Chapter Fifty-Two

“Alsh firmate alite.” The fireball flew from my hands and exploded against the dry wood. It caught, and soon the fire was burning through the wood quickly. I fed more wood, bigger pieces, into the fire, and waited for it to catch. I wanted to be sure that it was going to be burning for a while before I moved on to the next step.

Once I was sure that the fire was good, I flipped back to the page I needed.

I read the entire page twice before I put the book back on the ground. I pulled my mother’s necklace out of my pocket and my father’s skin. I prayed to the Moon Goddess that I was right before I tossed both in.

“Ista nox luva sit nu.” I slowly repeated the words three times, and I watched as the fire flared and turned pink. I hoped that meant I was right before I sat back on my heels. Now I just had to wait.

I fed the fire and watched as the necklace slowly melted away, and nearly gagged from the smell as the small bit of my father went with it. I let the fire go until I saw everything turn to ash, then I let the fire burn away.

I took a deep breath before I did the thing I was most scared of. I took out my phone and called Ronnie. “It’s done. How is he?” I closed my eyes and held my breath, waiting to hear his screams.

“He’s perfectly fine.” I could hear the relief in his voice.

“Are you sure? He isn’t playing you?” I wanted so badly to believe what he said, but I was afraid.

“Yeah. Amy, you did good.” Ronnie’s voice trailed off.

“Pup?” My father’s ragged voice was on the line and I felt like I could cry.

“Dad?” My voice wavered.

“I’m so sorry, pup. I don’t believe you are an imposter. You are one hundred percent mine. And I am so sorry for hurting you. Loki and Ronnie filled me in. Are you okay?”

I lost the fight, and tears fell. “Yeah, Dad. I’m okay.” I let out the breath I was holding. “You scared the shit out of me.”

“I know. But we made it out, thanks to you. And now we have things that need to be handled. Can you meet us in my office?”

“Of course I can.” He said he loved me, and then I was left listening to a dial tone. I wiped my face and gathered the book. I turned around to head back and found my grandmother sitting on the stump, beaming. “You came?”

“Of course I came, pup.” She stood and walked over to my makeshift fire pit.

“I needed your help.” I wanted to be angry.

“No love, you didn’t. If you did, I was here, watching the whole time. But you did it all. You figured it out and performed the spell perfectly. You saved you, Dad.”

“But what if I was wrong?”

She pursed her lips before she sighed. “I would have stepped in if I thought you were wrong, but you needed this.”

“I needed this?” I laughed. “What? I needed to feel like I was about to doom my father to that cell forever?”

“No, my love, you needed to trust in yourself. You have been second guessing everything since you came back to this life. We all do it. But you needed a defining moment, that you knew what was wrong and that you could fix it. This was your defining moment. You saved you, Dad. You worked your magic alone for the first time. A big spell. And you came out of it on the other side.” She walked closer and raised her hands to cup my face. “It’s a hard lesson to learn, but the one you needed most.”

“But why?”

“Because. You needed to trust yourself, your wolves, and your magic to do what you had to, to save someone you loved. It cements all your pieces together.” She leaned up and I felt the shadow of a kiss on my forehead and I closed my eyes. “You are whole, for the first time in both of your lifetimes.”

I opened my eyes to find myself once again alone. But I felt her words resonating in my soul. I felt whole. I felt closer to both of my wolves, and my power was growing. I could do so much more than I could the last life I lived.

I rubbed my stomach where I could still feel the phantom of my pup. “I won’t let anyone hurt you in this life, pup. We will be together again. I promise you that. If the Goddess gifts me with you in this life, I will kill anyone who even thinks about hurting you.” Both my wolves growled their agreement, and I started back to the pack house.