The Hunter and the Hunted ✔️

~•BONUS CHAPTER: SHIFT•~

MARINDA - 8 YEARS AFTER THE BATTLE WITH KONRAD

IN HONOR OF WEREWOLF WEEK <3 - Dani Kail

It was a big day, a day I wished I could hold off. My youngest child was finally going to be an adult. I hadn't felt old, in all my years of living, until Zach's twentieth birthday.

Dallas had his arm wrapped around Zach's shoulder, having "the talk" with him. It was a talk  that his father was supposed to be having with him. I was lucky to have amazing sons.

I turned around, hiding away tears. Terrance should have been here. He should have been the one helping Zach through the surge of power he was going to feel. It didn't matter how great Dallas was, it would never compare to Terrance being there for him.

It was something the father always did in a Hunter family, helped his children through the major shift in power they felt.

But he wasn't here.

And as much as my heart yearned for its other half, I knew I couldn't go yet. I had to hang on for my children, for my family. Terrance was gone, but our family was not. I had to stay here for them.

The front door opened and I wiped away my tears as a familiar couple walked in.

"No, I have them, Colin," Everly said as she walked into the house, my grandson on her hip. Baby Terrance was only four but he was already starting to look like his father, Colin.

"Hi, mom!" Everly came in and hugged me, as well as she could with Terrance in her arms. It was heartbreaking to say his name, the wound still felt fresh on my mind, so the family ended up calling baby Terrance by his middle name— Lason.

I took Lason off of her hip and squeezed him to me. "Hi, Lason!" I smiled, my heart already healing a little bit. Every time I got moments with my family, I felt my soul reconnect with itself.

"Hi gand-ma!" He laughed. He was already four. It was amazing how fast time flew by.

Eight years ago, our world changed. Eight years ago, everything shifted. This family lost a lot, but we made it out and for that I was thankful.

Colin came in, holding a child in one arm and a duffle bag on the other. "You're okay, Raindrop." He laughed, cooing to the little girl as she began to cry, probably awaking from a nap. Little Sisca Constance Dawn.

"We're here to see Uncle Zach be more powerful than mom!" Lason shouted from my arms. I laughed as I pinched his nose.

"Is that right?" I laughed.

He nodded and scrambled out of my arms running to Dallas and Zach. I tried to stop him but laughed and let my arm fall. He jumped onto Dallas's back, disrupting their serious conversation. They laughed, Zach sneakily wiping away tears as well.

"Hi, Marinda." Colin kissed my cheek and sat Sis on the counter.

At only two, she looked exactly like Terrance, ironically. They had the same nose, curly hair, face shape. Even their eyes were the same.

And as it broke my heart, it also healed it. Terrance would have loved her. All of them. He would be so proud of this family. He was proud of this family, where he was.

"Dallas! Where's Felix's Binky?" Moira yelled from the living room. Her Irish accent was still prominent, even though her and Dallas had been living here for nearly three years.

Their ten month old baby, Felix Ryan O'Donoghue, began crying. He was the cutest little baby, with brownish-red hair and freckles. He was chubby and utterly adorable, taking after his mama.