Page 52 of Hunted

“What was my mom like?” I ask, putting the TV remote away.

We’ve spoken about my mom several times, and about Ivy too, but I will never get tired of listening to stories about my mom when she was younger.

I still have the handmade bracelet that she made and which Jude gave me back in Virginia. It’s tucked away, safe in a jewelry box at home, and I treasure it. I’m so scared to break it or lose it that I almost never wear it. But I do look at it often, justto remind myself that it’s there and that I have something that belonged to mom. It’s like a tangible piece of her.

Jude, my grandma, grins at me. “Fearless. Messy. She could go on a five-minute walk and come back to the house covered with leaves. She had the brightest smile that would light up a room.”

“Dad never talked about her,” I say.

Her smile dims. “I heard. I’d like to think he kept quiet about her to stop Nolan from going after you, but every child needs to know something about their mother.”

Nolan, the former Alpha of the Lonergan Pack, had a long time ago been in a relationship with my mom. It didn’t last. My mom fled him and her childhood pack when he refused to let her go. And surprisingly, my mom discovered my dad was her fated mate.

She died after she gave birth to me, so I knew nothing about her growing up. Just that we shared the same long dark brown hair and blue-gray eyes, and we were both omegas. Now, more than ever, I wish she was here.

“I know she wasn’t pregnant with me in Virginia, but do you know if the other pregnant omega’s powers stopped working like mine did?”

I hold my breath as I wait for my grandma’s answer.

She shakes her head. “No, Aerin.”

So whatever is happening to me has nothing to do with me being an omega.

“Your powers will come back,” my grandpa says, carrying in a tray with four slices of pie. “Things don’t just disappear for no reason.”

“It came back when Mack said he loved me and I saw his aura,” I say, taking the plate of cherry pie he offers me.

He nods firmly. “Then it’s not truly gone. Just… idle.”

“Your gift is unique,” Adela says. “I’ve never known anyone to use pain as a weapon, and I’ve asked everyone I know. I’ve been thinking that Mack might be right. You’re in a new season of your life and that is naturally going to have an effect on the things you can do.”

I sigh. “Unique means this is going to be something I have to figure out on my own. Right?”

My grandpa gives me an encouraging smile. “Not on your own. Whatever questions you have, we will answer them as best as we can.”

“I know. But it’s not the same as having an instruction manual handy, or someone who can actually tell mewhymy powers don’t want to work anymore.”

My grandma wraps her arm around me and kisses the top of my head. “You’re about to be a mother. There’s no instruction manual for that. You’ll feel your way, like the rest of us do.”

“Things will work themselves out. They usually do,” Adela adds.

“We can try calling Ivy,” my grandma suggests.

I’ve considered it more than once, but she’s a pack leader. Whatever problems she’s facing that have her so distracted seems serious. Too serious to speak for our conversations to last more than a few minutes. I can’t bother her with my issues.

Could they be having some kind of civil war like the Dacres are and she doesn’t want to tell me and worry us? Is she pregnant with Connall’s child and they’re both worried Mack and I won’t be happy for them?

“A little control would be nice,” I say.

“Control is overrated,” Adela says quietly. “Now eat your pie and we can talk through baby names. Have you thought about if you want something modern or traditional?”

I shrug. “I was going to see what felt right after I give birth. Mack and I talked about it and we have some names that we like,but we won’t know which one is right until we meet her, I think. Does that make sense?”

It feels like a massive responsibility to give someone a name they’ll have for the rest of their life. We both want it to be right.

“A good idea.” Grandpa nods. “I’m not sure I like Thumper for a granddaughter.”

“Thumper is probably going to stick around as a nickname.” I smile at Adela. “Thanks for this.”

---