Pure Moonlight (closed)

[KieranSoares]

"I've started to," Ruben nodded. "I used to feel it every so often, but it's a lot stronger now." He settled beside her and leaned against her side. "Do you think I'll look like Dad...? And will the tribe like me...?"

 

[heartofcourage]

"I know you'll be just as handsome as your father is and your tribe will love you." Selena said, kissing his brow gently. "You know, it's hard for me to imagine just how different you'll be. You won't be the little boy that held in my arms when you were sick or scared anymore. It's all part of growing up though. It's hard, but we'll all get through it together."

 

[KieranSoares]

"You can still do that anyway," Ruben muttered and crawled into her lap and snuggle tightly against her. "I wouldn't mind..." He had always been attached to her. It'd be tough for him to truly grow up.

 

[heartofcourage]

"I'll hold you as long as you let me, my love." Selena murmured, kissing his forehead as she rocked her son back and forth, thinking about the time that he was so tiny that she feared he wouldn't survive to childhood. "All you have to do is ask."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I love you, Ma..." he muttered, his small voice muffled against her chest as he buried his head just under her neck.

The journey was quiet, but the welcome home was warm from those who were there. Boar had just returned the day before Selena's arrival, his knees ruined and bringing wounded and dead with him. He reported that the sides were evenly matched with Brogan being more skilled and Sarah having more men to throw out on the field. But surely a Ghis could work with such odds...

Ruben's instant goal was to find his Aunt Julia and meet his new cousin. Meanwhile, Selena found a new face. Theo was his name, responsible for the saving of Ciaran and Annie in the Wick prisons. Annie was with him. But the first one to join Selena after all had welcomed her, was her own mother who was overjoyed to see her.

"Selena!" She came hurrying to hug her daughter. Last time Selena had seen her, she'd been frail and deathly ill. Now she had her vibrant life and color back and could stand without trembling, even hurry along with no need for support.

 

[heartofcourage]

Selena was completely shocked to see her mother's transformation. When she had left, she had been expecting to hear of her death any day. Now, this woman seemed as hale and hardy as she had been in her youth. She hugged her tightly, no longer afraid of breaking her dear, sweet mother.

"I'm so happy to see you doing well, Ma." Selena said softly, kissing her mother's cheek before she pulled away and gave her a rare smile.

 

[KieranSoares]

"How've you been, love?" She asked with a softening smile, sitting her eldest daughter down at one of the empty tables in the great hall. Kitty's greatest mark on Selena had been teaching her how to fend and care for herself and those that depended on her. When Kitty had grown weak and Tamblin had never spared a glance for his children except Durban whom he had tried to beat into the shape he wanted, it had been Durban and Selena who practically became mother and father to their younger siblings. When Durban had been exiled, Brogan took his place and destroyed their father in a duel to save his people, but more so, his family from the oppression.

 

[heartofcourage]

"I've been well. Busy with Ruben." Selena said softly, wanting to tell her mother so badly about Kreston.

Reaching across to her mother, she took her hand and squeezed it gently, wondering how her mother would react to the news that her grandson was a wolf.

"Ma, there's something that I need to tell you. I need you to promise that you won't tell anyone else." She murmured softly, knowing that her mother would keep any secret. She had been the only person that knew she was with child until Ruben came into the world.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Y'don't have to say it, love. I know." Kitty patted her hand. "I've known for a while, but I was finally sure of it when Ruben came t' say hello to me and I saw those amber eyes. I know he's a wolf, I'm met enough of them to recognize one, even before he changes." It had always been known that Kitty had come from the highlands in Skye where offshoots of the greatest of the werecreature tribes lived, like the Mav Ro, but she'd never admitted to such comfort and familiarity with the traits of the beast-people.

 

[heartofcourage]

"He's changing." Selena said softly. "His father has been wonderful and has been helping him as much as possible, but...Ma, he's still my baby. It hurts to know that he won't need me as much any longer."

 

[KieranSoares]

"He'll always need you, Selena. That was my biggest fear with you and your brothers and your little sister- that you'd grow up and never need me again. But you all manage to make an old lady still feel needed." She leaned over to kiss Selena's cheek. "He loves you so. He'll always come back. And one day, you'll get to do it again with his own children."

She sat back and gave her daughter another smile. "Now... tell me about this father of his and why I haven't met the wolf yet, and how in the world you managed to land yourself a werewolf."

 

[heartofcourage]

"His name is Kreston." Instantly, Selena smiled, her giddiness something that her mother hadn't seen since she was a little girl. "And he's perfect, Ma. He treats me well and adores Ruben. He's afraid that you won't accept him because he's had bad experiences with humans in the past."

"After I left to escape from Da, I found a wolf in the woods outside my cabin. He had been trapped and I helped him get free. It took me months to nurse him back to health. In the mean time, we...we fell in love."

 

[KieranSoares]

"And in ten years, you haven't convinced him to come here?" Kitty tilted her head slightly. But then she paused. "... he hasn't been around, has he?" She knew from the look it her daughter's eyes. "Why not?"

 

[heartofcourage]

"His tribe is being hunted." Selena said softly, lowering her gaze from her mother's. She didn't want her to see the heartache that she still carried at having to raise Ruben mostly alone.

"But he's back now. That's all that matters." Selena said resolutely, putting an end to that conversation.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Then I expect to see him here next time you visit. Which needs to be soon after this whole mess with Wick is over," Kitty nodded. "Julia needs all the help she can get here... not having Brogan around. She's getting more and more nervous, especially after Boar came back hurt like he is."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Ma, I can't make any promises, but I will ask him to come next time." Selena promised, listening to her mother talk about Julia.

"I have faith that Brogan is out there fighting his hardest for his wife and children. But I want you to promise me that when the time comes, you will take the children and get to safety." Selena murmured, squeezing her mother's hand.

 

[KieranSoares]

"We'll see about that. I'm staying to help as long as possible seeing as the men are off fighting. And if I go, you're going too," she warned softly. "If worse comes to worst, we all leave."

"Hey love," Selena heard the voice of her younger brother as he limped terribly into the room.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Ma..." Selena said in the same warning voice that her mother always had when there was about to be trouble.

She was interrupted by the sound of Boar. She was up in an instant, taking her younger brother's arm to help him into a seat. It pained her to see him so hurt, but she knew that it was going to be a long, hard road for him.

"How is Emma and the twins?" Selena asked him softly, knowing that he always lit up when he spoke about his growing family.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Leon an' Eli're runnin' us ragged since I got back. Jus' this morning they woke up too early an' Emma's just about at 'er energy's end, so we asked a couple friends t'take 'em a while. Emma's asleep an' I thought I'd take th' chance t'come see ya." He settled back into the chair stiffly, but eventually relaxed.

 

[heartofcourage]

"I can help you watch them. Ruben too." Selena offered, sitting beside her brother with a deep sigh . "Perhaps this will be a lesson to you, though. Don''t get your wife with child when you have two energetic toddlers."

Selena grinned at Boar, leaning over to kiss his cheek. She was proud of her little brother. After his deception, he had turned his life around and found joy in his growing family.

 

[KieranSoares]

"No' my fault she can't keep 'er hands off me," Boar grinned as she kissed his cheek.

"Nor can you keep your ruddy paws off her," Kitty scolded him, making him blush ever so slightly. "You two'll end up with a hundred children."

"If it's with Emma, it's worth it t'never sleep again, takin' care o' all those kids," Boar smiled and settled back comfortably. It was obvious how in love he was. The Ghis had a way of finding their proper partners in life, because they didn't settle for just a marriage for an heir.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Between you and Brogan, the Ghis will continue long into the future." Selena teased, thinking about her own choices in life.

She had always imagined a house fill of children, but with Kreston, she was lucky that she had gotten Ruben. It was too dangerous to have any more children, but she could always keep her dreams close.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Same with Ruben, handsome lad tha' he is. Then again, all us Ghis men're irresistible."

"Irresistible?" Kitty laughed, "Trust me, love, you're plenty resistible."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I bet Emma will learn that sooner than later." Selena teased, holding her brother's hand tightly.

She had always felt bad for Boar. Unlike Brogan and Durban who held their own destiny in their hands, Boar had gotten the brunt of their father's terrible temper and treatment. She had done her best to shield Ashien and Kayla from their father, but she had always felt like she failed him.

How many nights had she sat at his bedside, nursing a black eye or hugging him tightly as their father tore through the keep in a drunken rage? She didn't know if he still remembered those nights. She could only hope that he didn't.

 

[KieranSoares]

Boar smiled gently to her, lifting her hand to kiss it. He could see the residual guilt in her eyes- he always could. At one point he'd hated her for leaving home at nearly eighteen and never returning until a year later with a baby in her arms. He'd felt betrayed, but he'd long since learned that she'd needed to get out as much as any of them.

"An' what about you? Plannin' on any more o' yer own?" He asked gently.