Page 90 of Mating at Midnight: Book 1

“My momma,” I whisper.

“Willa?” daddy murmurs, covering his mouth with his free hand. I nod, squeezing his hand.

“But how do you know this?” Braxton asks.

“Because she came to me after Skia, and I merged. She told me she was the one who chose Skia to be my destined wolf.”

Daddy slightly tugs on my hand. “So, you saw and spoke to your momma, my mate?”

“I did, daddy and she is just as beautiful as ever.”

I release Braxton’s hand as daddy pulls me into his large arms. “My Willa walks among the Gods.”

“Nyah, why didn’t you tell us this or me seeing that I am your mate? You told me about Skia, why leave out the part about your mother?” Braxton wants to know.

Lifting my head from daddy’s chest to look at Braxton, I can see the tinge of sadness in his expression from being left outof that information. That’s definitely not what I wanted. Daddy lowers his arms so that I can go to my mate.

Linking my arms around his waist, I reply, “Braxton, I’m sorry for not telling you about my momma but that little bit of time I had with her meant the world to me and I wanted to cherish it for as long as I could to myself. I was never going to keep it from you or daddy. I was going to share it with you all when my heart was ready to do so. You do understand, right?”

It takes him a few seconds until he holds me tighter. “I do. I think I would have done the same thing if it was my father.”

“Hey,” Bryant shouts. “I’m still alive!”

“I know,” Braxton chuckles.

“Humans are so emotional,” Ballian tries to whisper to Skia, but we still can hear him.

“Maybe you take a lesson from them and then you wouldn’t be so uptight all the time,” she throws back.

He lets out a low growl, glaring at her. “You’ll pay for that later.”

“What? Are you going to huff and puff before blowing my house down Mr. Big Bad Wolf?” she taunts, glaring back at him.

“More like your back,” he declares, making Skia turn her head in my direction.

“Help me,”she mentally says.

I laugh, getting ready to respond, but Ballian jumps in my head.“She can’t save you, mate.”

Skia snarls before racing out of the wigwam with Ballian in hot pursuit after her. The link between us becomes cut off as I try to call out to her.

Worried about what Ballian will do to her, I start wiggling in Braxton’s arms to get free. “We should go after them.”

Elder Nelah giggles, waving her hands in front of her. “No, the two of you will stay right here. The two of them have until dawn to remain separate from you and Braxton. After that, theywill return to you. They are only doing what nature intended for mates. Your wolf knew what she was doing when she ran out of here. Skia knew Ballian would give chase.”

“But doesn’t it have to be a full moon out for them to bond?” Braxton asks.

“Not for them,” the Elder replies. “Their bond has already been sealed by the Gods. They’re just going out there in the woods to be nasty.”

My lips formed the perfect ‘O’ from clarity as I shook my head. So, this whole time Skia’s hot ass was just goading Ballian on. Shake my damn head.

“Enough about them. I have more things to go over,” Elder Nelah says. “The Gods relayed the war is going to be sooner than we think, so it’s time to put a concrete plan in action. When this is all said and done, the Packs of Vidar will remain standing.”

We sat on the floor, sitting Indian style before Elder Nelah dug into her robe and pulled out a peace pipe. She lit it and took a long pull before passing it to her left to Bryant who began to choke on the smoke as Elder Nelah found it amusing. He gave it to daddy who took in the smoke like a champ. As he handed it to Braxton, Braxton asked me, “It’s just tobacco in here, right?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “You never know with Elder Nelah. It could be tobacco, or it could be tobacco mixed with some of her special herbs.” I nudged him with my shoulder as he cautiously stared at me. “Braxton, just smoke the pipe. Elder Nelah would never put anything in there to make us incoherent. You heard her say we needed to start working on a concrete plan. Do you think she would give us something that would alter our minds at a time like this?”

“You’re right,” he said before taking a drag.

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