Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 137871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 689(@200wpm)___ 551(@250wpm)___ 460(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 689(@200wpm)___ 551(@250wpm)___ 460(@300wpm)
She peeked over the tattered pages of the book and spied Lilias and Adriel walking the gardens, their distant laughter rolling out like a Harry Styles song, the kind that promised by the first note it would be a banger. Another jolt of happiness followed. She was growing used to those little spikes and learning not to fear them.
Sighing, she let the warm wave of contentment unlock the tension in her back. They looked more like sisters than mother and daughter, but the pride in Lilias’s eyes gave her away. Only a mother’s interest could transcend to awe the way Lilias’s did whenever Adriel had something to say.
Juniper’s hand rubbed over her chest where a bolt of joy stabbed. It was a good love, the pure kind a mother should hold for her child, the kind Juniper’s birth mother had never given her.
Things would be different now. The Schrocks invited them to stay and they were going to be a family. She and Dane would always be a little more outside of that definition than Adriel, but trust would grow with time.
As a guardian, Lazarus’s watch would never truly end, especially where his mate and family were concerned. Juniper felt safe here. She believed him to be more honorable than all the elders of The Order combined, and her gratitude for what he’d done to help rescue Adriel went beyond words.
This new life would take time, especially for Adriel, who had been sheltered by primitive beliefs for centuries. Gender stereotypes suppressed her gifts, and there was so much potential inside of her that was yet to be discovered.
Juniper couldn’t wait to see her explore her innate gifts without the fear of consequences. She wanted Adriel to proudly embrace who she was so they could live, play, laugh together, make love together, and grow.
She smiled, grateful she was hidden like a flower in the shadows of the greenhouse while experiencing such a deluge of soft and squishy emotions. Her vision blurred as she continued to think of the life they could make for themselves in Argos. It seemed almost too good to be true, but it was true.
They were safe and they could finally be happy.
The moon illuminated the sky overhead, shining through the glass ceiling and casting shadows on a variety of exotic plants. They were so removed from modern light pollution, the stars shined twice as bright. They would be at peace here, now that the tides had shifted, but she worried about Dane who still remained restless.
He skulked about the house, so tense he put others on edge. He refused to talk about Grace and what happened with the shadow-wolf. Instead, he renewed his interest in rescuing his sister.
It was an obvious distraction and a vendetta without end, so if his goal was to avoid the Gracie thing forever, he’d found the perfect place to divert his attention. Juniper expected him gone by the end of the week. He was too unsettled to stay in one place for long—no matter how peaceful.
His restless pacing and pensive reflection displayed an undying eagerness to ignore the wreckage of his broken heart. Juniper would respect whatever he chose to do, because had she lost Adriel, she would have been in the same desolate place.
Love could be such a bitch.
Gracie’s claim had come faster than expected, but it was the shadow-wolf that gutted Dane most. All of this time, he’d been told he wasn’t enough because of his tainted bloodlines, but it turned out bloodlines had very little to do with callings. This changed everything, but Dane’s sense of inadequacy remained the same, if not worse.
She truly hoped he found the happiness he deserved. Like her, he’d lost everyone he loved. That was a scary state of mind to live in, one where a person can afford to be reckless because they have nothing left to lose.
Dane was a good man, but there was no guarantee he would stay that way if he dwelled too profoundly in the past. His best chance at finding happiness rested in embracing the future.
The door creaked and Juniper’s gaze jumped to the entrance of the greenhouse where Lilias stood. “You’ve been hiding out here all night.”
“Not hiding. I was giving you two privacy.”
She drifted inside the conservatory with the grace of a goddess. “My daughter has quite a story.” She examined the dark, waxy leaf of a palm and grinned.
Juniper smiled. “This is just the beginning.”
“Since you’ve agreed to stay, I hope to be a part of the happy ending.”
“You will be.”
Lilias’s hand rubbed over her flat stomach as she grinned. “To think, I went from believing I had lost all of my children to discovering I still had a daughter. And then I met you.” Her green eyes flashed in the moonlight, the corners creasing ever so slightly. “I now have two daughters.”