One step at a time, we carefully climbed until we got to the top. Parts of the floor had collapsed, but I was still able to get to my room. Hands trembling, I pushed the door open. The sun shone down through the damaged roof, almost showcasing the total destruction. However, on the floor were the remnants of the board game Faith and I were playing the night of the attack. “It’s still here,” I said, picking up the dice.
The floor started to shift, so Ryker stayed by the door. “You’ll see your family again, angel. Once you have Faith back, we can start searching for Colin.”
“True. And at least now he has his memories back.” I took one last look around the room, until something out the window caught my eye.
“You about ready to go? I don’t think this floor is going to hold up much longer.”
Tears filled my eyes. “I just want to see one last thing.” We carefully stepped out of the room and down the stairs. I briefly thought about seeing my parents’ room, but decided I would rather remember it the way it was before. Once out of the house, I hurried to the back where a brick wall separated us from where I needed to be.
“What is this?” Ryker asked.
I rushed over to the stone angel statue and slid open the hidden drawer at the base. Inside was a large, golden key. “Have you ever seen the Secret Garden?” I asked.
He snorted. “Do I look like the type to watch that shit?”
Rolling my eyes, I picked up the key and slid it into the lock. “It’s a good movie. Anyway, it was my mother’s favorite. She always wanted a secret garden, so my father had this built.” The door opened and inside was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. The house might’ve been dead, but the garden wasn’t. There were no weeds, and the flowers were manicured as if my mother had just touched them. “How is this possible? There’s no way it should look like this after all this time.”
A blast of royal energy shot at me from behind as someone spoke. “Unless there was someone around to take care of it.”
Bailey
Gasping, I turned around and took in the sight before me. “Is it really you?”
He laughed. “It is. I’ve been waiting on you to come back.”
Ryker stood protectively at my side. “Who is he?”
Wide eyed, I stared in awe at the man coming toward us. Everything about him was just as I remembered. But now he was tall, just like our father, with platinum blond hair and strong muscles. His smile, however, was just like our mother’s. “It’s Colin. He found us.” I closed the distance and jumped in his arms. “Where the hell have you been?”
He squeezed me tight and let go. “Not too far from here.” Switching his attention to Ryker, he held out his hand. “I’m her brother, Colin Storm. It’s nice to meet you.”
Ryker shook his hand. “Ryker Whitemore.”
“So tell me everything. Where did you go after that attack?” I asked impatiently.
“Zayne and I went to every royal we could find and got them out before it was too late. We stayed hidden until it was all over. The Yukons wanted you and Faith.”
“What about your memories?”
He sighed. “They were gone, but after seeing the attack, I knew I had to do something. Zayne told me what was going on and I put my faith in him. We got our people out and left. We couldn’t fight the Yukons and live, there were just too many of them. When my memories came back, that was when I knew you had returned. I didn’t know about the battle until I arrived two days ago.”
“And you’ve been visiting here to take care of mother’s garden?”
He nodded. “It was the only way I knew to keep the memory of our parents alive. It made me feel close to them. This land is ours. I just didn’t want to come back here until I knew it was safe for our people.”
“How many did you save?”
“There are ten of us, mainly our childhood friends. Z is with them now, making sure they’re safe. We’ve been training them to fight ever since that night. The kids were sent with me and Zayne to escape, while the adults stayed back to fight. Do you remember your friend, Raelyn?”
I gasped. “She’s alive?” Raelyn’s parents were best friends with ours. She used to always come over and play with us.
“She is. She’ll be happy to know you’re safe. I knew you and Sebastian were with the Northern pack, but there was nothing I could do but wait. Do you know where Faith is?”
“She’s been with Micah all these years. He found us in Wyoming. Now that everything’s over, he’s going to bring her to me. Why don’t you join us? Bring your pack to Wyoming.”
He quickly glanced at Ryker and then back to me. “I don’t think two male alphas in one pack will work.”
Laughing, my thoughts drifted to Sebastian and Ryker. There was too much testosterone between those two. “Technically, there would be five alphas, but I’m not asking you to be a part of our pack. There are other alphas around with their own territories. We’re all united. If you bring in more royals, it’ll only make us all stronger.”
“She has a point,” Ryker agreed.
Colin sighed and then nodded. “All right, we’ll come. It might take a few weeks, but we’ll be there. I’m sure Zayne will be happy to see his brothers again.”
“And they’ll be happy to see him.” I hugged him for the third time and didn’t want to let go.
He tried to pull away and laughed when I held on. “Are you going to let me go?”
“I’m afraid if I do, I’ll never see you again.”
Chuckling, he squeezed me again. “Just wait until I start jumping out of trees to scare you. You’ll change your mind about wanting me around then.”
I pushed him away and smacked his arm. “I used to hate it when you’d do that. I’m surprised you didn’t do it today.”
Ryker snorted. “There would’ve been a fight on his hands if he did,” he stated.
Colin nodded. “Exactly. I’d hate to have to hurt your mate,” he said with a wink. Thankfully, Ryker chuckled along with the joke. If it was Sebastian, there would’ve been a brawl.
“Speaking of mates. Do you have one yet?” I asked.
“Nope.”
I winked up at Ryker and then turned back to my brother. “There are a ton of eligible women in our pack. I bet they would love to meet you. They swooned over Sebastian and Micah.”
A sly smile spread across his face. “I’m sold. Are you two heading back home today?”
I nodded. “I just wanted to see our house first. We have a long drive ahead of us.” We walked out of the garden and I locked it up, putting the key back in its hiding spot. “Did you run all this way?” I asked, not seeing another car other than our own.
“Yeah, I keep a change of clothes here for when I work in the garden. If anyone were to pass by, I’d hate for them to see a naked man walking about. We’ve had a few trespassers come by to check the place out. They think it’s haunted.”
“Humans?”
He grinned wide. “It’s been nice scaring them. They usually only come by on Halloween. The others usually come with me on that night.”
“Always the trickster,” I laughed. We stared at each other for a few more minutes but then I knew it was time to say goodbye. “I’ll see you soon.”
Ryker and I got in the truck and slowly pulled out of the overgrown driveway. Colin watched us leave and then shifted into his wolf. For the first time in my life, everything was working out perfectly.
Bailey (Three Weeks Later)
“It looks like you have a lot to celebrate tonight,” Tyla squealed. It was the night of the full moon and I had just found out I got a teaching position at the local high school.