105 | REUNIONS

The rest of the week passes in a barely-remembered blur of preperation and tears. I know Mom’s planning on staying for the entirety of the Reunion, which means I want to be there the whole time too. Hale promises to smooth things over with the school, since it looks like I’m going to be out for at least a week if not longer, now that my schedule’s going to get weird. I call up Lee and Khadija, making sure they’re still okay and the Pack’s doing well.

With Mom’s deteriorating condition, I keep my thoughts far from the mental like with my Pack, not wanting to get distracted while my time with her is so…so… Anyway, I trust my Betas to keep an eye on the Pack for me, they’ve been doing it long before I became their Alpha. Everyone seems fine, there in my head, the periphery of their thoughts are a hum of silent support and calm.

Nikki still hasn’t answered me, even though I press the call-button every chance I get. I’ve been talking to the Docs, visiting the infirmary whenever I’m not with Mom, and try to help them figure out the properties of Mom’s tea. We figured that, if nothing else, we can continue to replicate the herbal part of the mix and see if that will help stave off the cancer.

Mom’s gotten worse in the last few days. Her skin’s now a constant pale color with a slightly yellowish-undertone that makes me cringe. She still seems full of energy, going about her normal day as if she’s not being devoured on the inside on a cellular level. She’s started bruising more easily, the dark spots lingering hours before slowly healing over the course of a day. It’s slow and terrifying to watch, knowing most Wolven heal in a few minutes or an hour - if it’s a deep-tissue thing.

By the weekend, I’m about ready to lock her in a padded room and bubble-wrap her rather than go to a Wolven Reunion.

“Stop hovering, Wisty!” Mom hisses at me as I reach out to catch her a second before she rights herself. I wince at her scolding tone, knowing she’s a little more than annoyed with me for always trying to catch her whenever she stumbles. I’ve all but taken on the role of shadow for the last few days.

“I just don’t want you to break something,” I reply a little defensively as I take a step back.

“How can I break something from falling?” Mom scowls at me, but her expression softens when she glances at me. “I’m not made of glass, honey.” She reminds me.

“Not yet, you’re not.” I mutter under my breath, knowing she can hear me just fine. I’ve been researching the ‘what to expects’ for Mom’s cancer. At this point, there’s really nothing I can do and nothing she can do, to help her condition. She refuses to see a human physician or travel out of the town to find another witch. Her argument was that we wouldn’t be able to find another Magician with a strong enough gift to help. The Dark Magic users are apparently just about extinct in the States and Mom has no idea where more live.

Mom huffs and continues walking ahead of me, head tipped up to catch the morning sunlight breaking through the evergreens. We’re almost to the border between Azure lands and Port Greene, the scent of the wards and Magic humming in the breeze and pressing into my skin.

Blue and I had talked about breaking the wards and the ramifications around that. We both decided that it was time to take them down anyway. If the vamps are cooped-up any longer I know the Coven’s going to have some issues. Apparently, a lot of the Coven work outside of Kiwina and were on vacation the last few weeks - which is why no one noticed the wards malfunctioning and keeping the older vamps in. They were able to extend their ‘vacation’ a little, but it wasn’t a long-term solution Hale liked since the Coven needs the extra income.

So last night, a few of Blue’s Wolven went out to remove and destroy some of the wards. We can’t just leave the boughs of carved trees around with runes on them, and once we take out one of the trees, the warding will be nullified. And that means the humans might see them. In order to hide them, the Wolven had to go around the perimeter we’d put up and remove the wards by carving them from the bark in a specific order.

Blue’s staying behind in Kiwina to monitor that before coming out to the Reunion with Mom and I. He won’t be staying with me, unfortunately, but he’ll be swinging by from time to time to join in the festivities when he can. He doesn’t have an excuse to miss school, and has to take care of his Pack. Leaving them for a week isn’t smart when the power-vacuum is still making things uncomfortable.

“Glad you guys made it,” Paris’ voice has me snapping out of my thoughts as we reach the edges of Port Greene. She’s leaning against a tall spruce with a bright grin, red hair down and framing her face. The dark lines of her tattoo, the swirling ink that climbs up from under the collar of her t-shirt to her jaw, standing out in stark contrast to her fair skin. She’s dressed plainly, in a worn, brown t-shirt and camouflage cargo pants - feet bare in typical Reinier fashion. She waits patiently as we get right to the boundary line between the neutral territory and Reinier lands before pushing off of the tree. “I’ll be escorting you guys today.” She tells me, coming over to give me a tight squeeze, nuzzling my cheek with hers.

I can smell the salt-scent of the Reinier Pack on her skin and her usual ginger-smell…but under that… I inhale a little deeper and feel her body stiffen. Cigarette smoke and cologne…and a distinctly other scent. A rumble stirs in my chest as I place the scent and grin widely, pulling away from Paris.

“What? Why’re you looking at me like that?” Paris squeaks at me, ducking her head as her cheeks burn bright red. I can’t stop smiling, my eyes scanning the trees and half-expecting to spot the Hunter somewhere nearby.

“You smell like Hunter.” I mutter to her so softly I know there’s no way Mom can hear from the few paces she stands behind us. Paris’ eyes widen, locking with mine, and her whole face is suddenly a deep shade of red.

“I d-did what you said. I helped.” She stutters, blinking and now avoiding eye contact.

“And?” I ask, itching to know if what I foresaw has a chance of coming true. The vision I’d had last year burns to life in my mind, showing me a brilliant future where Paris and I were as comfortable as we are now…and our mates were becoming friends. Her mate had been a former Hunter… Hope blooms in me as I mentally pray to hear something to confirm that kind of light at the end of all this darkness.

“And what?” Paris mutters, shrugging, her face still set in the deep blush. “He’s alive.” She draws her bottom lip into her mouth and I see a flash of her teeth as she seems to work over something.

“Hm.” I hum, deciding not to push her. Not yet.

“What’s this about a ‘he’?” Mom asks, coming over to stand beside me and smile warmly at Paris. Paris turns to look at Mom, her head tilting as she releases her lip and studies Mom.

“How’re you doing, Marissa?” Paris’ voice is suddenly tight and worried. I know Paris knows about Mom’s condition, but knowing about it and seeing it are two different things.

“Well enough,” Mom waves away her worried words and opens her arms. “Don’t I get a hug?” She asks with a huge grin that makes me smile with her. Paris brightens and walks into Mom’s arms, lightly wrapping her in a hug. For a second, they stand there, holding each other, and then Mom sniffs as loudly as I had and Paris jerks back.

Mom and I start laughing as Paris once-again blushes and scows at us.

“You’re right, Wisty… She must have a man in her life now,” Mom wiggle her eyebrows at Paris.

“It’s not even-” Paris throws her hands up in exasperation and sniffs at her own shirt. “Fuck.” She mutters and promptly shuts up. I grin at her, wondering if the only reason she came out here to be out guide was so she could sneak off to see the Hunter. “Not a word to the others.” She growls at us, then searches along the ground for something. A few minutes later, she circles back with a clump of dried flowers and some sort of fragrant grass she starts scrubbing all over her hair and neck.

“We’re not stupid, dear.” Mom replies dryly, though she’s grinning when she says it. We share a long look that makes out wide smiles even wider.

“You know you’re going to have to introduce us, right?” I ask my cousin as she sniffs at her hair, then shirt. Paris rolls her eyes, the pink in her cheeks finally fading out.

“He’s already gone.” She mutters under her breath, dropping the aromatic flora and stalking away from us. Mom and I frown at each other before following Paris. By the hunch of my cousin’s shoulders and way she keeps muttering to herself, I know things haven’t gone as I wanted them to between Paris and the Hunter. I decide to drop the subject for now as we get closer to the Pack’s territory. There’s plenty of time to talk to her about it, if not this week, then another - when she’s ready.