Forever in the Past and Forever in the Future

Kas's POV

An hour later, we are standing at the gates to the coven's realm. Henri is there with blacked -out SUVs

to transport us. We don't stop at Lune D'or, but we do stop at a small café in the quaint little human

town where the airport is while we wait for our flight time. | am not very hungry, so | only have a small

plate of cheeses and meats.

At first, Bronx insists | sit on his lap, but he keeps getting pulled away by phone calls, so | sit next to

Delilah. | watch my mate pacing and smoking outside the big window on the sidewalk, which reminds

me that Marco has my phone. | don't expect any calls or messages. Everyone who has the number

knew | was unavailable.

| power up the phone and wait a minute as it connects with wifi. Notifications started to ping...dozens of

them. Soon my phone is flooded with notifications. | open my texts to find that Bronx messaged me

every day. Things to the effect of how much he cares about me and misses me, updates on things

going on with the pack, and even some more private ones describing positions he wants to try when |

get home. | feel the heat as my face blushes reading his ideas.

| look up at him pacing on his phone. I'm so in love with him. He glances over at me and sees the

phone in my hands. | give him a little wave, he turns away as his face turns pink. 2

It's finally time to board the jet. The energy of our group is upbeat but mellow from exhaustion at the

same time. We can't stop talking about seeing our friends and eating pizza. James and Marco are

dying for a beer. Milo can't wait to see Lenora even though it has only been a couple days. He insists

she has important matters to discuss with me, but won't tell me what.

After a couple of hours, Bronx and | start to get sleepy. He leads me to the back part of the plane where

there's a little room with a bed. Exhaustion hits us both hard and we quickly fall asleep.

| wake up to find our bodies tangled together. | lean forward and kiss his stubbly chin. He stirs a little

but doesn't open his eyes.

"Baby, | had such a good dream,” he murmurs. I'm pretty sure he's talking in his sleep.

"Oh? What was it about?" | ask, just in case he is actually awake.

"You said you would-", the rest of the sentence was garbled babble. He starts snoring lightly before |

could ask him to repeat it. | giggle and shake my head.

| lay there a bit longer, but can't fall back asleep.

"Bronx, I'm going to sit with Delilah, okay?" "Mmhmm," He untangles himself from me and rolls over.

| walk out into the main cabin. It's dark outside and the cabin lights are dimmed. Delilah is curled up,

sleeping in James's lap. He has his arms wrapped lovingly around her. He looks like he is about to fall

asleep also. Milo is stretched out across two seats with the hood of his sweatshirt covering his face.

| sit next to Marco who has the reading light on, focused intently on a magazine about cooking. Who

knew?

“Hi Luna. How are you feeling?" He asks, setting the magazine down.

"As well as can be expected, thanks for asking," | point to his magazine, "Do you like to cook, Marco?

It's one of my favorite hobbies, you know."

He looks at me with surprise, "I figured you just made kick-ass sympathy cookies."

| laugh quietly and shake my head no.

"No, | don't cook," he continues, "but | want to learn. I'm going to have a mate someday soon. Clash

keeps telling me so and Momma Sanchez always says “trust your wolf."

"Your mom is right," | smile thinking about the conversations we have had about how close he is to his

family, "You know, maybe | can convince Mrs. Miller to let me teach some cooking lessons in the

packhouse kitchen. If you have any friends who want to join in, let me know.”

"Really, Luna? That would be awesome!" he grins at me.

"Anything for my pack. Especially you and James. Now show me which recipes caught your eye."

We flip through the magazine, pointing out our favorite recipes until the steward comes in and tells us

we will be landing soon. | wake Bronx up and take our seats. Delilah is stretching sleepily as James

buckles her seatbelt for her. Bronx follows suit and

buckles mine for me as well. He must remember how nervous | was the last time we flew, so he takes

my hand in his before | need to ask.

“Almost there, Baby," he soothes as he leans in and kisses my cheek gently. His coffee and dark

chocolate scent calms me as the plane bounces and quickly slows down, just like it's supposed to.

When we finally arrive at the packhouse, what looks to be the entire Blood River pack standing outside

in the snow. Some in wolf form howling with joy, most in human form clapping and cheering.

Reggie, Ashley, and Lenora are standing on the front steps. Lenroa runs up to Milo and gives him a

death grip of a hug. When she finally releases him, she and Ashley give us gentle hugs with tears in

their eyes. 2

"Don't you ever do that to me again, Bronx," Lenora scolds her brother. | swear | see tears starting to

form in her eyes.

“Sorry, Leni. | didn't mean to scare you," he says as he holds her hand. He gives her a peck on the

cheek which seems to be enough for her to forgive him.

Bronx and | climb the steps so he can address the pack.

"Thank you all so much for the warm welcome home. Luna Kas and | are grateful to be back and

mostly in one piece," his deep voice booms.

There's a small chuckle from the crowd, "For the forseeable future, Beta Milo is still in charge while the

Luna and | recover from our injuries and spend some quiet time together.” The people and wolves who

are gathered around all bow to him.

Bronx continues, "We still plan on having the Winter Solstice celebration as usual. Unfortunately, | will

not be able to lead the pack run. | will leave that honor to Beta Milo.” “Again, thank you for the warm

welcome home. We appreciate every one of you," he waves to the cheering crowd.

Milo requests that we all go to Bronx's office including James, Delilah, and Marco. When we are all

gathered, he announces that he is giving both James and Marco a month of paid leave and dismisses

them. The excitement in the room can't be higher.

Once they leave, Lenora clears her throat and stands in front of us, and looks at me solemnly, "Kas, |

have some news."

"What is it, Lenora? Is everything alright?" Bronx hadn't told me it was something serious, just

important. The look on her face says it's something serious.

“I'm going to need you and Ashley's help decorating the room next to Milo and mine," a smile spreads

across her face, "because I'm having a pup! We need a nursery! "

It takes a second to process what she just said in my tired brain. | look at Milo who is beaming ear to

ear then back to Lenora who has a matching smile. | scream and hug Lenora tightly while | jump on my

toes in her arms. She gently pats my back as she laughs. I'm going to be Aunt Kas?! That's going to

take a minute to get used to. Four months ago | didn't even have a sibling. Now | am part of a whole

family.

Us girls talk excitedly about the baby as the guys examine Bronx’s wounds.

"So much for all that ink,” | overhear Reggie say as the guys have their own conversation, "| guess if

the scars aren't too bad, Cason can start over."

| make a mental note. Sounds like it's time to work on that connection so Bronx's skin will heal with

minimal scars.