So, while I know you can take Evan on, all by yourself, seek my parents, Angel. While you can handle yourself just fine, Marcus can only do so much before he starts a war between the packs. My parents will prevent that, I promise. I can’t tell you why they will, only that this is the right path to take. If you forge your own way, I understand. Just, please, be careful, bunny. I love you so much it hurts. May the moon guide your way.
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I closed the otherwise blank card while tears clung to my lashes. After a shuddering breath, I picked up the folded paper that fell from the card, sniffling as I did so. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Dakota watching me, and offered the card to him. His eyes widened, and I smiled sadly while shrugging. I saw no reason to not let him read it. If mom was Jaxy’s stepsister, and I’m his niece, then Dakota and I are cousins by marriage. My heart ached once that realization struck, and I stared at the paper for several moments while I tried to comprehend that I had another family member. A soft noise from Dakota let me know he discovered Jax called himself my uncle.
With a rueful smile, I unfolded the paper, my eyes staring at it uncomprehendingly for several moments. “I had one hell of a lawyer,” Jax chuckled in my ear. “So, once you sign some paperwork, this is yours. You’ve got several acres of land, a house big enough for those dear to your heart, and a place to call home. I tried to set it up how I thought you might enjoy, but change whatever. All I cared about was getting a permanent roof over your head. I knew if Peter died, that bastard would seek to snuff Molly’s life as well, so I wanted to be prepared. However, I hoped she would live here with you too. I loved my little sister. She may not have been blood, but she was family.”
The tears filling my eyes while he spoke escaped with a vengeance, pouring down my cheeks like rivers of sorrow. A soft sob preceded ghostly arms wrapping around me while a haunting lullaby filled my ears. I had a home. God, for years I never thought I would have a place to permanently call home, yet here was a piece of paper claiming Jax left his house to me. He wrote a will and hid it somewhere I would discover it, trusting it would be here when I arrived.
After a ghostly kiss on my forehead, Jax’s presence disappeared with a soft laugh that did nothing to stop my flood of tears. Dakota replaced him, hugging me so tight I wondered if he feared I would fall apart without his arms around me. Perhaps he needed this hug as much as I did. After we cried together for several minutes, he read the paper in my hand, scoffed, and cried some more.
Riff found us a few minutes later, still crying while we hugged each other as tight as we could. Concerned, he stepped into the master bedroom, only for his footsteps to falter while he looked around. “If Jax wasn’t already dead, I’d kill him,” Dakota growled or at least tried to. There was so much grief in his voice, and tentative happiness, that his voice sounded thick yet watery.
“What, er, has he done now?” Riff asked hesitantly, his eyebrows shooting up once he saw the mini zoo on the dresser. “Is that?”
“Yes, that’s exactly who you think it is, standing in the middle. Had I come in this room years ago, I would have known to look for Angel. The asshole knew my grief would be too strong, that I wouldn’t manage on my own. Fucking prick. But Angel’s mom was Jax’s stepsister,” Dakota answered, sounding pissed off, albeit his arms tightened around me comfortingly.
“Wait,” Riff gasped. “That makes you guys cousins, doesn’t it? I mean, not by blood, but still. You’re family. Holy shit, Angel, you have more family than Matty! That’s wonderful! Hell, this means Matty is your cousin too!” In his excitement, Riff bounced on the balls of his feet, at least until he yawned and stumbled a step. “Can we celebrate later?”
I smiled at the tired werewolf, nodding before I yawned myself. “We should go to bed,” I told him. We had school in a few hours, and I needed all the rest I could get to face the hotshot who hated me. Plus, if we visited Jax’s parents I’d need my wits, and there was Marcus to deal with too. My head and heart ached at the thought of the emotional mess I had to look forward to. If this was the cost of having a home, I’d gladly pay. Matty could use the stability of a
