Her Choice
\[Denali’s POV\]
“Mom. When will Dad and Serenity be returning?”
Alec’s voice drifts toward me, drawing my gaze to where he stands in the doorway to my room. He stares at me expectantly as I consider his question.
“Soon,” I tell him, feeling my heart squeeze a bit. “They just have to finish with what they’re doing, and then they will return.”
It’s not a lie, but it isn’t necessarily the truth, but Alec didn’t need to know all the details. As a child, the only things he should have to worry about are studying and playing. When the time came for him to make the choice to take over New Moon for Jose, he could know about the great battle that we have been facing.
“Come here,” I say, holding out my arms and then waiting until he climbs onto the bed with me. “Ah, my boy.” I murmur, nuzzling him. “Why are you so impatient for your father and sister’s return? Most of the time you act like you can’t stand Serenity.”
“I’m just bored.” He huffs, though I know that isn’t the reason. “Things are too quiet without those two arguing.”
“Is that so?” I giggle as he snuggles into me. “Well, should I have the others create some chaos so that you can have more entertainment?”
“That wouldn’t be good for Grandma’s resting.”
Nodding, I try not to think of Rosco’s mother, who, despite the time that has passed, had never fully recovered to the woman she used to be. As I do, I can’t stop myself from wondering if I too would end up like that if Rosco were taken away from me.
No. I tell myself, shaking off such morbid thoughts. He will be here beside you for a very long time.
At this thought, I feel a wave of foreboding slam into me, and when I turn my gaze toward the window to take in the starry night sky, I feel the familiar presence of someone trying to connect with me.
Who? I think, allowing them to connect with me, and when I feel Uncle Jose’s familiar essence, I feel my heart kick up a beat.
‘Uncle Jose.’ I say. ‘How are things?’
‘Denali,’ his voice is gentle but also hesitant as he speaks. ‘I wish I could say that things were fine, but…’
He trails off, and I know in that instance that my feeling of foreboding was actually a bad feeling due to the state of things.
‘Please, don’t beat around the bush.’
‘Right.’ He sighs. ‘Nothing gets past you.’
‘A lot does.’ I counter, trying to not think of the mistakes I made in the past. ‘But I can feel your unease as though it is a physical thing.’
I wasn’t certain what it was that Uncle Jose wanted with me, but I knew that it was probably something he had to think long and hard about asking. That meant that I probably wouldn’t necessarily like it, but I would hear him out.
‘We need you, Denali.’ He says now, taking me by surprise. ‘Things have taken a bad turn.’
‘What do you mean?’ I ask, fear racing down my spine. ‘What has happened? Is everyone okay?’
‘More or less,’ he responds, his voice grim. ‘It seems that the boy we saved from the Academy was a traitor.’
At his words my eyes widen and I feel my body jerk, but when Alec looks to me in confusion, I simply shake my head and smile.
“Sorry,” I tell him. “Why don’t you go get a bath, and I’ll come to tuck you into bed soon.”
“What’s wrong?” He asks, not missing a thing. “Has something happened to Dad and Serenity?”
“No, sweetheart.”
Though I hated lying to my child, I didn’t want to concern him with what was happening. Although I knew that I wouldn’t be able to keep him in the dark much longer, not if I needed to visit New Moon.
“Go on now,” I tell him. “I’ll see you soon.”
For a moment, Alec doesn’t move as he stares at me with a million questions in his dark eyes that resemble Rosco’s so much, but he doesn’t ask anything. Instead, he just nods and then climbs off the bed and heads out.
Sighing, I relax again before turning my attention to Uncle Jose, who has waited patiently for me to deal with Alec.
‘Tell me.’ I say now. ‘What has happened? Don’t leave any detail out.’
‘The boy’s blood is special.’ Uncle Jose responds. ‘It is capable of turning wolves mad, and he has managed to get Rosco under his spell.’
Instantly, my heart drops and panic begins to bubble up in my throat, but I push it down. I couldn’t let my fear get the best of me. Even if Rosco was under that boy’s spell, it didn’t mean that he would never be free.
‘What will you have me do?’ I ask, knowing that this was the reason he contacted me. ‘You need my ability, right?’
If he was reaching out for me to help, that meant that they didn’t have any other options.
Just how bad were things in New Moon? And what of Serenity? What about Maverick? How about Tristan? Were they all still safe?
‘I wouldn’t ask if we had other options.’ Uncle Jose says. ‘But we can’t even get close enough to the boy to try to defeat him, and as long as he is in the way, we will never be able to get to Ezekial.’
‘Then I’ll help.’ I tell him.
Of course I would help. There were no other options. This was about protecting everyone I held dear, and I was more than willing to put my life on the line to do that very thing.
‘Just let me settle things here with the pack, and Alec and I’ll be on my way.’
‘Please, when you do come, keep yourself hidden from Serenity.’ Uncle Jose pleads. ‘She was very against this idea, and I know if she knew you were doing this, she would do whatever it took to stop you, even if it meant putting herself in the line of fire.’
‘I don’t doubt it.’ I agree. ‘She is, after all, Rosco and my daughter.’
Since she was young, she was a stubborn thing that worked to protect her parents and pack over anything else.
‘I won’t let her know.’ I sigh while a bit of guilt rushes through me. ‘But in return you must continue to protect her for me.’
‘You don’t have to worry about that.’ Uncle Jose chuckles. ‘She has that big bloke to protect her. I’m certain that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her even if I wasn’t around.’
‘Yeah.’ I murmur, finding a bit of peace with knowing that if I didn’t make it out of this alive, Serenity would have Maverick and many others beside her still. ‘He truly is a blessing.’