Chapter 196: The Way Home
Moana
As the police officer drove us home that night, I felt immense relief wash over me. We made our way out of the dangerous Rogue district and the city began to grow brighter and cleaner as we headed back to the penthouse. The city lights illuminated the inside of the car, and beside me I could see Edrick still cradling the sleeping Ella in his arms.
Seemingly without thinking much about it, Edrick saw me looking and reached his arm out for me. I hesitated for a moment, still feeling bad about the trouble I had caused, but I finally relented and scooched over to nuzzle down into the crook of his arm. How that I had marked him and my wolf had emerged, his scent overwhelmed me; it was so sweet and tantalizing, and filled me with a profuse feeling of peace.
But Edrick’s concerns about my wolf emerging too early weren’t unwarranted. I understood that now that Olivia, Ethan, and now Edrick had confirmed that I was the Golden Wolf. Although I didn’t know much about the story, I did know that people wanted to hunt the Golden Wolf. If I shifted, there was a good chance that people would come after me because of my scent; for all I knew, my scent had already permeated the city and poachers or bounty hunters were looking for me at that very moment.
I also knew that, once someone’s wolf emerged, they could shift fully at any point. There wasn’t much to be done to control it. Most people shifted immediately upon their wolf emerging, but I hadn’t shifted yet for some reason. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was a late bloomer already, or maybe it was because of the serum that Edrick had been giving me. Either way, even though I was still a bit hurt that Edrick secretly slipped the serum into my coffee and didn’t tell me that he found out that I was the Golden Wolf, I was glad that I hadn’t shifted yet. I only hoped that I could somehow manage to not shift until my baby was safely born.
“What will we do if I shift too early?” I whispered to Edrick, too curious to stay quiet any longer.
He was silent for a few moments before speaking. “We’ll take you to the Mother Witch first thing in the morning,” he responded. “She’ll know what to do.”
As Edrick spoke, I felt my heart catch in my throat. He didn’t know that Ethan had killed the Mother Witch.
“Edrick…” I swallowed nervously and rubbed my hand over my protruding belly, hoping that the baby inside of me was still safe and healthy after the whole ordeal. “The Mother Witch is dead. Ethan killed her. He told me so earlier, before you came.”
Edrick froze when I told him that the Mother Witch was dead. In the darkness, illuminated only by the city lights, I could see that his jaw was set hard as though he was clenching his teeth. His eyes flashed with anger, and his grip around my shoulders tightened slightly.
“Fine, then,” he said, his voice almost a growl. “I guess we’ll have to figure it out ourselves.”
I opened my mouth then to tell Edrick that there had to be someone else who could help us, but before I could, Ella suddenly began to wake up. She groaned lightly and yawned, rubbing her eyes. Edrick and I both sat up abruptly and watched her intently. Both of us let out an audible sigh of relief when her blue eyes popped open and she looked around confusedly.
“Daddy? Moana?” she croaked, her voice small from sleepiness. “Where are we?”
Edrick just shook his head and smiled. “Don’t worry about it, Princess,” he said gently. “Just go back to sleep.”
Ella gave both of us a somewhat skeptical look, but she seemed too exhausted to care. Within moments, her eyelids had fluttered shut again and she was fast asleep once more. I was glad to see her sleep so soundly, and hoped that she would sleep like that through the night. Just for that night, I hoped that we could all sleep soundly. But I knew that that likely wouldn’t be the case; my nerves were too frayed from the whole ordeal to be able to sleep.
The remainder of the car ride was silent. Eventually, the police officer pulled up to the curb outside of the penthouse and let us out. Now that my adrenaline had worn off, my body felt stiff from everything that had happened, and I needed to take Edrick’s hand to get out of the back of the cop car. Once we were out, the officer quietly shut the door in order to not wake Ella up and looked at both of us.
“I’m going to stay stationed out here for the rest of the night,” the officer said, keeping his voice low. “If you need anything, here’s my number.” He pulled out a business card and handed it to me, since Edrick’s hands were full while he held Ella.
I didn’t think that there would be any risk of anything else happening that night, but I still felt grateful that the officer promised to stay. If anything went south with my situation as the Golden Wolf, then at least we would have the police close by. But, if I was being honest, I felt plenty safe with Edrick.
“Thank you,” Edrick said with a polite nod. “Thanks for everything you’ve done tonight. I hope the rest of your men and women are okay after that fight.”
The officer nodded. “They’re fine,” he said. “A few bites and scratches here and there, but nothing serious.” He then looked at me, and his eyes subtly flickered down to my belly. “Are you sure you don’t need to go to the hospital? I can take you right now and I’ll make sure that you can skip the waiting time.”
I put my hand over my belly and shook my head. That night, I just wanted to be home.
“I’ll take her to the doctor first thing in the morning,” Edrick said, his voice firm as he looked at me as though he was secretly telling me that there would be no way that I could get out of it. “For now, I think it’s best if we’re all home for the night.”
As Edrick spoke, he looked at me with a calm sternness in his eyes. Something in me made me think that he secretly knew that I had left with Ella earlier that night, but he didn’t seem terribly angry about it — more concerned than anything. I knew that when we got upstairs, we would be having a long discussion about everything.
“Alright,” the officer said. “Well… Like I said, I’ll be here if you need anything. Oh, and miss—” He stopped us just as we were turning to head inside, and gave me a gentle look. “You did well tonight. Your poise, calm demeanor, and stalling for time saved both of your lives tonight.”
I smiled weakly, thanked the officer, and then headed inside with Edrick.
Little did the officer know that I had essentially caused the entire debacle to begin with
