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“It sounded like a wounded animal,” he says, “but it was faint.”
I then hear the soft whine and stand. Alerted by my movement, Damon, now in his wolf form, lifts his head. We hear the whine again, causing Damon to jump to his paws and run through the thick foliage.
A minute later, he returns, carrying a wolf pup between his teeth by the nape of its neck. The fur is almost completely covered by the black dust we traveled through a couple of days ago, but I can tell exactly who it is.
“Tripp?” Simon asks in disbelief, recognizing his son instantly.
He runs to Damon and takes Tripp from him.
“How in the world did he make it here alive?” I ask, marveling at the little pup’s willpower.
“He’s my son. That’s how,” Simon says proudly. “Tripp.”
Simon’s son, forever locked inside the body of a wolf, lifts his head to look at his father’s face. His little pink tongue darts out and licks Simon’s cheek before he falls into an exhausted sleep.
“Oh, Tripp,” Simon says, holding his son close. “Why did you follow us? This is no place for you.”
“He loves you,” I answer for the wolf pup because the explanation is so obvious.
Simon sits back down beside his campfire, cradling his son in his arms and humming a sweet tune to him.
Whether or not Simon wants to admit it, he will love his son no matter what form he’s in. For Tripp’s sake, I hope Emily finds a way to transform him into a human and give him a full life. One he can share with his parents and the world.
Chapter 4
(Emily’s Point of View)
The flight to New Aos only takes thirty minutes. Unfortunately, we’re flying so high and fast that we’re not able to look for more of the dark fae stranded in the area. Hopefully, my father doesn’t delay sending out more airships to search for them. There’s zero doubt in my mind that my father is the one responsible for sabotaging Oberon’s ship, but he has to know by now that the vessel is still operational, despite his best efforts to destroy it.
As we enter New Aos airspace, I untie the sash around me holding the box with Earth 104.
“I need you to take care of this for me,” I whisper to Oberon, literally placing my whole world in his lap. “My father can’t know that it still exists.”
“Understood.” Oberon ties the sash around his waist, making it look like a strange fashion accessory. “I’ll need to return to my ship as soon as possible. Uri may have been able to save it, but I’m certain there will be repairs that need to be made.”
I nod, understanding his need to take care of his home. “Come back as soon as you can.”
Oberon smiles. “Will you miss me that much, my future wife?” He reaches out and gently pulls my hand into his. “You could come with me. In fact, why don’t you? I can keep you protected up there. Once we tell your father what we want him to do, I fear for your safety here.”
I think about pulling my hand out of his, but something stops me. I like the feel of his skin against my tender flesh. Its roughness draws me to the man sitting beside me in a way I haven’t felt since losing Mark. On the surface, Oberon is nothing like my first husband, but deep down, I can tell he would love me just as fiercely if given the chance. Am I ready to give my heart to another man? Or will I continue to hide behind Mark’s memory, forever mourning the father of my child and living with regret that I wasn’t able to save him.
“Can this aircraft not move any faster?” Iris complains from the seat behind us.
“We’re almost there, miss,” the guard says, turning the wheel to the left and bringing the castle into view.
“Thank the heavens,” Iris says irritably. “I can’t stand wasting time.”
“Worried about Uri?” Winn, Oberon and Iris’s childhood nanny and now trusted friend and advisor, asks Iris knowingly. “You know he can take care of himself.”
“That’s what I’m worried about,” she huffs. “He always thinks he knows best just because he can see into the future. It causes him to make mistakes because he becomes overconfident. It’ll get him killed one day. I just know it.”
“Don’t dark fae simply bring their loved ones back from the dead?” I ask, not seeing Uri’s death as a problem.
Iris gasps. “I would never curse him to live that kind of life.Never.”
Confused by her answer, I look to Oberon for more of an explanation.
“When a dark fae comes of age,” he begins, “they’re given the choice of being brought back from the dead when they die. If they decide not to be, we give them a proper send-off into the afterlife. Most of my people have opted not to be brought back. The few who do sign up for resurrection know that they will automatically be recruited into the Shadow Guard and be under Iris’s command for the rest of their days.”
