Aria
Once again, Sebastian has me by the hand and is leading me down the stairs to another part of this enormous house. I have no idea where we are going, only that we are looking for some rings that Dez mentioned when he was talking about Mim.
I don’t bother to ask Sebastian any more questions because he seems to not want to tell me anything. He said he needed to show me. Maybe whatever he’s going to show me will help me to understand more, even if it doesn’t help me remember.
We stop at an office door on the first floor, and Sebastian knocks. I hear a deep voice that I think is his dad say, “Yeah? Who is it?”
“Father, it’s me, Sebastian, with Aria. Can we come in?”
AriaWe take another plane to my hometown, or at least, as close to it as we can get. Sebastian tells me that there are no airports in my former territory. In fact, the closest one is a few hours’ drive from where we want to go. This time, on the airplane, when he wants to hold my hand, I not only let him, I want to hold his hand, too.The flight is much longer this time, over three hours. To pass the time, I ask Sebastian questions about his childhood, and he tells me stories about when he was a little boy. I wonder how many of them I have heard before and how many of them are brand new to me. He makes me laugh, and I love to hear the sound of his voice.But I am nervous. What if this is my last chance to remember? What if I get to my hometown and I don’t recognize anything?
SebastianAria and I walk hand-in-hand up the hill that leads to her old village with the light of a full moon guiding our feet along the path. I am nervous about what might happen when we get to the top and she sees her old homesite. Either she will recognize where she’s at and a flood of memories will come back to her, or she won’t, and this entire visit will leave her devastated.I try to reassure her as we go. “Now, if this doesn’t work, it’s all right. There are lots of other things we can try. There are people we can see. We’ll go visit your old packmates. It’s possible that some of them will be able to help you remember. Or we can find a doctor, an expert on amnesia. I bet there’s a good one that knows about the shifter world already. If not, they don’t have to know you’re
Sebastian“I remember.”Hearing Aria say those two words is almost as good as it was to hear her say that she loved me for the first time. Tears fill my eyes as I look into hers, the magic from the rings in the moonlight dissipating as we are left in the ruins of her home with our arms around one another.“You do?”Her smile widens as she nods enthusiastically. “I do. I remember everything.”A sigh of relief escapes my lips as I wrap her up into my arms and swing her around. “I’m so glad,” I tell her as I set her down on her and brush her hair back before I kiss her. Just like our hands melding together started the magic that brought he
Sebastian I am standing at the end of an aisle, outside in my mother’s garden behind our house, waiting for the most wonderful woman in the world to walk down and stand beside me so that the preacher before us can pronounce us man and wife. All of our friends and family are also here, including the remaining members of Vargas Pack. There are rows and rows of white folding chairs covering the velvety green lawn. The sky is crystal blue, white puffy clouds roll by high above us, and I can’t imagine how my life could be any more perfect than it is at this moment. My father retired from being the pack Alpha a few months ago. He said he hoped it wouldn’t interfere with the wedding plans, but it was time. Mom had this river cruise she wanted to go on in Europe, and it was getting ready to set sail. He said he’d neglected her wishes for far t
My boots slide slightly in the melting snow as I hurry down the sidewalk toward home. It is a cold evening, and the sun is going down, which means this slush will be frozen again soon. Then, it will be ice, which is dangerous to humans, but not to me. Still, the people around me are hunkered down, pulling their coats tight around their shoulders, their heads tipped against the wind. Most of them have gloves, scarves, and stocking caps on their heads. It is cold in this northern city, one I am not used to yet. I would like to go home, to my family’s estate in the south, where it is usually sunny and warm. This is not because it is cold here; I do not feel the bite of the wind or
As soon as I walk into the apartment, my parents clamp up. Our walls are so thin, I heard them talking while I was approaching in the hallway, but I couldn’t make out much of what they were saying, only that my mom was saying she didn’t want to do something, and my father was insisting it was the only way. I was glad when they shifted their conversation as I walked in because whatever it was that had them arguing, I didn’t want to know about it. My parents have always sheltered me from their problems, especially when my father was the Alpha and had so many important matters to attend to. I imagined that someday he would fill me in on the important aspects of leading
I’ve decided to try to get a job during the break between semesters. It’s the holiday season, so a lot of people are hiring extra help in the big shops downtown. I’ll have to take the bus to get there, or the underground train, so I’ll have to factor in how much it will cost for me to get there and home into my earnings, but I think I can still make enough money to help contribute to the family income. My mom is cleaning more these days, getting other people’s homes ready for holiday parties, and Dad has gotten a few odd jobs helping move large items up flights of stairs, like Christmas trees and larger dining tables people will need in order to have thei
Later that night, lying on my mattress. I can see the moon rising out the window. It’s odd. You’d think my view would be blocked. I am surrounded by large buildings and living in a damp basement, yet, when I hold my head just right, I can see it up there. Bright, silver, full, it calls to me. I need to get out of this place. I need to feel the moonbeams on my fur. I need to breath in fresh forest air and feel the ground beneath my paws. I need… to run.