Chapter Fifty-Eight

“Harlow.”

I was halfway to my feet when she reached me and bundled me up in her arms, squeezing me hard.

“I didn't think I would ever see you again,” she whispered.

This didn’t feel like a dream. She felt too warm, her lavender scent too real.

I had hoped and prayed for this moment. For the chance to make things right, to say everything that had gone unsaid. There was only one sentiment that came to mind as she held me while I cried relieved tears.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“Hush. You have nothing to be sorry for.” She leaned back and brushed the hair away from my face, beaming. “There you are. My beautiful girl.”

“I didn’t listen to you and—”

“Now what did I say?” She sounded just like her old self, calm and gentle. “No blaming yourself. This was how it was meant to be, obviously. I tried as hard as I could, but you can’t stop fate. I should know that by now, I suppose.”

“This is Aimes,” I said, pulling away slightly, extending a hand to pull him closer. “He’s my—”

“Your fated mate. I can feel your connection tingling the air.” She looked him up and down before nodding. “Yes, I approve.”

His head snapped back slightly. “Thank you?”

Her laughter was like warm honey, sweet and comforting. “Would you rather I said I didn’t approve?”

“We’ll take the approval,” I blubbered and then threw my arms around her once more.

She felt too good to ever let go.

“It’s time to go,” she said softly. “We have some driving to do.”

I couldn't remember the last time I’d heard anything better. Driving away? In a car? With her?

“Pinch me so I know I’m not dreaming,” I whispered.

“You’re not dreaming, believe me.” She hugged me again, which had the effect of making me feel fully safe, just like her hugs always had.

With Aimes’s hand in mine, my mom led us through the woods. Like a little girl who couldn’t stand to be separated from her mom, I clung to her like a lifeline. She clung right back.

“It’s only a few minutes’ walk to my car,” she said. “Then maybe an hour’s drive.”

“Where are you taking us?” Aimes asked.

“Are you worried?” she asked.

“Curious.”

She grinned at him. “I respect that. I respect how you’re so determined to protect your mate. I’ve been protecting her all her life, or trying to, so I’m glad to pass the torch to someone who takes the job so seriously.”

I squeezed his hand, trying to comfort him. Like me, he was slow to trust. I understood perfectly.

“But for real, Mom,” I said, “where are we going?”

“The city. Well, more like a village within the city. Don't get the wrong idea, though. We like our comforts. I promise you that you’ll be safe there.”

“So you left our house for good? I mean…” I huffed a breath, trying not to get too emotional over four walls and a roof. “I mean, what’s left of it?”

“I had no choice,” she said gently. “It’s gone now, Harlow.”

I jerked my head in a nod. I’d dreamed about our house burning down. It didn’t make it any easier to hear though.

“So long as you're safe,” I said.

“I am,” she assured me with a squeeze of her hand.

We emerged onto a narrow dirt path barely wide enough to fit the Jeep she’d parked. It wasn’t the Toyota I was used to seeing her drive—this was pretty old, beaten up, with mud splashed on the sides and a bunch of stuff hanging from the rearview mirror. Pendants, feathers, basically a lot of things that struck me as being the total opposite of the person I’d always thought she was.

“Don't worry,” she insisted as we climbed in. “I’ll explain everything I can in the hour it takes to get back to the coven.”

The coven.

Aimes and I exchanged a glance, him in the back seat, me in the front.

“Just tell me one thing,” I said. “Are you a part of the Moon witches?”

She let out an approving laugh as she put the Jeep into drive. “So you know some things already. Good, I was hoping you did. That's exactly right. The Moon witch coven. That’s where we’re going. Once we arrive, everyone is going to be dying to meet you, and I’m sure they’ll help me explain everything.”

She chuckled ruefully as she navigated the narrow path, taking it slow thanks to the trees growing thick on both sides, their branches scraping against the sides of the Jeep. “We don't get a lot of visitors, and especially not someone as important as you, Harlow.”

I didn’t feel very important right then. Mostly, I just had more than a few questions for her. As glad as I was to have her back with me—ecstatic, really, my one connection to my old life where everything used to make sense—I was a little irked, too. She had kept so much from me for so long. I knew it was for my own benefit and protection, and I knew it couldn't have been easy for her.

But still. I didn’t think anybody could blame me, though, for wondering if everything that had ever been between us was a lie. Sure, when she’d hugged me, it felt real. Like she was genuinely happy to see me alive and well.

But all those times we spent together, watching Cold Cases, going shopping, all the hours I spent avoiding homework in the kitchen while she fixed dinner… Was any of it real? The sense of the two of us against the world, that whole thing? Did she mean any of it? Or had she only taken care of me because it was her duty?

I wasn’t sure I wanted an honest answer to that.

All of this and so much more simmered inside me as we rode over bumpy terrain. She drove with confidence, like there was no question how to get where we were going. There was something different about her, I realized. She seemed more confident, sure of herself. Did that have to do with being back around her people? Her coven?

A rush of warmth and certainty coursed through me when I asked myself that question. My wolf was answering with her innate wisdom.

All it did was make me feel miserable, like I had held Mom back for so long.

“I knew the Full Moon Games could start that weekend, since it was one week away from the full wolf moon. I also knew about the lavish parties where contestants are chosen to participate. I worried that’s where you were headed,” she explained. “A few of us ventured as close to the mansion as we could, and I got word that a young woman with purple hair was one of the participants.”

“That was you who left me the note?” I practically shrieked.

She nodded, glancing my way. “I bribed a maid—Francis, I think her name was—to leave it for you, but I’m so sorry I couldn’t come, Harlow. It ended up being too risky. Security there that night was off the charts, but don't think for a minute I didn't do everything I could. It broke me to turn away from you and leave you there.”

Her voice cracked, and the raw pain inside it nearly undid me. I’d had no idea she’d fought so hard to save me.

“But we can't fight fate,” she continued. “I had to accept that you'd ended up where you more or less belonged. I could only hold back the inevitable for so long.”

I sat with that for a while, mulling it over while Aimes reached forward and held my hand. I knew in my heart what she was saying was right, that it made perfect sense. She had only ever been thinking about me, what was best for me, what would keep me safest.

But when I thought back to how scared I was, totally confused and afraid and surrounded by wolves who wanted me dead, it still seemed unfair that I was left to deal with all of it by myself. It still hurt.

Only, I hadn’t been by myself. I had Aimes with me, and he had done the best he could.

It was close to midnight when the city lights infused the Jeep’s windows. Soon, down an unfamiliar side street, I caught sight of a blazing fire in the center of the road.

“This is it,” Mom said with a wide grin as she turned down the street.

“Um, okay.” I frowned out the window. “Fires in the middle of the street are totally normal, then?”

She laughed, a musical tinkling in her voice I wasn’t sure I’d ever heard before. “It’s magic fire, and it never stops burning. It wards off intruders. Come on. Everyone's ready to welcome you. I'm sure nobody's asleep. They all want to get a look at you.”

“They knew I was coming?”

“We’ve always known. It was just a matter of finding you first. To do a proper location spell, there can’t be a cloud in the sky, and the ground must not be damp.”

Listening to her talk about magical spells was the strangest thing, but I’d take her word for it.

She slowed down the Jeep's progress as we approached the fire, tapping the horn twice.

Instantly, people began flooding outside of their cute little bungalow houses and gathered near the fire.

I waited for fear or prickling nerves or anxiety to flood my system. All those eyes on me, everybody picking me apart from the outside in.

Instead, when I checked in with myself, all I felt was peace. Calm. The sense of having come home. My wolf warmed within me as though this was where we belonged. These were our people. Our coven. We were all connected, but I wasn’t sure how.

“They’re all women,” Aimes said.

“That's what happens when all of your males are killed.” My mom sighed softly as she parked the Jeep and cut the engine. “We’re all that's left.”

As she clambered out, I turned back to Aimes.

“Hey,” I whispered. “Stay close to me?”

He uncurled my palm from his and pressed a kiss into it. “There's no place I'd rather be.”

My chest lifted at the beauty of those words. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” he said warmly. “Now let’s go meet your people.”

When I stepped outside, women surrounded me, their eyes bright and full of wonder. I flicked my gaze to Mom, who stood back and watched all of this unfold with a smile.

“You look just like her,” one of the women told me, beaming.

“You've come back to us, finally. Praise the goddess.” Another one of the women hugged me out of nowhere, taking me by surprise.

Even that was nice, though, if a little strange. Like coming home to a family I never knew existed.

“Who is this male?” One of the older women with a long, patterned dress and matching headscarf faced Aimes, hands on her hips. She lifted her chin, her eyes narrowing as she studied him.

“We haven't had a male here in years.” Another woman sniffed the air like she was trying to suss him out.

“All you need is one male around for the entire dynamic to shift.” The first woman stepped closer to him, glaring. “Is that what you intend to do? You intend to take over this village and undo all the hard work we've put into it?”

Aimes didn’t even flinch. “I’m one of the good guys. Promise. Harlow even calls me a bookstore god, so I can’t be that bad.”

Everyone burst out laughing, including Mom and me.

“We’re just having fun with you,” the woman told him, backing away. “You're obviously Harlow’s fated mate. You practically have it written all over your handsome face.”

Was that a blush creeping up Aimes’s cheeks? Simply adorable.

“Thank you, ma’am,” he said sheepishly.

Mom came over to me and took me by the hand. “We'll have somebody fix you up something to eat, and you can wash up before we talk. There's a lot of ground to cover. Are you ready to hear it?”

Yes. But also no. I had a funny feeling that hearing the rest of the truth would change me forever.