Chapter 522: Nedra’s Hope
"Do you really think it will be okay if we come back with you?" Nedra bit her lip, glancing back at Seth, Zagan, and Graeme who were talking amongst themselves.
August followed her gaze, watching the males speaking. Graeme appeared to no longer have the coiled rage and resentment under the surface of his expression. The fight with Daegel seemed to have instigated a necessary release of whatever dark feelings he was harboring about the past.
What Graeme had gone through when he lost his parents and stood by as the alyko were blamed and apparently killed... that was not easy to get over. August felt like she had taken those blockages from around his heart more than once. But just as with the trauma that she had gone through in the past, these were difficult things that remained like shadows, looming large under the right light. Reappearing under the right circumstances. Haunting in their stubborn reoccurrence.
Perhaps the mate bond did not work in the way she believed it had—in healing one another completely. Perhaps those struggles would continue to reappear for both of them—August’s past abuse and Graeme’s past losses. But there was one thing she was certain of: she would always be there to help him when his shadows reappeared. She would never let him battle that darkness alone, and she was certain he would be there for her in the same way.
August believed that once Graeme saw the sincerity in the hearts of Seth and Nedra—and even Zagan—it would help him to heal as well. There were more perspectives than his own to view the past from. He had suffered, yes. So had Greta. So had his pack. But others had as well.
Zagan had suffered from a blindness and misery that came from centuries of existence when he was not allowed an end to it. He was given no option to die, and that was what he was so desperately seeking. That is what spurred the path he chose.
Nedra was suffering as well—she was a prisoner like the rest of the alyko. She had tried to create the best possible atmosphere for what she saw as unavoidable. Rather than the alyko being kept in darkness and misery, she attempted to give them as much peace as she could.
And Seth’s story was not entirely known, but every stray had a past riddled with difficulty, whether from being birthed in the absence of a pack family or from being abandoned. Seth’s character proved that he was a loyal and deeply caring male. There was no way he had chosen this life on his own. Unfortunate circumstances had led him to where he was.
August sighed deeply. They had all endured difficulty. It was hard to understand why things happened the way that they did—why suffering was necessary. Because it was. It obviously was. And yet... here they were. August and Graeme. Nedra and Seth. Penelope and Zagan.
Despite all that they had gone through that felt unfair and unjust, it felt like the Goddess’ divine plan was here on this island amongst the charred remains of a vampire—as strange as it was. It didn’t all make sense, because they could not know it all. They could not see the grand plan with all of its convergences.
And perhaps there was actually no grand plan at all, because that would suggest that all of this would end—that at some point, they would have completed their story. That they could walk away with a perfect, tidy bow on the top—done at last. Complete. Finished. But that wasn’t the case.
There was a rhythm to life that kept moving, kept creating and flourishing and growing... that kept the promise of more joy amongst the pain, more love amongst suffering, more light amongst darkness. Could there ever truly be an end? Did they want there to be?
"Yes, it will be okay," August smiled to herself.
Nedra’s eyes returned to her. She sounded so sure, which meant it was true. August was Graeme’s mate. She would be able to feel with certainty if Nedra’s family would truly be welcomed in the Hallowell pack.
Perhaps the camaraderie and unspoken connection that lycans felt when they worked together in wolf form, especially in eliminating a threat... perhaps the significance of it just couldn’t be fully understood unless it was felt. And that was one thing that the alyko did not have access to. Because Nedra could not understand how the Alpha could go from hitting her mate like he had been—like Seth was the sole person responsible for the greatest loss he had every experienced—to now slapping him on the back like they were pals.
Then again, she and Penelope and August had all worked together, hadn’t they? They had their own kind of connection and camaraderie that surpassed anything Nedra had ever experienced. They had healed Zagan. They had given a vampire life. Perhaps what lycans experienced when they worked together felt something like that, because if that were the case... well, if that were the case, then it made sense.
Nedra smiled, too. August was right. Somehow this was all going to work out. And that meant that she and Seth could be a family with their children without having to hide from all the lycan packs of the world... without having to stay on the run like strays. They would have a safe place to actually settle and get to know their children and just... be together.
"Really?" She breathed, the question shuddering in her chest like the beginning of a sob—like the beginning of a hope that was afraid to break free.
Was this truly happening? Because this was the future she had hoped for. It was better. It was so much better, because Seth was not only the male that she had longed for and loved and created two beautiful new little people with. He was her mate. She had a mate. And a family. And now a pack.
"Really," August put an arm around her shoulder, and then pulled her in for a full hug when she felt Nedra’s hope finally break free.
