KARIN POV “Up and out with the doctor again, huh?” Maggie asked as she dusted the lamp fixtures in my room. “You two have been spending a lot of time together.” “Mags, spending time with the doctor who is aiding in my healing comes with the territory of getting better. I bet you wouldn’t be giving me such a hard time if it was Doc.” “Because if it was Doc, we would also have updated information on your ability to remain a surrogate.” She placed her hands on her hips. “It seems that Dr. Woods has forgotten that’s part of his job too. Doc took detailed notes so that the new doctor could follow and continue to monitor you before and during pregnancy.” I know Maggie has a point, but it doesn’t mean that I want her to. Spending time with Ethan had helped me in ways I hadn’t thought it would. Ansel was nowhere in sight and though Maggie confirmed he was still working day and night dealing with the casinos, deep down, I knew that our conversation was the true rea
Crashing back onto the bed, I remain silent. I couldn’t understand it. This entire time he knew who I was, and he never said anything, but why? “Explain yourself,” I say. Ethan nods. “I wasn’t lying when I said that my parents weren’t the cuddly or affectionate type or that I grew up with nannies most of my life. There was one particular one who was my favorite. Greta. She was the mother I never had, but always wanted. Even though my family had money, it didn’t stop her from bringing me trinkets and things that she said were important because they came from her heart, and not just her wallet.” “She sounds wonderful.” He smiled warmly. “She was. I think that’s why my mother eventually grew jealous of our relationship. My mother may not have wanted to do all the things that mothers do, but that didn’t mean that anyone else was going to come along and outshine her. Anyway, one day my parents received some tickets for a dance performance from a client. They knew not a
“I can’t believe you,” Ada says to me. “After everything, you still betray our mate.” “I would never do that. Ethan and I are friends.”“Then I suggest you make that very clear to him.” “Uh oh, what did I walk into?” Joy asked as she entered the villa. “You can cut the tension in here with a butter knife.” “Nothing,” I say, adjusting my clothes. “Doctor Ethan was finishing up my appointment.” “Looks like you two were doing more than what is needed to make sure that you’re alright,” Maggie said. I glare at her, but it slowly fades. “You said it yourself, Mags. It’s not like I can pretend that he isn’t handsome and with everything that he told me today, I guess I just got swept up in the moment.” Joy lays across my bed and probs her head up with her elbows. “Oh…what happened? Spill.” “Apparently, Ethan knew me before his first visit. He said that he used to attend my performances from age twelve until five years ago, right before I left Blue Moon.”
The Next Day-Evening “He has my size down to a science,” I say to myself as I strap on the new pointers Ethan purchased for me. Adjusting my tutu, I prepared myself for what I hoped would prove to be a great experience. It was weird being in the manor after all this time, and without Ansel it somehow felt cold. But here I was, and I had to say that Maggie and Joy were right. This was the perfect place to hopefully get my confidence back. I glance over at the piano and then shake my head. “Don’t think about that today, Karin,” I will myself. “You need to focus.” It was easier said than done with that piano reminding me of the time that Ansel and I rehashed old memories. Flexing my feet, I’m relieved that there is no pain, especially since the shoes are brand new. “Karin, are you in here?” Ethan says in the doorway. “Yes. Come on in.” He enters and his mouth immediately drops to the floor. “I take it this wasn’t what you were expecting.” “Not at all, b
KARIN POV “No, no, no!” Ada shouted inside of me. Her fear matched mine. “What have you done?!” “I—” I couldn’t give her an answer that would explain how royally I’d messed up. It may not have been intentional, but the unhinged look in Ansel’s eyes told me it didn’t matter. Warmth flowed through my ankle, and slowly the pain subsided. “Huh?” Looking down, the soft glow of Ethan’s hand made my eyes widen. He glanced up at me. “I’ve been trying to figure out a way to tell you,” he whispers. “You have healing powers.” He nodded. “Yes. It’s one of the many reasons that I became a doctor. I know other wolves that have them as well, but for some reason, mine are the strongest I’ve encountered so far.” I can’t help but stare at him, and he softly smiles. “Please stop staring at me like I’m some kind of circus attraction.” “I’m sorry. You’re right, I’m being rude. I’m a little surprised, that’s all.” “I know. I was only teasing. I get th
ANSEL POV “I think I should get going,” Maggie said from behind Karin, but Ansel hardly heard her. He continued to look from the ring to Karin. Quickly moving past them, Maggie all but sprinted to get out of the line of fire. Karin backed into the villa and Ansel followed her, shutting the door behind him. “I see the good doctor has proposed,” he said.The unhinged look on his face had returned. “Yes, he did,” she said cautiously.“So he proposed knowing that you’re my surrogate?”“Yes.”“Just making sure that I have the story correct before I kill him.”“Ansel, you can’t kill him.”“Yes I can,” he said lethally. “I suggest you learn that rather quickly. I may have remained calm earlier today, but make no mistake, I will slaughter anyone who touches you.”Karin’s bottom lip quivered. “Please, I’m begging you not to kill him. If you just let me fin—”Ansel grabbed her in his arms. “Stop talking,” he demanded. Wrapping his hands in her hair, he craned her head back, making her l
KARIN POV “You look pretty, mommy,” Jemma says as she beams up at me. She tugs at my tutu. “Can I dance, too?” “Of course you can,” I say, returning her smile. She jumps up and down, making the large yellow bow in her hair wiggle. “Yay! I’m going to be a famous ballerina like you!” I find myself elated at the idea of her considering me someone she could look up to. I’m dreaming. I realize, but it doesn’t matter. If anything, I’d been secretly hoping that I would dream of her again. I watch as she runs across the massive ballroom to turn on the music. The sweet melody emitted from the speaker fills the air with music that somehow brings a familiar routine to my mind. Jemma does a twirl and falls on her bottom, causing a fit of giggles. “Oops,” she says, still laughing. “I got dizzy.” I walked over and helped her stand. “That’s alright. Just remember to find a focal point that way when you spin, you won’t get dizzy.” I do a spin that ends
Ansel remained silent, and Aron sighed. “Ansel, again, we jest a lot, but these are the things that are important factors in your sessions. I can only help if I know even the things that make you uncomfortable. I’ve seen you grow so much over the years, and I hope to see that continue.” “You’re right,” he said, sighing. “Yes, to your question. I’m still working through that part at the moment, that’s all.” “Why?” “Because it was unexpected. Honestly, the entire thing was. We got into a bit of an argument and next thing you know we were in bed. I only planned to tease her, but there was something about the way she looked at me that made it impossible to pull away.” “How did she look at you?” “With love,” he replied. “I could see it in her eyes. At first I thought I was imagining it, but the longer she looked at me, the more it seemed to grow. Next thing you know, one incident turned into the entire night.” “…Ansel
#Ansel’s Epilogue: A New Tomorrow Ansel and Karin waited together on the wings of the stage, listening to the cheers and booming voice over the microphone. Edwin had been removed from the election ballot. The next in-line for the throne, a cousin, replaced him. Ansel won in a landslide. Ansel looked at Karin. She was leaning against her crutches. Her raven hair fell down over her shoulders. Her brown eyes were warm and flecked with gold. “Did I ever tell you,” he said, “How proud I am of you?” A blush came over her cheeks. She raised her eyebrow. “What for?” “You llean into your confidence more and more everyday,” he said. “I always knew you were feisty as shit, but until the day of the attack, when I really saw you in action, I didn’t fully recognize just how courageous and strong you are.” Karin looked down at her feet, hiding a smile. “I was always scared of Ada’s power,” she said. She looked back up at Ansel. “I held her back constantly, but I think I’ve finally learned to
“Do not leave,” Ansel whispers. “Got it?” His voice is a command. I shake my head. Ansel opens his mouth to argue when we hear a cry. The hair stands up on the back of my neck and my stomach lurches. It’s Charles. Without another second, he is out of the room. Ada’s pacing, urging me to go. She pushes against me with such a force, I can’t ignore it. Quietly as I can, I slip out the door and begin to slink down the stairs. As I do, I pick up on the scents of multiple Weres. The alarm bells are ringing, but Ada keeps edging me closer. I hear Ansel’s voice as I continue creeping down the stairway. “Go on,” he shouts. “Give me the ‘bad guy’ exposition, Edwin.” As I tiptoe around the corner, I see Charles, lying still on the ground. Where I would have panicked, Ada is an intense calm. Ansel’s eyes dart over, likely picking up my scent. We make eye contact before he whips his eyes back, so as not to give me away. Then, he mindlinks with me. “Go upstairs.” I don’t argue back. Ho
Ansel Ansel’s eyes flew open and chaos ensued. Filled with adrenaline, he sprang up in the bed, grabbing a masked stranger by the neck. “Lorazepam!” Ansel could not place where he was or what was happening. The lights were blinding and painful. Blue gloves, blue masks, and eyes of strangers encroached him, swirled over him and around him. He felt overwhelmed and attacked. Hands pried Ansel’s hand from the neck. A dozen arms held Ansel back from flinging himself off the bed or doing further damage. Ansel felt something cold in his arm and it spread through his body. A voice chuckled. “I think the atro-corticoid worked a little too well.” Ansel’s fight instinct abated. His body relaxed. The glaring light dissipated and his eyes adjusted. He registered for the first time where he was. A hospital room, with whirs and beeps, white tile floor, the sound of footsteps outside in the hall, and the smell of sickness, chemical cleaners, and grief in the air. Ansel was surrounded by a conce
KarinThe dream flickers away, like a candle blown out. For a moment, I’m filled with terror, afraid that I’ve lost Ansel, but I feel his presence even if I can’t see or hear him. Still, the control and the energy I’m trying to hold on to is quickly fading. It’s twilight. I’m standing outside the sanitorium. I fight it, but I feel myself slipping into a nightmare redux.“My son tells me good things about you.” Sir David looks nothing like Ansel. His hair is gray, his body is imposingly muscular, and his face is weathered and scarred from fights, but it’s the menacing look in his eyes and the hardened expression on his face that’s the real difference.For once, Ada and are in complete agreement on something - we don’t like him. Sir David’s eyeing me. I pull my hair around, making sure to hide Ansel’s bite mark on my neck. I nod my head. “He’s very serious about you,” he says. “Did you know?”I hesitate. A swallow chirps nearby. There’s no one in sight and he scares me. Ada jumps i
Karin“Tick tick tick…” The jet of a sprinkler shoots water across the green lawn, painting a rainbow in the shimmer of water droplets against the morning sun. Henry wakes up to the sound of his wife crying against the closed bathroom door. “Mags?” Silence. Apathy. Untouched plates of food.Henry sits on the porch, wearing a faded Hawaiian shirt with a surfboard print. Maggie’s in a chair across from him, almost unrecognizable with greasy, unwashed hair and wrinkled clothes. He’s made her iced tea. “With a dash of mint,” he says, his tone gentle. Maggie stares ahead. There’s a dead look to her eyes.Leaves crunching. Greased palm. Black car. Maggie’s hollow eyes torment him. He misses when her eyes were alive, when they sparkled with joy, and even when they sizzled in anger at whatever dumb things he did. It’s her eyes that flicker in his mind when he’s approached. ‘I can be a rat,’ he thinks. He says “yes,” without asking the obvious: “Why me?” Later, he will ask himself
The sea is outside. We’re in the bedroom of a small cottage. The door’s open and I can see his mom’s old piano is tucked into the corner of the living room. My ballet shoes sit near the bench.He looks beautiful in the dim light.Everything about Ansel is strong - from the tenor of his voice, his height and broad shoulders, to the muscular lines of his body and the chiseled features of his face.It’s all there - the power of him, the hard lines I resented because he had changed, but his defenses are stripped away, revealing the totality of him and the gentle warmth inside.We’re shoulder-to-shoulder. He tilts his head over to me and smiles, and I like the way his eyes crinkle when he does. I let my head fall against his shoulder. He hums in my ear and loops his index finger around mine.“Is that a new song?”“Just a bit of a melody that popped in,” he says, shr
I stay frozen in my spot. The dream version of Ansel sweeps back a flyaway strand of hair from Zara’s face. My stomach knots itself into a pretzel when she leans in to kiss him. His arms are around her. Her hand is in his hair.My Ansel is as awkward as I’ve ever seen him. He’s looking down, and seems to be holding his breath.Dream Ansel puts on the brakes, pulling back.“What’s wrong,” Zara asks. “Did I… do something?”“No.” He looks frustrated and runs his hands through his hair. “Not at all.” He clears his throat. “I think we need to stay focused,” he says, standing, “On the task at hand.”“That was the extent of it, mostly,” Ansel says next to me, wearing a guilty expression. “This was as close as it got to a rebound.”“I don’t have room to talk,” I say, thinking ashamedly about kissing Ethan. “And, we were broken up.”I blush. “We are broken
“Really?” My heart kicks up a notch. “Why… Why do you want to take me on a date?”“Because you wanted me to,” he says. “Remember?”There’s a lump in my throat as we walk down the sidewalk together.We stop at a cafe. He holds the door for me. I pause just inside, marveling, wide-eyed at the very 1970’s Americana-style diner.I’m in a fringed, suede miniskirt and blouse. Ansel seems to appreciate the skirt. He raises his eyebrows and smiles.He’s wearing an orange, short-sleeve shirt and mustard-colored pants with flared legs.“Think I can pull this off?” He looks down at his clothes.I think he could pull off a flour-sack, but I’m not going to tell him that.We sit down at a table. The booth is vinyl green and the table is
“Final boarding call for Pioneer-Blue, flight 105.”Shit.The gate check-in counter is in sight. I dash to it like I’m in an Olympic relay, ticket in hand. With the other hand, I clutch the duffel bag slung over my shoulder to keep it from clobbering me as I run.I weave my way around other passengers, milling about during their layovers or filing to their own gates, and I race past emergency workers trying to revive Ethan. He’s lying on the floor of the airport, muddied and limp.Ahead, and just to my left, a little boy is watching. He looks small and scared. There are grass stains on his jeans. A bike is laying on the ground next to him.“Last call for flight 105.”“I’m here,” I say, shoving the ticket in front of the worker.She radios to the flight crew and sends me down the jetway