Chapter 42

I blinked.
“Jade, I need you in my life,” he said tenderly. “I am deeply sorry for how I mistreated you in the past. I believe that your coming back wasn’t an accident. Fate brought you back to me.”
I wasn’t so sure about that but I didn’t want to burst his bubbles. “I guess so,” I said uncertainly.
“Please, come back to me,” he begged. “Let us start our relationship afresh.”
“I – I don’t know,” I stuttered.
“With you by my side, we could make the Gypsy Pack great again,” he said with a voice filled with hope. “I need your support to take back my position from my formidable mother. It’s time to stand up to her and end her bullying regime.”
“I don’t know…” I repeated. Did I really want to challenge Gertrude on her own turf? That didn’t sound exciting at all.
“Don’t you see this is more than a coincidence?” He insisted. “Lola died and then you have reunited me with my daughter. We can finally have the family that you’ve always wanted. We now have children, Jade. Mattias and Mariah are our children. We finally got what we’d always dreamed of, Jade.”
When he put it that way, it sounded like my life finally had meaning. I had always wanted a family of my own. Now, I didn’t have to go through the pregnancy or the pain of birthing because we already have kids. The children needed a mother and I could be that for them. It all made perfect sense. My life had finally come full circle!
I smiled at him shyly. “Ok,” I said.
“Really?” He asked, grinning.
“Yes,” I replied, nodding my head and a lock of my hair fell forward on my forehead.
“I like your new hair colour,” he remarked softly, brushing the hair off my face.
“Thanks,” I replied.
“Come on, let’s go home,” he said, reaching for me.
I let him lead me through the dusty eastern town, past the markets and through the rocky roads that led to the outskirts of the territory. I felt a sense of warmth enveloping me when I spotted the Gypsy tents in the distance.
When we arrived at the camp, everyone was beside themselves with joy when they saw Mariah. Gertrude was elated too until she saw me. Her grin melted away and was replaced with a deep frown.
“And the runaway bride returns…” she drawled, mocking me.
“Hello to you too, Gertrude,” I replied politely. “I see you’re ageing well.”
“I could say the same about you,” she fired back immediately. “Is that why you decided to colour your hair? Grasping at your lost youth like a desperate woman.”
“That’s enough, Mother,” Hycinth said sternly. “That is no way to speak to a brave woman who risked her life to rescue your lost granddaughter.”
She snorted. “As if she didn’t do it for a price,” she hissed.
“What price?” I asked her.
“You’re here, aren’t you? My son may be too smitten by your false beauty to see through your act, but I know what you’re doing?”
“What?” I asked tersely.
“You brought the child back to win everyone’s heart and make them ignore the fact that you deserted them and disappeared into thin air without so much as a goodbye.
“Is that so? Mariah, is your ticket to come back here and just blend in after spending what? Nearly two years away from the pack, doing what?”
Everyone was silent, watching me and waiting for my answer. I may not like the woman but I must salute her battle tactics. She attacks her opponents viciously by projecting her wild suspicions on them. She makes her false accusations sound like facts.
I lifted my hands and clapped slowly, applauding her dramatic speech.
“I love how you skillfully insult everyone’s intelligence by telling them what to believe, instead of allowing them to figure that out by themselves,” I said to her.
To the rest of the pack, I said, “You can either let me back into the pack because you know I deserve to be here with you all, or you can let Alpha Gertrude convince you to kick me out because she feels threatened by my presence.”
That got the pack buzzing immediately. Gertrude whipped her head around, watching as her loyal subjects began to murmur as they considered what I had said.
“You are right about many things except one,” said Hycinth, addressing me.
By the look in his eyes, I knew what he was about to say and my heart swelled with pride. “What’s that?” I asked him with a grin.
“My mother is not the Alpha of the Gypsy Pack, I am,” he said confidently. “And on that note, I welcome you back into the pack.”
There was silence again. All eyes were on Gertrude now, waiting for her reaction.
“Whoever has a problem with Luna Jade being here can leave now,” said Hycinth with an air of authority.
Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. Not even the seething Gertrude.
“Well, it’s settled then,” said Hycinth with a satisfied grin. “Welcome back home.”
Finally, the tension in the camp broke and the rest of the pack welcomed me warmly. Gertrude still hadn’t found her voice and I couldn’t believe that a time would ever come when she would be speechless.
“I declare a feast tonight,” Hycinth announced happily. “A feast to celebrate our heroic Luna and the return of my daughter, Mariah.”
“Where’s Luna Lola?” Someone asked.
“We will talk about her another time,” Hycinth replied dismissively. “For now, let us celebrate my beloved Jade.”
I smiled up at him. Suddenly, the last year and a half faded away as if it never happened. I was back with the one who had truly loved me before life happened and separated us. I felt desired again and it was a beautiful feeling.
“It feels good to be back,” I whispered to him.
He smiled at me too. “Thank you for giving us another chance.”
We kissed and it felt as natural as it had always been. I could feel his need for me pulse through the kiss. I too couldn’t wait to be reunited with him intimately.
“I can’t wait to have you all to myself tonight,” he whispered against my lips.
“Me too,” I replied.
“Get a room, you two,” said Hycinth’s Beta.
“We will,” Hycinth replied. “But for now, we party.”
The festivity started and it seemed like the Gypsies hadn’t partied in a long time. Mattias was happy to see his sister again and my heart swelled when he embraced her tightly, chanting her name excitedly.
I simply went with the flow and it seemed as if I never left the camp. We ate together, drank wine and sang silly songs.
As the party slowly drew to an end in the evening, Gertrude cornered me on my way to the tent that I would be sharing with Hycinth.
“You may have won this round, Jade,” she said under her breath. “But the battle isn’t over yet.”
“What battle?” I asked innocently.
“Drop the act,” she snapped irritably. “You better watch your back, my dear. It’s only a matter of time before I weed you out as I did to Lola.”
My skin crawled with a dislike for her. Why did she enjoy being so cruel?
“This is my pack, you hear me?” She spoke through her teeth. “This is my pack and I will not let you dethrone me.”
“Weren’t you listening to Hycinth earlier?” I asked her smugly. “He’s the Alpha of the pack, not you.”
She laughed. “You fool. You’re even more stupid than I thought if you believed that nonsense.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Read my lips, darling. This is my pack,” she repeated slowly. “Do not think you can go against me and win, Jade. Nobody ever does. Nobody ever will. Not even you.”