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The three of them stepped through to the front room. Joan and Dawn had gone off somewhere else, but Ava lingered by the fireplace. The tiny flame that crackled inside illuminated her face, but not as much as her sheer joy when she turned around. “Hey!”
“Hi. Isn’t it a little warm out for a fire?”
A flicker of uncertainty crossed her face. “I made it.” She wiggled her fingers.
Max suddenly understood. She’d been working with the other two witches in the house, and just like that, there was a fire in the fireplace. Ava hadn’t made this fire by striking a match or even using a flint. She’d used her magic. “That’s amazing!”
“We don’t have to keep it going, though.” Ava reached for the rack of fireplace tools, intending to grab the shovel and smother the flame with ash.
“Sure, we do.” Max put his hand out to stop her. “It’s an accomplishment, and we’ll enjoy it.” He moved to sit on the loveseat.
Sarah sat down next to him, and he easily draped his arm over her shoulders as the kids settled in across from them. Max pulled in a breath and checked in with his wolf, feeling instantly how satisfied it was. It took a long time to get there, but this is how things were always supposed to be. His younger self had been caught up in the thrill of a woman that belonged only to him, and he to her. Max still felt that way, but there was so much more to it than that. They’d had some rough patches, and in the back of his mind, he knew they weren’t completely smoothed over yet, but this was the stuff dreams were made of. He relaxed into the back of the sofa.
“Okay.” Hunter was sitting in an upholstered chair, but he was so excited, he was barely putting his weight on it. He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “I thought about going to college with Conner.”
“You’d mentioned that before.” Max liked the idea. It’d give Hunter a certain sense of freedom and independence, but he’d also have his family and pack close by when he needed to lean on them.
Sarah beamed at her son. She’d missed so much while he was growing up, but Max could see just how eager she was to take part in any way she could. “Have you thought about what you might want to major in?”
“At first, I was thinking about environmental studies. It made sense, considering where we live and how important the land is to the pack,” Hunter explained. “I’m starting to get a few other ideas, though.”
Max smiled. “Like what?”
“Like not going to college at all.”
Max cleared his throat and shifted slightly in his seat. Deciding on a major sounded like a pretty easy conversation, but now it was taking a much more complicated turn. “I thought that was what you wanted.”
“I’m not sure if I really do or if I was just trying to make everyone else happy. Taking a gap year is starting to sound like a good idea. I could travel the world, see all sorts of things, and meet new people. It could be awesome.” Hunter slapped his hands on his knees.
Sarah pressed her tongue against the inside of her cheek. “It’s an interesting idea.”
“Or, I thought I might join the military,” Hunter continued. “It’d just be a different way of traveling the world, plus I wouldn’t have to pay for it.”
Max liked to think of himself as a pretty liberal parent. He knew he couldn’t tell Hunter what to do anymore, but a heavy ball of dread settled in his stomach. “Hunter, it’s honorable to serve your country. You’d undoubtedly get an education, whether in life, or if you went to school afterward. But you have to consider the fact that most people in the service aren’t like us. You could get hurt, and it’s unlikely that you’d see a doctor who understands shifter anatomy. You could be exposed.”
“Icouldbe, but it won’t necessarily happen,” Hunter reasoned. “I’d just have to be careful. Other shifters have done it. Just think of the veterans who formed those Special Ops Shifters units around the country. I could be one of them someday! How cool would that be?”
“Yes, but—”
“It’s a great idea,” he insisted. “Ava thinks so, too. Right, Ava?”
She’d been staring into the fireplace, fiddling with her necklace, and now she looked up dreamily. “What’s up?”
Sarah laughed. “Where have you been? You haven’t heard a word?”
Ava’s beatific smile widened. She got up from her chair and padded over, bending down to show her mother the pendant she wore. “Grandma Joan just gave this to me. She said it’s been in her family for a long time.”
Sarah touched the iridescent stone set into gold. “It’s very pretty. That was nice of her.”
“She wasn’t just being nice,” Ava clarified. “It’s a moonstone. She said it’ll provide protection and blessings from Selene. I didn’t know who that was, but she told me all about the moon goddess and how she helps people like me.”
“Take it off.” Sarah’s voice was thick with anger. “Take that off right now.”
Ava clutched her hand around the pendant and took a step back. “But Grandma Joan gave it to me. I like it.”
Max pulled his arm out from around Sarah’s shoulders so he could turn toward her. “Maybe this is something we should talk about later.”
“No, I think we’ve had about enough of that.” Sarah shot up off the couch and held out her hand. “Take it off and give it to me.”
