Cyn felt something inside of her shift, as if her soul recognized Thalion as a part of her now. They were one.

When they pulled apart, he grinned at her like a schoolboy. He looked young again, as if all the weariness that he’d been carrying had finally been lifted. “An elf prince and a fae warrior,” he whispered against her lips.

“Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke,” Cyn smiled back.

Thalion tapped the tip of her nose with his finger. “Or the beginning of a really good adventure.”

Chapter 24

“There are no words to describe what it feels like when something has been taken from you that you can never get back. Certain things in this life are attached to the core of who we are. When those things are shaken, cracks form in the foundation, and cracks cause weakness in the entire structure. I have cracks in the structure of my being. My foundation has been shaken and I’m no longer standing on solid ground. I’m so scared I’m going to come crashing down.” ~Sally

Sally’s hands trembled as she sat on the couch waiting for Costin to return with Titus. She missed him desperately, but she felt so unworthy to be his mother. He deserved someone stronger— just as Costin deserved a mate who wouldn’t have forgotten him.

She pressed her forehead to her hands and tried to hold herself together. Something she’d been trying to do since Peri had flashed her and Costin home. She felt like she was fighting a losing battle. One minute, she was able to accept Costin’s words as truth, and the next she was drowning in shame and doubt.

Before she knew it, she was on her knees in the quiet of her suite, once again being tossed about in the storm of her emotions. Sally felt as if there was a noose around her neck, and it got tighter every time she remembered anything involving her and Jericho. Why couldn’t she just forget? Why did she have to go through this?

“Why, why, why,” she whispered into the carpet as she pounded it with her fist. She just wanted to know why her and what good could possibly come from something so awful?

She didn’t hear the door open or the sound of feet walking across the floor. Sally was too absorbed in her own turmoil. It wasn’t until she felt two small hands reach down and frame her face, gently tugging her up, that she realized she wasn’t alone.

Titus, with his beautiful smile and gentle spirit, met her tear filled gaze. How could he look at her with such wonder and awe? How could his innocent hands touch one so very dirty?

“I knew you’d come back, Mommy,” Titus said. He wiped the tears from her eyes with his small hands and then wrapped his arms around her neck. Sally’s arms enveloped him, and though she didn’t deserve to hold him, she had to. She needed to feel that pure, untainted love of a child.

“My angel came and saw me,” he whispered in her ear as he hugged her “She said I needed to tell you something.”

“What did she want you to tell me, sweet boy?” Sally whispered back.

“She said she weeps with you. She bears your pain and sorrow. She longs to heal each hurt. When you feel all alone, she’s still there beside you.”

Tears continued to stream down Sally’s face as she soaked in the words that the Great Luna had given to her son.

“How did you remember all that?” she asked quietly.

Titus pulled back to look at her face. “She told me that it was important I remember. So I did.”

Sally stared at him, taking it all in. This was their son. He’d been given to them and she was in awe that she’d been entrusted with his life.

“I missed you, Titus,” she told him. “I know we haven’t gotten to spend a lot of time together, but we will.”

“Of course, we will.” He grinned at her and patted her cheek. “You came back for me and Daddy. Because we need you. Daddy is great, but you make us shine. Without you, it gets kind of dark.”

Sally tugged him close again and held him as though her life depended on it. “You shine because you are special. I don’t make you shine, love. I can only help you to shine brighter.”

Sally felt Costin’s hand run down her hair as he sat on the couch next to where she still knelt.

“You are my only light. Without you, I am in utter darkness,” Costin told her through their bond.

“I’m not anyone’s light at this point. I’m a mess.”

“Maybe, but you’re my mess. And I love you. You’re beautiful. I adore you as does our son.”

Costin’s words were like a tiny balm to a gaping wound, but they were a start. And where else can you begin to heal than at the start?

Jen clung to her mate as the night faded away into morning. She’d slept very little; her head was too full of worry. It had been a long time since Jen had felt such heaviness inside of her. But no matter how she tried to find the good in all they’d been through, all she could see was Sally’s devastated face.

“You didn’t sleep hardly at all,” Decebel told her as he pulled her tighter against him.

“How do you know?”

“Because my wolf didn’t sleep. His mate was restless, and when my wolf refuses to sleep, the man doesn’t get much either. Baby,” —Decebel grabbed her chin and tilted it to look up at him— “Sally is not alone. Not only does she have her mate but she has all of us. We won’t let this destroy her. Can you trust me on that? Trust me as your mate and her Alpha. I won’t let her slip away.”

After a few heartbeats of holding his stare, she finally nodded. “Okay, I’ll trust you. But if you let me down, B, I will totally have babies with the mailman and name all of them after you.”

“And there’s the woman I love,” Decebel growled. “You scare me if you don’t threaten me with my manhood, stripping, or having another man’s babies, at least twice every twenty-four hours.”

She smiled up at him and patted his cheek. “Sorry about that. I’ll be sure to add extra threats to make up for the lost time.”

He chuckled. “So what do you want to do today before the meeting?”

Jen tapped her chin. “Well, remember how you built those dog houses for Thia?”

“Jennifer,” he warned.

“I’m thinking that she needs some doll houses too. So I ordered two kits for you to put together. That way if one falls apart, you at least have a backup.”