Echoed Lullabies (Lunar Chronicles x Reader)

Chapter 64

Wolf helped Scarlet clean and bandage her wounded finger without asking her to tell him what, exactly, had happened. Though his expression had said he was ready to tear out Queen Levana's jugular, his hands had been breathlessly gentle. Afterward, Scarlet insisted she be given time to bathe, and though Wolf had looked borderline devastated, the time apart was worthwhile. The tiny washroom in his childhood home was by no means luxurious, but it was a far cry from the trough she'd had in the menagerie, and she felt brand-new when she emerged. She and Winter were given new clothes out of Maha Kesley's meager stash while theirs were washed, though Scarlet was already anxious to have her hoodie back. It had become her own personal armor.

It was surreal. Scarlet and Winter had escaped.

They'd escaped.

And now here she was, in Wolf's childhood home, reunited with the crew.

"I can't believe you kidnapped Prince Kai," she said, untacking the curtain on the front window to peek outside. Blue daisies in a window box were a solitary spot of color.

"Emperor Kai," Wolf corrected. He was leaning against the wall, holding the hem of her shirt in his fingers. Winter was taking her turn in the washroom while the others had crowded into the kitchen, trying to cobble together enough food for everyone. Scarlet had heard someone mention rations, and it occurred to her that this tiny household wasn't meant to support guests, especially so many. Wolf's mom would be back soon from collecting that week's supply of food, but of course, that was meant for only one woman.

Scarlet tried to imagine what this must be like for Wolf. To return home more than a decade after being taken away, a grown man with scars and fangs and the blood of countless victims on his hands.

And now ... with a girl.

Scarlet was trying not to think about meeting his mother—it all felt too strange.

"Emperor, right." She retacked the curtain. "That's weird to say, after eighteen years of listening to celebrity gossip feeds go on and on about 'Earth's favorite prince.'" She claimed one of the lumpy sofa cushions, curling her legs beneath her. "I had a picture of him taped to my wall when I was fifteen. Grand-mère cut it off a cereal box."

Wolf scowled.

"Of course, half the girls in the world probably had that same picture from that same cereal box."

Wolf scrunched his shoulders against his neck, and Scarlet grinned, teasing. "Oh, no. You're not going to have to fight him for pack dominance now, are you? Come here." She beckoned him with a wave of her hand and he was at her side in half a second, the glower softening as he pulled her against his chest.

His brazenness was new—so different from the shyness she'd grown accustomed to. On the Rampion, Wolf was always pattering around his feelings, like he didn't want to risk the tentative trust they'd started to rebuild since Paris.

Now, when he kissed her or put his arms around her, Scarlet felt like he was staking a claim. Which normally would have sent her on a tirade about relationship independence, except she felt like she'd claimed him a long time ago. The moment she'd expected him to choose her over his pack, the moment she'd dragged him aboard that ship and taken him away from everything he'd ever known, she'd made the decision for them both. He was hers now, just like she was his.

Except she wondered if everything had changed between them, once again. She'd figured he would come back to the farm with her when all this was over, but now he'd been reunited with his mom, the only family he had left. Scarlet could no longer assume she was the most important thing to him, and she knew it wouldn't be fair to ask him to choose between her and the family he'd been taken away from. Not now, and maybe not ever.