Sarina knew almost instantly upon waking that Brody was headed home. Her heart raced and everything seemed brighter as the love she felt for him swamped her. She rushed through a shower and dressed the boys quickly. When she finished, she drove them up to her parents.
“Nana!” little Brody squealed when he saw Amanda step onto the porch.
“Papa!” Jedidiah yelled, holding out his hands and running haphazardly toward Romeo on the porch.
“I came to see if you’d like to watch them for a couple hours? I think Brody’s on his way home and I’d like to have some time to cook and clean before he arrives.”
“Alright,” Amanda smiled. “I’m glad your family will be whole again.”
“Me too,” Sarina squealed as she nearly bounced back to her car. She cooked Brody’s favorite meal and cleaned the house spotless before decorating the bathroom and their bedroom with flowers and candles she’d light once she saw him, knew he was safe and sound. By the time nightfall hit, Sarina felt the disappointment seep into her bones. She’d thought with absolute belief that he’d be home today and now that he wasn’t, she brought her boys back home, fighting the tears that threatened to undo her.
“When Daddy be home?” little Brody asked as she tucked him into his bed. Now that they were two, Sarina and Brody had converted the guest bedroom, at the opposite end of the hall, into a toddler room that screamed boy.
“Oh sweetheart,” Sarina cooed. “I wish I knew.” She kissed both of her boys, shut off their light and slipped out, leaving the door open just a crack so she could hear them if they woke up. She went into the bathroom and started to pick up the candles and petals she’d set out, feeling her heart sink even lower than it already had.
“Now why would a man stand up a beautiful woman like you?” Sarina nearly dropped the candles in her hands when she turned around to see Brody standing in the doorway. Unable to contain the smile that filled her soul, Sarina hurriedly placed the candles in the closest sink and ran to her mate, jumping into his arms.
Braced for her, Brody chuckled when she filled his arms. But that didn’t stop him from burying his face in her hair and inhaling her scent. God he’d missed her, missed this. Pulling back he pressed a hard kiss to her waiting lips before he let her go.
“I thought maybe I’d misjudged your home coming. It took you a long time to get here.”
“There are things I need to tell your parents, everyone really. But it can wait until morning,” Brody said. Taking a lighter from his pocket, Brody grabbed Sarina’s hand and walked her toward their room. He took his time lighting the candles she’d set out and then he took his time loving the mate he’d had to leave behind. He swore he’d never do that again. It was a promise he meant to keep.
The following morning, Brody, Sarina and the twins headed out for the Traverse mansion. They were welcomed with much love and admiration as Brody was peppered with a million questions.
“Let them come in and sit down!” Romeo shouted above the din in the foyer.
Slowly everyone made a way for Brody and Sarina to enter the kitchen and sit down. The twins were scooped up by Gina and Shawna who enjoyed them immensely as everyone met in the family gathering spot. Whatever the situation or problem, the Walker-Traverse kitchen was where everyone gathered to learn the results.
“So,” Romeo said with a smile. “Tell us what we’re all dying to know. No pun intended.”
“Well, let me first say that humans are as unique and varied as we are. They have differences of opinions and for the most part aren’t all that different from us, except for the whole full moon werewolf part.” Everyone chuckled. Continuing Brody added, “I searched the library archives and came across an article that talked about a double murder of a woman and baby girl. Turns out the woman’s name was Martha Amanda Walker and her daughter’s name was Abigail. She was married to a man named Jackson Walker who eventually remarried and lived with his wife Lena Matthews in a cottage by the sea. They never had children and after nearly sixty years together, both died within months of each other.
Martha had a son from a previous marriage named Elijah. When he hit puberty, the change came over him and he killed his mother and baby sister. Jackson had no idea it was Elijah who’d done the killing. Elijah grew up and changed his name from Elijah David Morris-Walker to Elijah David Walker. He married a beautiful woman and had a son and daughter. His son, Adam Scott Walker married a pretty brunette named Scarlett and they had two children; Mabel Annabel Walker and Joshua Jackson Walker. Joshua married a pretty woman named Maureen and they had a lovely daughter named—”
“Amanda Michelle Walker,” Amanda whispered, tears brimming in her eyes. Without another word she turned and left the kitchen.
***
Sarina moved to go after her mother, but she felt Romeo’s hand on her arm.
“She’ll need to sit with it awhile before she can talk about it,” he said.
Sarina smiled her understanding, but her heart hurt for her mother. Later when everyone had gone their separate ways, Sarina headed for her parents’ room, not surprised when she didn’t find her mother there. She took the stairs that led to the special room her mother had made and knocked lightly.
“Come in,” her mother said, her voice strained with tears.
“Mama?” Sarina said as she stepped into a room full of deep purples and blues.
“You’ll have to forgive me. I’m terrible company.”
“I don’t mind,” Sarina replied. “I came to see if you’re okay.”
“I thought for a long time that I had moved past my parents’ deaths, that their hurt and pain were tucked away where they couldn’t rule me anymore. Today I learned differently.”
“There’s no shame in that, Mama.”
“No,” Amanda said with a sad smile. “No shame. But that doesn’t stop the grief… grief I thought I’d gotten past by now.”
“Well, you certainly didn’t expect you’d find out your great-grandfather was the werewolf who killed what turned out to be your great-great-grandmother and his half-sister.”
“I didn’t know anything about anything,” Amanda said. “My father and mother tried to give me a normal life, even though they knew I was headed here. They knew I’d turn twenty-four and come into season; that I’d be hunted by our kind for breeding rights; that I’d learn of my powers. Why did everyone I know try so damn hard to keep it all from me?”
“Maybe they hoped it’d help you cope once you found out. Or maybe they were hoping you’d never have to know and would continue to live a normal life.”
“But they must have known that Aunt Mabel left me her estate right?”
“Not if she did it after they were killed.”
“Point taken,” Amanda said with a sigh. “I just wish I knew more, had more answers.”
“Maybe the answers you have now are enough.”
“How so?”
“Well,” Sarina said, filling the room with warm pinks and hues of amber, her calm, comforting colors. “Maybe knowing who the werewolf was, where you came from, will help you put some of your past to rest. Do you think you can put the cabin behind you now?”
“I’m not sure… maybe. I have to admit it was quite a shock to hear Brody’s report. My great-grandfather being responsible for those deaths brings home why your father taught me to satisfy my need with cattle or livestock blood. We can’t live in peace with humans if we’re constantly tempted by them.”
“True,” Sarina said with sad smile to match her mother’s. “I was a bit shocked when Brody told me that his pack hunted humans. It was Dad who taught him and his pack to rely on animals, mainly cows and wild game. The whole point about living and working with humans though, makes a lot of sense. While we may not willingly seek them out, we can’t really avoid them at every turn either.”
“Have I ever told you that I like the way you think?” Amanda said.
“I get it from my mother,” Sarina said with a wink.
“She must be an amazing woman.”
“I’ll be sure to tell her so,” Sarina said, chuckling. “Would you like to go get some pie? Shawna made an apple pie that’s to die for. She’s going to make some wolf a very, very happy man someday.”
“Someday soon,” Amanda pouted. “All my chicks are fleeing the coop.”
“Not fleeing, Mama,” Sarina replied. She threaded her arm through her mother’s and together they left the isolation of the room and headed upstairs. “Just changing addresses. And just think… the sooner she finds a mate, the more likely you are to have more grandchildren.”
“You are your mother’s daughter.”
***
The next few days passed normally with lots of sunshine and love. Brody and Sarina took the boys to see Hotel Transylvania 2, which the twins couldn’t stop jabbering about.
“We-wolf, Dad!” little Brody screamed, bouncing up and down in his seat while he was being buckled in.
“You’re right, buddy. There was a werewolf,” Brody said chuckling at the young boy.
“I doggy,” Jedidiah added with a big, toothy smile.
Sarina smiled. “You like the doggy? Did you know that not everyone is a doggy?”
“That’s true,” Brody added, picking up the conversation as he slipped behind the wheel. Once Sarina was in and buckled, he continued. “Gina’s mommy and daddy are werewolves, but Gina won’t be.”
“Gina!” little Brody squealed, obviously delighted by the thought of his mother’s cousin. Because she was so very special, Gina had a special place in both little Brody and Jedidiah’s hearts.
“Gina! Gina!” the boys chanted in unison.
“We go home and see Gina, Mommy?” asked little Brody.
“Not tonight,” Sarina said. “She and Turk are going to head into the town that Daddy went to. We’re going to see if we can’t figure out a way to help the humans so they don’t have as many dangerous run-ins with our kind, especially on the full moon.”
“We no longer hunt humans” Brody said. “Because sometimes, for peace, it’s better to go against what you’ve been taught, even what seems natural.”
“Humans,” Jedidiah giggled as he and Brody Jr. yawned, indicating they were both tuckered out.
“Animals,” Sarina corrected. “When your first change comes, we’ll be ready to teach you both how things are done. And you’ll learn the tradition of the Traverse clan, which is very, very old and time-honored.”
“Okay,” the twins said in unison. “We go home, get food?”
“Sounds like a plan,” Brody said, chuckling to himself.
***
Brody agreed to head back to Brownsville, the town that was fifty miles outside of the New Delta area, to help the humans who lived there deal with their little problem. Another goodbye to his family wasn’t possible and he’d promised not to leave them behind this time. So, with Amanda and Romeo’s blessing, Sarina and the twins went along this time.
Three quarters of the way there, Romeo dropped all four of them off with kisses, hugs and well-wishes. “Y’all take care of each other. We’ll see you again soon.”
“Will do, Dad,” said Brody.
Romeo looked nearly as shocked to hear the word escape Brody’s lips, as the man himself was to say it. With a salute, again, the four took off and headed toward town. Kale Pearson, the old man who’d picked Brody up the first time, happened by this time, as well.
“Well, sonny, look at what you picked up since the last time I saw you.”
“Last time I was foolish enough to leave them behind. Swore I wouldn’t do that again,” Brody said with a grin, setting his hand comfortably over Sarina’s bare knee. The hold man noticed, clearing his throat as if the gesture made him slightly uncomfortable.
“Can’t say I blame you,” Kale chuckled. “You’ve got yourself one fine family.”
“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” Brody agreed.
“So how long you think you’re staying this time?”
“I can’t say,” Brody said, evading a direct answer. “My work takes me all over so I’m never in one place for any length of time, but hopefully we’ll be here long enough to at least see some sights.”
“Ain’t much to see in Brownsville to be honest, but if you’re into historical stuff you might like the war reenactments they do here.”
“Really? They do that here?”
“Yeah, those history buffs gotta have somethin’ to do when they get bored. If they didn’t do this they’d be sitting in their living rooms huffin’ and puffin’ about their opinions and some such shit.”
Brody laughed, liking Kale Pearson more and more the longer he spent in his company. “You’re absolutely right,” he agreed. “Maybe we’ll check that out while we’re here.”
***
Brody and Sarina were dropped off with the twins in front of the little bed and breakfast Brody had used the first time he’d stayed in town.
“This place is beautiful,” Sarina said, smiling. “Too bad we couldn’t have gone here for a honeymoon.”
“Who says we can’t?” Brody winked. “The twins are old enough to stay over with your parents and I for one have been dying to get away.”
“Really?” Sarina said, shocked. “I just… I thought you were sort of married to New Delta and the pack, especially.”
“I’m married to you, love. You and the boys are my biggest concern and reward. It’s you I put all my energy into. If it means I help the pack in the process so be it. Other than that all I want is to spend every moment I can with you and the boys.”
“Well aren’t you sweet today.” Sarina gave a twinkling smile. Leaning over, she kissed him, a kiss that promised more once the boys went down for a nap.
“You know it, babe,” said Brody.
***
“Think they’ve gotten anywhere?”
“I don’t know,” Romeo said, addressing Amanda’s question. “We’ll know when they return. Whatever the results, I’m certain Brody and Sarina can resolve any problem that arises. The only issue will be if they run out of vials. They’d have to return for more, which would slow things down, but not derail them.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” Amanda said, smiling. “Still, I can’t help but be a little anxious.”
“Try to relax, darling. It’s only been two weeks. Just because Brody came back earlier than we thought he might, doesn’t mean things will go that quickly this time.”
“Right,” Amanda agreed. Still, she couldn’t sleep and she couldn’t shake the gut feeling that things weren’t as settled as she’d hoped. With no one to keep tabs on her this time around, Amanda stepped off her front porch and headed into the woods during those predawn hours when her side of the earth was still sleeping. She’d memorized her way to the cabin and knew exactly when to stop as she’d marked a tree.
“Stop!” she heard in a booming voice. “Step no further Amanda Walker.”
“Who are you?” she asked, her voice quavering.
“I am she who was killed here so long ago.”
Amanda watched as a woman appeared to her. Long, flowing, chestnut hair, her robe still showed the stains where she’d been mauled by Elijah Walker.
“You are the bloodline of the thing that killed me and therefore stricken from seeing this sacred place.”
“But why? Elijah didn’t know how to control what he was, because no one was there to help him during that first change.”
“Elijah?” the woman said, her face clearly showing the shock of the information. “My Elijah did this?”
“He didn’t know any better,” Amanda said as tears filled her eyes. “The change came over him so quickly that he couldn’t have controlled it, no matter how he may have wanted to.” Amanda watched as the woman paced around the area where the cabin stood, as if she was trying to understand this new information.
Suddenly the cabin materialized and Amanda sighed when she saw the condition of the place. “May I restore the cabin?”
“What?” the woman asked, her pale, see-through blue eyes burdened by the story she carried.
“I’d like to, with your permission of course, restore this cabin and put up a marker for you and your daughter. You want your story told and I understand that. It’s part of why oral and written tradition is so important to my kind.”
“Why would a werewolf care about this place, let alone my story?”
“Because I’m more than just a werewolf,” Amanda said, slightly surprised by the pride that filled her with the admission. “I’m a witch. But more than that, I’m a mother, with children of my own, one who died in these very woods. I know the importance of remembering and I’d like for my kin to remember you and your story, the story of your daughter and your son.”
Amanda watched a little girl appear beside her mother and she smiled, lowering herself to Abigail’s height.
“Hello Abigail,” said Amanda.
The little girl, a near mirror image of her mother, smiled and waved. She looked to be about two, the age she was when her half-brother took her life.
“I have grandsons who are about your age, twins to boot. Would it be okay if I rebuilt this place to look better and put up a stone for you and your mama and brother?”
The little girl shook her head vigorously, looking up at her mother and grinning. Amanda stood again and gasped in shock when the woman reached out and touched her face. “Thank you,” she said as a tear slid down her cheek. “We can rest now.”