Chapter 22
Effie Harlow
“You want me to take her with me?” I whispered in awe, holding Misty in my arms. Don’t get me wrong, I was thrilled—especially because she seemed so comfortable around all of my mates, having slept with us for most of the night.
I don’t think it bothered her that there were even more people than she was used to being around, as she graced each of my mates with the privilege of acting as her bed, happily purring away.
I also was more positive than ever that Misty had some type of magic.
It may not have been a type I understood fully, but she would randomly glow blue, and sparkles would puff off her fur and fill the air with a floral scent…
so I was pretty sure there was something to that.
I hoped that meant she would be around for a long time—already she seemed to be much younger than she should have been considering when I’d found her and how long I’d been gone.
“Of course,” Mona said, smiling sadly. “While I would love for you to stay here, I know that’s not what you want, so it’ll make me feel better knowing that you have her with you. She’s been your guardian since you first found her—since you first bonded—and she’s missed you greatly these years.”
“Guardian?” Tore asked, echoing my exact thoughts.
“Yes, like a familiar,” my dad explained thoughtfully.
“I think that’s the easiest example that’s close enough to the truth.
Because Effie has three different true forms, plus others that are a mixture of each, Misty aided Effie in channeling and controlling her ability to shift as a young child, something that can be a complete overload to such a young god, especially considering her parentage. ”
“I think the way you managed without her all this time was by choosing just one form, the one you were most familiar with—you shifted into a wolf far more often than a kitsune back then.”
I nodded in understanding, burying my nose against the top of Misty’s head. What my parents said had explained a lot, because the connection I had with Misty felt like more than just an affection for her.
“With that being said,” Samson continued, “I really hope that you come back sometime, Effie. I would love to teach you more about your magic and everything you’re capable of.”
“And to get to know this version of you,” Mona said softly. “This situation was…complicated. But don’t doubt for a minute that we want to know you and the woman you’ve become. We love you, little moon, and always have.”
My heart warmed. “I would really like that.”
Something must have occurred to Mona then because she snapped and put her finger up. “Actually, that isn’t the only thing I’m sending with you—you have your pendant on you, right?”
Nodding, I pulled it from beneath my shirt where it laid against my chest. Mona stepped forward, gently holding it and examining the lit-up halves before pushing power into it.
Two flashes of energy much like the guardians’ surged into it and disappeared, my eyes widening at the exhilarating energy rush that rolled over my skin.
My mates tensed, and Tore’s hand on my waist tightened as if he wanted to pull me away.
I couldn’t open my mouth to explain that I was perfectly fine, just surprised by the influx of power—
“I’m okay,” I promised them finally as she stepped back, offering a small nod as if she was happy with her work.
“Now you have your own guardians with you—ones assigned to you,” Mona explained. “We absolutely trust you to make the right decision on what justice needs to be enacted, and they will be there to help you accomplish that as well as protect you.”
“She has protection,” Tore rumbled, causing my lips to press up slightly. He was right, I did have plenty of protection, but the trust my parents were putting in me was not only substantial but a bit surprising. It was clear these guardians were capable of nearly anything.
“Of course,” Mona agreed, looking back at me with a little bit of mischief in her gaze at his disgruntled tone.
“When you need to call on them, just use your power to pull on the magic inside your pendant and bring them out, then tell them what you think needs to be corrected—they will handle the rest.” The way Samson said it was so matter-of-fact when I felt like it was anything but.
I just hoped that these guardians truly had the sense of right and wrong my parents said they did so they could help guide my decisions.
I may have known when something was wrong, but that didn’t mean I knew how to fix it, and I really didn’t want to be the sole arbiter of justice.
“I will keep that in mind, thank you,” I said to them with a small smile before saying, “I think we’re going to head out.”
Mona pulled me into a tight hug that surprised me momentarily before I relaxed into the comfortable, simple action.
My father squeezed my shoulder and offered me a smile, the moment with the two of them settling the last piece of the puzzle for me.
The part that hadn’t understood my past. The part that had felt confused on what or who I’d forgotten.
I’d found my home with my mates, but I was happy to know where I’d come from.
After my mates said goodbye to them as well, we took a long, slow walk back down the steps towards the gates, the forest on the other side looking completely cleared of any evidence of the violence and bloodshed caused by Hastain and Caedmon’s father.
Which was good, because I didn’t really want to be reminded of that right now.
“When did Ruby and Aanya leave?” I asked.
I knew they’d been planning to leave early in the morning, so we’d said our goodbyes last night after a whirlwind of good food and celebration—but I was still bummed I hadn’t been able to say goodbye again.
I had a feeling it would be a while before we were all together again, before we all got things sorted in our respective situations.
“Early this morning,” Caedmon said. “I went to go get you some breakfast and ran into them. Ruby mentioned checking your phone once we got back to Earth.”
I nearly laughed at that, a small smile tugging on my lips. I literally had no idea where my phone even was right now.
“Are we ready to go back?” Julian asked, the group of us pausing before stepping through the gate.
“Things are going to be different,” Ryder warned. “I can feel it.”
“But it’s for the good,” Dakota said softly, examining the forest. “I have to believe this is going to be a good thing.”
I’d heard him be serious before, but I could see the hope there. I reached out to squeeze his hand, wondering if he was thinking about his family and pack.
“It will be,” Caedmon said, his eyes darkening. “Anywhere is better if it doesn’t have bastards like my father in it.”
“And now you have your own guardians,” Tore murmured, looking at my pendant. “So what do we handle first, lil bit?”
The answer came to me almost immediately.
“The Whitepaw Pack.”
As we stepped out of the gates, the wind shifted.
It felt as if it was carrying us back down to Earth, welcoming us in a soft embrace.
Upon landing I could immediately feel the difference, the shift that was taking place.
My gaze moved skyward, and my breath caught.
Through the trees, I could see comets streaking across the sky in all different colors.
Somehow I knew those were the guardians, and I had to wonder how that appeared to humans because to me it was magnificent and awe-inspiring.
It was probably a bit scary to those that didn’t understand what was going on though.
“Do you still want to stop at your old house?” I asked Julian, the group of us making our way through the forest preserve, down the familiar path that had taken us here. It felt like forever ago, not merely a day.
“Yeah,” he answered. “There’s some stuff I’d like to grab.”
When we reached the cottage, I tucked my pendant back into my shirt, laying it against my skin, and watched as Tore and Caedmon went inside to help grab whatever Julian wanted to bring with us.
I wanted to help, but I quickly found myself snuggled and trapped between Ryder and Dakota as the first draped a jacket over my shoulders, their conversation turning to our plans to get back to London.
It was something I would normally be excited about, but instead my thoughts kept going back to the Whitepaw Pack.
The state of the pack had bothered me from the start, but now that Hastain was handled, the small nagging concerns I had about it were growing. After all, not everyone in the Whitepaw Pack had been the same level of horrible—some had been stuck like myself, especially the younger children.
Slipping from between my mates, I sat down on a nearby tree stump and stretched my legs out in front of me, my thoughts racing about everything I’d seen and experienced during my time with them.
Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and accepted the memories, ones that showed just how bad the Whitepaw Pack could be.
The abuse I’d suffered. The abuse I’d witnessed.
The dark and mutated version of ‘normal’ that Gerald and Theresa represented.
How children were treated in the pack—how they were left completely to their own devices, going hungry for nights on end…
I realized with despair that I had absolutely no idea how to even begin to fix something like that.
“Effie.”
My eyes snapped open suddenly in surprise, as I found a woman crouched before me, a man standing a couple of steps away as he scanned the area.
Guardians. They looked mostly human, but they were transparent, a light purple and deep blue that seemed to glow silver.
The man offered me a small head nod before looking towards my mates, Ryder and Dakota making their way over without pause.
“You’re the guardians assigned to help me?” I asked the woman.
“Yes,” she confirmed. When she stood, I followed suit, her gaze moving skyward. “And we have seen the injustices that you have suffered and that others have suffered at the hands of the Whitepaw Pack. We have the ability to correct those.”
Biting down on my lip, I considered what she was saying and decided to ask the question that was weighing on my mind.
“If you do that, there may be children left without parents. The pack may not be able to function without the amount of people it currently has. They barely make it day to day, let alone with less resources.”
The man’s expression filled with understanding. “We will ensure that each child finds a home that is right for them. We will also ensure that what is left of the Whitepaw Pack is absorbed into one of the other packs. Many in the city aren’t as hostile towards other species of hybrids.”
“We won’t remove everyone, especially those who have been following orders, but the most dangerous predators will be dealt with and the rest will have the ability to choose a different life,” the woman added.
“Just make sure they know that it can be different. I know they will doubt that—I doubted it at first.”
“Absolutely,” the woman agreed. “It’s our job to do this, and when we are done, we will come back to you.”
Then they were gone, and I felt relief echo through me as I leaned back into Dakota, Ryder’s hand running over my cheek gently.
“I can’t handle knowing how many kids are in the same position I was, living their entire lives without love, and that’s not even including those that may not be there by their own choice. If Hastain could buy me so easily from them, who knows how many are in the same position.”
“That pack is an abomination,” Dakota agreed.
Before I could hear Ryder’s response, magic surged from my pendant into me and my knees broke, my body sagging between them.
I couldn’t tell you what happened around me in that next moment because my mind was being assaulted by images, vibrating my very bones and causing my head to pulse in pain.
Tears streamed down my face from the sudden influx of pain before the realization hit me that I was flying over the Whitepaw Pack, as if viewing it through one of the guardian’s eyes.
That was when the reckoning began. I couldn’t even call it violence because somehow it was more whole than that, more complete.
I felt and heard the fear from Gerald and Theresa as they were brought to their knees alongside many of their friends, disappearing under the intensity of a bright flash of light—most likely being delivered to the divine realm.
I saw the guardians forcing Alpha to give the order to bring all of the children forward, and I realized in horror that there were older children, nearly teenagers, with chains on their wrists being brought up from the basements of some of the apartment buildings.
He tried to explain himself, begging for understanding as the sky cracked in anger, the guardians telling him he would face justice in the divine realm for participating in the illegal trade of shifters.
My throat clogged with emotion as I watched the guardians ask each child if they wanted to return to their parents—if they felt safe with their parents. I didn’t hear all their responses, but many chose not to stay. Many asked for help.
True to their word, the guardians didn’t remove everyone from the pack, just those who had truly been the most dangerous, the ones who didn’t have potential to change.
All of these visions hit me in what felt like a millisecond, allowing me the proof I needed that change would be enacted, but when I opened my eyes, I realized it had been much much longer than that.
I stared up at the ceiling, recognizing it as Ryder’s apartment in the city, more specifically the master bedroom.
My mates surrounded me, some asleep, some drifting in and out.
I could feel through their bonds with me that they were worried, but the bond also assured them that I was okay, that I was just witnessing the guardians’ justice.
They may have even been able to see some of it themselves.
Letting out a small breath, I propped myself on my elbows so I could see all of them, the crackling of the fire making me feel comforted. Safe. That’s what I was now—safe and able to move on from all of this. The guardians would help…they were already helping. So much.
What I hoped more than anything, though? That each of those in the Whitepaw Pack would find their own small piece of happiness like I had—their own snow globe.