Page 32 of Bound By the Moon

“I see. No love lost for a long distancegranddaughter huh?”

“About as much as you had for you dear, AuntieEstella Sophia.” She snickered then.

“Seriously, you are ten kinds of disturbed overthere, lady.” Kezia raised her brows at my comment, but continuedpacing behind the white wolves. Her brown skin seemed to beilluminated from within, in a way reminiscent of the glow Willowhad about her when last I saw her. I thought to ask what that glowwas all about, but then I was interrupted before I could start.

“I’ll do it.” A male voice I would recognizeanywhere spoke up. I turned, ghastly pale, which was sayingsomething considering where I was. I hadn’t been imagining thingsthough, when I saw who it was standing there, I had no questionthat I had heard correctly.

“Dad?”

He gave me the sheepish grin he used to when heteased me as a little girl. “Hey there, Jessie-girl. We need to getyou back home, and I don’t know anyone more qualified to be yourfamilial guardian than me. From what I heard, I would be a shoe-in.I have every reason to see you succeed, and Willow, and anyoneother members of your line, because they’re all a part of me.”

“Dad,” I whispered, having really not heard a wordof what he was offering. “How are you here?”

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SACRIFICE

“Aww Jess, a second ago, I wished I wasn’t here.Then I heard your voice and was drawn over here in time to figureout what was needed to send you back. How the hell did you get hereanyway? Layla said you made it to where you were supposed to be. Ididn’t think that meant that she’d led you to your death.”

“She didn’t dad. I was, well, it’s a long story. Ididn’t actually die, I walked through the portal as a still livingbeing. I think that’s one of the reasons why they’re able to sendme back.”

“It is.” Aislynn agreed.

“That doesn’t explain what you’re doing here though,dad.”

“Louis. He came for Mikael and Eileen when thingsdidn’t go his way here with you. I think he wanted to send yourfamily members, maybe even your whole pack to you, one at a time,so you’d be there to see us as we each crossed over.” I cringed,tears falling from my face, as I listened, and waited for the nextfallen family member to appear. Maybe there wouldn’t be a reason togo back when all was said and done.

My father must have read my expression, or maybe itwas my looking all around, and taking inventory of the soulssurrounding us that tipped him off. Either way, he pulled me in fora hug, and continued on with his explanation. “I honestly don’tthink anyone else will be joining me today. We had a plan in place,thanks to Serena. She expected this would happen, but wouldn’t sayhow. She called in the big guns, and we just had to hope they gotthere in time. I was part of the plan to make sure they didn’t getthrough to the weaker family members, if the big guns werelate.”

“What big guns?”

“Serena called in her brother, Jonah.”

“WHAT?” Kezia spun around, spittle flying as shespoke that one, rage-filled word. “That traitorous littledo-gooder! I change my mind, I want to go back with Jessica afterall. I want to be there when she thanks my son and daughter,because then I’m going to kill them both!” The fit she threw was onan epic scale, and it made me glad I never knew her when she wasalive.

“Is there someone we can call to have her takenaway?” One of the wolves suggested.

“Oh, shut your filthy little dog mouth, Emory. Iwish I could have come back and killed you again. You’re the reasonAgatha was able to get her hands on me to begin with.”

Emory, the white wolf with the bouncing blond curlscurtsied in front of Kezia before adding, “you’re very welcome.” IfI thought that Kezia’s laughter earlier had been creepy, then Emorymade her look like an angel. Her laughter bubbled over drenched insheer ugliness. It would be hard to describe the way it made mefeel other than to say it was akin to listening to nails on achalkboard, on repeat, for months on end. It was a horridnoise.

“PLEASE! Stop. We have more important things goingon here today than your ridiculous death squabbles.” Aislynnshouted above muffled laughter from some of the other wolves. Itseemed these ladies weren’t as put together as I had alwaysimagined.

I hugged my father closer to me then, because I knewthere were a lot of things that weren’t as I imagined. Forinstance, it wasn’t his fault that baby Jack and I were in thissituation. It just happened to occur on his watch, and I was usedto thinking of my daddy as being flawless. “I’m sorry foreverything I said to you, dad. I know it wasn’t your fault.”

He hugged me closer to his side, making sure to stayclear of baby Jack, who was sound asleep again now. “No, it was myfault, in a way. I should have trusted your judgment. If it weren’tfor trying to be a dad, and not letting you be a grown up, therewouldn’t have been anyone in and out of that house who could havetaken the baby. You weren’t wrong, Jessie.”

“I was hateful about it though, and I’m sorry.” Iwiggled out of his embrace then. “Do you know what happened? Imean, did you get to linger there for any amount of time?”

“I’m sorry to say, I didn’t get to see much before Iwas pulled here. Willow was safe, with your mother, and Ashley lastI saw. Mikael was taking out his anger on any of the dark ones whowould even dare get close enough to him. You really need to make itback there before that man loses his mind completely. I think theonly thing keeping him in this world is Willow right now, but if hekeeps looking for that fight that will make him feel better, he’sgoing to find the one that kills him sooner or later, instead.”

“I know. I worried about that too.” Just the thoughtof Mikael becoming hardened by my death, and seeking his own death,was a punch to my gut. A good part of me knew he would get ittogether for Willow’s sake. And I prayed that it would happen likethat, but there was also that suspicion in the back of my mind thathe wouldn’t pull it together. I wondered who would take care of mydaughter then? My mom lost her soul mate, she had to be shatteredright now. Sierra was probably hanging on by a thread, if at all.Ashley had her own baby on the way, my dad was here with me. Panicset in again as I thought about the fact that it was possible noone would be there for my daughter if this didn’t work. I rampedmyself up then, trying to overcome the fear.

“Let’s get this show on the road then, shall we.What do I have to do? Should I just declare my will to go back withJess, or what?” My dad was apparently in a rush to get back aswell. I was sure he had his own reasons for that though.

Aislynn’s face contorted, and there was no mistakingwhat she was about to say. “You cannot go back, Jameson St. Marks.You belong here, with us, now.”

“I’m going to have to disagree with you there. Ibelong over there, guarding my daughter, and her daughter, and ondown their line through time. That’s where I belong. Who better toaccept that duty than a father?” My dad’s anger, and maybe a littledesperation, were starting to come through then.

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