Purity (33 page)

We took Setanta with us, and as we pulled away from Dad and Erin’s home, my boyfriend relaxed. “Your dad gave me another lecture.”

“What was it this time?”

“No engagement rings for at least a decade. Oh, and Robbie needs to be a teenager before he’s an uncle.”

I stared at him for all of three seconds before bursting into laughter. “Oh, poor Dad.”

“It’s not that funny,” Nathan said, scowling. “I’m the one who has to sit there nodding and looking serious while
Erin
makes faces at me.”

“Maybe it was lucky we moved out here, then. Limits the amount of lectures you get.”

“Ah, I don’t mind. I’ll put up with him if it means I get time with you. I’ve learned the more serious I look, the shorter the lectures are.”

Laughing, I thumped his shoulder. “Such a lack of respect for my father. Is Jeremy coming back with Amelia? Last time we spoke, he still wasn’t sure.”

“Yeah, he’s up for it.”

“Try not to knock him out this time.”

“One time. Two years ago. Get over it.” He grinned, but when he next glanced at me, he had sobered. “Byron reached out to that werewolf, you know. Tried to make peace. We’re still working on it.”

I nodded. “That’s great.” The fight with Jeremy had been about their time on the mountains in
Europe
, when Jeremy had tried to attack a werewolf’s human mate. Nathan still felt guilt over that, and I knew he needed forgiveness.

He took my hand and squeezed it briefly. “I can’t wait until you see Ryan’s house. We’ve almost finished it. He’s so excited that his girls have their own place to stay here.”

“Oh, and is Micah allowed to stay, too?”

“Only when the girls are in
Scotland
,” he said, laughing. “Our old meeting place is still available. I thought maybe I should start working on it.”

I made a face. “You want us to live next door to Byron and Ryan? Awkward.”

“I’m just saying it’s still an option for us. It’s the cheapest, and therefore, quickest option.”

“I would never get to college on time.”

“Obviously. But it wouldn’t be ready for ages, and I could live there in the meantime. You could stay with me for the whole weekend instead of at Ruth’s. We could try it out.”

His cheeks flushed red, and I could see how serious he was about it. His family had bought up the houses next to them for cheap over the years, hoping to give some of the werewolves a chance to live a normal life in our neighbourhood. It had taken a while for things to settle down, and there were still problems, but life ran smoothly with them more often than not.

There were a lot more werewolves in the area than before, although most people hadn’t noticed. There was some surprise, and a fair amount of pride, at the fact lots of “foreigners” suddenly found our hometown irresistible. It had brought a bit of life to the place again.

“Stay with you the entire weekend? And have to get up early on a Sunday?” I asked, making Nathan laugh.

“I would totally bring you breakfast in bed,” he said.

“Well, I suppose it couldn’t look worse than any of the other times we’ve been there.”

“What? You always told me it looked great.”

“I’m a terrific liar. Didn’t you know that, Evans?”

“Apparently not, Rivers. But that’s okay. I kind of like you anyway.”

I smiled. “I kind of like you, too.”

***

That evening, the long extended garden behind Nathan’s home and all of the adjoining houses had filled with people. I had practically suffocated Amelia with a hug when I saw her looking tanned and gorgeous as usual. She had been travelling around
Europe
with Jeremy all summer, checking on werewolves, keeping the peace, and trying to learn more about her heritage.

“Well,” I said. “how did you get on this time?”

“Great.” She flashed a grin. “Met a lot of people, including my spirit guide again.”

“The old woman?” I had only heard about her, and I was glad I hadn’t met her if she was some kind of ghost.

“Yep. I sort of slipped off the path again, and she veered me back on track. Gotta hand it to her, she knows the right emotional blackmail for the job.”

“You’ll be great,” I whispered, earning myself a hug.

The power that Amelia had inside her took a lot to control, and she sometimes struggled with the sacrifices she had to make.

“Connor not here yet?” she asked, looking around.

“I thought you were done this time.”

“I’m back for a week or two. Thought it would be nice to reconnect.” She winked at me. “Don’t have to be soul mates for that.”

“I don’t need to know the details,” I said. “Stay with any werewolves this time?”

She proceeded to tell me all about her summer adventures, and I listened, enjoying her enthusiasm.

After the Evans family had gotten rid of Vin, many of the families he had tormented refused to fight back. Lots of them were human, forced into travelling around on the whims of crazy werewolves. Some wanted normal lives, but a surprising amount of them wanted to be near Byron, their new alpha.

Jeremy still kept an eye on wandering werewolves, particularly the loners, but Byron had allowed almost everyone to choose what they wanted to do next. Every now and then, a family would turn up, looking to pledge their loyalty to Byron, sometimes seeking a place to stay. Byron never sent anyone away, and he had gotten into a serious amount of debt to find them all places to live.

But then the werewolves and their families had surprised him by doing their best to pay him back. They sent their children to the local schools, worked, helped him with his new business and with restoring the houses on his street. They wanted to please him so badly, it felt a little awkward to be around them at times. There had been some challenges over the years, but Byron had won them all.

Jeremy wasn’t happy trying to fit in at home, and he had found a mate amongst the reluctant werewolves who kept trying to hide away from Byron. It was difficult for Byron to see his son distance himself, but maybe one day they would work things out.

Jakob had never returned, and a couple of months after he had left, two urns full of ashes had been sent to the house. Jakob and Lia. There was no explanation, nothing that would help his family understand. The only request was that they remain together.

Byron had buried some of the ashes under the flower patch, making sure he planted violets, and he had sent the rest to the wind, free to disperse. There had been no tears, only relief that Jakob’s pain was over and that they finally had a real resting place for Lia.

Joey, Ryan and his girls, and my dad and Erin all arrived before dinner to a lot of hugs and kisses and catching up.

“You look great,” I told Joey. “I haven’t seen you in forever.”

“Not quite that long,” he said, grinning. But he had been busy. He had finally allowed himself to listen to the full truth about Nathan’s family and how they affected my own family. It had influenced his decisions about his future. He was working toward being in a position to properly test what exactly made up the genetics of a werewolf, amongst other things. He had taken more of an interest than even Dad. Between Amelia seeking the answers through magic, and Joey through science, I knew that some day we would unlock the remaining secrets. “Tammie said to say hello and all that. Dawn and Abbi are visiting her right now, so she’s probably suffering through a two-week hangover.”

Tammie had gone to
Australia
on a holiday that had so far lasted almost two years. She and Dawn had slowly become friends again after school. I missed her sometimes, but we all had to spread our wings.

“I saw the last set of photos she uploaded. I hate her. Actually hate her now,” I joked. “I hate Amelia too.” I pulled her over to us. “Tell him where you’ve been this summer.”

I left them to find Nathan, but Rachel and Meg got in my way, the teenage girls looking impossibly tall and slender. “I’m so glad you’re home. Well, you know. Your second home,” I said, laughing as Meg had to bend down to plant a kiss on my cheek.

“It’s great to be back,” Rachel said.

“She just missed Micah,” Meg stage-whispered, making sure everyone could hear us, including Ryan, who choked on his drink.

“Dad’s are the worst,” I said even louder.

Ryan winked at me in reply. He had somehow managed to become an important part of all of our lives, and he had made a special effort to make up for everything he had done in his past. He was always there when we needed someone. The werewolf who had stalked me was long gone. The father in his stead had a special place in my heart.

Later that evening, I finally got a chance to snuggle with Nathan on a swinging seat in the garden, his gift to me on my last birthday. An aging Cú rested at our feet as we watched our friends and families laughing and joking together, completely comfortable around each other. There was no danger in the air, nobody looking over their shoulders.

“Your dad looks so happy,” Nathan whispered, kissing my hair.

“He is. So am I.”

And I was. Happy and
safe
.

###

Thank you for reading the Cursed series – for more information, check out
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