Broken Bonds

Three years later

The baby grew up to be a gorgeous little woman. One that could barely be seen from the ground, and yet no one was able to forget her. It wasn’t that long ago since she first learned how to talk, and she was already driving Rey mad with all the questions. But Rey wouldn’t change her for anything.

To Rey’s surprise and Brynn’s another near heart-attack experience, not even a year and a half later a little boy joined their lives. Well, what to say? Lia and her mate certainly weren’t wasting their time.

Not much changed for Brynn herself during those three years. She was still using all her extraordinary skills to heal those who needed her. S refused to let her go on her own, so he almost always followed her. Sometimes Lia joined in too. And when there was a particularly gruesome attack, they would all go. But there was a slight difference now, they had a place to come back to.

Rey was not able to shift into her wolf again. The lazy ass was still sleeping somewhere inside her, but she wasn’t ready to give up just yet. Who knew? Maybe one day it would come alive.

She also wasn’t going to give up the hope for the time when humans and wolves would be able to live together in peace. It would be foolish to think their pack was never going to be attacked again. There was more than one occasion, the families of those killed seeking revenge, but the pack was still standing strong and it would continue to do so, especially now that it had four best healers in the country by their side.

There were members of the pack that were giving Rey hateful glances in the day’s after Elaine’s departure and some remained suspicious of her to this day. But there was one particular reason why that helped convince them she had no intentions to become their luna. But Rey didn’t want to think about it just yet.

She thought about her parents instead. They tried many times to build back the relationship with their estranged daughter, and although the road to forgiveness was still very long, Rey could at least tolerate their presence now. If they weren’t bothering her every day.

“She fell down again,” S’s voice pulled Rey out of her thoughts and she turned her head in the direction it came from. He walked towards her, Caroline’s small fingers holding his hand. There were dried tears on her cheek and blood on her knees.

Rey sighed and chuckled a bit. She swore gravitation loved the little girl way too much because she was almost always pulled to the ground. She couldn’t even remember the day that went by without Caroline tripping over something. Lucky for them, she was able to heal quickly.

“Come here, my poor little baby,” Rey reached out her hands, which resulted in Caroline abandoning S and flying in Rey’s arms instead.

Rey was sitting on the porch in front of their house, so when the little girl ran over, she lifted her up and sat her into her lap, the shattered knees now on full display.

“Does it hurt a lot?” Rey wondered.

She nodded almost immediately, but Rey had a hard time believing her. The wound was already closing in some places.

“She wanted to see her dad,” S said. “But I have no idea where he went.”

Rey smiled down at the little drama queen: “Your wound is going to heal long before we will be able to find him.”

“What about my mum then? Do you think, she knows?” Caroline’s question made Rey’s heart squeeze, but she did her best for the smile to remain on her face: “I am sure, she does. She might even help you heal right now.”

“Really?” Caroline turned the upper half of her body towards Rey, sparks flying in her eyes. But as if she realised what she did, her expression quickly turned gloomy. “It still hurts quite a lot. Maybe it would help if someone would blow on it.”

Rey laughed and shook her head before she obediently leaned in and blew a bit of breath on the horrendous wound: “Better?”

“Much,” Caroline clapped her hands contently.

As Rey narrowed her body back to the previous position, she noticed S smiling down on them. He lost his smile for quite a bit after the attack. When they found out, he indeed killed the man. But it was back now, and Rey was going to do anything to keep it there.

But she wasn’t going to let the opportunity to tease him run away: “What’s with the stare? Are you thinking of making one of your own? Only two years left. Then you can.”

He grimaced: “Oh god no!”

“Do not plant these crazy ideas inside his brain! He has more than enough time for something like that.” The door behind Rey opened and Brynn walked outside, the sound of crying following her.

As soon as it reached Caroline’s ears, she jumped off Rey’s lap and blurted out: “Is the baby here? Can I see him?”

She didn’t even wait for an answer and flew inside, Brynn’s voice trailing behind her: “Yes, you can. But be careful, he is not in the mood today.”

He had a hard time convincing her, but Lia did agree to move in with her mate in the end. However, after the little nugget was born, she spent more and more time with them. She played it on exhaustion, but Rey had a strong suspicion, Lia simply didn’t want to be alone.

“Finally a bit of peace,” Brynn sighed as she closed the door behind and walked over to S.

Rey concluded she spoke way too soon because her parents rounded the corner just then. Her mum held one of her new creations in her hands. She took on cooking as a new hobby of hers and was it even necessary to mention, S was especially fond of that decision?

“I hope we are not disturbing anything,” Rey’s father spoke. He had his hand around his mate’s waist, pretending to guard her against falling. But Rey was a hundred percent sure that he just wanted to be close to her.

They got back together eventually. Rey couldn’t and didn’t even want to blame them for it. They were mates after all, and there was already enough pain in all of them to last another lifetime.

“No, you certainly aren’t,” S said quickly and reached out his hands. “Give it!” His desperation getting a laugh out of them all.

“We heard the little troublemaker fell again. Is she okay?” Rey’s mum asked, and Brynn responded with: “She is more than fine. She probably forgot about the incident altogether.”

“It is crazy how quickly she is growing up. She will be an adult before we know it.”

It was an innocent comment from her father, but it hit Rey deep inside. She swore she would take care of Elaine’s child until it would no longer need her. But how long would that be? Fifteen? Ten? Maybe only five years. Rey didn’t know. But she knew that when the time would finally come, it would be her time to leave. This wasn’t the place for her to stay.

As if her mother guessed where Rey’s thoughts went, she asked: “Don’t you think, it’s time?”

Rey scrunched her eyebrows: “Time for what?”

“Time to give Talon a chance.”

Rey stood up faster than she ever did before and warned her: “Don’t stick your nose into the things that aren’t yours to mind!”

Her good mood was ruined, and she would leave, had Brynn not caught her by her hand: “She is right.”

“No, she is not.” Rey scoffed and something dangerous gleamed inside her eyes. She didn’t want to talk about this. Not now, not ever.

They lived in the same pack now, but Rey could count the moments she spent alone with Talon in the past three years on the fingers of her one hand. Mostly because she was avoiding him like a plague.

They saw each other when Caroline was involved, but that was all. And why should they even see each other, anyway? So she could again be blamed for being a home wrecker? Or worse, a murderer. No, thanks.

S seemed to think otherwise: “There is no one standing in your way to be together now. No one but you, Rey.”

“There is no together for us here!” Rey said and gifted Brynn with a particularly ugly stare.

The older woman was throwing hints in Rey’s direction for the past few months, but she was skilled enough to avoid them. But using Rey’s own parents to her cause? That was a very low blow.

Lia helped too, of course: “You love him, you dimwit. And he loves you too, so what are you waiting for?” Her voice came from inside the house.

Rey cursed her werewolf hearing and then yelled back: “Even if I wanted to, I have no idea where to find him.” It was a lame excuse, but what was she supposed to say when they all ganged up on her like this?

She should have known it wasn’t going to work, but she was still surprised when a voice said: “I know.”

Rey didn’t need to look to know who it was. The messenger of bad news. As far as she knew, he still didn’t find his mate. But he didn’t seem too sad about it. And the girl he sneaked inside his house last night didn’t either.

“He said, he needed some time alone and that I would know where to look for him if something goes wrong,” Mac said. “Can you think of a place?”

Rey could, but she still wasn’t going to go.

Then her father said: “Go to him, Rey. He has been waiting for you for a very long time. You two deserve to be happy.”

Rey opened her mouth to protest, but closed it again. Instead, she stared down all their faces. Brynn with her supportive smile, S with his knowing smirk, and Mac with his thumbs up. It was the hardest to look at her mother and father. Six years ago, they dragged her from Talon’s arms and did something unthinkable, and now they wanted her to go to him?

There were all kinds of ugly thoughts forming in her brain. Thoughts she could yell at them if she wanted to. But there was also a small spark of something else growing inside her heart.

She still couldn’t do it. Could she?

Lia, taking in the sudden silence, yelled again: “I know what you are thinking, and I can’t promise you, she wouldn’t have a problem with this. But I am sure, she wouldn’t want him to be alone for the rest of his life.”

“And if yes, she is going to have plenty of time to deal with it.” The last part was said a lot less loud, but Rey barely paid attention. She closed her eyes and let all her doubts and feelings free.

She still loved him more than anything. And they claimed he felt the same way about her too. But was that enough? Could they really build a new life together after all that pain? Wouldn’t it be just another huge mistake?

There was only one way to find out.

Rey took a deep breath, opened her eyes, and took her first step.

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I want to use this space to thank everyone who read/commented or added this story to their reading list, and I want to thank all the future readers too. It means the world to me that you gave this story a chance ❤️☺️

I know it is nowhere near perfect. English is not my first language and despite using grammar and punctuation checkers, I am sure there are still times where grammar is not that great. I can also see now how you could find Rey a tad bit annoying with the whole selflessness she has going on. But this is the very first book I wrote, and I still love it to death.

I do hope you were able to enjoy it too. Please consider leaving me a comment or a review as it is the only way for me to know what you did or didn’t like. I have one special request and that is to please let me know if you found any plot holes, so I can fix them.

Till next time, APODITO.