Once Scorched Always Safe

Talks of the Past

Tanner sat in the garden the host morning

a little basket- The bench next to her. He Jooks. Thick bück. Kur tonered his tiny heat, has eyes were a dark becsets, son made Raybe happy with how the had grown since the last

had done wonders for Bridgette. No longer being af

They were both in

shaped

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of her father, monstaged to finally be bereit,

inded to be the center

would

can easy gưng, laid back child, serene smiles and deep belly laught protecter abonn. Even when they would sneak out into the wo sack into the mansion before moming tiptor to their rooms before amone noticed that they weIT ENT catch them. She would shake her head as she sent them to their rooms, sending Ravne’s parents a message through the Bridgette

to their fort, he

the three

plant.

The

that the

So many

things changed in their lives the day that Kara died giving both to Layla, the third stone child, sadly neither of them survived the birth. That day the entire pack mourned the lows of their Luna and her child, their Alpha began his dark descent into madness. It forced Bridgette and Ales fr that day on to grow up faster than they should have had to, though Edmund and Mia did their best to shield them from Wilson’s decline. There were blowbacks to all of them as time went on, devastating actions that still had lasting effects to this dr.

“Your father is still alive? How is that possible” Bridgette asked as she picked Tomas up to soothe

Rayne would have to tell her the entire truth even if it hurt her. “We are not sure how he surved, but his wounds were fatal, restarted his heart but left him with no memories, so he has been wandering since. No name, t

that be

“How on earth did he find you?

“He wandered into my bar one night looking for food and work to pay for the food. He asked for the owner. When I sa the heart. He didn’t know me at all Bridgette, I called him Papa, but he had no idea who I was,” Rayne looked away as she have her father stare at her with no recognition in his eyes.

ke being stabbed embered how it felt to

“That must have been very hard to handle. Sometimes I wish that my father would have come back to his senses before that night he attacked you, been who he was before my mother died.” Bridgette spoke with her voice clogging with emotion.

That made what Rayne would have to tell her even harder. Not only had Wilson killed Mia, but he had abo come to kill Rayne, resulting in his death. She had only told Bridgette that they found him dead near her home, but at the time she felt it wasn’t a good idea to tell her how. Maybe the shouldn‘? tell her now. Even though Wilson had done bad things to all of those around him after Kara died, he was still Bridgette’s father.

“Does he remember anything now? Spending time with you must have broken some memories free

“He has all of his memories back. A friend of mine is a White Witch. She healed his mind hesitated as the locked back at Bridgette.

mine from the night my mother died.” Rayne

“What? There is something there, something you are hesitant to share.”

“That night when I got lost as we were running to the fort, I doubled back thinking you two may have tried to go a different route, I stumbled scene with three wolves. Two were fighting each other while the third locked like it was looking for an opening to join the fight, I recognized all three wolves by scent.” Rayne paused locking away at images of that night flashed in her mind.

Wolves you knew” No other unfamiliar wohes? Who were they, Kayne??

Bryne hestated or more, then hast spit the truth put tree then turned to attack my mother. I screamed for my mom, which caused Wion to turn to me

she looked back to fridgette, “Your fathet

iftacking my father, he threw

hy would they attack my father? Were the trying to take his title Bridgette’s eye took res faded as she figured it out. “He attacked them didn’t he”

a look of

she asked those questicess then the

memories through the spell that bealed his mind, Wilson attacked him bein

mother dent.

only made it worse as he spiraled into

uther Bridgette looked sad at the mention of her mother, but her eyes hardened as she was determined to know what her father had done.

He turned to attack me, but my mother jumped in the way, they fought and he killed her in front of me. He ran away after he killed her. My father ran

him, while I cried over my mother’s body. From my father’s memory he caught up with Wilson a few miles away, they fought and my father lost. on thinking he was dead went back to the war. I remember waking up the next day to him telling me they were dead, but my mind had blocked out

“You witnessed what he did, that explains why he was so hard on you as your nightmares got worse over the years.” Bridgette let out a deep breath, “How had his mind gotten so dark that he would try to kill his best friend for having a mate?”

“He was afraid that one day I would remember and tell what he did. Why he didn’t kill me that night instead of taking me back to the mansion, I don’t know if I will ever want to know.” Rayne stood and paced around the little sitting area.

Bridgette put Tomas back into his basket, rose to walk to Rayne, “Hey, look, he is gone now. Lets leave all he did in the past. He was my father once, he loved Alec and me so much, but he gave up on life when my mother died. He gave up on his children when he let the darkness consume his mind. Am I sad that he is dead? A little, because the child still in me remembers the father he once was.”

Rayne stopped pacing as she turned to look at Bridgette, “I didn’t want to tell you what I remembered. Between Alec’s death and Tomas’s birth, I figured the truth of that night could hurt you.”

“It did, but I know he was lost beyond finding his way back. What brings me peace is knowing that he can no longer harm anyone else in my family. What makes me happy is knowing that one life he thought he took was spared. Knowing that your father is alive sets a part of the past back on the right path.”

“Where was this wise version of you while we were teenagers?”

“Hiding behind a mask of self–indulgence and attention–seeking behavior so I could avoid the reality that was my father. I am sorry for how I treated you, Alec was sorry for the distance he put between all of us, he regretted it more after you left

“We all did what we had to do to survive that house it seems,” Rayne walked back to where Tomas was sleeping in his basket, looking down on him with a smile, “This little man will give you problems with the ladies when he gets older.”

“No doubt at all, Carlos was a bit of a wild one before he met me. I have had to deal with a few of the broken–hearted she–wolves from his past since I have moved here. The first year was very turbulent, I almost left many times, but he always convinced me to stay,” Bridgette walked to Rayne’s side to look down at her son, “I am thrilled that I listened to him.”

“Let’s go inside, find some lunch, then I would like to meet Clara.”

“That is a good idea, I am sure Carlos will be out here before much longer to urge me to rest, which I will do after lunch.”

They made their way back to the house to find Carlos just coming out the door. He was doing just what Bridgette said he would be. Seeing his mate and child made him smile. Rayne had a sudden longing for that kind of life. She had never really thought of children before, never thought she would ever want them. Looking at their little family made her think about what she may want. She brushed those thoughts aside as they went into the house to head to the dining room for lunch, Carlos had it all ready for them saying that he knew Bridgette would be hungry soon.

Parker was on the phone with a frown on his face as she entered the dining room. He saw her and hung up the phone quickly as she walked to him, wrapping his arms around her with a sigh. Rayne looked at him questioningly, but he just shook his head, saying that he would tell her later when they were alone. That made her frown as she figured it had something to do with the bar or the refugee part of their business. She had gotten no emails so whoever it was contacted Parker directly, not that it was unusual for that to happen. He went out into the field on rescue missions occasionally.

Clara joined them for lunch. Her five foot even frame somehow seemed taller as her largely swollen belly was prominent. She was exquisite with her pale blonde hair pulled up in a messy bun on her head. Her cornflower blue eyes were soft and warm as she met Rayne, but still had deep sadness at loss of her mate. Knowing that she was carrying Alec’s child gave Rayne hope that one day he would live on through their son or daughter.

the

Clara had taken the fact that Parker was not a werewolf very well. She was not surprised that he is a shifter, said that she had run into a few while traveling with her parents when she was younger. It was nice to meet someone that was not shocked to know that werewolves were not the only supernatural creatures out there. Parker was curious about where Clara had seen other shifters. She told him where and Rayne knew that he would want to find them. It was something that he had always wanted, to know more of his kind, to be a part of the shifter communities.

Since she had known him they had only run into one other shifter. An old man was on his way to Canada. It was a brief encounter that left Parker wanting to find more of his kind. They had the contacts to find them, but shifters were notoriously nomadic, and been harder to locate than he thought, Owen coming back into his life gave him another sense of family, of a pack, of belonging to something with his kind. They had made a pack of their own of sorts, with each other, with their employees and their friends. Having his brother back filled the circle, making him beyond happy

After lunch Bridgette took Tomas upstairs so she could take a nap, Carlos decided that he didn’t want her to have to wake up if Tomas did so he followed them intending to take to the baby with him to his office. Parker excused himself to go return the phone call he was on earlier, promising to tell her all about it later when they had time to be alone. He gave her a sweet kiss, then left her to get to know Clara. They decided that the front porch would be a pleasant spot to chat, Clara wanting some sun and fresh air.

“Please tell me about how you knew Aler? I know Bridgette told me you all grew up together, that you were the Beta’s daughter, but that was all she said. Alec only mentioned you once, with a sad look in his eyes, but he never went into detail” Clara lowered herself into one of the rocking chairs that flanked the curve of the wrap–around porch.

Rayne sat in the other rocking chair, “We grew up together, but when my parents died in the last pack wars, they moved me into the mansion with them. Alec was like an older brother to me, he was our protector when we were little, our champion when we were older.”

“He told me of how hard it was after his mother died, how dark his father got. Was it hard for you to deal with that and losing your parents?” Clara looked over at Rayne as she spoke that last.

didn’t remember what happened to them until recently, but yes, it was hard. Wilson took a lot of his anger out on me for reasons I am recently learning why. It was dark in that house, full of pain from so many things.”

“I am sorry you lost your parents, is that why you finally left Jade Moon?”

“No, I left because I wanted more than the life that I had lived in that place. I wanted to see other places, meet strangers, see the ocean. I was done being a victim of Wilson’s abuse. I stashed money away for years, so the night of that year’s mate ball I made a plan to leave when everyone would be distracted.”

“That was the night Alec told me about, that Wilson attacked you, leading to his banishment.”

Rayne looked at her with surprise. That would be the one time she was mentioned, the night that gave her the escape she dreamed of. “That was the night I gained my freedom, the night I left all I had ever known and ran.”

“You never looked back?” Clara’s voice was full of surprise.

“Not once in the last five years. I never once thought of that place, then within that last few months everything has come back to remind me of what my life was before. The only thing that I regret was not saying goodbye to Alec, to not being able to see him before he died.” Rayne regretted the look of pain mentioning his death caused Clara.

“He was an amazing man, a very fair Alpha, and would have made a brilliant father,” She rubbed her hand over her belly.

“Do you know what you are having?”

“A boy, I would like to name him after his father,” Clara looked down at her belly as she rubbed her hand over it.

“I think he would have liked that, to have his name live on through his son.” Rayne took a sip of the iced tea that they had brought out with them. “Where will you go when you leave here?”

*Bridgette is insisting that I stay, she and Carlos would like to make me a part of their pack. I think that is a good idea as I have no family to go back to. Carlos told me that there is a small cottage on the property about a mile behind the main house. He will get it ready for me to move in after the baby is born.”

“That is good, then when I come back to visit you will all be in one place,” Rayne put her tea down and stood to walk to the railing, “What happened to the survivors of Jade Moon?”

“From what I was told when I check in last was that some went to other surrounding packs, and a small group went with an Alpha who came from up north somewhere to help. He offered them sanctuary, a chance to restart in a new place far away. I don’t know who he was or where they went, but I thought it was a great idea for those who wanted to take that chance”

“That is amazing for them, I will have to see what I can find on where they are.”

“Is Parker your mate?” Clara asked as she picked up her tea.

Rayne laughed, “No, but I am in love with him,” Rayne sat back down.

“What will you

you do when you meet your mate?”

Talks of the Past

“Thave met him,”

“Wait, you met your mate, but are here with Parker? A shifter? Why are you not with your true mate Rayne?” Clara looked very curious as she asked that question Rayne knew she was bound to get.

“I never wanted a mate. The night Wilson attacked me, I found mine. He didn’t want me either. That night he clarified that I was just a pathetic wolf who allowed herself to be abused. That I was weak and no mate of his would be a weakling. Yes, that hurt hearing him call me weak, but not that he didn’t want me. I never wanted him either, so when he left me to go with his pregnant lover, I picked myself up and left Jade Moon behind.”

“Wow, what an asshole for saying that to you. So, you are still bound, will you break that bond so you can be with Parker? What about when he finds his mate?” Clara looked angry at how Rayne had been treated by her mate.

“I rejected him recently when he by chance came across my home. He didn’t accept my rejection, but I hope that he will come around. We shall see what the future holds, but for now, Parker and I are enjoying the time we have now until the day comes when he finds her.”

“That is a hard thing to deal with, knowing that one day he will leave to be with his mate.”

Rayne didn’t want to think about that day. She loved him with everything that she had, they would enjoy every second that they had together. She would be happy just having him know she loved him, then she would let him go when that time came.

Her heart would break, but she would survive.

They would all survive.