I yelled, “DAD!” He said, “It’s your fault I’m getting new windows.” I came up to the edge of the dock. He offered me his hand and I took it until he relaxed then tossed him in before jumping onto the dock myself.
My mom snorted, “You boys are children.” I grinned, “Technically…” She cut me off, “You have long since become a man so don’t you even start.” I laughed, “In the human realm I’ve got one more year.” She rolled her eyes, “We don’t live there.” I pulled my siblings to me.
They all showed up and I yelled, “CANNON BALL!” I jumped in and came up to my mom groaning, “Fine. Now, we’ll all just get in since I’m soaked. This is YOUR fault, Aaron.” My dad laughed, “Whatever you say, dear.” I wanted what they had. They had a love between them that wasn’t anything like what I had with Cora. It never even came close to touching it.
My parents gravitated towards each other. I swam over and put Aubrielle on my shoulders and brought her in. She liked to get in water slowly. My dad asked, “How would you guys feel about having another sibling?” I stopped walking. I asked, “Mom, are you pregnant?” She grinned, “Yes, I am.”
Aubrielle pleaded, “PUHLEEESSEEE be a girl.” I quickly did the math. Mom would have my next sibling before I turned eighteen. I’d have to make sure I was home near the end. I wanted to be here. My dad said, “It is a girl.” I blinked, “You already know?” My mom said, “We wanted to wait and tell you kids together.” Aubrielle squealed delightedly.
Angus nudged me, “You’ll have to stick around with two of them.” I agreed, “No, joke.” He sighed in relief. Aubrielle stuck her tongue out at us. I popped her off my shoulders and guided her through the water to my parents. I hugged my mom, “I’m so happy for you.” She hugged me tight then I hugged my dad, who grinned before dunking me.
I came up and couldn’t retaliate because he held Aubrielle in his arms like a shield. I warned, “I’ll get you back, dad.” He laughed, “Sure you will.” I grumbled, “He says I’m mischievous then he does that. I was just trying to congratulate him.” We all laughed and eventually got out. I couldn’t believe I didn’t notice mom was in baggy clothes. Now, I could see her bump since her shirt clung to her.
I looked around the property as we headed back towards my house. I couldn’t wait for the pathway to be done. My dad carried my mom. I opened a portal for us all to go back to their house. Before I walked through myself, I look around the land feeling like I could glimpse the future of my own kids running around with my mate chasing them. I smiled loving the picture in my head, not quite acknowledging it centered; yet again around Duchess Cassie Conners.
Tell me Everything
Cassie is Seventeen Years old
Cassie sat with her twin brothers waiting for our siblings. My mind drifted to last year when Alexander, EJ and I had this talk about mom’s past with our parents. I still shivered when I thought about what happened to my mother during her childhood.
EJ, Alexander, and I were waiting for Max and Welsey in EJ’s room. They were having that talk with mom today. Mom had planned to wait until they were sixteen like she did with us, but when Max was in Faerie today, he’d heard people talking about it.
Uncle Aiden was furious. Max had been sobbing and begging Uncle Aiden to tell him what they said wasn’t true. Alexander had popped to Max feeling his distress. Max clung to my brother saying that no one would’ve whipped and raped our mom. Alexander had been irate.
Several Fairies had severe headaches right now. They were lucky Alexander didn’t kill them. If he didn’t need to get Max home to mom, he probably would’ve exploded their brains. Alexander stood and started pacing.
Tory linked, “The pack is very somber and going to leave you alone. Gia threatened them with bodily harm.” I snorted, “Of course she did.” I linked Gia, “Thanks.” She replied, “Anyone who messes with my future Alpha can shove it. I’ll eat those Fairies if we go there too. They shouldn’t have upset Max like that.” I agreed with her.
EJ frowned, “Alexander, it’s not your fault.” Alexander turned growling, “We are supposed to protect them!” I reasoned, “Wes and Max are fifteen and became men in the eyes of the Hackura long ago. Max just wanted to spend some time in Faerie. Our siblings do that as do we. We couldn’t have done anything about this.” Rain whimpered. It stung but it was true.
Alexander ran a hand through his hair, “Max shouldn’t have ever heard about this that way. Why can’t the Fairies just respect mom’s wishes for god’s sake?! All they have to do is stop talking about her when we are around. It’s the LEAST they could do for her.”
I pointed out, “I think Uncle Aiden is going to make them do just that. He put them in the dungeons, big brother.” Alexander snorted, “I know he did. He was just as upset as I was.” I hugged him, “You went to Max as soon as you knew. That’s all you could’ve done.”
EJ added, “You went to him before we did.” Alexander sighed, “I have a connection to everyone’s distress. I’ve learned what type means what.” I consoled him, “Still, you were there for him.” Alexander kept pacing.
EJ linked me, “Just let him pace. He saw Max in that hysterical state. He saw mom and Wes upset that Max was so distressed.” I added, “He can also feel how upset all of them are right now.” EJ frowned, “I know. He feels differently than we do.” He really did. I could feel their emotions, but Alexander was tapped into the complexities of their distress. Or, god forbid if they got hurt, their physical pain.
After a few hours, we felt Wesley and Max getting closer to us. Both of them ran through the door of EJ’s room at the same time. I held out my arms and Wesley ran to me. Max was already in Alexander’s arms sobbing.
Wesley asked me, “How could they? How could they do that to mom? How?” I rubbed his back, “I don’t know, Wes. I still don’t understand it to be honest.” Wesley cried, “She’s the strongest person I know.” I agreed, “Me too. I want to be just like her when I grow up.” Wes laughed a little, “You are just like mom.” I teased, “With a little more bite and a wolf.” Wesley laughed, “You got the mom and dad knock out combo, Cass.”
I smiled and kissed his forehead, “It will be ok. Mom really is fine now. She has her ghosts, but she’s here with us. She’s who she is, and no one will take that from her.” Wes snarled, “I’d kill them if they tried.” EJ said, “You would not be alone in that.”
Wes asked, “What are we doing about this? We are doing something, right?” EJ nodded, “We are preparing to fight the Ring. They’ve gotten good at hiding, but we are going to find them. When we do, they will pay for what they did to our mother.”
Max snarled, “They’d better.” I assured him, “We WILL get them, and they WILL pay for this.” Wesley insisted, “Not just for mom. They want you too Cass.” Rain grumbled, “Not that they try. I would eat them.” They had tried and my wolf and I had fought them. It was rare they ever got close to me though. There was really only once I could remember.
Flashback Eleven Years Ago
Cassie was excited. I had my dance outfit ready. Gia was doing dance with me, but she was on vacation with her family this week. Tory, try as she did, was not a dancer. I enjoyed going with mom and watching her eyes light up as I danced. I was surprised she’d never danced as a child. As a Fairy, we were quite adept at dancing. I caught onto everything quickly. I liked competing for fun, but there were pups in the pack more serious about it than I was.
I smelled my Grandma Cassandra coming and steeled myself to deal with her. Rain growled, “Why is she here?” I didn’t know the answer. Grandma Cassandra came in without knocking. Something that if we did to her, she’d lose her mind over. Rain muttered, “She’s a hypocrite.” She was and she didn’t like me. I’d heard her say it.
She smiled, “Let’s go.” I frowned, “Mom always takes me to dance.” She huffed, “You could be grateful. I have other things to do today, but I moved them around because everyone else is busy. So, let’s put on our happy face and say thank you Grandma.” I muttered, “Thank you, Grandma.” It wasn’t what I wanted to say, but she was easier to deal with this way.
We started walking out. I asked, “What’s mom doing?” She waved, “Who knows? She’s flighty.” I growled, “No, she’s not.” She admonished me, “Young lady, you do not ever growl at your grandparents. Control your wolf. Honestly, this is such a downside to having young wolves with pups. They just don’t know how to handle their emotions.”
