Series: Werewolves of Wall Street Series by Renee Rose
Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 78974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
With Noah at my side, my tension swirls away. I know these lands like the back of my hand. And fate is guiding us. The Grandmothers require this trip; I can feel it.
For once, my actions and my visions are aligned.
Today is warmer than it has been. In the shady patches there’s still snow on the ground, but it feels like spring is around the corner. Purple crocuses and native violets peek out from under the oak leaves, the first flowers that promise more to come. Here and there are bundles of thin green leaves. The daffodils haven’t bloomed yet, but they will soon.
We come to the little grove Liora and I love. There’s a flat rock here that’s perfect for sitting and listening to the birds singing in the beech trees above a thick carpet of sweet woodruff. A stream runs past us, sweet clean water that takes on the grassy vanilla flavor of the woodland herb.
The sun is starting to set. Liora should come on her evening walk soon. I lead Noah to the rock and climb on it. His brow furrows, but he settles beside me. I turn my face, so he can clearly see my lips, and whisper, “Liora usually takes an evening walk. We’ll wait for her here.”
He nods.
The rock chills my butt and legs at first, but I close my eyes and start to meditate. Beside me, Noah’s aura is a turbulent storm. There’s still plenty of the cool blue and soothing gray, but more darkness, with lightning flashes of red. He’s in turmoil.
I rest a hand on his arm, lending him a little of my calm.
Noah lifts his head and sniffs a few moments before I detect the sound of soft footfalls and sense a wave of grief coming towards us.
Liora.
I still haven’t caught her scent. Noah’s sense of smell must be incredible.
He’s gone rigid beside me. I nod at him. He doesn’t get up, so I stay by his side. Liora approaches us with her arms full of herbs and her head down, like she’s lost in her thoughts. She’s alone, as I’d hoped.
“Liora,” I say softly, to get her attention.
Her head jerks up, and she stifles a gasp, her gaze riveting to Noah.
He still doesn’t move. There’s no expression on his face–he’s gone completely wooden.
“Liora…this is Noah.”
Her arms fall to her side, and she drops the herbs. The leaves flutter in a cascade to her feet. “Noah,” she whispers. She touches her chest and then brings her index and thumb in front of her forehead and makes a cradling motion with her arms with her eyebrows raised. Maybe it’s the sign for “my baby”?
I don’t know how or when she learned ASL. Fate, it breaks my heart. She must’ve hoped she’d meet him again one day and prepared for that possibility.
Noah is stone-faced, staring down at the petite woman who looks so like him. They have the same dark blue eyes and sun-streaked sandy hair.
Liora’s lip trembles, and her eyes grow glassy, like she’s holding back tears. Noah still hasn’t moved. “Why are you here?”
I open my mouth to explain, but before I can, Noah signs as he says, “I want to know why you abandoned me.”
Noah
I’ve waited so long for this moment. To meet the mother who sent me away.
And now I’m here, and my whole body is awash with hot and cold sensations.
Nan always told me Liora was a sweet, loving person. She insisted that her daughter, who came from a powerful alpha bloodline and could’ve been a pack luna, was sucked into a cult that degraded her, brainwashed by them. She told me my mother loved me. I used to look at her photograph and imagine her tucking me in at night and singing me to sleep. But I don’t understand–if she loved me, why would she give me up?
Liora winces. I can’t think of her as my mother, not yet.
“My son,” she signs fluidly as she speaks, “I did not abandon you. I would never abandon you.” She emphasizes never. “I had to give you up to save your life.”
Why didn’t you come with me? If this place is so terrible, why did you stay? I sign. I shouldn’t be asking these questions. I need to stick to the plan and convince her to leave, so Aster and I can get her out before we’re all discovered and killed.
Instead, I’m rehashing the past. But I can’t help it. I have to know.
I was afraid, Liora signs. I was young and powerless, and I knew if I disappeared with you, the pack would hunt us both down. This way, I could sell the lie that I’d lost you. Because I did lose you. And I grieved. There are tears shining in her eyes now.
I harden my heart, even though I want to go to her. I feel too conflicted. There are too many emotions bubbling up in my body.