Chapter 456


    Chapter 456


    Lanie


    My mother enfolded me in her embrace, and all I could do was cling to her as I shook with sobs. I


    breathed in her familiar scent. Her warmth. She rocked me as we hugged, and her hand stroked


    down my back, over and over again, exactly the way it used to when I was a little girl who’d woken


    up from a nightmare.


    “Oh, my Lanie. Let me get a good look at you.” She pushed me away only for a second before


    hugging me hard again. “No, not yet, I can’t let you go. Oh, I just can’t let you go.”


    I closed my eyes and let my mother hold me. It had been so long since we’d been together. I’d


    forced myself to barely think about her, my sister, and my dads, much like I’d stopped myself from


    thinking too much about my best friend. It had been easier for my mind to focus on the dangers we


    were navigating. But, oh, now that my mother was here and hugging me, every second of the time


    we’d spent apart mmed into me like a hammer pounding a nail.


    “Mama?”


    At the sound of Ste’s hesitant voice, I turned. I had to wipe away the tears blurring my vision, but I


    used one hand to do that while I held out the other to gather my daughter close. My mother drew in


    a sharp breath.


    “Is this…?” she asked, sounding awed.


    I knew that there’d been some advance word, rumors, about Ste, but since I hadn’t been


    expecting my mom to be here at the mansion, I couldn’t assume anything about what she may or


    may not have heard.


    “Mama. This is my daughter. Ste. This is your grandma, Julia Stanton,” I said to Ste.


    “But she’s…” My mom fanned her face, her eyes wide.


    Ste might be adult-sized, and she might be special with all the talents of ever supernatural that


    had ever existed, but I could never forget that she was also my child. I pulled her in next to me,


    offering my support and warmth. I could feel her muscles trembling the tiniest bit with her


    nervousness.


    N?velDrama.Org exclusive content.


    “Beautiful,” my mother finished and opened her arms for a hug. “Ste. Come here and give me a


    hug.”


    “Hello, I’m here, too,” a voice said in a sour tone.


    I’d been so caught up in greeting my mom that I’d almost totally missed my sister. “Selena!”


    She hugged me hard, but only briefly before stepping back. She eyed me cautiously. Thest time


    I’d seen her, she’d been underage, but now she was over eighteen. Shit, I didn’t even know if she


    had been mated yet. I didn’t know anything about what had gone on while we were away. Had the


    High Council and Elders still been assigning two males to every female wolf in the pack? Or had


    that stopped? Were pack members allowed to choose their own mates?


    So much to find out…so much to consider about the way things had been and how they were going


    to be. Everyone was asking me about making changes. Well, I’d finally started thinking of a few I


    was going to tell the Constantine Alphas to make.


    There was more to learn about my baby sister, now that she’de of age. For instance, had the


    spell our mother asked a witch to cast to dampen her vampiric powers worked on my sister? It had


    failed in me, but that didn’t mean it hadn’t worked for my sister.


    Selena’s eyes zed soft green for a moment. Her wolf was close. I could sense my sister’s


    agitation and hated that the first time we saw each other in so long had to be tainted with any bad


    feelings. But could I me her for being wary of me? Mason and I had snuck out of my childhood


    home without saying goodbye. I’d left my sister behind to take care of our mother, even though I


    knew Orion had been targeting her. She’d told me I had to, but…even so, the look on her face told


    me she wasn’t ready to ept me back with open arms.


    She looked at Ste with a nk expression, very different from the first time they’d met when Ste


    was an infant.


    “I’m your aunt Selena,” she said in a stiff voice. “I’m sure you don’t remember me. You probably


    never even heard of me.”


    “Selena,” our mother said in a shocked tone.


    Ste, my dear little star, stepped forward. “Of course I did. Mama told me so many stories about


    the two of you when you were both little. I don’t remember you from when I was a baby, but of


    course I know who you are.”


    Little white lies. As a Celestial, Ste could certainly call on the memories of anything that had


    happened when she was a baby. She was being kind and gracious.


    Too bad my sister didn’t respond the same way.