Chapter Twelve

      The woman squealed as she pulled me into a tight hug and spun me around. "Oh my stars! I thought he had been lost to the ages! I never trusted the little.... Nevermind. I'm just so blessed to see you!"

            It was mixed feelings. I did miss the moonstone pack but my aunt was, less than friendly in my youth. She looked down on my mother who had forsaken her priestess-hood for my father whom left her alone with a child. She was never abusive but she was also not friendly, she had always simply existed. Perhaps years had changed her into a more agreeable person. I hugged her back and the faint familiar scent of child hood hit me. She was warm, sweet and fragrant as a blossoming meadow in spring. I almost double-entendre contain my tears as I buried my face in her shoulder. We stood embraced until Anya broke the silence.

                "You have an aunt??"

        "Yes. I came from a nomadic pack, we were small and peaceful. They... No longer exist."

               Everyone looked down, the scene getting solemn when Hawk popped into the cafe.

         "Ello Marie! Got my pine-" he looked at us in surprise. "Would have thought you two left, he looked at Davion and immediately bowed."my lord-ship." I knew the Shadow Moon were spoken as legend but to think their alpha was revered as nobility was surprising.

           My aunt looked at Hawk like a disgruntled mother and pinched his ear as such, "you little loud punk!!"

       I chuckled as the tensioned eased. It felt so nice to see her again. The moonstone pack was small and unamusing, their annihilation was an insignificant blip in the werewolf news network but to me it always left a hole in my heart. I always thought I'd they still existed I could have found the courage to leave sooner but it was just my way of blaming my cowardice elsewhere. I held my aunt's hand tightly as the memories we shared reconnected. The familial link could never be severed only dormant.

           "Oh Sera... I'm so sorry" I could feel her feelings. She pitied my mother and had always secretly helped her but she was too prideful. Now she lived with regrets, regrets not to different from my own.

        "It's ok Auntie. I understand." We could let go of the past now and live for the future.

               Davion smiled at the reunion. "It's good to find family again."

          I looked at him and saw a hint of sorrow in his eyes. Perhaps family was a soft spot? I realized I knew nothing about him. I wasn't sure if my feelings but I felt if we were going to be friends I needed to know him more.

         "Want to take a walk with me?" I offered him my hand which he accepted happily. "I'll be back soon auntie, we have so much to catch up on!" I pulled him away with me and realized I didn't know the city at all. Looking around everything seemed so crowded, I didn't want to make him uncomfortable.

           He chuckled softly as he took the lead. "Follow me."

           I could tell he had a playful and mischievous side, it was cute and attractive but he had more layers. He was like an ocean. Beautiful shallow shores but mysterious endless depth. I followed him through alleyways and shady streets, it felt unnerving but with him by my side I had no fear. Soon he stopped at a locked iron door of the city gate. Before I could question he put a lip to my finger and covered my eyes. When he let go we were outside on a beautiful sandy white beach.

         "H-how did we?" I looked at him but he just smiled as he pulled me along. I had never seen the ocean outside of pictures and through a screen. I threw off my shoes and rolled up my pant legs as I stepped into the soft warm sand. I always dreamt how it would be and reality didn't disappoint. The air was sweet and cool along the shoreline, it made my heart tingle as the water splashed into my bare feet. In such a short time I had experienced more life than I ever had trapped in my married life. I looked at Davion, his face so serene as he watched the seeing sun. The sweet taste of freedom made it harder to accept Davion's feelings but the look in his eyes reminded me of our first encounter, perhaps he was lonely and he wouldn't treat me like an object but as an equal. I dare not ask him, my heart was still wounded and my freedom too new.

         We sat in the sand in silence for a while. My heart in constant struggle until he broke the silence. "Beautiful isn't it?"

       No matter my confusion he made me feel calm, I smiled as I took it in clear minded. "Yes, it is"

           We stayed silently admiring the scenery as the ocean waters reelected the silvery sparkles of the night sky. Again Davion was the first to speak, his voice calm yet vulnerable. "I don't know what you know about the Shadow Moon pack, I know there are a lot of rumors."

       I peeked at him out of my peripheral vision. "It'd be a lie of I said I wasn't curious."

              He chuckled. "We are like any other pack really. My father, the former alpha, was strong and kept to himself. My mother... She was a free spirit." He talked so tenderly and affectionately, I felt my heart ache as I thought of my own parents.

         "W-what was it like? Your childhood?"

              "Full of adventure." He looked out with a smile as he recalled his youth. I don't know what changed in his life to give him such a dangerous side but this side of him was lovely.

         We stayed out all night talking, sharing stories of our childhood and I could feel myself connecting with him. The Shadow Moon were nomadic like the moonstone though they were more like soldiers defending territories, despite their duty as protectors Davion experienced a full childhood with lots of beautiful memories. I felt so happy hearing his life and sharing mine with shared enthusiasm. As we the night he deeper we laid out in the sand, lost in each other's memories.

         As I shut my eyes a memory came to mind. An old faded memory. I was young. No more than five years old and as I found myself lost in the woods a black wolf with Jasper eyes sat with me, keeping me company until my mother found me. That wolf was fuzzy but so familiar. I tried to think but the memory faded and others of my childhood played. I walked through them once again finding myself lost in joyous nostalgia until I saw a memory from just before I met Victor, again I saw that same hazy black wolf. Who were they? Why were they so familiar? The more I tried to think the more my memories began to clutter my mind and my head began to ache. They faded away when I saw my first memory of Davion. A mighty black wolf with Jasper eyes though this time he was clear as day.

        The wolf I had long forgotten. The hazy memory of an old friend. It was Davion.