Nature is not a place to visit 30

Chapter 30
*“Brothers and sisters are as close as hands and feet.”*
*Vietnamese Proverb*
Hudson’s arms were around me before I’d even turned my head all the way around. I sunk into his embrace, breathing in
his familiar scent with my eyes closed.
He smelled like home.
“Ollie,” he said, his voice shaky, “You’re back.”
It was everything I could do not to break down into a giant puddle of tears. Up until now, I felt as if I’d been holding it
together pretty well – at least considering the craziness of the past forty-eight hours.
But now, being back home, seeing Hudson again…I felt like I was ten-years-old again.
“Yeah, I’m back,” I said. My voice was even shakier than his.
He pulled back to look at me. “You’re crying,” he said. There was the hint of a teasing smile on his face, but just from
looking at him, I could see he was on the verge of tears too.
“No, I’m not,” I replied. I sniffled before I could stop myself.
“You are,” he said. His wide green eyes roamed over my face, like he was taking me in for the first time in forty-eight
years, not forty-eight hours.
“I’m definitely not.”
I didn’t even bother wiping away the tears.
“You are,” he said, “You made fun of me for crying when you left, and now look at you. Crying just like me.”
I let out a playful scoff.
“You came back, Ollie,” he breathed.
“Of course I came back. Who else was going to make sure you didn’t do anything dumb?”
There was no playfulness in his voice as he said, “You don’t understand. When I first heard that the Blood Moons had
captured you guys, I thought…” He swallowed.
“I know,” I said. He didn’t need to finish his sentence. I knew what he’d thought. Hudson thought he was going to lose
me the same way we lost mom and dad. “But you didn’t,” I continued, “I made it back without a scratch.”
He hugged me again.
This embrace was shorter, and when we pulled away from each other, I saw that we weren’t the only ones having an
emotional reunion. Marcus’ wife was sobbing into his arms, Luke was laughing with two of his friends, and even Rae was
hugging her grandmother. The majority of our pack, including some of the Storm Claw refugees, had gathered together
to welcome us back.
“Who are you?”
Hudson’s tone was cold and flat, and I realized he was staring at Ambrose with narrowed eyes. He wasn’t downright
aggressive or hostile, but he didn’t look thrilled to have a tall, intimidating stranger on his pack lands.
*Oh, no. I forgot that I have to introduce my brother to my mate…who also happens to be the Moon God*.
Ambrose’s face was blank as he stared back at Hudson. “You must be Hudson, the Alpha of this pack.” His posture was
relaxed, but his tone was just as flat as my brother’s.
Hudson’s eyes turned to slits, and he stepped in front of me.
Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to sit well with Ambrose. He immediately stiffened, looking like he might pull me away
from Hudson any second.
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“I asked you a question. Who are you? What are you doing on my land, with my warriors?” Hudson’s voice was a growl
this time.
“Step away from my mate. You may be her brother, but I will not allow anyone, even family, to hide her from me,”
Ambrose replied, and he didn’t take his eyes off me.
At that sentence, Hudson’s hostility turned to confusion. He turned back to look at me with wide eyes. *“Mate?”* he
asked. “Ollie, what is he talking about?”
I let out a long breath as I stepped out from behind Hudson. Ambrose didn’t waste any time pulling me into his side.
“Well, it’s a bit of a funny story,” I said, scratching the back of my neck.
*Geez, this is going to be one hell of an explanation. Why couldn’t we have met at a coffee shop or something?*
As I looked around, I realized that it wasn’t just Hudson’s attention I had anymore. The entire pack was staring at
Ambrose and I – well, really just Ambrose. He was the shirtless stranger, not me. Some of my pack members stared with
curiosity, others with suspicion.
“You know that tradition that most packs have when they go into battle?” I started. “About going to the Moon God’s
temple to pray?”
Hudson nodded warily.
“Well, Luke and I did that,” I said, my eyes flickering to the blonde in question. Luke actually looked amused – as if he
couldn’t wait to see how I’d try and explain the last forty-eight hours to our entire pack. “Well, I guess I should say that we tried. We didn’t really get too far into the praying part.”
“What do you mean?” Hudson asked. He crossed his arms over his chest.
Part of me wanted to ask Ambrose to recount our not-so-romantic-first-meeting, but I had a feeling he’d give some one- word answer that would only require more explanation from me.
“Well…the temple exploded,” I continued.
Gasps and murmurs echoed throughout the pack.
I waited a beat before saying, “And out came Ambrose, and would you believe it? We’re mates!”
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complete story. Head over there to dive into the next chapter—it’s all free! Hudson’s jaw dropped open.
There were more gasps and murmurs, and from the corner of my eye, I saw a few of the teenagers and elders actually
faint.
*At least the news is going over well.*
It took Hudson at least two minutes to close his jaw and regain the ability to speak. “You mean…” His eyes darted
between Ambrose and I. “You’re…no…you can’t be…”
“I am,” Ambrose finally chimed in, looking completely unbothered by all the shock. His voice rang clearly over the crowd.
“Your sister woke me from my slumber. She is my mate.”
Hudson’s eyes were as big as saucers. “My sister…” he muttered. “My sister is mates with the Moon God.” I could tell he wasn’t talking to us anymore. “The Moon God is alive and right in front of me…and he’s mates with my sister.”
His eyebrows scrunched together and he rubbed his forehead like he had a headache. “No, no,” he continued, “There’s
no way. I must be dreaming right now. There’s no way the Moon God is here right now, and he’s mates with my sister. No, I’m definitely dreaming. I’m just super worried about Ollie, and I’m laying in my bed right now, dreaming up weird
fucking scenarios in my head. That’s got to be it – I’m just making shit up right now. I just need to wake up, I just need
to…” The muttering became incomprehensible.
Ambrose suddenly turned to me and murmured, “Your brother does not seem as if he’s capable of distinguishing reality
from fantasy.”
“No, you just got to give him a second,” I said, “He’s a little in shock – *you’re* kind of a fantasy, you know.”
Ambrose raised a single eyebrow. “Fantasy? You said you’d heard stories of me growing up. Did you not think I would
return one day?”
“I mean, you were supposedly asleep for a thousand years,” I replied, “And even then, nobody had ever seen you in the
flesh. I think most of us, me included, thought you were more of a concept than a person.”
“I see,” Ambrose said. “You did not think I would return.” I could’ve sworn there was something solemn in his voice.
“No,” I said, “At least not really. Sometimes, late at night, I’d think about it…how nice it would be if some uber-powerful
god woke up and saved us all. I just didn’t think you’d ever really show up, but you did. You’re here. You did save us. Mission accomplished.”
The intensity in Ambrose’s eyes was almost hard to bear. “I saved your friends, little wolf,” he said, “But my mission, as
you call it, is far from over.”
“What do you mean?”
“I ruled this world a long time ago,” he rasped, “And when I was forced into my sleep, that was taken from me. I intend to
take this world back.”
My mind flashed to all those dead Blood Moon bodies. I had a feeling they wouldn’t be the last.