Glancing over her shoulder, she looked at the pup who was trying so hard to copy the letters she drew. Well, she certainly had Takekuro blood in her. If there was one thing that could always be said about her family it’s that they would never give up. A half smile fluttered across her features before she turned to look back over the glossy lake.
“No, no, it’s nothing like that,” she told her brother with a half laugh. He had always been so protective, and it seems old habits died hard. She may not have known what he meant when he said the “red man” if not for the fact that she already knew he hated Shawchert. Her eyes dropped and her very aura grew morose, a very uncommon feeling for her.
“Shawchert has… vanished,” it was the best way she could put it. “I called things off last winter and he up and disappeared not long after that. I haven’t heard a word from him since.” She sighed a shaky, thin breath. She knew she needed to leave the man shortly after rekindling her friendship with Mars Russo. Their meeting again was happenstance, but somehow even then she knew she felt safer with Mars in the Court than with Shawchert in d’Arte, even though that was many, many months ago and she had taken her time making the decisions that now blocked the path to her future.
“Juliet and Titania… they are well. Titania lives in New Dawn now, I’m sure you’ve heard, she’s an alphess!” Her voice gushed with pride when she talked about her daughter, still surprised that she had given life to such a strong wolf. “And Juliet lives in Casa di Cavalieri now, she is in love with something more than flowers.” She laughed softly, thinking of her young girl who so loved the blooms. “My children and the man who I thought I would marry have all moved on, but I’m still in the same place. And I think… I think I’m making a mess out of things.”
Now her gaze moved away from the lake to find the silver countenance and emerald gaze that reflected her brother’s soul. “D’Arte scares me. I thought I felt at home there, I thought I felt safe, but I don’t. I barely know anyone there anymore, every time I turn around I am reminded of grief. Someone has taken over the book store, I can’t bare the treetop village that Shawchert built because it reminds me too much of him, so my only home for the past few months has been the haystacks in the stables. I’m kind of happy there, actually, but not for the price I pay.
“Another innocent was killed in the pack lands last winter. A filthy Rhiannon murdered my friend’s adopted daughter,” in reality her relationship with Sky had always been rocky, but in Orin’s melodramatic world right now they might as well have been the best of friends. “Even she has left the pack after having her litter. Now that devil-father Taliesin has become part of Skye’s council… he was the one responsible for the murderer.” Her eyes grew shadowy and dark as she shook her head slowly.
“I’m terrified to bring more pups into the pack, into a pack under the control of the Rhiannons. The only one of the lot who’s any good is that Noah… I barely even trust his mother, Deuce, and they both live in New Dawn with Titania. Their kind… imps of the Devil on Earth, I swear it.” A rare look overcame her then, the look of uninhibited disdain, and it was not becoming. It only lasted for a moment though, until she was reminded of why she was so concerned about them. Her hand dropped to her belly.
“Their father… he doesn’t live in d’Arte, either…” although it was the first time she drew attention to her pregnancy, she acted as though they had been talking about it all along.
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