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RAIKA
“Why are you doing this?”Roman asked as he walked beside me.
Though he had been free again for two days, Roman had promptly fallen into his old habit of checking in on me several times a day. Right now, he walked with me from my house, down Main Street, toward the town’s center.
The sun was descending, bathing the town with an orangish golden light. If I squinted, I could pretend everything was okay. That everyone hadn’t gone through a major trauma and it would take time for them—us—to heal.
“I have to ask him a few things,” I told him and it wasn’t a lie.
“He was always a jerk to you,” Roman reminded me. “One of your bullies.”
I winced. It had seemed that way to me too until I learned the truth a few days ago. But no one else knew.
“He’s still our alpha,” was all I said.
“You’re moving from his house today, right?”
I shook my head. “Tomorrow. I can’t leave Minsi alone with Tyren, even if it's just for one night.” Not that I didn’t trust Tyren, but he was a teenager. I couldn’t leave his anxiety and panic-prone sister in his care.
Roman nodded. He had helped move most of my things from Shane’s house to mine earlier this morning when Minsi was with Rue.
I hadn’t been there in a year. There had been no reason for me to go back, but now that the pack was free and Shane was back, it was time for me to live on my own.
It had been odd stepping into my house after so long. That was the place where my mother had died during the attack while trying to fight off Phell. Looking back, now I could see he hadn’t tried hurting me. He wanted to take me to Conri unharmed, but my mother wouldn’t let him. She fought with him.
And she lost.
I frowned. Had she known Conri wouldn’t hurt me? Had she known why Conri wouldn’t hurt me?
I glanced at my hands and remembered the shadows and how I had been able to part them, to control them. Until a handful of days ago, I had no idea. Was that related to why Conri had kept me alive?
Now I would never know.
Honestly, I didn’t care. No one had seen it. I could pretend nothing had happened. I had never touched and controlled the shadows. I had never felt them like an extension of myself.
There. Erased from my mind.
“Everything all right?” Roman asked.
I didn’t answer him right away. Instead, I looked ahead at the square as it came into view, and the wolves walking around, cleaning up the mess. In the distance, Vianna guided the kids inside the library.
Two days ago, we had defeated Conri and reclaimed our pack. The town was alive again and it warmed my heart.
“Yes,” I whispered.
Most of our allies had left. Killian, Lavinia, and a handful of Killian’s vampires stayed to help us clean up and rebuild. The Ironfang had also left after reminding Shane they had come when called and now Shane owed them one.
Our pack moved out of the school and into houses along the main street. Some were lucky to go back to their old houses, but some had lost their homes to the fire, so they took new-to-them houses.
Lucille had invited me to move in with her to her family’s house, which was one of the biggest in town. I felt bad for her, but didn’t think it was a good idea. She might have changed, but I was still wary around her. What if now that we were free, she decided to bully the omega again?
No, thank you.
Dom, though, was more than glad to move in with her.
Right now, I was still in the alpha’s house with Minsi and Tyren. Despite his usual moodiness, Tyren seemed happy to be back, and tomorrow night, when Shane returned and I moved out, he and Minsi would be even happier.
We turned around the main square and I reached the town hall’s front steps.
