* * *

Sage had sat right beside Luke and held his hand tightly, promising that she'd heal him soon. But realistically, Luke was worried about just how much stress Sage was putting on herself for traveling for Goddess knows how long, so he tried to sneak in a little white lie and claim that he was feeling a lot better than he had in the beginning.

His immortal wound was starting to ease up and become a natural part of his day, but Sage still felt immensely guilty.

Just like she did with everything else.

She had checked in with those outside, explaining that meals were well on the way. But as of right now, they were just thankful that there was a bathroom and shower that was at their disposal, and better yet—The basement was enough for a good dozen to be comfortable and hide away from the harsh weather that New England was bringing them.

"There's plenty of bedrooms in the house. Your Beta and your Beta female can take the guest room, and that Viking fellow can sleep in my office upstairs," Remus offered until his eyes landed on Sage. His heart soared at the idea of sharing a bed with her again.

That he wouldn't suffer anymore lonely nights in the house he fixed for them. And with the look Sage was getting, she smiled brightly, thinking of the same thing.

"I can take any couch down here," Andrew claimed, but Remus quickly shook his head to deny it. "No, Sage's bedroom is upstairs—You're an Alpha now, Andy...Alpha's don't sleep on couches."

Sage's eyes flickered between Remus and Andrew, thankful for the sense of adoration caught between each other, but also smirked upon seeing just how Andy reacted to being called an Alpha—As being identified as an Alpha.

"You brought Sage back, whatever you did before...It's cleared. Forever." Remus continued, and there had been a breathless sigh of relief from Andrew, and perhaps even a hint of a tear starting to form at the idea of being welcomed back home.

Home—A place where he belonged and yearned to return to for so damn long.

Once the living situation had been sorted, Sage's eyes flickered back up towards Luke, and while it was clear that he didn't agree with the choices she made, but he did catch just how she looked between either Alpha.

The same amount of protection was starting to dawn on him, perhaps she was right. Sage worked with what she had at the time. Even if it brought a male who was a little too interested in her

This line of thinking turned out to be much more than he could ever dream of dealing with when he had taken to looking at her like a sister.

To segway this, Sage turned to Luke with her chin propped up onto his shoulder. "So you're a papa now too?" She said, and the male laughed, still surprised that Sage could just tell, that one look at Elenor explained it all.

"Yep, and she's a lil spitfire." He said with a slight nudge to his sister, however, Sage's eyes had gone wide.

Who would've thought that Luke's firstborn would be a girl?

Better yet, that the next generation of Elwood would be a she-wolf?

Elenor quickly excused herself to go and get their daughter, and Leo couldn't help but lean back at the idea of the family becoming complete once again.

While he had been gifted a granddaughter, nothing was more heartwarming and heart-wrenching than having his adoptive daughter return after being pronounced dead.

"How mad is Papa Hayes?" Sage questioned, and that caused either male beside her to shift uncomfortably, even Andrew seemed to be a little worried on that front.

"Depends who's his target. He'll probably start off with Remus all over again, lead it to Andrew—And can't forget Eli." Luke dwelled, which only led to more questions on Sage's behalf. "What did Eli do? Blake looks mad at him."

"Oh he is, little flower, but your father will probably kill me if he isn't the one to explain it. And besides, you just focus on meeting the twins, yeah? All the heavy stuff can wait." It was now Leo who spoke, and sure it aided her to start feeling calmer, the sudden movement of Remus taking hold of her hand and rubbing his thumb into her skin caused her an abrupt feeling of relaxation.

His touch was similar to Andrew's, and it was beyond confusing to both her and her Wolf that she could only sit in a slight bit of discomfort. It had been so long since she had been near him in this capacity. Much less being unmated to him, it felt...Strange.

Though it was lucky that all this inner debate had take over her thoughts away from the looming danger that came with meeting her father again.

The silence dwelled for a moment, only for Andrew to catch Remus' tattoo clearly on the side of his arm. Sage didn't lie about that, and sure enough, it caused him to laugh.

"I thought she was kidding about the matching tattoos." He said with a teasing laugh, and Remus blew into his coffee with pure annoyance. "Yeah? What else did she tell you?"

"That you had a girlfriend before she came," Andy eyed, still amused, "Any chance I'd remember the name?" This caused Remus to flicker his attention off towards Sage, but she seemed relatively impassive.

"It was Kelly Sny—"

"Kelly Snyder?! You're fucking—Oh goddess, have mercy." The annoyed huff wasn't enough to stop Andrew's laughter, though now he was close to tears. "They've been sucking ass since and still managed, are they all dead at least?"

Now, this certainly caused Leo to raise a brow. "Why do you say that, son?"

"They're all traitors; it was Kelly's dad who snitched on me after making me believe he changed for the better. But they're all snakes, every last one of them."

"Kelly and Tina poison me, that's when Remus whipped them," Sage added, and while she hadn't been entirely honest, the small details would've made sense had the name of her mate been spoken out loud.

"Alright, now what you're saying is starting to make sense."

"I do make sense, Andrew. Why didn't you say something in the mountain?" Now, that certainly caught the other male's attention.

"You were in the mountain?" Liam questioned, and Sage nodded. "I wasn't feeling good and then a storm hit, stuck there for a few days."

"She collapsed, is what she's trying to say." This earned Andrew another glare, but he rolled his eyes to deflect it.

"I don't mean to collapse," Sage grumbled, but Leo had wagered in that she needed to take better care of herself, especially after traveling for so long. "Job's not done yet. Everyone needs to go home."

"And those who don't have one? We're near max capacity as is, hun." Sage turned towards Luke with pure disappointment. For the first time since they started speaking, this didn't sound like the brother she remembered.

"Go tell that to them outside. They'll eat you," Sage said, siping her tea. Thankful to have a bit of warm and familiarity despite the changes that she was going to face in the next few days.

"Luna Sage, I can't believe it...Stealing my jokes now?" She grinned off towards Severin, who stood in the doorway, but at the polite voice of Elenor, he held it open.

Sage's eyes landed instantly on the little pup—A small gasp had fallen short of her lips as she tried to get up, though that hadn't gotten her far, considering she was boxed in between Luke and Leo. But that didn't stop Ellie from passing the pup to her Luna.

"You look familiar..." Andrew caught, "What was your family name before—?"

"Mystic. Sage is my cousin." Elenor cleared up for Andrew, and the male grumbled a quick 'I'm fucked' into his coffee.

"What's her name?" Sage asked, her eyes not daring to move from the pup. Yet Elenor squealed and pointed off towards the blanket, and it was hardly a moment before Luke combed through his daughter's hair, "Lavender Elwood—Or Lavender Sage Elwood, I should say."

The quick sniffle on Sage's end was hardly unexpected, not when she missed the birth of another pack member. Much less her brother's pup.

"Julia is pregnant, too, just a few weeks, though," Ellie shared, and that sparked another smile on Sage's face—though through her watery eyes, it was difficult to place her emotions at the moment. They were utterly scattered.

"Did you want to get dressed? That can't be too comfortable." Leo questioned, and Sage shook her head. "It's very comfortable, and it helps fight against Draugr." And the attention on Leo caused him to smile.

"I saw those swords of yours, and Liam said you fought against Eli beautifully...You might have to teach a few lessons." The retired Master of Arms had tried redirecting, but Andrew shook his head.

"The Healer in Oak Wood recommended that once we get here, that Sage should be checked over by a Healer...Think a lot of us could use a look over." Andrew offered, then added that Torin was the one who taught them everything they knew about the zombie wolves that were running wild.

With every new mention of what Sage had experienced in her time away, she would look at Remus—Prepared to get yelled at for a third time, but what Andrew had said prior at the window really stuck with him. That she was already being so hard on herself that she didn't need another reason to cave in.

"The tarmac is cleared, Alpha. But the pups saw the lil one and want to see." Blake announced, causing Sage to turn towards Lavender's parents, and they nodded eagerly when Grey mentioned Poppy and Clementine.

"Nothing's more precious than pups playing with pups," Elenor said with a bright smile, part of her knowing that she'd also be looking after the pups. However, another scent popped up on Sage's radar as her eyes shot toward the door.

"Levi?!" She shouted, covering the baby's ear to shield them from her excitement. And the little pup's duel-colored eyes landed on one of his saviors as he squealed.

"Sagey!" He looked different. The time lost had certainly built up his little figure and given him enough to look like a normal pup. To add to the mixture, another pair of pups had fallen in suit.

"Hi! I'm Poppy, this is Clementine! We're sisters!" The young male blinked at either of them and smiled. "You wanna meet my sister?"

Sage's heart began to burst as the pups started to crowd around her, Poppy even going so far as to crawl under the table to get a better look.

This certainly uplifted the room, though there was still a lingering sense of dread about the arrival of the Mystic family.

______

Date: 11/25/24

Time: 12:35

Words: 1807