Chapter 193
I was a bit worried about what the council said but there was no better way to relieve the stress than having breakfast with my family.
“It’s a sunny day! You promised we could play!” Isabella said, pulling me from my worries a
bit.
“I think you’re right,” I said because we’ve been genuinely forgetting to spend time with the kids while concentrating on everything else.
“Can we go for a picnic today?” Isabella asked. Her big eyes were full of hope. “Just us? No work? No meetings?”
I looked at Astor. He nodded.
“Yes,” I said. “Just us. Today is a family day. No pack business. No Council. Just the four of
us.”
We spent the morning getting ready. I packed a big basket with all their favorite things. I put in ham and cheese sandwiches, big red apples, and the chocolate chip cookies that the Omegas had baked fresh in the morning. I also packed a big blue blanket.
Astor didn’t wear his Alpha suit. He wore a simple t–shirt and jeans. He looked like a normal dad, and I loved it. I wore a light sundress that caught the wind.
We walked out of the house in smiles. The sun was big and yellow in the sky. The grass was a bright, happy green. As we walked through the pack, people waved at us. They didn’t look at the ground anymore. They didn’t look scared. They saw their Alpha and Luna holding hands with their children, and they smiled.
“Look! A butterfly!” Marco shouted.
He started chasing a blue butterfly across the field. His little legs were moving so fast. Isabella ran after him, her long hair flying behind her.
“They are so happy, Faith,” Astor whispered. He squeezed my hand. “I almost forgot what it felt like to just… breathe.”
“Me too,” I said. “We spend so much time fighting. I’m glad we can just be parents today.” We reached a secret place that Astor claims is on reserved for us. it was a beautiful place hidden behind a wall of tall pine trees. There were wild flowers everywhere yellow, purple, and white.
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Astor spread the blue blanket on the grass, Marco and Isabella immediately took off their
shoes and ran to the stream.
“Be careful!” I called out, laughing.
“I’m a fish!” Marco shouted, splashing his feet in the water.
“I’m a mermaid!” Isabella said, sitting on a rock and letting the water wash over her toes.
Astor and I sat on the blanket. For a long time, we didn’t say anything. We just watched them play. It was like a movie.
The way the light hit Isabella’s face. The way Marco’s laugh echoed off the trees. It was the most beautiful music I had ever heard.
After a while, the kids got hungry. They ran back to the blanket, their feet wet and covered in grass. We ate our sandwiches together. Marco told us a long, funny story about a squirrel he saw. Isabella talked about how she wanted to learn how to paint the flowers.
“Mommy,” Marco said, his mouth full of cookie. “Are you going to go away again?”
The air went still for a second. Astor’s face turned serious and I stiffened but I remember what my pa said about me always running away and I don’t want to run away ever again.
“No, Marco,” I said. My voice was very firm. “I am not going anywhere. And neither is your daddy. We are here to stay. Forever.”
“Good,” Marco said. He looked relieved. He went back to eating his cookie, happy again.
But I saw the look in Astor’s eyes. He felt the weight of that promise. We both did. “Mommy,” Isabella said. She was looking at me very closely. “Can I see the light? Just a little bit?”
I hesitated. I didn’t want to use my power today. But they also got used to seeing my power when I was at the Crescent pack and every time I use it in front of them they just light up.
“Okay,” I said.
I held out my hand. I closed my eyes and thought about how much I loved them. I thought about the warmth of the sun and the sound of their laughter.
A small, soft white light began to glow in the palm of my hand. It wasn’t bright like a lightning bolt. It was soft, like a tiny star. It danced between my fingers.
The children gasped. Their eyes were wide with wonder.
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“It’s so pretty” isabella whispered. She reached out her finger and touched the highe
burn her. It felt like a warm breeze.
“It feels like a hug.” Marco said.
“That’s because that is what it is,” I said. “The White Wolf power isn’t just for fighting the for keeping the people we love warm. It’s for keeping the darkness away”
The light faded slowly. Isabella looked at her own hands.
“Will I have a light one day?” she asked.
I felt a spark of pride. I knew she would. I have seen the white flash in her eyes. “One day, my sweet girl. You will have a light so big the whole world will see it.”
We spent the rest of the afternoon playing games. We played hide and seek among the trees Astor was terrible at hiding because he was so big, and the kids found him every time. They would scream with laughter when they found his boots sticking out from behind a bush.
Then, we played tag. I ran as fast as I could, my feet bare on the soft earth. I felt like a girl again. I wasn’t the “White wolf.” I was just Faith. I let Marco “tag” me, and I fell into the grass, laughing until my sides hurt.
When the sun started to set it was time. “Time to go home,” Astor said.
“Aww, no!” the kids complained. They were exhausted, but they didn’t want the magic to end.
Astor picked up Marco and put him on his shoulders. I took Isabella’s hand. We walked back toward the Pack House in the fading light. Marco’s head started to nod, and soon he was asleep on top of his father’s head. Isabella walked quietly beside me, her small hand tucked
into mine.
“Faith,” Astor said quietly.
“Yeah?”
“Thank you for today,” he said. “I needed this. More than I knew.”
“We all did,” I said.
We got back to the house and tucked the kids into bed. They were so tired they didn’t even argue about brushing their teeth. I kissed them both goodnight and stayed in their doorway for a minute, watching them sleep.
I walked into our bedroom. Astor was standing on the balcony, looking out at the moon.
I walked up behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist.
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“Whatever the Council says,” I said, “they can’t take this away from us.”
I closed my eyes and listened to the sound of his heart. It was a beautiful day. It was a simple day. But it was the most important day of my life. Because today, I realized that ! wasn’t just a survivor. I was a woman with a life worth living.
cphakathi28
#vote# First and foremost thank you, the fact that you’re still here means that you’ve been there from the beginning of the book and I can never thank you enough. We are approaching the last few chapters of the book and it’s getting hard for me to say goodbye to these characters that I’ve lived through but I know you guys are tired. So let’s give these two the ending that thou decorVO
Chapter 194
