The Luna's Love (Book 2)

Chapter Five

“I made her laugh so hard while she was trying to chug the milk that it started flying out of her nose!” Dylan was on his third embarrassing story of Allyssa as a little girl and she was getting more and more angry as he continued but Emily was loving every second of it.

“Come on, Dylan. That’s enough.” Ally gave him a warning look and he put his hands up in a mock surrender. 

“Okay.” He chuckled. “Tell me about yourself, Emily? What is your family like?” 

I knew that my mate was just trying to be supportive and get to know the girl but when I watched her visibly tense up and felt the fear and embarrassment of her emotions enter my body I knew that he asked the wrong question. Before she could find an answer I jumped up and changed the topic of conversation. 

“So we live off of a gorgeous lake and I don’t know about you, Emily, but I know that we all love to swim. Do you want to go swimming?” I quizzed while clearing breakfast plates.

“Umm, I don’t have a swim suit.” She answered meekly. 

“Ally has way too many and I’m sure you will fit in one of hers. If not Dani or I probably have one you can borrow but if you don’t want to swim it’s okay.” 

I didn’t want her to feel forced into the activity but she seemed to brighten up at the idea.

I watched Allysa’s eye glaze over and I knew she was linking someone but I didn’t know who until Emily chuckled at seemingly nothing. 

“Okay, I’d love to.” She grinned bigger than she had all morning and it made my heart soar. 

The girls helped me clean up breakfast while Dylan and Austin took the kids to get changed. Everyone else went to their respective areas to get dressed into their swimwear just as we did after the area was picked up. I could see the love that Ally had for the girl which in itself was amazing but to see that love reciprocated in such a young human but rare. The acceptance that Emily had for her and the love that she so willingly gave up without fear was something that Allysa deserved and I couldn’t put into words how elated I was that she had it.

“You guys ready?” I stood at the door frame of the nursery after getting changed into a red ruffled one piece and some shorts. 

“Just about.” Austin responded as she helped Dylan get the straps on Rose.

Rose and Wynnie were matching in adorable strawberry one piece swimsuits that had green ruffles around the top to look like the stem while Gabe wore watermelon swim trunks. 

    Austin got up and hunted around their messy closet looking for shoes for the three of them while Dylan stood up and walked close to me. 

“I have a surprise for you.” He couldn’t contain his grin before placing a kiss on my nose.

I looked at him with skeptical eyes but gave no response before walking to the closet to help Austin. 

“You know, if you two are going to be here every day we are going to have to actually turn the basement into your second home.” I teased with a chuckle before grabbing the shoes that were right in front of him.

I waited for him to laugh as well but the only thing that followed was a heavy sigh. Dylan caught wind of his defeated look.

“Hey guys, let's go put our shoes on downstairs and play until it’s time to go. I’m sure Aunt Dani is waiting to see your cute outfits!” Dylan grinned at the kids before scooping the twins up along with all three pairs of shoes and ushering Wynter to follow him down the stairs. 

Once they were out of earshot I sat down next to Austin on the floor.

“What’s going on? Addie is never around anymore and you’re spending a lot of time here, not that I mind. You’re a major help.”

I looked down at his lap and let out another sigh as if what he was going to say would kill him.

“We’re having some problems. After Wynter was born everything was perfect and we were so happy and then when she turned 6 months old we started fighting and it just seemed like everything I did made Addelyne angry. We got past it for a while and then on Wynnie’s first birthday we find out she is pregnant again and she is so happy about it but I’m not and I feel like a shitty person for not being happy about it. Then Addie started being angry again which I can’t blame her for because I haven’t been there like she needs but when I am there all we do is fight and that’s not something that Wynter should have to see. I just don’t know what to do, B. It was never like that for us so this is new territory for me. I know it’s been so long and I was happy when she got pregnant with Wynnie but the more kids we have the more I feel like I’m betraying Sam.” 

We sat in silence for a second while I processed his words. Austin and Addie were the perfect couple, and to see them having problems was hard but I knew exactly how he felt.

“Having kids makes things different and it can take a long time to get okay with the difference. We were kids when we had Sammy and when we lost him. We were kids when I miscarried. We didn’t have to fight for our relationship because we didn’t know that there were things worth fighting for. We comprised so much of ourselves because we didn’t know what a healthy balance was. When I got pregnant with the twins I cried. For days. Because I felt like it was so wrong of me to bring more kids into a world that he would never experience, but that’s just not true. He would have loved being a big brother more than he would have loved the ocean. He would have put himself second to his siblings every chance he got because that is who he was. There are nights that I can’t sleep because I can’t stop thinking about what I could have done differently and if he would be angry with me for having more kids, but it just isn’t true. We went through something we will have to live with forever, but that doesn't mean our worlds have to stop anymore.”

As I watched the tears fall freely from his eyes I leaned up and wrapped my arms around his neck only for him to embrace me so tightly that if I was a human I would stop breathing. I felt his tears fall on my shoulder and I had to fight my own because it was rare that Austin let himself feel. He was always the strong one because I made him be and it killed me to think that he had to lose himself because he couldn’t talk to anyone else.

“I just don’t know what to do.” He cried.

“You love your wife, and you love your kids. That is what Sam would have wanted. I know it is so easy to be angry and so easy to be sad but that is why Addelyne is there. I know her, and I know that she will accept your anger and your sadness with open arms because although she will never understand what we went through, she holds more compassion for you than anyone else. You just have to let her.”

We stayed in silence for a while as I listened to the clock tick by before he finally released me from his crushing grip and wiped his eyes. He stood to his feet and held his hand down to help me up before pulling me into one more hug but this one was much softer. 

“I love you.”

I smiled into his shoulder.

“I love you, too. Now let's get the kids and go swimming.” 

Austin smiled at me before walking out and down the stairs as I walked over to Allysa’s room.

“You girls ready?” I called through the door.

I could hear their giggles and words but I tried to close off my hearing so I wouldn’t eavesdrop, knocking once more. They seemed to have heard me that time because Ally quickly opened the door with a grin on her face.

“Hey Blake!” She beamed. “We’re ready.”

“Well then let’s get going.” 

The girls both followed me down stairs looking happier than ever. Once I reached the bottom step I could see all three kids playing with each other like siblings and although Wynter wasn’t their sister, it was nice to see because they all shared the same older brother.

“You guys ready?” Dylan's voice rang through my ears. 

Merrick and Dani were on the couch arguing over something trivial while Austin and Zach were bonding over something I had no idea about and Ally and Emily were holding hands while whispering to each other. Moments like those were so important to me, I just wish I could share them with my other family too.

“Let’s go!” I hopped off of the last step and scooped Gabe into my arms while Dylan picked up Rose and Austin grabbed Wynter. We all piled into the two Jeeps we used when going to the lake since it took so long to get there. 

“This is so much fun!” Emily exclaimed as Dylan drove a little faster than he should have.

I just laughed at her statement. It took about 10 minutes to get there but when he did I nearly fell over myself trying to get out as fast as I could. When the lake came into view, so did some of my favorite people. I saw my twin brother, Noah, standing next to my little sister, Ivory. Behind them in the water was Noah’s wife, Blair, and some of my best friends I hadn’t seen in months. Oliver splashed Sebastian in the water earning him an angry look while Amelia seemed to be floating in her own world. I saw Beau’s head rise up out of the water and I nearly screamed. My heart was doing backflips in excitement.

Surprise. 

I quickly handed Gabriel to Danielle who was sitting behind me squished next to Emily and Allysa before jumping out of the vehicle before it stopped and running full speed to Noah. As soon as I reached him I knocked him to the ground in a powerful hug but he laughed the entire time.

“I’ve missed you so much! When did the pack get back?” My voice was muffled by his shirt.

“Damn, B. I need to breathe.” He laughed, jokingly. 

I let him out of my intense grip so we could both stand up when I felt someone hug me from behind and I immediately knew who it was so I let myself sink into the feeling.

“It has been so long, Beau.” I smiled to myself. 

Before he could respond he pulled away quickly and I turned to see Austin embracing his older brother. Within a few seconds I had hugged both of my siblings and all of my friends but as soon as the kids came over they became a lot less interested in me.

“I’m still here.” I laughed.

“Yes, but your babies are a lot cuter.” Olly teased. 

    I glanced at Blair to see her look longingly at the kids and it broke my heart because I knew how she felt. She lost her pregnancy a month after she and my brother got married and I knew she longed for a baby after that but they both decided that it wasn’t the right time. We surrounded ourselves in love and conversation that even Emily felt comfortable enough to join in on for hours. When it started to get dark out we made a bonfire to keep warm. 

“Witches.” I mumbled under my breath, cutting off the conversation. 

Noah gave me a confused look causing me to explain my statement.

“Maggie’s coven just took in 9 teen witches and I’ve already had a run in with one of them conspiring with a younger member of our pack so they could both be hybrids. It nearly killed them both. They are reckless and like to go where they aren’t allowed, I can feel their power. There are three of them not too far away.” I rolled my eyes at the immaturity.

“I ran into one this morning before breakfast. I went for a run when I woke up and nearly ran into her because she was hiding in the forest. I thought I scared her enough for her to not try again but I guess not.” Merrick chimed in.

I glanced at Emily and noticed her tense posture as she got as close to Ally as possible.

“Don’t worry, they aren’t purposefully dangerous and they won’t try anything in front of their elder witch.” I thought I was helping but it seemed to only confuse her more.

“But you are all wolves.”

“No, actually. I am an elder witch, healer hybrid. There is much for you to learn about us but that is for another day. The point is, I am in charge of them so they won’t try anything in front of me.”

Just as I finished speaking, three girls made themselves known as they walked out from behind a bush only to freeze when they saw us up the lakeside. They started to turn around to run but I wasn’t letting them off so easily.

Here. Now. I sent them a mind link and they paused before slowly coming closer.

“What are you girls doing here?” I asked aloud as they got closer but no one responded. 

I glanced at Emily who was staring intently at her hands, obviously nervous by their presence. It astounded me that she could sit in a group with a dozen wolves but was scared of three young witches. One of the witches, however, couldn’t take her eyes off of Ally’s girlfriend. I stood up and put myself between them and the group in case one of them was stupid enough to attack the human in front of me.

“Emily?” The young witch said her name, striking confusion in me.

When she heard her name being called, Emily immediately looked up at the girl and shared the same look that the witch had given her. Surprise. 

“Who is that, Em?” Ally asked.

“My sister.”