Free A Shade of Vampire 32: A Day of Glory by Bella Forrest Page B

Brock agreed, and I was just about to transform into my wolf form when I remembered that I could no longer do that.
    Mona offered to transport us to the shore to make things faster and I eagerly accepted. Thus the four of us, Victoria, Brock, Mona and I, headed to the shoreline where I had stashed Rona.
    I raced along the dock looking for the boat, when I reminded myself that I could shout out for her now. There was no need to hide any longer. “Rona! Rona!” I called, even as I found and leapt onto her boat.
    “Bastien?” her timid voice called up from the lower deck.
    We met halfway on the staircase. She was looking bedraggled, to say the least. And she was probably hungry. I doubted she would have had much opportunity to look for food, given my instruction to stay in the boat at all possible times.
    Her face lit up as I said, “Everything is solved. You can come out now.”
    I couldn’t bring her family back to life—nor would I, in all honesty, wish to bring Brucella back to life even if I could—but I could try to introduce her to a new life, one that would hopefully be satisfying for her.
    “Come with me to Blackhall Mountain,” I said, leading her away from the boat and onto the dock where the others were waiting for me.
    The witches magicked us back to the mountain, where I immediately led everyone inside.
    “What’s going on?” Rona asked, looking utterly bewildered.
    Before answering any questions, I took her first to the kitchens. I told her to help herself to food. Once she had gathered what she wanted—there was still fresh food from earlier in the day—I sat her down at a table, watching as she began to hungrily eat.
    “I want to offer you a place here in Blackhall Mountain,” I told her, seeing no reason to beat around the bush. “as the Alpha of the Blackhall pack. Assuming that my pack agrees, you could make this your home, your new family. For as long as you wanted.”
    I paused, gauging her action. She had stopped eating and was now staring at me, jaw slackened.
    “I think that you would be a better leader than me,” I went on, “and I’m sure that you’ll find the accommodations comfortable, and my people welcoming, once you got to know them… What do you say?”
    She set down her fork, still gaping. “Bastien,” she murmured, eyeing him uncertainly. “This is… a huge responsibility. I am not even a Blackhall. I am a Northstone. Even if I were to accept, what makes you think anybody would wish for me to rule?”
    “Because it will be on my recommendation. My people trust me, just as they trusted my parents… and I trust you. Leadership is in your blood. There is no other werewolf in my tribe who wishes to rule.”
    “I don’t understand why you don’t want this position,” Rona said. “It’s what your parents would have wanted, isn’t it? I mean, your foster parents.”
    I smiled, melancholy filling me as I thought of my Blackhall parents. “I think that they would have wanted me to be happy,” I replied. I reached out for Victoria’s hand and clasped it in mine.
    Rona raised a brow. “You… You and—”
    I finished her sentence. “Yes, Victoria and I are mated now. And I wish to spend some uninterrupted time in her world… Hence, I am asking this favor of you.”
    Rona exhaled slowly, her eyes lowering to her plate in thought. Then, to my surprise, she asked, “Is Jax still here… unmated?”
    “Jax? Yes… unmated.”
    A blush rose to her cheeks. Oh, my… All this time, Rona’s had an eye for Jax. He was Cecil’s grandson, an amiable blond-haired man a little older than me. I could understand why any girl would take a liking to him, but… Rona? I’d never known. And something told me that if Brucella wasn’t dead, I would never have known. Rona had been told all her life by her mother that her betrothed was already chosen for her, and he—I—would make himself known to her when he was ready to commit to marriage. Rona’s eyes weren’t supposed to