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She eavesdropped that night and heard her mother and father speaking. As far as anyone knew, no vampire had ever attacked a bear shifter before. They assumed it had happened, but it had not happened in their area of Nova Scotia.
After that, none of them were allowed to wander alone in bear form or human form. They had to go out in groups of three. About a month later, her father came home satisfied. She could tell from the look on his face. He announced to the pack that the small vampire coven had been eliminated. There had been only three of them. Now they were all dead. They were now allowed to hunt alone. But for many months afterward, no one did.
The Alpha’s nephew had died. Other boys had been attacked by the vampire, but they survived, just barely. But the nephew had simply lost too much blood to heal himself.
The sound of the bear Alpha’s anguished scream had stuck with Violet.
She had protected her daughter for six years. She wasn't going to lose her to a vampire. The rest of the pack knew this story. They’d heard her tell it before.
"Wait,” Onyx said. “You need to be careful.”
"Are you sure we want to spend our remaining money on this artifact?" Angelina asked.
"That's easy for you to say, since you don't have any children,” Austin snapped at her.
Angelina rolled her eyes. "I still don't want to get bitten by a vampire, and I don't want any of you or your kids to get bitten either. But I think we’re being a little hasty.”
"I don't,” Violet said. “I work to earn this money too and if the money is that much of a problem for you, then I will pay you back when we get to Alaska. I'll take double shifts on the fishing boat so it doesn’t affect the group’s funds." She sighed. “I wish we could still barter. That's one thing I miss from packs.”
Human money was still confusing to her sometimes. It was so much easier to just offer someone what they wanted or what they needed. Life had been so much simpler in the pack. But the trade-offs weren't worth it. Not even close.
“That’s a pipe dream, honey. Humans love their money.” Linden put her hand on Violet’s back. “Let’s go get the artifact. I don’t know if I think it’s the best idea, but I don’t have any others so far.”
* * *
Arabella was used to airports,but that didn’t mean she was perfectly behaved. Violet had no precedent for teaching a child to navigate the human world, but she’d done it without issue. Even though they spent weeks and sometimes months sequestered away from humans, Arabella had been able to switch back and forth between both worlds with no problems.
When she was in the airport, she acted like any other kid would.
“Can I have that?” she asked, pointing to a bag of gummy bears.
“No, we already ate,” Violet said. She kept her voice calm, but her patience was wearing a bit thin. Raising a child in the human world definitely had more challenges than when they were out in the desert, far away from civilization.
She was nervous to be back in Alaska. But in many ways it felt good to return home. She was secure in knowing that her father and the rest of her pack would never ever get near Anchorage. Even in Cordova, they were close enough to the city that she didn't have to worry about him or her family.
But Tristan? She was a little more concerned about running into him. But the pack had agreed that they would stay on the southern coast and not venture north. If anyone wanted the tundra there was plenty of Canada to go around.
But when they arrived, Cordova was smaller than she’d been expecting.
Angelina saw her frown. "Hey. This is perfect for us. We could really thrive here. It's our natural environment and we’ll have an income too. It's a great place for the kids to chill out for a while.”
Violet forced a smile and elbowed her friend. "Next you'll be quoting the virtues of settling down in one place and establishing roots."
Angelina made a terrible face and swatted her. "Never say that to me again." She plopped down beside Violet. "I know being back here is tough for you. I know there are demons here in Alaska. But we’re going to make this work. It's going to be a good place for us." She patted Violet's shoulder. "You know we support you."
Violet nodded and wrapped her arm around her friend, squeezing her hard. They didn’t always agree, but Angelina had known her since those early days when she was still wrapped up in terror. She’d been around to see her fall for Tristan, and then watch Violet fall apart after he was gone. She’d been around for her pregnancy and for Arabella’s birth.
Violet was very fortunate that she’d found the small group of supernatural people who shared her worldview and were unapologetic about not wanting to live a traditional life. She could've made it on her own with just her and Arabella, but it was nice to have friends around. She didn't want to deprive Arabella of anything. Even though she believed this was the best life for her daughter, she didn't want her to grow up lonely. But with this small group, she was around other children and adults too, a variety of adults who were all different in their own way. It was not the homogenous make up of a pack, and Violet thought that was a good thing.
And if one day Arabella wanted to join a large pack, then Violet would not stand in her way. She would just make sure she understood all of the possible ways that it could go terribly wrong.
She didn't want to make her daughter cynical or bitter, and she didn’t want Arabella to always expect the worst like she did. But she wanted her to be worldly and she wanted her to be sophisticated.
She wanted her to know her own worth, and never for one second think that there was any other shifter that had the right to dictate her life for her. She never wanted Arabella to feel the hopeless despair that Violet had felt as a teenager.
By the time they’d explored a little and hunted for their dinner, they only had time to set up the most basic camp. They put their sleeping bags in a circle as usual and Arabella snuggled up next to her mother.
“I don’t even want to use a tent tonight, I just want to breathe in this fresh cool air,” Austin said.
