Cilla
Waking up next to my lovelies was the best thing ever. I had slept through the morning. I woke up at 11 am and found Rose and Ren still asleep, their heads on each of my arms. My arms were hurting. When I tried to push them away so I could get up, they opened their eyes and tried to snuggle closer. I chuckled before speaking.
“My hands hurt,” I said. They both moved away from them and sat up so I could bring my arms together. The action was painful but it was worth it. I had had the best sleep in a while and would do it a hundred times over. Knowing that Jane was dead and couldn’t hurt us was the icing on the cake.
“How did you know where we were?” Rose asked.
“I’m your big sister. I know everything.”
“No, you don’t.” Rose said.
“Seriously,” Ren said.
I had noticed that Ren was growing faster, developing the snarky attitude of a teenager before his sister. Since I was now a parent, I had to learn patience and find a way of dealing with him without causing more problems.
I told them the story of how we found them. They listened attentively but Rose had a lot of questions to ask at the end which I didn’t mind because I had missed them a lot. I could answer a thousand questions from them as long as it involved listening to the beautiful voices I had gone so long without.
We spent the whole day together. In the evening, I taught them some cool self-defense moves that could help in case someone tried to kidnap them again. I never wanted to go through the pain of losing them ever again. Although most of the pack had accepted me as their luna, I couldn’t blindly trust them. Some people can smile in your face before turning around and stabbing you in the back.
That night, Ridian and I made love more times than I could count. I was the happiest I had ever been and didn’t even care how loud I got. The good thing we had chosen to sleep in one of the cabins in the woods, leaving our suite in the pack house for the children and other people.
The next morning, I decided to surprise the children with something I knew they really wanted. I told them that we were going for a function at one of the human towns and they got in the car, excited to try something new. I had their eyes blindfolded when we got close to our destination. When we arrived, I had them get out of the car.
“Where are we?” Rose asked, laughing.
“Can we remove these silly blindfolds already?” Ren complained.
“Don’t be grumpy, Ren. You’ll be happier than Rose when you see what I have to show you.”
“I highly doubt that but whatever,” he said.
“Remove the folds,” I said.
Ren was the first to get rid of his. When he saw the surprise, he screamed and started jumping around in joy. This forced Rose to pull off hers faster. She squealed and hugged her brother who returned the hug happily. Since I had got him from Oakwood, I had never seen him as happy as he was that day. He even came and hugged me after letting go of Rose.
“Thank you, thank you.” He chanted.
Rose ran to hug Beata and the pack children that had gathered to meet us outside the pack house.
Ren ignored everyone and ran into the house. I just smiled and shook my head. “He has been wanting to come back home for so long,” I explained. Some of the boys of his age followed him inside.
“You’ve grown so much, little Rosie.” My mother’s best friend Katerina said, scooping my sister in her arms. “And you’re starting to look just like your mother. Oh Doreen. You’d have been so proud of your little girls. Thank you so much for bringing her back, Cilla.”
Rose cried on Katerina’s shoulder for a while. Katerina had always babysat Rose and Ren when my mother had to go away for pack duties. As the beta’s wife, she got sent on a lot of errands by the luna. It was why Rose had loved Katerina a lot. Looking at them, it was clear they still shared a deep connection.
We spent the whole day at the pack. In the evening, we had to return to Blackmoon pack.
“I don’t want to go back there,” Ren said. “I want to stay here. This is my home.”
“I know you do but I don’t think it’s very safe right now. You’ll be able to comeback whenever you want.”
“Jane willow is dead. I’m not going anywhere. This is my home.”
“You can leave him,” Katerina said. “We will protect him with our lives if we have to.”
“I don’t think that will be necessary. He’s just being stubborn and I’m getting fed up of his behavior.”
“Please, cee. Let me stay.”
In the end, I caved in and let him be. Rose and I went back to Blackmoon pack. After supper, Ridian and I took a long walk and we talked about the future of the pack. We talked about Moonshine pack. Ridian had been talking with Sasha and he had decided to hand over the Moonshine pack leadership to her so that we could only oversee things. He had even planted some spies to Moonshine pack to study her manners and the feedback had been fairly satisfactory. He was sure she could lead.
Sasha had grown into a responsible young woman and I was sure she could command the respect of the pack unlike her withering father. After speaking for a long time, we agreed to let her be in charge. She would still have to report to us but we would be giving them more autonomy. If they led themselves into ruin, they would have to deal with their issues.