“And the same one Cyra makes,” Ignatius muttered as my mom offered me a small amused smile. His words had Con smiling for a minute before looking down as if it had never happened, his entire attitude nearly as grumpy as Nuriel’s. I had to wonder how I had come from such large, grumpy people, considering I didn’t consider myself either. Even so, there was a softness to their group towards me that even I could recognize, and it made me hopeful that despite the obvious gap between us, maybe we could fix this relationship. Eventually.
“We need to see if there are others,” I voiced.
“And we can’t let this slight stand,” Nuriel admitted. “It may be years later, but if they were still actively holding prisoners, that means they have continued to act the same.”
“So what do you suggest?” Con demanded. “Send units to Earth?”
“Yes, actually,” Nuriel responded and then looked at me. “Any information would be helpful when we send out—”
“I’m going back,” I responded immediately, my mom looking at me with wide, panicked eyes.
“No.” She shook her head. “We just got you back, Maya.”
I could see the raw pain there, and anxiety closed up my throat for a moment, knowing that my decision wasn’t going to change but hating that I was going to cause her pain. I hadn’t been lying to Sai. I would always choose my mates and go where we decided as a group.
“Let’s talk about this later,” Pele suggested, his eyes flashing with sadness. “I think there is a lot to decide, but I also know that we have all night to talk about this.”
I didn’t disagree with his plan, but I also knew I would need to be firm eventually about how I didn’t plan on staying. Would I return? Yes. Did I want to stay and learn more about my family? Of course. But this would never truly be my home. My home was with my mates and always would be. I knew that as much as I knew my name… which wasn’t the best analogy, clearly, since my name was apparently Sol, not Maya. I did appreciate that my parents had managed to correct themselves on that so far.
Plus, until Pastor Malcolm stopped hurting others, I wasn’t positive that I would be able to focus on anything else.
“Okay.” Cyra nodded and then smiled. “I want to make tonight about your return, though. We were holding a celebration in honor of the fall harvest out of the Water Lands, but I want to make it also about you finding your way back to us. Are you comfortable with that?”
I nodded, not wanting to tell her it made me uncomfortable because I could see how much the concept meant to her.
“Amazing!” She hopped up and flashed a smile.
The next few minutes felt like a bit of a blur as they left our room, my mom pulling me into a hug and my fathers offering a range of goodbyes, from Pele’s hug to Nuriel offering a grunt and something that I couldn’t fully hear but made Cyra laugh. When silence filled the room finally, I turned to look at my mates with wide eyes.
“Well,” I managed, “that was… something.”
Atlas chuckled. “I honestly thought they were going to kill Sai.”
Sai flashed a smile. “Would have been worth it.”
I blushed as Henry appeared next to me, wrapping an arm around my waist. “How are you doing about all of this?”
Inhaling, I tried to answer honestly. “I don’t really believe it. Like I know they aren’t lying, obviously, but… it’s just a lot.”
“Maya,” Marco’s voice was softer as he approached, “they are going to want you to stay. We need to talk about—”
“I am not staying,” I answered confidently and evenly, holding his gaze. “I already told Sai that you guys are my home now. I want to go back home. I do not want to stay here.”
Since leaving the confines of the basement, I had been confused about a lot of things, but this wasn’t one of them. I wanted to stay with my mates, and I knew they were uncomfortable here. That was enough of a reason for me.
“Thank fuck,” Anani rasped out.
I felt the tension of the room ease as Croy approached, his eyes tracing my expression. “And you know they are going to go after the coven? That isn’t in question.”
“I just want to make sure there aren’t others like me. I… I don’t care what happens to Pastor Malcolm after that. I just need him to stop hurting people.”
“We can be as involved with it as you want,” Ledger said, his voice soft. “It’s up to you Maya.”
Nodding, I looked over all my mates and then frowned, my nose wrinkling.
“Where is Bella?”
Atlas walked over towards one of the doors and opened it, Bella immediately sprinting out as I knelt down and picked her up. Her purr was immediate as she began to rub against my cheek. I pressed my head to hers as the others around us talked. My eyes widened slightly, realizing that I had no idea what the event tonight consisted of.
More so, was I ready to spend an entire night with my family?
That wasn’t a concept I was positive I would ever get used to.
“Bella, you can’t come with,” I explained softly, trying to make her understand while running my fingers through my hair. Her meow of unhappiness had me reaching forward to pet her chin as she swiped at the lipstick I had sitting on the counter, making a laugh escape my lips at her obvious grumpy attitude. Pulling my hand back, she bound forward and attacked it, rolling onto her back and pretending to bite down on my fingers, a content purr escaping her chest. I couldn’t help but smile at her reaction.
See? I knew she wouldn’t stay mad for long. After all, I didn’t make the rules, and I trusted my mates. If they thought it was a bad idea to bring her to this event, then I wouldn’t risk her safety. I knew they had the best at heart for Bella. Although, it would have done wonders for my nerves, considering I felt shaky.
More so than at the dragon council event. At least there I had been able to pretend to some extent that it wasn’t about me. This, though, had been very clearly directed to be about me, and I wasn’t one hundred percent positive how I felt about that besides uncomfortable. Stepping back from the mirror, my eyes ran over the dress that had been delivered to my room only minutes ago. I nervously toyed with the skirt of the gown, tilting my head to the side and appraising how I appeared in it.
I’m not positive that it was something I would have chosen for myself.
It was a deep gold satin bodice that clung to my chest in a sweetheart neckline and had a corset-like center that went out in a really delicate material that formed the skirt. It was gorgeous, of course, but I didn’t feel as though it was truly me. It felt a bit tight and uncomfortable, like I was being squeezed into something that wasn’t made for me.
A knock on the door had Bella prancing down the counter as it opened and she bound out past Croy, his golden brow arching at her quick escape. I smiled slightly and admitted, “She’s a bit mad at me right now.”
“What did you do?” He chuckled.
“I’m not allowing her to come to the event,” I pointed out and looked back in the mirror, biting down on my pink lip again, feeling at odds with the dress.
“Who delivered that?” Croy asked curiously. I looked over him, realizing he had changed from his outfit before into a pair of dark uniform pants and a top with a jacket that had an embroidered green wolf on it. It was a very attractive look on him, and my throat felt dry as I tried to remember his question.