“How could we forget?” I quipped, as I squeezed my mate’s hand.

“What did you turn into, Todd?”

His brow arched. “What do you mean? I turned into a wolf, of course.”

We shared a look, and I smiled at her. “You seeing things, sis?”

She pursed her lips at me, and her nod came slowly, but her gaze? Dubious. I wasn’t surprised when she claimed she had a headache five or so minutes later, and to be honest, I was glad for it. I mean, I didn’t want her to be in any pain, but equally, that was an awkward conversation we couldn’t have.

In the eyes of the world, Todd was a wolf shifter.

Simple.

As we left the packhouse, a place where we were both welcome now, I sighed at the sight of the blossoming trees and murmured, “I want to get married here.”

He arched a brow at me. “I haven’t proposed.”

“No. That was a nudge.”

“I’ll take the nudge under advisement.”

Winking at him, I said, “Hey, I’ll be able to access my trust fund when we get married.”

“Yeah? I’m okay with being your sugar baby,” he joked, hauling me into him and palming my ass at the same time.

“You’re sweet enough as it is,” I teased, leaning up on tiptoe to kiss him. Fuck, he pleased me. Everything about him just fit. I’d been one of those ten-thousand-piece jigsaws that had been missing a single piece until him. Until he just slotted right in.

In more ways than one.

After a kiss that was far too carnal for the vestibule of another pack’s packhouse, we wandered outside, and I waved farewell at Maribel, who was sitting on the veranda with her husband. I didn’t like Leon, but his intentions toward her were good, otherwise I’d have told Sabina, warned her of his true nature.

Jerk.

Todd snorted, evidently seeing the distrustful glance I’d shot Leon. “You’ve turned bloodthirsty on me.”

I grinned up at him. “It’s hard to believe that before I came to this place, I wouldn’t say boo to a goose, isn’t it?”

His eyes twinkled. “Just a little. But I wouldn’t change you for the world. You know that, don’t you?”

I sighed, wondering how he knew what the perfect way to shut me up was, and whispered, “Good answer, babe,” as I leaned up on tiptoe and gave him a well-deserved kiss.

Which, after the ride home, led to a well-deserved blowjob.

And a well-deserved lay.

It was a tough job being the Moon Child, but hell, somebody had to do it, didn’t they?

Sabina

With my hands at my back, I leaned into them, digging my fingers into the soil, seeking solace, as I watched Knight crawl around the sacred circle.

Even as I heard the whispers of the pack in my mind, their woes and their happiness, their troubles and their strife, I felt the totem regenerating me, healing the headache the call with my mother had triggered.

Not liking what I’d heard, not appreciating having my dubious attempts at rationale confirmed, I’d needed the calm of this place to bring myself to a semblance of peace, which was stupid. The totem shouldn’t represent that anymore, not after what had happened barely twenty feet away.

On top of that, this was Lidai’s home. And she had a plan for us.

Sure, she had them for all her children, but we were different. My family were over-achievers.

So my finding peace here was ridiculous, but it didn’t take away from the fact that I did feel more at ease.

Well, until I thought back to that conversation…

Father had pimped mother out.

He’d done it often.

Just like he’d wanted to do with us when we were old enough to sell into marriage.

It was the twenty-first century, and he’d wanted to sell us. Kali Sara.

I pursed my lips, and even though I didn’t like my mother, didn’t respect her or love her, my eyes stung as I thought about how devastating that must have been for her. I wasn’t sure why her own love hadn’t turned to hate, how she’d been so devoted to our father, but was that because love was blind?

Had to be, didn’t it?

There was no reason or rhyme as to why she’d been the way she was with him. So, love, crazy, foolish love was the only answer, the only justification, but even that wasn’t enough.

As I stared blindly ahead, my feet twisting in the dirt of the circle as Knight looked around, a slight movement in my peripheral vision caught my attention.

Berry.

I relaxed my guard, but watched her as she wandered forward, tongue lolling out of her mouth as she followed Knight. My lips twitched as, whenever he moved too close to the edge of the circle, she’d yip at him, then pounce forward, dancing out of the way when he gurgled with laughter, but stayed this side of the barrier.

Watching them was pretty relaxing, and a very good distraction. My mates weren’t here, off on pack business. That was why Lara and I had decided to call our mother without them being there to discourage me.

I thought about her silver-penny eyes and her dubiousness as Catharina had made her explanations, justified her actions, but they were thoughts I couldn’t seem to avoid and which I desperately wanted to. So, needing the distraction, and seeing the two of them together, I got to my feet and wandered over to my son.

After I grabbed Knight, I sat cross-legged at the edge of the circle, then stared at her. She moved as close as she could, sitting down on her haunches, head tipped to the side, like she knew I wanted to talk to her.

And I did. I had a lot of questions. Today, my brain was abuzz with them. First with my mother, then with Todd, and now with Berry. We’d never managed to pin her down, never managed to figure out exactly why she was here as Berry and not Merinda.

Maybe today was the day for me to get the answers we, as a family, needed.

“Daniel said you can’t shift.”

She dipped her chin.

I stared at her. “Your sons are very bitter where you’re concerned.”

“Earned.”

“I thought you were going to leave us,” I whispered, surprised by the welter of tears that hit me at the prospect. I didn’t want her to go, even if I didn’t understand her or her actions. We’d grown so close since she’d come into my life, and every day, I missed not having her at my side. She was there, in the periphery, but not dancing around my feet like I’d grown used to before Lara had come to the pack.

“Hated.”

My brow puckered at that. “You hate me?”

She growled at that, which had me jerking in surprise, but as I moved back, Knight moved forward, and his hand slipped over the border of the circle and clutched some of Berry’s fur.

“As if I could hate you, child.”

The words slipped into my mind as easily as they did when my mates talked to me.

“I can hear you!” I whispered.

Her head lowered at that. “The Mother is generous in all ways,” she whispered, eying the starfish fingers of my son’s hand as it clung to her fur, which confirmed that Knight, somehow, was reaping another miracle. This child. Kali Sara. What he was capable of…

Then, she robbed me of my thoughts as she told me, “You must know that I only wanted to do what was best for them all.”