Chapter 362 – Farewell
Cora
“What?” I ask, laughing a little, thinking that he’s kidding. “What are you talking about?”
“Go see your mom,” Roger continues, giving a little shrug. “Like we did with Ella, in the desert. Honestly, I think it was kind of rude of your mom at that moment to focus all on Ella and pretend that she wasn’t your mom too
“Roger,” I sigh, shaking my head. “You can’t call a goddess rude. We were on a mission and honestly, Ella went there to speak with her mother. I didn’t know – and I wasn’t ready. She’s a goddess you have to assume that she does things on her own time. For her own reasons.”
“I don’t know why you’re being so nice about it,” Roger growls, a little perturbed. “If I were you I’d be mad.”
“Yes, baby,” I murmur, “but you’re always mad.” This earns a little laugh from him, but I continue after a moment. “It’s hard to explain it,” I say quietly. “But when I held the gift – when I gave it to the world…Roger, I felt her love for me then. It was very rich and very real. She doesn’t love Ella more than she loves me. She’s just waiting for me to be ready.”
“Well?” he asks, nudging me with his nose. “Are you ready?”
I laugh a little, again thinking that he’s not serious.
“Really, Cora,” Roger urges, pulling back a little. “I think we should do it. We have all of these questions – about you, about the baby, about her and her plans for you. Why not? When this is all cleaned up when we have a minute to spare, let’s go on a little pilgrimage to one of your mother’s temples, like we did when we went to go find Reina. Let’s go…have a chat.”
I stop laughing when I consider it – consider if I want it.
“Plus,” he adds, tracing a finger over the soft skin between my shoulder and neck. “We can ask what will happen if I give you my mark. Because my damn wolf won’t shut up about it.”
I laugh, pleased. “What does he say?”
“He says, ‘bite her! Now!”” Roger murmurs, frustrated, and I laugh harder now to hear it, considering that it must be difficult having a wolf interrupting your thoughts all the time.
“And he says it at the most frustrating times,” Roger continues. “Like when we’re just having dinner – like I’m going to jump across the table and grab you or something. Or when you’re just walking down the hall and I happen to glance at your ass. Or when you’re asleep –
“When I’m asleep!?” I gasp, laughing. Roger do not bite me in my sleep-
“I won’t,” he growls, shaking his head. “But it’s seriously annoying – he wants you to have it.” And then his voice shifts a little in tone. “I want you to have it, Cora. I want the baby to feel it too.”
“I want it,” I sigh, reaching out to stroke his face. “I do.” And then I nod, decided, as my hand goes to my stomach and I think about the baby and all the things we need to know. “All right,” I whisper. “We’ll do it. When we’re able to get back to a more normal life, when this is all fixed? We’ll go see my mom.”
“Really put the screws to her,” Roger murmurs, and I can feel his smirk. “Ask her what the hell is going on with this mark, and this crazy hybrid baby. And why those priests were following you as well as Ella your whole life.”
“Okay, well, let’s not go that far,” I laugh, shaking my head. “Honestly, Roger only you would have the idea to ‘put the screws’ to a Goddess.”
“Anyone who messes with my mate,” he growls, a little territorial but also a little kidding, “has to go through me.’
“Okay, puppy,” I murmur, patting him on the head and smiling. “Calm down.”
Roger snarls and shakes my hand away. “Call me puppy again,” he warns, shifting his body again so that he looms over me. “And I’ll put the screws to you, little mate.”
“Awwww,” I say, cooing mockingly. ” Lil puppy get mad? Not like his new name?”
Roger growls again, snapping his teeth at me, and then he presses his lips to mine in a fierce kiss, determined to teach me a lesson.
Ella
After Sinclair and I take an hour or two alone with Rafe, we part ways so that he can get himself and his troops ready and I can go back to the medical room to continue healing. I’m on my way there, Rafe’s little carrier in my hands, when I spy Cora in the kitchen making a cup of tea. And suddenly, that’s precisely what I want.
“Hey,” I say, breezing into the room and lifting Rafe’s carrier up onto the counter. “Can you make me a cup as well?”
“Sure, sis,” Cora says, giving me a little smile. And, sensing something, I lean closer to her, sniffing the air around her.
“Ohhhh,” I say, my face breaking into a wide grin. “Someone had a nice afternoon with their mate.”
Cora snaps her head to me, shocked, and then she bursts out laughing before giving me a little push. “Ew, Ella! If you can smell that on me, please do us all the favor of pretending you don’t.”
“Why?” I say, leaning on the counter and rocking Rafe’s carrier a little in an attempt to lull him to sleep – it’s time for him to take a nap, and he’s almost there, I can tell. “I’m glad you and Roger are finding such a good connection. I’m not embarrassed by it.”
“Well,” she sighs, but I can still see a smile on her face, “please remember that your sister is human and not as crass as you wolf folks.”
“You mean more of a prude,” I say, laughing at her but letting it drop. She laughs along with me, shaking her head as she pours boiling water into two mugs. Then she stirs a tea bag into each and turns to me while they steep.
“How are you feeling?” she asks, looking me up and down. “Nervous about tonight?”
“Obviously,” I murmur. And then, my eyes flicking to the side to ensure we’re alone, I take a step closer. “Honestly, Cora, I was thinking about going along
“What?!” she gasps.
“I could do it!” I say, grabbing her hand. “I could just like, sneak into a trunk as they’re pulling away! And you know I would be useful – I could be on hand to heal them as they went! I could save lives – ”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Ella,” Cora scoffs, frowning at me and pulling her hand away. “Sinclair would kill you and even if he didn’t, someone else would! You would ruin it, because there’s no way he’d let you stay – he’d make everyone turn around to drive you home!”
“He would not!” I protest. “He wouldn’t give up the element of surprise! He’d be forced to -”
“Really, Ella?” Cora says, leaning against the counter and raising an eyebrow at me. “That’s your plan? To make your mate choose between your safety and having the element of surprise on your enemy?”
I scowl, realizing that she’s right – that all I’d be doing horrible position. putting him in a
Then I sigh, giving up the plan for good. “I just hate feeling helpless,” I say, looking down at the floor and shaking my head. “Especially as we know now that I can be such a big help.”
“I get it, Ellie,” Cora says, taking a step towards me to wrap me in a hug. “I really do. That’s why I wanted to go last time – for the same reasons.”
We both look at each other for a long moment then, and I’m so selfishly pleased, suddenly, that my sister and Roger found each other. Because now we each have someone who truly understands the other.
Because certainly no one else in the world right now knows the pain of sending your mate off on what could realistically be a mission with a death sentence.
But what’s the alternative?
In so many ways, I feel continually backed into a corner by this whole process. Like as every day passes I am being forced closer and closer to having to make a choice between the two people I love most.
Who do you choose to survive? The universe seems to be asking me. Your mate or your child?
