Beyond the Dawn (Life and Death, Book II)

14. FUTURE

Mythology meant a lot more to me now that I had become a part of it. Looking back over these first several months as an immortal, I imagined how crazy it all might look from the old me's perspective—who I was before I'd moved to Forks. I never would have believed any of it could have ever existed. I went from the most skeptical side of the non-believer spectrum to becoming the myth myself. Even now, I felt like it might not be real somehow. Like I was just dreaming with my eyes open. And new things were coming into existence every single day.

Like the impossible, half-immortal child I watched grow with an absolute sense of adoration. It was funny how all of the fairy-tale things out there now wove themselves together into the threads of my life.

The one I was most surprised to be able to have in my life were the werewolves. Six-foot-tall wolves that came in an array of deep, woodsy colors were obviously not something I'd expected either, but given our inherent status as natural enemies, weaving them into the fabric was just as much of an impossibility.

But it happened somehow. The tensions between our families were more at ease now than ever, mostly due to Luca. He was just easy to love.

Actually, Carine and Earnest had attended a tribal meeting led by Bonnie Black and the other elders to discuss the 'cold spawn,' as they'd called it. Much to their surprise, he wasn't actually cold. Carine had demanded amnesty from all trepidation presented by the werewolves. They had agreed that Luca was not an immediate threat to human life because he never left our house, and he was constantly kept satiated with donated blood.

But in reality, the you could see the tension in each member vanish immediately as they all met him. As soon as they observed him for all of ten seconds, all the fear was gone. It was like Luca had this magical gift where he could make anyone like him, no matter what the preconceived notions were. And in the end, there was no denying he was pretty much like a human baby, except exquisitely beautiful... and so intelligent it was kind of terrifying.

The agreement they'd settled upon involved day-to-day checkups on him as if he would somehow morph into a demon at any moment. And I assumed that so long as nothing too strange happened with his progress, they'd let this whole issue slide.

On a side note, they'd demanded our traditional company leave as soon as possible. Carine had tried to make the elders understand that there was a bit of a custody dispute going on, per se, and Ati's family wouldn't be leaving without him anytime soon.

Despite that, having the pack around every day kept me in touch with my old life, since theirs intercepted so much with the human world. Charlie had apparently formed a bond that was a bit more than friendship with Holly Clearwater, Sarah and Lee's mother. Saul Clearwater had died some time ago of a heart attack, and Julie said that Charlie and Holly bonded through their shared grief. He went with her pretty much everywhere these days.

This fact was something I was especially grateful for, that he was able to move on, or at least have some form of distraction.

And it was weird to think of Charlie as a grandpa... especially since he was unaware of that fact. But I suppose he technically was. Adoption counted, didn't it?

Even more weird, was the fact that I was a like a dad to this kid. The word just sounded so wrong when trying to apply it to me. Co-parent? Was that better? A child could have more than one dad, though, and I was one of them.

Don't get me wrong—I was euphoric most of the time. The days weren't long enough for me to get my fill of it all: days spent adoring this fascinating child, and nights that never lasted long enough alone with Edythe.

On the flipside of all that joy, there was a bit of a grey area. Not sorrow or remorse, but more of a bleak doubt and fear.

The faster this miracle progressed, the more worried we became. How long did we have with him?