The Crescent War

Chapter Eight

Hours turned into days, days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months.

We had heard nothing of the cougars, no word of any wolves dying and no mysterious human disappearances. No nothing.

Everything was quiet. Almost too quiet.

I had not decided what my choice would be regarding the cougars but I had chosen not to worry about it and begged Gale not to tell anybody about our late night conversation.

Unsurprisingly, Alex had thrived in the party environment on a Miami beach and dragged the pack with him out at any possible opportunity. It was almost like we were settling down, like nothing was wrong. Except it was.

People were out to kill me and take away my children to ‘keep them safe’ so things were far from normal. I just had to try and not remind myself of that so often because if I did then I was going to go insane.

Speaking of insane, my eyes drifted towards my mate where he was busy with Dakota trying to build a better sandcastle than Alex and Gale. Roseanne appeared to be judging them while Alec set about building his own even though he complained about their maturity levels.

I found myself smiling at them when Grace dropped down at my side, bringing her knees up to her chest and resting her head on them.

“Mum, can I talk to you?” She asked softly, making sure not to be heard by the rest of their mini pack.

“Yeah, of course, sweetie.” I replied, keeping my voice equally quiet.

“…are we ever going back home?” Grace eventually asked after a prolonged silence.

She had his full attention at the words. I turned slightly towards her and noticed a frown worrying her features so I pulled her close and kissed her temple.

“One day.” I promised.

“When?”

“I wish I knew, Grace.”

I breathed out a shuddering breath at the words, watching out at my mini pack laughing and having fun. They were content but it wasn’t home. It wouldn’t ever be home. I knew I had to do something about that. Hell, I was the only person who could do anything. The cougars wanted me and not my family, only my girls but without me then they would be safe.

“I miss Shawn’s cooking.” Grace bit at her bottom lip, laughing softly. “How sappy is that?”

“What’s wrong with Alex’s cooking?” I knew exactly what was wrong with Alex’s cooking but I didn’t choose to mention that.

She scrunched up her face at that, causing us both to laugh. “I’m just shocked we haven’t had food poisoning yet.”

“You mean you didn’t like the fish drumsticks?” I raised an eyebrow in question, working hard to keep my face straight.

“Mum, fish don’t even have drumsticks!” She made a puking sound at the memory and I joined her in that because damn that was one questionable meal and unsurprisingly Daniel had loved it. Her laughter stopped with a sad smile, “I just want to go home…”

“I’ll get us home.” I knew without even thinking that I had decided my actions already, I had been so confused but now I knew what I had to do. “What do you say we go beat those losers and show them how a real sandcastle is made?”

“Sounds like a plan, mum.” Grace beamed and raced me to an empty spot next on Daniel’s designated sandcastle area, ‘accidentally’ treading on Alex and Gale’s as she went.

“That’s my girl!” I declared proudly.

*

“Does my butt look big in this?” Daniel asked as he shaked said butt right in my face.

“Actually, your ass looks pretty damn fine.” I ran my hands over the firm globes in approval.

My husband was wearing tight jeans and a dress shirt for our romantic evening. If I was going to try and get my family home again then I wanted one last night of perfectness when I did so. One last night with Daniel.

“Well Mrs. Greenwood, if you play your cards right then you might just get a piece of this fine ass!” Daniel slapped his ass and threw a wink over his shoulder as he prowled into the bathroom to try and sort out his wild hair.

I admired the view approvingly as I leaned back on the bed, my eyes trailing over the gorgeous creation that was my mate. I was one lucky bastard.

“Shut your mouth. You’re drooling.” Daniel turned to grin at me as he settled for the tousled look.

“What can I say, Dan? You’re worth drooling over.” I wasn’t really drooling but damn I was so close.

Daniel laughed, his dimples cutting into his cheeks as he jumped across the room and dumped himself on top of me. All the breath escaped me because for one gorgeous skinny guy my mate was one heavy mother fucker. Did he really need all those muscles? Then again I loved those muscles.

“Get off me, you freak!” I shoved at Daniel but he didn’t move far, instead he placed a warm kiss against my lips which totally wasn’t fair because my mind always shut off at Daniel’s kisses.

“I love you.” Daniel told me, his face bright and open. “I don’t know what I’d have ever done without you.”

Guilt settled heavily in my stomach but I bit it down and forced a smile.

“I love you too, Dan.” I whispered earnestly, rolling out from underneath my mate before he noticed there was something wrong.

“Are you ready to go?” Daniel asked as he found a pair of shoes from our ever growing closet.

“More than.”