Page 150 of The Broken Aztec Princesses

“I’m so happy for you, Cade! It’s great news.” Ten weeks. I had less than ten weeks before I was alone again. “You should celebrate with your pack!”

“I want to celebrate with you,” Cade whispered, pulling me into his arms.

“This is worthy of a pack celebration.” I shook my head, pulling away. Cade frowned but I tried to smile. “I have to wake up, Adam. Why don’t you plan a big celebration with John? Tomorrow is the full moon. It’s the perfect time for it.”

I left before he could stop me, and was in tears by the time I made it to Adam’s room.

Pull it together. Now’s not the time to fall apart.

I took a deep breath and woke up my little boy, reminding myself I wasn’t actually going to be alone.

“Hey, buddy. Time to be up and have some breakfast.”

“Can we go see Coco first?”

“No. After daycare. That was the deal.”

“But—”

“We have a date tonight, too, so we gotta behave. My cousin Adrien wants to meet you.”

“Okay!”

I chuckled. It was so easy to stop him from having his temper tantrums. He never hung on to what he couldn’t have for very long. I could learn to be more like him, but even as a kid, I doubted I was this easygoing.

Breakfast was hard. John and Cade were talking to Violet and Chris about their plans for the property, and how happy they were to have found a place in Arizona. I tried to smile through the whole thing, but I wasn’t sure how well I was pulling it off.

These last nine weeks, the loneliness that had been my constant companion for the last eight years had finally retreated. Now, Cade and John were leaving. I was losing Lindsay before Christmas. I doubted Violet and Chris would remain here forthat long. This was only supposed to be a three-week stint that she had already extended twice.

Adam and I were going to be alone again. Shit. Adam. How was he going to react when he learned all of them were eventually going to leave?

I worried about the what-ifs all day, somehow managing to avoid being alone with Cade. I could see he wasn’t happy that I wasn’t speaking much, but I was too busy trying to build walls around my heart and figuring out how to keep the pieces of my life and my pack intact after he left. I even volunteered to help hunt down the demon dog so I wouldn’t have to go to bed tonight.

I picked up Adam a little bit earlier today with the excuse that I wanted him to get ready to meet Adrien. As I was getting his bath ready, I got a text from Violet.

Vi

Is everything okay? You seem off today.

Me

I’m good. Just nervous about the plan tonight.

Vi

Why don’t you just come hang out with me?

Me

Nah, I want to see this thing over with. The more people that help the better.

I played battleships with Adam while he had his bath. Enjoying the time that was just us. I felt a bit more settled afterward. He and I went through the wringer alone for a full year before anyone came here. We were going to be okay. He wasstarting school next year. He wouldn’t have time to miss them with all the friends he was likely to make.

“Hi, Adam! I’m Adrien. It’s nice to meet you!” Adrien waved as we approached the table in the dining room. He was holding a little stuffed Count Dracula, making me chuckle.

“Hi!” Adam approached him without hesitation.

“I got this for you.” Adrien held out the toy.

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