Forever in the Past and Forever in the Future

Kas’s POV

Marco catches up to me before I get to Katherine's suite.

“Kas, hey, stop,” he orders, tugging on my arm.

“What's up, Marco?” I turn to him and smile. I can already guess what he is going to say.

“What did you do in there, Kas? What happened to Elder Randall?”

I look around him to make sure there isn't anyone down the hall, “Can you keep a secret?”

“Of course, you know you can. Now spill. Whatever it was, everyone could feel it. It felt real dark,” he

gives mea concerned look.

“Marco, I need you to trust me, okay. I haven't been only learning magic from Delilah. When I sleep or

meditate, I'm able to go see my sister Leticia,” I confide, “She has been teaching me the things Delilah

can't.”

“WHAT?!” he says loudly and catches himself. He leans toward me, whispering with wide eyes, “Are

you fucking crazy, Kas? She’s dangerous.”

“She’s not dangerous to me, Marco... well, mostly... I'll explain tomorrow on our way to Paris,” I

reassure him witha loud whisper, “Until then, I just need you to trust me. What happened with Randall,

that was a one-time thing. I needed to test out my ability. Now that I know how strong it is, I don’t need

to use it again. I won't lie, it felt good, and that kinda scares me.”

I watch as Marco rubs his hand over his mouth and paces in front of me, “Kas?” “Marco?”

“I don’t care how bad shit gets, don't you ever, ever pull the shit you did to Randall in there to anyone

ever again,” he points in the ballroom’'s direction. His tone is full of warning.

“I don't know if I can promise that, Marco,” I try not to let my voice get too loud, “When you hear what I

have to say on the plane, I hope you will understand.”

“Fine, but don’t think I won’t throw you over my shoulder and let your mate deal with you if you piss me

off, Mason,” he warns, but in a more playful tone. We usually only call each other by our last names

when we are doing some sort of training activity. He and James said when we are training, they can’t

think of me as their Luna or as a friend. When they train with anyone else, they call them by their last

names, so we do the same. '

“Don’t think I won't tickle the Hell out of you if you throw me over your shoulder. I know your weak spots

and don't think I won't tell your mate what they are, Sanchez,” I smirk at him.

He raises his finger at me and inhales like he is going to say something else, but thinks better of it and

puts his hand down.

We come to a silent truce and continue on to Katherine's suite. As we approach, several omegas are

coming out with bellman’s carts full of suitcases and duffel bags. They bow slightly to me as they take

the carts toward the garage. “Katherine, are you still here?” I call into the room.

“Oh Kas, I’m so glad you could stop by! Lenora should be here any minute. She agreed to let me say

goodbye to Codi. I also wanted to give you both some information that will hopefully be useful. Amari is

joining us as well,” she smiles with her practiced expression. “Useful? Alright, I am all for useful

information,” I'm interrupted by Codi’s happy clapping.

“KAT! KAAAT!” she squeals, reaching for Katherine from Lenora’s arms. Lenora reluctantly hands Codi

to Katherine. The effect is instantaneous. Codi snuggles into Katherine’s chest and Katherine looks

more relaxed than she has her entire stay at Blood River. Amari comes in the room and coos at the

sight.

“Why don’t we sit?” Katherine offers, motioning to the kitchenette table, “ Amari and I have some

information for you.”

We all sit down while Amari pulls outa tablet and lays it flat on the table. She flips through pages of a

digital book, “It doesn't happen often, that we meet our mates before we are both reincarnated and are

of age, but it has happened.” She pulls up an image of a page from an ancient book and shows it to us.

“Amari, I don’t know what language that is, but it doesn’t look like one I have ever seen,” Lenora says

dryly, “I’m not sure how this is supposed to help.”

“Oh, my apologies. What this says is that while, yes, Codi recognizes Katherine now, once Katherine

passes on, Codi won't remember her anymore. She won't want to be with her until they find each other

in Katherine’s next life and they are both of age,” Amari explains.

“We know several things from experience,” Katherine adds, “None of the Manae remember their

previous lives until our wolf wake up. Once our wolf wakes up, the memories trickle in over the course

of a couple of years. The same is usually the case for our Guardian mates.” '

Lenora’s brows knit as she speaks, “So when you die, Codi won't remember you until you are reborn

and you find each other as legally aged mates?”

“Correct,” Amari confirms.

“If Codi doesn’t have memories of her previous lives yet, how does she recognize Katherine? She was

asking for her before Katherine was even here,” Lask.

“We're not sure. Instinct?” Amari shrugs, “We're still trying to figure out how a Guardian was born into a

family that already has a Guardian, not to mention the uncanny resemblance of Lenora and Tessa.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, when is Codi’s birthday?” Katherine asks. She is rocking Codi and

rubbing her back in slow circles, and Codi is perfectly content to let her continue.

“Well, she was born May fourteenth, but she was almost born April twenty- second. Kas healed us and

saved our lives after there was a problem with the umbilical cord,” Lenora looks at me, still grateful for

what she considers a miracle.

“A-April twenty-second?” Katherine turns pale. “Yeah, is that date important?” Lenora asks.

“That's the day Leticia...” she looks at the pup in her arms and holds her a little tighter, “Well, that was

the day we lost Cordell.”

Lenora closes her eyes and rubs her hands over her face the way Bronx does, “Kas, do you think it’s

possible that when you healed us, that somehow allowed Cordell’s spirit to be embedded into Codi?”

“I-I don't know. I mean, that’s the Moon Goddesses decision, right? Amari, do you know when the Moon

Goddess gives a pup its human and wolf spirits?”

“Hmm, we don’t know for sure, but we think it’s usually shortly before a pup is born. So, Lenora could

be correct.

Especially if the healing was complex and generated a lot of energy. Mother may have seen it as an

opportunity to place Cordell's spirit with Codi,” Amari taps her finger over her lips as she thinks.

“Well, fortunately, you're not in the habit of going around, healing pregnant women,” Katherine laughs,

triggering a fit of giggles from Codi, “So I think we're safe from it happening again. Right?”

“Heh heh, about that,” I cringe, “I uh, I actually do it all the time. We currently have three pregnant

women in the pack who I am close friends with. I give them healing energy all the time so they won't be

exhausted. Our Gamma female had a blood disease caused by her baby. I had too, otherwise, she and

her pup would have died.” °

Katherine’s lips turn into a thin line. If she wasn't holding Codi, I think she would swear at me. I look at

the table, feeling my face flush. I'm not sure why I'm suddenly so self-conscious. “I-I didn't know,” I

stammer, feeling all eyes on me.

“It's alright, Kas. We didn't know either,”Amari pats my arm forgivingly.

“Well, now that you know. Stop,” Katherine commands, “We monitor the children until their wolves

wake up.”

I assume it’s her Luna voice. It has powerful energy and booms through the room. Lenora and Amari

both bow their heads and expose their necks to her. But only a small inkling in the back of my mind

feels it. It’s like a mosquito, annoying in your ear but harmless. I don't feel compelled to submit to her,

rather; I want to challenge her. Lex goads me on as] feel her natural sense of defiance surge.

“Katherine, you will absolutely NOT ‘ monitor’ children from Blood River. Our pack members are not

experiments and we will NOT have you interfering with the lives of our pack members,” I stand up,

feeling my temper rise. I reserve my Luna voice and just let my emotions show my intent.

“Kas, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that,” she tries to backtrack.

“How did you mean it, Katherine? You've already admitted to spying on me. Do you plan to do that to

our pups? Because I will do everything in my power to stop it if you do,” I feel my aura glowing and that

damn storm cloud that has been following me grows bigger, the thunder from within gets louder.

Lenora pulls slightly on my hand, “It's alright, Kas. Bronx won't let that happen. Our pack is safe. Come

on, just say goodbye and let’s go. You said you wanted to check on Tessa. Codi and I will go with you.”

“Ladies, we will see you for the charity event in two weeks,” I bow my head respectfully, even though I

have anything but respect for Katherine, and walk out without waiting for them to respond.