Page 142 of Luna: Posy 2

Mama—

I don't blame you, Mase. Listen, I really would like to see you boys and Posy, but I can go to Evie's.

No, no. Come on over.

I'm already at the front door, honey.

Rolling my eyes, I went to let her in.

#

Wyatt

"I don't know, Mama." I dropped my head on the table and banged it twice. "We were doing so well. Sure, there were a few speed bumps and we went back a step a couple of times, but I feel like we lost all our progress tonight."

"Back a step a couple of times?" Cole growled. "We make her panic all the time! We make her cry all the time! Who are we fooling? We'reterribleat this! We're lucky she hasn't given up on us yet!"

"So are you calling it quits then?" Mama's voice was sharp, and I lifted my head. "Now that it's getting hard, are you washing your hands of her and walking away?"

"WHAT? NO!" Cole howled, Topaz glimmering in his eyes. "How dare you suggest we'd abandon her!"

"Calm down, brother." Mase put a hand on his shoulder. "Your temper is talking for you."

Cole took a couple of deep breaths, then nodded.

We really do rely on Mase for everything, don't we?I thought, disgusted with myself.

"You all need to remember that healing takes time, and there will be setbacks," Mama's tone turned gentle again. "You will have days you take two steps back for every one forward, and three or four forward for every one back. It's life. It's messy."

Looking at my brothers, I saw the same pain on their faces that was clawing at me. Cole was right; we had no idea what we were doing, and itwasonly luck that we still had her. I dug the heels of my hands into my eye sockets and groaned.

"Boys, what was she like the day you brought her here? What is she like now? Can you honestly say you see no difference? If you can't, maybe you're right and youareterrible mates. But if you can, then you're doing what you should be, and doing it well."

Mase had said something similar to me while we were at Tall Pines.

Maybe they're right.

They right, Granite insisted.Shegetting better.

"I'll go up and talk to her for a bit." Mama held up her hands when we started to protest. "If she doesn't want to talk, I'll respect that."

"It's her special room, her place to feel safe," Ash explained. "We don't want to cross that boundary, especially tonight, but it's killing us that she's isolating herself from us. We want to comfort her."

"Don't think of it as her not wanting you," Mama said. "Sometimes, your feelings are so big, you need time and space to deal with them. And for a girl who was isolated from everyone but her abuser for years, she's probably socially exhausted, not to mention emotionally and mentally drained, after the past few weeks."

I couldn't relate to the last part, but I understood all too well about needing time and space.

"A lot has happened in the short time she's been with us," Jay admitted. "It would have been difficult enough for a mate whohadn'tbeen abused."

"All right, Mama," I said. "Go talk to her, but can you tell our girl that we love her and hope she—"

Hope she what? Feels better soon? Is that the right thing to say?I asked myself.

Know how much we need and want her in our lives,Granite came to the rescue.

"Knows how much we need and want her in our lives."

Good job, wolf.