#Chapter 47 – Home again

“MAMAAAA!” I lurch to my feet out of a straight sleep when I hear my son’s voice calling to me. Edgar next to me shudders awake, though he manages to stay in bed.

“What’s happening?” He murmurs, staring around bleerily.

“They’re back,” I say, pulling a blanket around my shoulders and ducking out the door.

From my vantage on the cabin’s short deck I see three figures walking in from the forest. I squint my eyes, trying to make out details. Disheveled, their t-shirts ripped – mud on their pants and boots – tiny scratches everywhere – and huge smiles on their faces.

I exhale a big breath. They’re okay. They’re happy.

“Boys!” I call, raising a hand to wave to them. At the sound of my voice, the boys start to run to me, though I can tell by their pace that they’re bone tired. I laugh, considering that of course they are after a night running through the woods.

Victor doesn’t pick up the pace, but wanders leisurely behind them, his hands in his pockets. I can see that he is smiling as well.

Ian is the first one up the three steps to the cabin’s porch. He throws his arms around my legs, shortly followed by Alvin, who does the same. “Mama!” Ian says, looking up at me. “It was amaaaaazing!”

I laugh down at them, cossetting their hair, their faces, trying to look at them both at once. “I want to hear all about it!”

“We saw everything, mama!”

“There was a deer!”

“And a lake! A big LAKE all silver in the moonlight!”

I oooh and ahhh as they tell me jumbled details. My eyes follow Victor as he climbs up onto the porch. The boys are still talking as he stops in front of me, leaning against one of the wooden pillars and giving me a smile.

“So, did you have as much fun as they did?” I say, nodding to the boys.

“It was amazing,” he confirms, holding my gaze. “I know they’re going to do their best to tell you every detail but it was…indescribable.”

I smile at him, truly feeling warmth towards this man who has given my children this gift, their first wolf’s moon. “Thank you, Victor. I’m so grateful.”

shrugs. “I was about to

to have lost my attention. “Can we have breakfast? We are

pretending to be confused. “Didn’t you eat any

horror. “You thought

on my first night out. I must have

squirrels!?” Ian joins Alvin in his revulsion, their faces twin mirrors of

close to their

say, pushing away from me and running down

after the boys, laughing. “The fuzzy

but scrunches his nose in a fair impression of Alvin’s face. “You really are gross sometimes,

you’ve got to add a little spice when you can.”

didn’t really eat any squirrels, right?” Victor asks, raising an

eyes down like a 40’s movie vixen. “A lady

down by the fire. I offer to help, but the Betas shoo me away, pressing coffee into my hands and promising scrambled eggs. Ignoring the guilt, I let

Amelia?” Victor asks a Beta, accepting his own cup of

up late by the fire, snoozing on and off, but she eventually turned in. I imagine she’ll sleep late,” he says, and I wonder if she got into the whiskey. I smile, thinking about it. Good

do?” Victor says, taking a plate of fruit and starting to dig

looks up at me with an

me

by that,” Victor says, “you mean that you spent all night with Edgar and she

pointing at him with my fork, “she didn’t have cell reception out here, so that’s impossible. And two,” I say, not letting him interrupt me as he opens his mouth to comment, “Amelia and I actually had a really nice time sitting by the

their plans already forming to copy him, spitting out their own drinks. I narrow my eyes at them, pointing my fork at them too.

to Victor as he mops coffee off of his already-filthy

says, chuckling. “It sounds like you two are getting along, and that’s all that

of egg. “A good butt really does bond

and ignores me, but the boys laugh at my joke. I wink

with the Betas and I overhear him telling them to pack

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