Ava
He stood her up. This little angel, who has been nothing but brave and strong during her short life, has big tears
running down her cheeks. I can understand him taking his frustration out on me, but Aliana doesn’t deserve this.
“Little bean, don’t cry. Daddy said he would make it up to us tomorrow.
But I have a surprise for you.” I know this will get me into trouble, but I don’t care. This is Aliana's special day.
She deserves to be happy, even just for a moment.
Her last birthdays were spent with her and me alone here at home, which was fine with her being small. Now that
she was bigger, she was pushing our boundaries. Boundaries created out of fear. Asking more questions. Her
curiosity often leaving me speechless. Especially when she started questioning me about my parents. Her
grandparents. If she had any and where they were. My past. One I couldn’t remember. Every time I tried, I would
get a migraine.
When I asked Jerry about it, he said that it must be a trauma response, my body's way of forgetting everything bad
that had happened to me before he found me. He said that with time, I would probably regain my memories.
But four years later, I still couldn’t remember anything. I couldn’t even remember where he found me. I just
remember being here with him.
And now, every time I questioned him, he got angry, asking me why I couldn’t just be happy with my life as it was
now. Happy with him. I was trying to be happy with him, and Aliana definitely made me happy, but it felt like
something was missing, and I couldn’t figure out what it was.
“We are going out. Just you and me.” Aliana's tears dry up nearly immediately, her sobs subsiding as an
incredulous look appears on her face.
“To a place with other people?” Her question makes my heart clench with sadness, and a burning sense of guilt
threatens to overwhelm me. It was my fault, as the white wolf, that we were in this situation. That we were hiding.
I try to conceal my feelings, reminding myself that it is her day and my emotions need to take a back seat.
“Yes, with other people. You will finally get to meet Georgia.” Aliana’s face lights up as she bounces on her feet. I
had told her of the tiny she-wolf who owned the café down the road only because Aliana grilled me every time I
came back. Asking me a million questions about where I was, who I was with, and what the place looked like. And
because Georgia was the only person I saw frequently besides Jerry and his bodyguard, the one who looked after
Aliana when we went out together alone, she was the one I spoke of the most.
“Georgia. Mommy and Jerry’s friend, who makes the cake?” I nod, Aliana’s eyes wide as saucers, and her
excitement visible in how she hops on her feet, unable to stand still.
We had not been out together before. Forbidden in case the Black Death finds us. Jerry assured me that if he found
us, he would kill Aliana and then me. But the place I planned to take her to was off the beaten path, and Georgia
knew me. She called me earlier, as if sent by the angels themselves, to ask if I was coming to the cafe today. Jerry
and I stopped there occasionally. But never with Aliana. She never even knew I had a child. No one did.
It would be quick. Just a quick stop to have some tea and cake, and then we could come back here.
“Really. Just you and me?” Aliana squeals and then jumps up and down before running around the house and
grabbing her little pink backpack.
“We will have to walk, but I will carry you on my back so your new shoes don’t get dirty.” I grab my purse and
then throw on some shoes. I had dressed up for the first time in ages for the occasion, the yellow summer
dress screaming for the right occasion to be worn. While I had thought that would be for a restaurant experience,
the local café would have to do.
The walk through the forest is lovely, and Aliana chatters nearly the entire way. Asking me questions about what
the place looks like and what tea they will have. Whether the cake will be chocolate or vanilla.
While that is a distraction, nothing hides the tightening in my chest the further away I get from our little safe haven
and the closer we get to Georgia’s café. I pray this is not a premonition of something terrible. But the feeling isn’t
exactly ominous. It is like a magnet. Like I am being pulled toward something.
Aliana must sense it too, as she becomes quieter the closer we get.
“Did you pay attention to the way here? Will you know how to get back home?” I ask her, pushing a strand of curly
black hair behind her ear when I set her down on the ground. I can see the café across the road and Georgia's
worse-for-wear Ford parked out front.
Big grey eyes peer behind me in the direction we came from.
A unique eye color, considering Jerry’s were brown and mine were green.
But with us being wolves, anything was possible. That’s what Jerry said when I pondered on it.
“Yes. I think I know. Why, Mommy?” She looks worried, and I put my finger between her brow, smoothing the
little wrinkle. I don’t want her to worry about anything. Never, and definitely not on her birthday.
“Nothing. I just want to be sure. I love you, Aliana.” I stroke her cheek and then kiss her brow before straightening
up.
“Let’s go eat cake!” Aliana jumps at this and then giggles as we proceed towards the café. The colorful flowers in
pots out front always make me feel at ease.
That ease, however, disappears as soon as I enter the café.
The scent hits me, making my chest ache.
Gingerbread at Christmas time. My eyes close, and my wolf purrs.
Something about this scent appeals to her as catnip does to a cat.
I want to roll in it. I want to be consumed by it.
Aliana pulls on my dress from behind as I stand frozen at the entrance. I finally open my eyes and lock onto the
source of the scent—a man so massive and stunning, filled with rage, that I lose my breath. He stands at least 6'5",
and his muscles twitch as my gaze swe eps over them. He is all
muscle. Bulky and brutal. And that face. Sharp jaw covered in a bit of stubble and a slightly sharp nose. And lips
that I think could be beautiful if they smiled but that are currently pulled into a hard, thin line.
I know this face. I have stared at it, memorizing every line in the now- worn photo I have tucked under my
mattress. It is a face that equally intrigues and terrifies me. It has been in my dreams every night for four years.
The Black Death. He is here.