The Sun Will Come Up
Despite Kade’s mercenaries in our pursuit, and thanks to a few broken traffic laws, Will and I make it out.
Will has recovered his strength; his wound is now completely healed, thanks to the magic of Elder Hilda’s potion. After evading the soldiers tracking us, we fall into a comfortable and tired silence as we drive to the safe house in the mountains. The quiet is a stark contrast to the commotion of the car chase and the chaos of everything that happened in Silver Manor.
The events of the past twenty-four hours weigh on me like a physical burden, and after a while, Will suggests a nap.
I stare at him as though he’s lost his mind, but he just smiles sadly, his eyes trained on the road ahead. Now that he’s healed, he seems to be in better condition than I am. Sure, he was shot, but when I catch a glimpse of my reflection in the rearview mirror, I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck. My silky platinum hair is dull and filthy, covered with dirt and sweat. My clothes are tattered and worn, and there’s blood on my arms, on my shirt, in my hair, under my nails…
All this pain is a stain that goes deeper than skin. I’m tired and dirty down to my soul, and I wonder if I will ever truly feel clean again.
Beside me, Will begins to hum the tune to ‘Here Comes the Sun,’ and I’m reminded that I once felt so cold that I believed I would never feel warmth again. But I did. I found heat and light where I least expected it. I found love, and it became my home.
Exhaustion sweeps over me like a blanket, and I drift off to the sound of Will’s soft humming. I only wake up once we’re pulling up to that familiar cottage. It’s different from the last time I saw it. Some of the snow has started to melt, and there are a few cars parked outside, as well as various tracks on the little path.
“We’re here, little wolf.”
I blink away the sleep from my eyes as Will parks near the driveway. I count the surviving members of the Argent Pack that have set up camp here in the safe house as Will, and I make our way inside.
Three scouts circle the property in their wolf form, patrolling the safe house. Others have set up camp on the cabin’s patio, and several more are sleeping in their cars parked outside. The rest are inside, tending to their injuries or resting. They all look at us with grim faces. A few of them incline their head at me, bowing respectfully to the Alpha King’s daughter, while others eye Will wearily. Most of them seem too tired and stunned to really pay us much attention.
The most powerful pack in Wynter City was reduced to a little over two dozen stray survivors.
Those of us gathered here are all that’s left of the Argent Pack’s fierce forces, excluding Detective Marcus, Elder Hilda, Aunt Margo, and Ash. It’s… depressing.
There’s no kinder word for it. I spot a few familiar faces from the hazy memories of my father’s old council. I spread the word to the Gammas and Deltas that we’ll convene in the morning to discuss what happened and figure out our next move. For now, we rest and recover. We need to heal before we can even consider striking back against Kade.
Some of the wolves have taken the room I originally woke up in the first time we came to the safe house, but they left the master bedroom empty. I try not to read too much into it as Will, and I close the door behind us. The space is clean and cozy, and I somehow feel at odds with the calm and quiet that surrounds me.
“What now?” I ask softly.
“Now… nothing,” Will says with a sigh. “There’s nothing more we can do tonight. So, we stop. We breathe. We sit down. We take a well-deserved bath, and we go to bed. And then tomorrow….”
“Tomorrow, we go to war,” I say bleakly, but Will smiles wryly and nudges me playfully.
“That’s a bit melodramatic. I was going to say, ‘tomorrow, we start fresh.’”
When I don’t return his teasing, he takes me by the shoulders and angles me towards him, holding me close.
“Before I met you, I always prepared for the worst. My whole life, I was nothing but an orphan and outcast. A reject. I learned not to expect anything from people to spare myself the disappointment. I thought it was better to just push everyone away and not care. I thought it was safer. It’s how I survived as long as I did as a rouge wolf.”
I drag my weary eyes to meet his, and some of the numbness that seems to have taken hold of me cracks under his gaze.
“You’re not a reject,” I grumble. “And you’re not a rouge wolf anymore. You’re a Blackthorn, and you’re a member of the Argent Pack now, a Blackthorn.”
“And that never would have happened if I hadn’t met you. You gave me a home and a family, and I’m not just talking about finding out the truth about my parents. You see the best in people. You trust them even after they’ve hurt you, and you believe in them even when no one else does. You follow your intuition even when it makes no sense because whether you’re willing to admit it or not, you’re an optimist, princess.” I roll my eyes slightly, even as I feel myself thaw at his words, and smile in spite of myself. He trails the backs of his hand along my shoulder, and my skin prickles under his soft touch.
“All this time, I’ve been preparing for the worst, and I still wasn’t ready,” he says with something like awe in his voice. “I wasn’t prepared for the accident. I wasn’t prepared for Kade. I wasn’t prepared to meet you… to love with you. But your hope made me want to stop surviving and truly start living.”
“Okay,” I whisper, and his eyes sparkle with curiosity. My heart quickens under the intensity of his gaze.
“Okay?” he asks, unsure of my meaning. There’s a childlike wonder in his expression that makes me want to pull him closer.
“Okay,” I repeat, stepping towards him. “That’s what we’ll do. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. It’s as good a plan as any, right?”
He smiles, and just for a second, I let myself enjoy the sight. We’ll wage whatever battles we need to tomorrow. But until the sun rises, this time and place are all that exists. I let go of the heartache and horror and find peace in the sanctuary of this night, this moment.
I press myself up against him, letting him shield me from the world as he wraps me up in his arms. I lean back just enough to look at him, first at those piercing blue eyes and then at his lips. I want to taste him, to reach out with all the longing I’ve denied myself. I want him to wipe away my tears and erase any trace of distance between us until nothing can ever separate us again.
“Kiss me.”