Chapter 51
The Thread That Binds
Phera POV:
The shopping district of the Red Moon Pack was alive with the chatter of its inhabitants, awash in the soft glow of the setting sun. The air held the rustic scent of pine and damp soil, as though the natural world was ever-so-gently reminding us that even in our civilization, we were never far from the wild.
Beside me, Newmara, my older sister, pushed a cart laden with a variety of items, from chic dresses to home essentials. Her eyes skimmed over a display of fragrant bath oils, yet she hesitated to add any to the cart.
“How are you and Adam?” I asked cautiously, trying to navigate the palpable awkwardness that hung between us like a heavy fog.
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She touched her neck where a delicate bonding mark lay-a mai that signified her lifelong commitment to her mate, Adam.
“We’re good, Phera. We’re very good.”
“That’s great to hear,” I replied, although the words tasted bittersweet in my mouth.
My own mate situation was infinitely more complex, and Newmara was all too aware of it. Our history with the triplets had been a point of contention, a rift that had driven me away from the pack and put distance between us as sisters.
“Listen,” Newmara began, her tone tinged with hesitance, “I’ve heard you’ve been spending a lot of time with the triplets. The pack’s buzzing about it.”
I picked up a silk scarf from a nearby stand, my fingers nervously playing with the soft fabric.
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“Well, packs do love their gossip, I murmured.
Newmara sighed, her eyes meeting mine. There was an aching sincerity in them, laced with a guilt I knew she had carried for
years.
“Phera, how are you handling all of this? With them, I mean.”
It was the unspoken question, the shadow that had loomed over our sisterly outing today. I could feel the weight of Newmara’s regret over what happened all those years ago. A regret that I, too, carried, albeit for different reasons.
“I’m not sure,” I finally confessed. “They’re… different. And yet, in many ways, they’re exactly the same as they were back then. They’re compelling, Newmara. It’s not just the mate bond, which is powerful enough on its own. They see me, all of me, and I don’t know how to deal with that.”
Her eyes softened, her lips parting as if to speak, but then she stopped herself. After a pause, she said,
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Compelling can be both good and bad. Just like the past can be both a treasure and a trap. You need to decide what it’s going to be for you.”
Her words sank
into me, pulling up a sea of thoughts and emotions I wasn’t ready to wade through-not yet, at least. Still, I knew she was right.
As we made our way to the checkout counter, the complexities of the past and the present seemed to fold into each other, like interlocking threads in a still-unfinished tapestry. Whatever my choice would be, one thing was certain: it would take more than a single conversation to untangle this intricate weave. But for the first time in years, it felt like Newmara and I were ready to start pulling at the threads, together.
“Thank you,”
I said softly as we walked out into the warm embrace of the evening, our bags swaying in rhythm with our steps.
“This is just the beginning, isn’t it?”
She nodded, her eyes meeting mine in a moment of shared understanding.
“Yes, Phera. It’s just the beginning.”
And so, beneath the ever-changing sky of our shared home, the world around us buzzing with life and potential, we took our first tentative steps toward an uncertain but hopeful future.
ttled into one of the quaint cafes that lined the
district’s main avenue, I felt the weight of our
Ken past hanging in the air. The café was cozy, bathed in e warm, amber light of chandeliers made from wrought iron and crystal. A soft tune played in the background, harmonizing with the distant chatter of other patrons. Yet, despite the
peaceful ambiance, tension strung itself between Newmara and me like an invisible thread.
The moment stretched between Newmara and me as if time itself held its breath, waiting for the pivotal words that could mend or break the fragile bonds that held us. I took another sip of my latte, feeling the warmth spread through me but failing to
thaw the ice that had settled around my emotions.
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“Do you ever think about that day Newmara? The day when everything changed between us? I found myself asking, almost against my better judgment.
Newmara looked up, her eyes meeting mine, and I saw a mixture of pain and regret.
“Every day, Phera. There hasn’t been a day when I haven’t regretted how we let you down.”
“It wasn’t just ‘we,’ Newmara. You had a choice, too. Why didn’t you stand up for me? For us?”
The question had been haunting me for years, always lurking but never voiced. Newmara sighed deeply, her eyes averting from my gaze as she spoke.
“You’re right; I had a choice. And I chose poorly. I let my
judgment be clouded by what I thought was ‘greater good, and I didn consider how much I was hurting my own sister in the
process.”
I leaned back, looking out the window for a moment, watching the life of the Red Moon Pack pass by. Our pack had grown and prospered, mirroring the complex changes within my own family dynamics.
“So, you thought you were saving me by steering me away from them? The pack was a mess, I get it. But don’t you think I had the right to face those challenges with them? They were my mates, Newmara.”
She nodded slowly, her eyes still filled with a heaviness that only years of regret could produce.
