In the next chapter we will be back to the present timeline of the story. Thank you for reading and sticking with me thus far. I appreciate you and am grateful for you. Vivi xoxo
---Divina--- Oh, God, my head throbs and I am too hot. Way too hot. Why does it feel like I am pressed against a furnace? I try to move, but a weight is pressing down on my chest and my arms are not wanting to cooperate. What the hell is tickling my nose? I blink my eyes open only to slam them shut as white-hot light pours into my eyes from the window. I groan and turn my head to the side trying to get away from whatever is tickling me and that damned bright light. I feel something shift and move on my chest. It feels like little hands and feet scrambling to a sitting position. “Are you awake?” a little whisper sounds close to my ear causing me to flinch. When I try to speak my voice is hoarse and my throat is dry. “Yes?” I say and it comes out as a question. I blink my eyes and stare into beautiful green eyes, with an angelic freckled face that is framed by flaming red curls. “Ember? What are you doing here and when did you get so big?” I ask. Ember’s eyes grow soft, and she gives
---Warrick--- It has been a week since Divina woke up, but we have barely gotten any time alone. As soon as the word got out that she was awake just about everyone she knows, and loves converged on us. Ember has barely left her side and is afraid that Divina will go back to sleep and not wake up again no matter how many times we assure her that won’t happen. I moved us back into the pack house and we are currently sitting on the porch swing with Divina tucked up under my arm and her head resting on my shoulder. My fingers lightly grazing up and down her arm as I relish in her closeness. She lets out a content sigh and snuggles in closer. Little Ember is nestled in my lap with her feet draped onto Divina. She is always touching her now. Always. (After it was clear that Divina wasn’t going to wake up anytime soon, I drug myself away from her and made the long trip to the Timberwolf Pack and brought Ember home with me. I knew Divina would not want her left there and I have grown to lo
Greg watches as Warrick ushers Aria and Liam inside and I can hear the distant laughter of Ember and Milly as they run across the back yard, playing tag. When the door closes, he focuses his attention on me and studies my face for a long moment before taking my hand and tugging me along. I don’t ask him where we are going, content to just walk silently beside him enjoying the warmth of him. We walk and walk for a good ten minutes before Greg stops suddenly and turns to me. “Tell me what’s bothering you, Angel,” he says and watches me intently. I groan and drop my head into my hands. “Where do I even start!” I wail and then everything tumbles out of me. “I’ve been asleep for three freaking years, Greg! I lost three years of your life, the rest of my family’s life, Bren, Brandon, Gloria, Damien, Ember.” My voice cracks at the end when I say Ember’s name. “Hey, it’s okay. Shhh,” Greg says, and pulls me into his arms and presses my head to his chest. I don’t fight him. I need the comfort o
--Warrick-- “I have a surprise for you,” I tell Divina and she looks up at me, her brow creasing slightly in confusion. “What, surprise?” she asks and looks around the front yard. Her eyes land on Greg standing on the porch by Aria and a huge grin spreads across his face and he waggles his eyebrows. Divina snorts at his antics and looks back at me. “Why is he acting like a goofball?” she asks, warily. Her eyes are wide, and she looks more innocent and beautiful than I have ever seen her. No makeup, the freckles that lightly dust her cheeks and nose on display for me to see, and her hair is starting to come loose from her hastily thrown back hair. I take her natural beauty in and am more determined to show her we could work. Ember and Milly come running around the corner of the house, shrieking in delight as one of the older pups chase them across the lawn. Divina’s face lights up as she watches Ember, and I can see the mother she will someday be, and I am more than ready to start
“Are you kidding me?! I can’t believe you are moving me halfway across the United States in the middle of my senior year!" My mom, or Rima as I call her, just dropped a bomb on me. "Rima! Why are you doing this to me?!" "Honey, just hear me out. I have been offered a wonderful opportunity and I can't pass it up. You know things haven't been easy since your dad passed away." Rima spoke quickly with her green eyes pleading with me. We looked a lot alike accept my eyes were a startling blue, like my father's, and my hair was a light blonde and fell to my waist. My mom's was a darker blonde and fell to her shoulders. Other than that I was my mother's mini me. We were both tall at 5' 8" and our skin was a nice golden tan in the summer. I have always hated it that people think we are sisters, but maybe I will be grateful for that when I am older. Who knows? I hate this. I don't w
Three weeks passed by faster than I could have imagined. I spent as much time as possible with Tia and packed the few things I would be taking with me. Tia and her family came by to see us off and as I hugged my best friend for what might be the last time, I didn't feel anything. I had tucked all my feelings away in a little box in my mind. For now, I wouldn’t feel. I would get through this long ass drive to Northern California and get settled in before I would reopen that box. I couldn’t afford to break down now and wouldn’t allow it in front of my mom. “Facetime me as soon as you get to your new house. I want to see it all!” Tia was putting on a brave face, but I could see the sadness in her eyes. “I love you, friend. Don’t forget me!” I smiled and said, "I will facetime you when we get settled.” ---- I was surprised when mom pulled into a decent hotel that first night. I tho
I looked out the windshield and my jaw dropped. The biggest, most luxurious cabin was sitting right before my eyes. “What is this place?!” I asked in awe. My mom stared at me for a long moment and finally answered me with her lips pressed in a thin line, “Your Grandpa calls it the Pack House.” Huh, that is a weird name for his house. “Is this Grandpa’s house? Why does he call it the Pack House?” “Yes, this is Grandpa’s house, but his close…. Umm business partners and their families live here too.” My mom was speaking slowly and carefully. “Umm, that’s weird. I have never heard of someone living with their business partners. Is that even normal?!” Before mom could answer, a bear of a man stepped out of the cabin and stood on the huge wrap around porch. He looked like a lumber jack with a red and black plaid flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up exposing his muscular forearms.
I soaked in the tub until my water started to get cold and then hurriedly washed my hair and body. I dried off with an oversized turquois towel, and quickly got dressed in a pair of black leggings and an oversized gray hoodie that said, “Not All Who Wander Are Lost.” I loved clothes with inspirational quotes on them! Once I was dressed, I pulled my towel off and hung it up on a hook in the bathroom and quickly French braid to the side so it fell over my shoulder and let some of the shorter strands in the front fall loose. Once my hair was decent, I found some cute gray flats in the walk-in closet and threw those on before heading out to the main part of the house. It was getting close to dinner time and the smell of roasted chicken cooking had my mouth watering. I was just about to step off the last step to the first floor when I heard a group of teenagers coming through the front door. I froze