I decided to hold off on telling Kai what happened until we got home. I needed to think. He wasn’t exactly easy to persuade. Asking for time to think before telling him something bought me about five minutes before he pestered me again. I finally had to snap at him.

“It’s bad, okay! It’s so goddamn bad I can’t bear to tell you! Just give me time to figure it out. I will tell you when we get home,” I screamed at him in the hotel while we packed our things.

He looked at me with an unreadable expression. “Are you in immediate danger?”

I lowered my head. “No.”

“All right.”

I zipped my bag up.

“I’m going to wait in the lobby for you.” I rolled my bag down the hall and was smashing buttons on the elevator when Tara spoke behind me.

“Hey, Aurora?” The elevator opened. She followed me in with a duffle bag over one shoulder.

Of all the people to see. “Hey.” I forced a smile.

“I wanted to ask you about your pack mate, Max. He’s cute. What’s his story?” She smiled shyly. I promised Kai I wouldn’t tell Max I had found his mate. I said nothing about not telling Tara. I might regret this later.

I pulled the stop button on the elevator.

“I’m going to tell you something and you cannot act on it. You cannot repeat it. Do you understand me?”

She swallowed and backed up a little.

“Do you know what my gift is? That I find mates?”

She nodded.

“Max was mated to a woman who died during childbirth about twenty years ago. They lost the baby, too.”

Her hand flew to her mouth. “Oh God, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I mean, I thought he was nice and we had this intense connection, but I won’t pursue him now, don’t worry.”

I placed a hand on hers. “Max is your mate, Tara.” I stared into her eyes.

I could hear her heart pick up in speed. “What? You just said he lost his mate.”

“He did. Werewolves mate for life, I know. But I’m telling you, I have visions of people’s mates and you are Max’s mate now.”

Then I released the stop button and the elevator dropped one floor and dinged open.

“I’m sorry,” I told her and walked to the lobby.

***

The plane flight home was long and I was stuck in my thoughts. Trent had stayed behind to help Diya say goodbye and to tour more of India. They would be flying home in a week. I was excited and nervous to see Emma. I wasn’t sure I could look at her the same now that I knew werewolf pregnancy was so dangerous.

The second the plane landed on the tarmac in Portland, I powered up my phone. It beeped with a bunch of missed calls and texts. I scrolled through. Lexi, my mom, Dr. Tavern. I looked closer. I didn’t even have Dr. Tavern’s number in this phone. This was my personal phone. She must have plugged it in when I wasn’t looking. I opened the text.

-No bun in the oven- it read. I slipped the phone in my backpack. So everything Kai’s father had told me was right.

We had just reached home. I was exhausted and I wanted nothing more than to sleep for a week.

Kai grabbed my arm lightly. “Are you going to tell me about what happened with my father?”

I sighed. “I’m so tired from the flight. Let me sleep and we will talk tomorrow. Okay?”

Kai looked into my eyes. He bent forward and kissed my nose. “Okay.”

Dreams

That night I tossed and turned. I was dreaming and a cold sweat broke out on my skin. This wasn’t like a normal dream. I was half awake and aware of Kai’s breathing next to me. I also knew that I was dreaming but I couldn’t fully wake up. I felt trapped. Suddenly I was standing in my dream in front of my childhood home. The door was open. Chills ran up my spine. Something felt wrong. I did NOT want to go inside. I tried to back up but my traitorous legs began walking in.

“No!” I screamed.

I heard a whimper leave my throat as Kai woke up next to me. I felt like my soul was splitting in two. Part of me was now standing at the foot of the bed staring at my sleeping body. Kai was awake now and looking curiously at my sleeping self. Then, in my dream, I was walking into the house and heading right for the kitchen.

“No, no, no! Wake up!” I told myself. A soft whimper left my throat again.

Kai nudged me this time. “Aurora, wake up. You’re dreaming.”

***

In my dream, I knew what I was going to see, somehow I knew. My father’s body was crumpled on the floor, a pool of blood rapidly growing around him. I looked down at my shaking hands; they were covered in blood. The knife lay at my feet. He wasn’t dead yet. I could hear his sputtering cough. I didn’t want to be here! Why was I here? I tried to close my eyes but they wouldn’t. I was trapped. I began to tear up. I knew what came next and I didn’t want to hear it. His words would haunt me for the rest of my life.

“It should have been you.” My dying drunken father wheezed. “Not my Drake.” Then the blood became too much and the life left his eyes. The refrigerator was open, and my mother’s unconscious body lay on the floor. An open jug of orange juice pooled around her. To this day I can’t eat two things: ketchup and orange juice.

***

“Aurora! Wake up this instant!” Kai’s eyes had gone yellow. Fur was rippling down his arms.

I looked again at my bloody hands and felt a presence at my back. I spun quickly to see the dark witch that was working with Layla. Prudence.