Page 52 of Dead Wolf Rising (Bad Moon Academy 3)

For once, I want everything to be peaceful. Chaos has been all I’ve known these past few years. Swallowing my pride, I nod. “Okay.”

“Yeah?” she asks, voice filling with hope.

“Yeah.” I brush past her and walk toward Draco. He braces for a hit when I raise my fist, but I simply hold it out for him.

He carefully bumps his knuckles against mine, like he doesn’t quite believe it to be so easy.

“I forgive you for breaking our pact.”

“And Raven?” He glances to my side where she stands. “You still mad about that?”

“Not if she’s not.”

“I’m not,” she reassures both of us.

“If you’re over your little soap opera, Lou has some pie.” Everett stands inside the house, smirking and holding up a plate of dessert for us to see through the screen door. He shoves a big forkful into his mouth, turning his back to us and going to the kitchen where Brayden and Adler are sitting with Raven’s aunt.

“We good here?”

Draco and I both nod, and Raven looses a breath.

“Good, because Joan wants pie, and I think she might try to murder me if I make her wait any longer.”

We all laugh at that and follow her inside.

* * *

ADLER

I get up from the bed and head downstairs. Everyone is sleeping peacefully, but my mind won’t stop. Sometimes when I get like this all that settles it is flying. Knowing Raven is safe in Lou’s home, I don’t waste any time taking to the sky. It’s a little after midnight, and the air is calm.

This is my favorite time to fly. When most of the world is at rest, everything is calm. Small birds are tucked into their nests. The nocturnal animals roaming don’t make a ton of noise, and the incessant chatter of people is gone. Sometimes, I think this is what Faerie must feel like. Earth reminds me of a safer, less vibrant version of Faerie. The flowers here are nothing compared to the flowers there though.

As if just thinking about my homeland called him to me, I sense Lucien’s presence nearby. Like a stone dropping into a stagnant pond, his aura ripples through the air. Has he been waiting all this time or did he come when he felt me flying around? Or did he see me in one of his visions?

Gliding for a while, I search the ground. There are too many trees, but my senses tell me he’s about a mile away. I squawk and dive lower, flapping my wings to close the distance between us and dropping through the canopy. I land in a crouch, completely naked thanks to my midflight shift, and I scan my surroundings.

Lucien steps out from behind a trunk and clasps his hands behind his back. “So you did it. You saved the girl.”

“No. She did it.” I stand, not bothering to cover myself.

Glancing down, his lips quirk up before he meets my gaze again. “What’s different about you?”

“I bonded with her.”

He hums and glances around the forest. “You’ve decided to stay then?”

“Yes.”

Ever since the laws in Faerie changed, making it illegal to banish a changeling without cause, my best friend has been trying to convince me to return. Even though I desperately want to go home, if only to be at one with the land again, I can’t get past what my family did.

One second I was loved and cherished, and the next I was cursed and banished. As if every moment of love was a lie. Moving past the pain of that isn’t easy. I don’t care to see my mother again.

“My family is here.”

Lucien frowns. “You’re certain then.”

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.” I shrug. “I may come from Faerie, but my home is here now. Going back there would only make me miserable.”

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