the road out of the village. Within minutes, I hear the tell-tale sign of little boys splashing in the creek and spot Logan a few yards away from where the other boys are knee-deep, looking for frogs. Logan has a long stick in his hands, jabbing it into the water to overturn rocks. He looks up as I approach but doesn’t stop his little game.
“What are you up to?” I ask in Firestone.
He shrugs in a very teenage way. “Nothing, really.”
“Can we talk for a minute?”
He looks up at me then glances at the other boys. Eventually, he nods, tosses his stick into the water and follows me through the village. I walk with him in silence up to the lake, sitting down on the dock with my toes dusting the water. A few other people dot the lakes edge fishing or having picnics, but otherwise we’re alone.
I haven’t had much of a chance to talk to him since we got home. He was exhausted, and honestly, I think a little traumatized after what he went through with Maeve.
“How are you doing?” I ask.
He lies down on his back, his face tilted toward the sun. Freckles dot his nose and cheeks, the sun casting shadows over the sharp planes of his cheeks. He’ll be a handsome man when he’s grown up, I can already tell.
But it’s hard to imagine what ten or twenty years from now might look like. Logan’s silent for a while. He crosses his arms over his chest and sighs deeply before asking, “Is there anything that can be done about that baby?”
I smirk. “You ignored my question.”
“I’m fine.”
I take him in, noticing the healing burns on his hands and forearms.
“Maeve is very powerful, but she’s young. The family has been discussing how to go about her future training.”
“She burned down a barn just by sneezing.”
“Well, consider yourself lucky you don’t have the same powers. They seem rather inconvenient.”
He keeps his eyes closed, but his mouth twitches into a smile.
“Seriously, Logan. What you did for her–for us… you didn’t have to go after her like that, rescue her.”
“I picked up the scent of the healer and thought it was odd that she went into the woods, so I followed.”
“You shifted.”
He opens one eye to look at me before closing it again. “I did.”
“You’re only twelve. That’s very young to come into your wolf powers.”
“Not in Emberfyll.”
I look at him, hoping he’s going to say more, but the ghost of a smile on his lips fades to a tight line. His expression sags, and I know that’s it. It’s painful for him to think about his homeland, let alone talk about it.
“One day, when you’re grown, you can go back,” I tell him. “One day, when you’ve time to train and hone your skills, you can return. You were a prince there, weren’t you? Your parents were an Alpha and Luna–”
“There will be nothing left by then,” he cuts in.
“Can you tell me what happened?”
Logan doesn’t move. He lies in silence for what feels like several minutes before he sits up and takes off his shoes to dip his feet in the water, like me. He grips the edge of the dock, his eyes locked on the dark blue surface, and says, “I don’t understand.”
“You don’t understand what I asked? I know my Firestone isn’t perfect–”
“I don’t understand how everything went bad so fast,” he says under his breath. “I went to bed one night, and the next morning, my mother was hurrying me to a boat. Dad met us there. I’d heard rumors of war and sickness but I didn’t think about it so much. It didn’t seem real.”
Because he’s a child. Of course, that wouldn’t mean much to him. I resist the urge to lay a hand on his shoulder as he continues, “I don’t remember the journey on the boat.”
“Where were you going?”
He shakes his head. “I don’t know. There’s islands around Emberfyll, but we’d been on the water for days, maybe… two weeks. Mom was sick, and Dad wouldn’t let me see her. I knew it was sickness that killed off those packs in our territory without him having to confirm it. And just like the morning we left, one night I went to sleep, and then I woke up in the water, alone, with nothing but water all around me and darkness. No stars, no moon, just water.”
I lick my lips in thought.
He says, “My uncle was a bad man who hated us, but he was the Alpha King, and he had an army on his side. He was never supposed to be Alpha King. My dad was, but he banished my dad and his loyalists. That was before I was born.”
“Is your uncle still the Alpha King of Emberfyll?”
“If the sickness didn’t get him, yes, but I remember my parents would talk in the evenings about me… about how there were more and more people who wanted my father on the throne because of me, his heir. They called me a promise of Emberfyll’s future when things felt so dark and hopeless.”
I reach over and squeeze his hand. He doesn’t move.
“Ryan and I talked, and I think you should start training your powers. Train like our warriors do.”
“It doesn’t matter–”
“It does, Logan. You’re twelve, but you can shift. You’ll have nine extra years of experience in your wolf form by the time you turn twenty-one. One day, you can go home. You can fight for your people—for what’s left, if you choose.”
“And until then?” he asks, looking up at me.
“You’ll have a home here with us–with me, and Ryan, and our pack.”
He slides his hand away from mine. I try not to wince at the rejection.
“Logan–I’m not saying you need to call me mom, or anything like that, but you’re old enough to know and understand that our people, our rulers, they know nothing about Emberfyll. It’s not on any maps, even the ancient ones. All we know is that the sea off the coast of Tarsian is full of magic–full of chaos and demons meant to keep us away from something. You survived it, and I believe you’re the only one who ever has… which should mean something to you. That means you could go back when you’re ready, and you’ve trained for it. And we will help you.”
He swallows hard, his eyes on the water. “And the girl?”
I blink. “Who?”
“The little girl with brown hair. How does she factor into all of this?”
I shake my head, unsure what he’s trying to say. “Brie?”
He nods, his eyes distant and hazy as he absently rubs his chest.
“Brie is… Maeve’s sister,” I tell him, tilting my head. “She’s five–”
“She called for me to find Maeve,” he whispers to himself, and then rises, and walks away.
I watch him go, staring after him in confusion.
* * *
“I wouldn’t take it personally,” Ryan says, moving around the kitchen table with Lexa strapped to his chest, fast asleep. He pours Ryatt another cup of strong coffee before moving on to my mug. “He’s a kid.”
“He’s a teenager,” Ryatt says around the rim of his mug.
I frown at both men. “He’s not a teenager yet.”
“Well, you grew up with sisters, so you know practically nothing about teenage boys, or boys in general,” my mate adds, lifting a brow in my direction. “They’re weird and ornery.”
“This has nothing to do with him being… weird,” I reply, scoffing a bit.
Ryatt chuckles, crossing his legs as he leans back in his seat. “You made the right call by telling him he can’t go back until he’s grown up.”
My head snaps in Ryatt’s direction. “Did I? Because it seemed to really upset him,” I growl.
“Even I have no idea what’s past the sea, nor does anyone from Tarsian. When word about Logan’s arrival reached us, Ella had the mystics look into it, and they came up with nothing.”
“I find it hard to believe the Firestone witches didn’t explore the ocean that bordered their kingdom back in the day,” Ryan says from the kitchen.
I agree, but Ryatt doesn’t seem that convinced. “I don’t think they could,” he says before taking another drink. “I think they were barred from it, which is where the lore about the monsters and demons in the water came about.”
“You think there’s some kind of… barrier between here and Emberfyll?” I ask.
“I think there’s another veil,” Ryatt replies, setting his mug down.
Ryan turns to look at us. “That’s impossible. Your own mate took down the veil.”
“Around Eastonia, yes.” Ryatt taps his fingers on the table, checking his watch. He’s supposed to be leaving with Maddy, Sarah, Sydney, and the twins soon. He offered to take Misty and Cole back to Crescent Falls as well, but they declined, deciding they’re going to stay until after the Harvest Festival.
“Whatever it is, it’s going to prevent him from returning. But, he’s here, and being looked after by our family now. That puts him in a position to go through warrior training and the best schooling we can offer.”
Ryan and I look at each other. I turn back to Ryatt, “You don’t think he’s too young to start training now?”
“I think it would be good for him. He needs to learn our language and customs, as well. When he’s sixteen, he can come to Moonrise to train with the royal army. Until then, do your best with him here.”
Ryatt stands, quietly thanking Ryan for the coffee, and says he’ll be back for the festival, and leaves.
Just like that.
Ryan purses his lips as I sink back into my seat, hanging my head in my hands. I feel him come up behind me and lay a hand on my shoulder, squeezing. “We’ll make it work. He’s a good kid.”
“He wants to go home,” I whisper.
“He can’t. Not yet.”