Moon Cursed (Book 2 in The Star and Her Moon Series)

Broken

A/N- so by now if you see this, you know what's up... Mature Content Ahead

Raff

A knock on the door made Raff pause, and when he turned around to find Dorea standing in the doorway, he set the clothes he was folding down. She walked- well waddled would be a more appropriate word- to the bed and sat. Giving him a hard look, she patted the space next to her.

"Dorea, we'll have plenty of time to speak on the trip home. I need to finish this so we can go."

"About that," she began, twisting her skirt between her fingers, "I'd like to stay for a little while longer."

He froze. Bile rising up in his throat at the thought of leaving another one of his people behind. And no matter that he'd only met her a few months ago, Dorea was one of his.

"Why would you want to stay here? After everything they did?"

"First of all, it's not everything they did. It's what Nerida and her followers did. I'm not going to damn an entire people group for her mistakes, and secondly, don't you remember? I was working for them too."

"What about the baby? If you have him here, he's going to be an outcast."

"That's actually why I wanted to talk to you. I'll come back before he's born, and if something happens before that, Valencia has agreed to make sure the baby gets back to you. I need to know that you're going to be there for him, Raff."

"Dorea," he groaned, lowering himself onto the bed. His stomach tied itself in knots as he looked at her swollen belly. Right now, it only served to remind him of the plans he'd made with Meribella, and the fact that no matter if he got his revenge or not, another life would be taken from him.

"Raff, I've talked to Lincoln and Thorne. I know where your head is at, and I need to know that my son is going to have someone to care for him. I can't leave this world in peace otherwise."

His shoulders sagged. "I can't promise you anything right now. Lincoln and Thorne would be better for him. They'd be able to give him a family."

"So that's it, then? Fine. I never thought you were such a weak man."

She started to leave. Raff caught her by the arm, his grip light.

"If you knew the strength it was taking for me to remain human right now. To remain present, you'd never say that."

"Oh, Raff, that's not strength. You're holding on so you can get revenge, and then you're going to let go. That's why you're still here. Strength is knowing it's going to hurt like hell every day to get out of bed, but you'll do it anyways. And you'll hate that it gets easier each day, and you'll feel a punch in the gut every time this baby looks at you with eyes that look just a little bit like hers. But it'll also bring you peace because it'll remind you that people are never really gone. We carry them with us."

She kissed his cheek and left without giving him a chance to respond, which was fine. Because he didn't have one. He knew she was right. Knew Lincoln and Thorne were right. What he was planning was no better than what Meribella did, and if Thorne's theory was true... maybe he was even worse.

He knew his mate, and if she somehow found out Nerida's life force was tied with her own, she would've acted without thinking things through. Meribella acted rashly. She was impulsive and headstrong, and after years of independence, she struggled to think of how others fit into her decision making.

A chuckle escaped him as he thought about their summer together. After he returned from his own brush with death, they'd been glued at the hips. Eating, sleeping, exploring- always together. Until one day, they didn't. For two days he called her, wondering what he'd done to make her so upset. It was only when Thorne messaged him that Meribella was sick that he knew she hadn't been ignoring him out of spite or anger. She'd just never thought to ask for help.