Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

brIAR

M y heart flutters in my chest, ridiculously giddy about holding Saint's hand. I held his hand a million times as a kid, but it never made butterflies swarm in my stomach like it does now.

Neither of us are the same as we were when I left. He's no longer a gangly teen, and I'm no longer an outgoing little kid. While I remember Saint now, it feels like I have to get to know him all over again. He probably feels the same about me.

I don't have time to dwell on all the years I missed out with Saint because Emmy stops in front of a light gray Queen Anne Victorian house with scalloped siding and a lime green front door and shutters. The black roof doesn't have a unified roof line. Instead, it zigzags between dormers and turrets, creating a dizzying effect.

I can't help my smile at all the memories I have here. I probably spent just as much time at my aunt and uncle's house as I did at my own.

Emmy takes the front porch steps two at a time. She pushes open the front door and hollers, "We're here!" As she enters, she slips off her shoes, and the rest of us follow suit. We set our bags down with our shoes.

While Emmy leads us deeper into the house, I admire the original random width pine floors. We wind through several rooms, before entering the kitchen. Sage cabinets, Carrara marble counters, and a large butcher block island dominate the space. Cream tin squares cover the ceiling, the intricate floral patterns drawing the eye upward.

I don't get a chance to look at the space for long before my youngest cousin, Kit, comes bounding over. He's two years younger than Emmy and me. You wouldn't guess it by how he towers over both of us now, standing at an inch or two over six feet. Kit has the same curly black hair, pale skin, hazel eyes, and infectious smile I remember. He's dressed simply in dark jeans, a green graphic tee, and brown boots.

When he reaches me, he lifts me into a bear hug and spins me around. I can't help the giggle that slips out of my mouth at his antics. Kit's always been a bit of a goof. I'm glad to see that hasn't changed.

Three growls make Kit stop spinning me around. I'm facing my aunt, uncle, and oldest cousin, Fiona. She's three years older than Emmy and me. I give them all an awkward wave. Molly and James smile and wave back. Fi snorts at my predicament and gives me a cheeky finger wave.

"Put her down, mage," Malachi sharply orders. Kit tightens his hold on me protectively. I sigh at Malachi and tap Kit's shoulder. He sets me down behind him, keeping his body between me and the Wyldharts.

"Who are they, Bri?" Kit asks while staring them down over his shoulder.

"All three of them are my mates. They're not going to hurt me, I promise."

Kit's eyes widen as he looks between me and the Wyldharts. He moves out of the way to stand next to me instead of blocking me.

"We might hurt you if you keep touching her, though." Bastian's easy smile and upbeat tone are at odds with the murder darkening his eyes as he stares Kit down.

I roll my eyes at them. "He's my baby cousin, so chill on the threats."

Bastian's eyebrows rise, and he looks a little sheepish. Malachi and Xander keep glaring at Kit, but at least the growling has stopped.

"I am not a baby. I'm a grown-ass adult," Kit huffs. He's only nineteen, so I'm not sure he's quite an adult yet.

"Christoper Aspen Ward! Language!" Molly scolds.

I grin as Kit mumbles, "Sorry, Mama."

"You're right, Kit. How could I miss that you're the most grown grown-up that's ever grown up-ed?" I tease.

His chest puffs up, and he gives his parents an I told you so look over his shoulder. Turning around, I look at the three people behind me.

"Hey, dork. Long time no see." Fi grins at me, and I give her a wide smile in return. Her wavy black hair tumbles to her waist, and her green eyes—the same shade as Aunt Molly's—dance with mirth. She's a couple inches shorter than me but taller than Emmy. Fi still dresses the same as she always did with her black skinny jeans and matching sweater and boots. Instead of a hug, Fi comes up and ruffles my hair affectionately. I bat her hand away, and she lets out a belly laugh. "I'm glad some things haven't changed. It's good to see you."

"You, too, Fifi."

She makes a gagging sound at the nickname I always called her as a kid. Fi hated it then and apparently hates it now. Her reaction just makes my smile widen.

Aunt Molly walks over to me next. She's dressed in a charcoal long-sleeve dress with black tights and ankle boots. Her red curls are pulled away from her face in a half-up half-down style, and her green eyes glisten with unshed tears. Aunt Molly was like a second mom to me, so it's strange that I'm now a few inches taller than her. She gives me a soft smile before taking my hands in her warm ones. "It's so good to see you again, sweetie."

"Sorry I didn't remember you last time," I whisper.

She laughs quietly, the sound like wind chimes in a gentle breeze. "That's okay, honey. I'm just glad you're back." Aunt Molly pulls me into a hug. I inhale her clean linen scent that reminds me of long summer days spent over here. She reluctantly lets me go, placing a kiss on my cheek before stepping back fully.

I turn to the only person I haven't had a chance to acknowledge, my uncle. It feels like a vice grip is squeezing my airway when I look up at a face so similar to my dad's. He and my dad were only a year apart in age. They both had the same jet-black hair, hazel eyes, tall frames, and deep voices. But Uncle James has a more angular face, no beard, and is a bit less muscular than my dad was.

"Uncle James," I whisper.

He shoves his hands in his charcoal suit pants pockets as he walks over to me. He's wearing a light blue dress shirt and black oxfords. I have to tilt my head back to meet his gaze, but we're much closer in height than we were when I left. "It's been a while, kiddo."

I swallow roughly, trying to clear the lump from my throat. It's almost like seeing my dad again. "Yeah."

"Your wolf mates gonna try to tear my head off if I give you a hug?" he asks in a gruff voice, his mouth curled in a half smile.

I give him a watery chuckle. "Nope, I don't think so." I glance over my shoulder to see the Wyldharts staring at us. Malachi lifts his chin to tell me to go ahead, promising without words not to hurt my uncle. Although, I'm pretty sure James could take at least one of the Wyldharts. He's pretty powerful from what I remember.

Uncle James envelops me in a hug that smells like bergamot and fire. It's so close to my dad's cedar and warm summer day scent that I almost feel like I'm hugging Papa again. He doesn't say anything, just holds me close for a long moment. Eventually, he steps back and scrubs his hand over his eyes, like he was tearing up.

"Are you ready for your birthday lunch, Briar?" Aunt Molly asks as she starts pulling bowls out of their fridge. "You still like lobster rolls with homemade fries? I have everything prepared for that, but I can whip up something else if you prefer."

My birthday was a week ago on December thirteenth. I'm officially twenty-one, a milestone I wasn't sure I'd live to see. The Wyldhart brothers threw me a fancy party with Vale, Abbie, Ava, Rory, and Ronan. We had steak and veggies for dinner, then made s'mores for dessert. The whole night was filled with so much laughter that I was able to forget everything looming over me for a few hours.

"Yeah, I still love anything lobster," I choke out, overwhelmed by her thoughtfulness and memories of my mom having lobster practically every day in the summer.

"Fantastic!" Molly claps her hands in delight. "Go on and sit down in the dining room. It'll only take me a few minutes to set everything out."

"Oh, no. I can help." Aunt Molly gives me a stern look, and I put my hands up in surrender. "Fine, I'll go sit." She flashes me a triumphant smile before she starts ordering around her husband and children.

Shaking my head, I start winding through the rooms of their house until I reach the formal dining room. It has pale blue damask wallpapered walls with white wainscoting on the lower portion, a long wooden table, and a matching sideboard. A stained glass chandelier hangs from the ceiling, illuminating the space along with the bank of windows on one of the walls.

The Wyldharts and Saint follow me into the dining room. I walk to one of the dark wood chairs with cream-colored upholstery and grip the top of the seat back hard. I bow my head and take a deep breath, feeling overwhelmed by the entire morning. So much has happened, and I haven't had even a second to just process it.

A warm body presses up against my back comfortingly. He wraps his arms around my waist, holding me to his front. I inhale his campfire scent, instantly feeling calmer from it. "What can I do?" Malachi whispers into my hair.

I shake my head. "I don't know. It's just… everything's been a lot, I guess?" I somehow manage to hold in a snort at that understatement.

"This morning would be a lot for anyone, baby girl. You're handling it really well," Malachi praises.

"On the outside," I correct. Inside, I feel like a jigsaw puzzle that's been taken apart and carelessly thrown in a bin with other puzzles. I have to sort through the jumbled pieces of thoughts, feelings, and memories to try to assemble some coherent story of my life then and my life now. Only, none of the pieces from before fit with the pieces of who I am now.

Aunt Molly bursts into the room, juggling several dishes in each hand. Bastian rushes over to help her, earning him an approving smile. Kit follows her with napkins, plates, and silverware in his hands. Saint helps him set the table, while I stand awkwardly in front of a chair. It makes me wildly uncomfortable to see everyone bustling around and not be doing anything to help.

"Sit, Briar!" Molly chirps before she leaves the room again.

I waver, trying to figure out if I can stealthily help with something without Aunt Molly noticing. Emmy comes into the room next and gives me a knowing look. "Just sit, Bri. Everything's almost ready, and Mama will be pissed if you try to help with your own birthday lunch."

Sighing, I pull out the chair and collapse into it. Malachi sits to my right. Bastian stands behind the chair next to Malachi, and Xander stands behind the chair to my left. They have a wordless conversation over my head before Xander roughly yanks the chair out from the table and sits in it. He doesn't look at me or acknowledge me, opting to glare at his twin instead.

I get to spend my birthday lunch with my only family left, other than Ava, next to an angsty Xander.

Awesome.

This won't be awkward or anything.

Luckily, we don't have to sit in charged silence for too long. Everyone else files in, each carrying at least one dish. In addition to lobster rolls and fries, there's Caesar salad, coleslaw, corn on the cob, fresh fruit, potato salad, and pickles.

Once they put the food on the table, everyone else sits down. Saint sits across from me, with Emmy opposite Malachi, Kit across from Bastian, and Fi opposite Xander. James sits next to Xander, and Molly sits next to Fi.

Everything looks so good that I don't know where to start. Deciding to try a bit of everything, I pile my plate high with food. I'm just tucking into a delicious lobster roll when Fi asks, "So, how'd you meet your wolf mates?"

I choke on my bite of food at the question. Heat rushes to my face as I try to figure out how to answer that question. My aunt and uncle likely wouldn't approve of them being my professors. Or approve of the probably inappropriate stuff I did with them, like sleep in their bed, before I even knew they were my mates.

When I stop coughing, I squeak, "School."

Fi's eyebrows almost reach her hairline at my response. A slow smile curves her mouth as she realizes there's something I'm not saying. "That's definitely not the whole story, Bri. Ooh, you're as red as a tomato. That means there are some juicy details."

I shake my head at her and stare at my plate. There's no way in hell I'm sharing any of the "juicy details."

While I'm racking my brain to figure out what to say, Xander answers for me. "We're her professors."

Jesus fucking Christ.

Really, dude? Are you kidding me?

You can't just blurt that out!

I turn my head slowly to give Xander a death glare, but he's not even looking at me. He's gazing blankly at his plate, not having touched much of his food.

Everyone, other than the Wyldharts, is staring at me in shock. Molly's and Emmy's mouths are opening and closing in surprise. Kit stares at me with wide eyes. Saint raises an eyebrow as he looks between my other mates and me. I can't see James, which is probably for the best. Out of everyone here, I think he'd be the most upset about it.

"Um, well, that's nice," Aunt Molly stammers, unsure how to respond.

Understandable. It's not every day your niece comes home after fourteen years and announces she plans to bang her teachers.

Now would be an excellent time for a sinkhole to open up just under my chair. Then I could avoid this conversation and not embarrass myself in front of anyone else. If I get lonely in the abyss, I'm sure there are some nice mole people I can befriend. Hopefully they're at least a fraction of how awkward as I am. It's a win-win, really.

Fi grins at me. "Get it, girl! Get. It."

Emmy smiles and waggles her eyebrows. A laugh bubbles up at Emmy and Fi, but I force it down. I glance over at Uncle James to see him wearing a bemused smile. He notices me looking at him and gives me a shrug. "At least you all have an interesting story."

I snort. That is true. I'm not sure how many other people can say they met their professor mates while being a student to all three of them, all while having no idea mates exist because their memories were taken for a still unknown reason.

My shoulders slump in relief when the conversation turns to something other than my mates and me. I happily eat my food as everyone talks, occasionally contributing to the conversation. I enjoy soaking up time with my family after so long away from them. My heart feels a little bruised that Mama and Papa aren't here for this, but I'm trying not to let it drag me down.

Once we finish eating, Aunt Molly hops up. "I'll be right back!" She returns a moment later with a homemade chocolate cake decorated with various shades of blue buttercream flowers in a half wreath. The cake also has "happy birthday" written in Molly's cursive. She sets it down in front of me and wrings her hands anxiously. "It's chocolate cake with a strawberry filling. I took a gamble, hoping you still liked the same sweets. If not, I can make another one."

"It's perfect, Aunt Molly. Thank you." I give her a genuine smile. While I feel a little overwhelmed by how much effort she put into my birthday lunch, I really appreciate it. And I still love chocolate anything, especially when it's paired with strawberry.

It's been a while since I had a parent to care about things like birthdays. My birthday has just been another day for years. Ava would try to make it special when she could, but I haven't had a birthday cake since Mama died. Now, I've had two birthday celebrations in a week with two sets of parental figures. It's a huge change, but a good one for once.

I get the first slice of cake. I groan when I taste the bright strawberry jam and butter cream filling contrasting the rich chocolate of the cake and outer buttercream. It's delicious. Everyone else tucks into the cake. It's a hit, as pretty much all of Aunt Molly's baking has always been.

"Where are you planning to stay while you're in town, Briar?" Molly asks when she finishes her slice of cake. "You can stay here. We have spare rooms for everyone, or I have the key for your house if you'd rather stay there."

I honestly hadn't thought much about where we'd stay. I've just been nervous as hell about my memories and meeting my family again. It's all gone a lot better than I dared to hope.

One thing I do know is that I don't really feel up to staying in my old house. There are too many memories there. I open my mouth to accept her offer to stay here when Saint beats me to it. "They're staying with me. I have plenty of room."

I raise my eyebrows at him. This is the first time I'm hearing about this plan. Saint just smirks, daring me to disagree. Turning to Aunt Molly, I shrug. "I guess we're staying with Saint."

Since everyone's done with lunch, I push my chair back and get up. I grab mine, Xander's, and Malachi's plates. I'm walking around to get Bastian's plate when Aunt Molly says, "Leave it, sweetie. You're the birthday girl, so you don't need to clean up."

"Are you sure? I really don't mind." I stand awkwardly with three plates in my hands, unsure what to do with them.

"I'm sure! Go get settled in at Saint's place. We have cleaning up covered." Aunt Molly walks around the table and takes the plates from my hands. She passes them off to James before wrapping me in a hug. "I love you, Briar Rose. You have Emmaline's number. Text her if you want to come over for dinner, okay?"

"Love you too, Aunt Molly. I can do that. Thank you again for the birthday lunch. Everything was wonderful." I give her another hug before stepping back. I wave at Uncle James and my cousins. Everyone hollers over each other saying goodbye, and I can't help the silly smile plastered on my face as we leave.