Page 13 of Fated In Winter

“Romy.”

The problem with long-lived wolves was that once we reached between twenty-five and thirty-five, we didn’t age. Yes, Xavier was hundreds of years older than me, but he had not a single wrinkle on his face and looked the same age as me. But it was the eyes. It was always the eyes. Those eyes spoke of age, a past. Of a life long-lived.

Sometimes, when I looked in the mirror, I thought I saw something similar, but I wasn’t sure if that was the case or me just trying to find something that was relatable.

Between our tyrannical Alpha before Gideon, the war with the humans, and the war with the Aspens, I had lost every wolf of my generation. Every friend, Packmate, brother, sister—everyone.

Every single person that had been in my circle, that had grown up with me, had died.

Yes, Quinn was close in age, but that was about it. No one else had survived.

How was I supposed to live with myself, to move on, when I had survived safely inside the wards when all of my friends had died?

I didn’t even know how I could look at myself in the mirror, let alone find peace.

I hated myself, I knew I shouldn’t, but I did. There was no coming back from that.

“Romy. Work with Conner. Remember that you are here for a reason. That we love you.”

“But don’t let the door hit you on the way out?” I asked as I sighed, shaking my head.

“You were important. You stayed behind the wards to protect the children. You are as close to a maternal dominant as we have, and you do so much for our Pack. I have lost many of my friends and family over the years. That’s what comes from being an Elder, when you age out over the others. But you still have time, a whole world in front of you.” He let out a breath. “I lost my mate long before you were born, my children too. I have to hope that there is something else for me out there, and that is why I’m here. To protect our den, to remember its history, and to ensure that our Alpha knows what came before us so we can look to a future of peace and prosperity. You have so much time in front of you. You are turning one hundred this year. One hundred years of protecting our Pack, of living. Don’t look towards the next hundred as being a struggle, but as the potential to be who you can.”

I nodded, tears filling my eyes before I let out a breath. “I need to go meet Conner. But thank you.” I wiped my face. “I’m sorry you lost so much. I don’t have words, Xavier.”

“Romy. I am always here for you, but there are others for you as well. You don’t need to hide yourself off in the Elder’s part of the den to try to find your place. Everyone in this den wants to help each other. Remember that.”

While I wanted that to be true, I didn’t know if it was. Not when it didn’t feel that way most of the time.

I gave him a tight nod, then I moved away, knowing I’d be meeting Conner soon. He was coming to the Talon Pack den this time, meeting with his cousin, Parker, who had just gotten back from Texas.

I knew a few things had happened down south with the Starlight Pack, but I wasn’t quite sure what. It had to do with Conner’s sister, but hopefully they would let everybody into the know soon if it was important.

And I wanted to know what mattered to Conner. That put a hitch in my step, and I frowned. Why did I need to know about what had happened with Conner and his sister?

I didn’t even know the man, but I wanted to.

I shook my head, and I moved down the pathway towards Parker’s home. He lived there with his mates, Brandon and Avery, as well as their three children.

It was beautiful to see so many children born into the Talon Pack after so many years of it not happening. When the former Alpha had nearly destroyed the Pack, and broken so many natural laws, and hurt the moon goddess in the process, our Pack hadn’t found any mates. It wasn’t until Quinn and Gina that mating had even begun to happen again. And because of that, there was a gap in babies and matings. Now though, after peace had been found and our new hierarchy had proved that they wanted the good of the Pack and the Packs surrounding them, it was a baby boom. Everyone seemed to be having babies, twins, triplets. There was even a set of quadruplets.

We had a baby lion cub in the Pack, thanks to a lioness shifter being mated into the Pack. It was wonderful, so many little babies with their chubby cheeks and happy smiles.

We had lost so much in the wars and from our pain with the former Alpha, but we were thriving now.

And I had to remember that. That we needed to thrive.

Conner sat out on the front porch and handed me a soft drink as I came up. He nodded at me and gestured towards the cold icy glass bottle next to him. “Parker said you liked these.”

I frowned and gave him a tight nod. “I do. I didn’t realize he noticed that.”

“Parker notices everything. So does Brandon, considering he’s the Omega. I’m pretty sure between the two of them and Avery, they know everything.”

I snorted but took the glass bottle with a slight smile on my face.

“I didn’t think that anyone would notice that.”

“They notice a lot of things, Romy.”

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