Raff

 Lincoln found Raff standing in the center of his room looking lost. The Beta stepped inside, and his nostrils flared. "What the hell happened here?"

Raff arched a brow. "Your nose is telling you exactly what happened."

"Dude, that's a little messed up. I mean, I'm not really judging you... not hard, but going out and sleeping with someone because she's smells like MB...that's pretty low."

Raff let the man ramble. He would tell him the truth in a minute, but he was still reeling from the revelation. Dealing with Lincoln's over the top reaction was more than he could handle right now.

"I won't tell, Thorne. I won't tell anybody, but I hope you picked someone discreet. I'd hate for word to get around to Dorea. Of course, she might get it. These selkies put me to shame. The old me, of course."

Raff walked out of the cottage and stared toward the sea. He could feel Meribella walking in that direction. A gust of wind stirred the branches above, and a shower of pine needles fell to the ground, each one pointing in her direction.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, he sighed. If that wasn't a sign, he didn't know what was, but he didn't know what to say to her. Not once during their time together had he ever been at a loss for words. Communicating with Meribella was easy, but mostly because he never questioned what he was feeling when he was around her. Now, there was so much going on...

And what did she mean the curse was broken? Her phrasing had been so peculiar. Not the Curse is broken, but specifically between them. And Aurora? He growled and kicked the pine needles, sending them scattering into the shadows. Why hadn't he just kept his mouth shut and let her explain? At least then, he could argue knowing all the facts.

"Raff? You okay?"

He exhaled and looked at Lincoln. "She's alive. I don't know how, but she is."

Rather than erupt in excitement, Lincoln turned somber. He stopped speaking and shoved his hands in his pockets. "I know it feels like it, but it's only because you pretended like that was her back there. If it gave you some relief, that's cool, but it's dangerous. You can lose yourself that way."

"No, Lincoln. I'm not crazy. I thought I was when she first walked in, and if it had just been sex, I might think you were right. That I slept with the first woman who reminded me of her, but I can feel her." He thumped a finger over his heart. "It went silent, and now it's back."

"Maybe I should go get one of the healers. You've not slept since everything happened."

"I'm telling you-"

"Raff, stop doing this!" Lincoln shouted. "I don't know how to fix this. I can fight against the sleeping and the drinking. I can't fight against a ghost."

"I'll prove it to you," Raff said.

"I'm going to get Thorne."

He let his Beta leave and jogged the path to the beach. The Harpy Clan houses were bright with warm light, and he could hear them talk and laugh inside the walls. But unlike most nights, no one was outside. They were all gathered together, reveling over their survival and mourning their losses. It allowed him to slip to the ocean unseen.

As he guessed, Meribella was on the shore. From the way the t-shirt clung to her curves, he figured she'd been for a swim, either to calm her nerves or wash him off her skin- maybe both. She gave no outward sign that she realized he was there, but he could feel the pattern of her heart change.

"Meribella, we need to talk about this," he said, sitting beside her. A low growl rumbled from her other side, and he caught a glimpse of blue peeking under the bend of Meribella's knee. "Hello Aurora."

"She's mad at you too."

"And you know this how? You speak wolf now?" He meant it to sound teasing, but it fell from his tongue like lead.

Meribella turned wounded eyes on him. "Actually, Mr. Bossy, I can, or at least I speak Aurora. But any idiot can tell what it means when someone growls." She emitted one of her own as if to clue him in.

Raff gaped at her. Then he burst into a laugh so loud Aurora jumped to her feet and barked in shock.

"None of this is funny, Raff." Meribella's face sparkled with tears. "Please hear me when I say that I'm not trying to one up your suffering- I know you were hurting, but when I came back on that barge in the middle of the ocean, I had one goal. To get back to you. I didn't expect it to be sunshine and roses, especially not after what your anger did to my afterlife."

"Hold up," he said, putting his hand on her knee. "What I did to your afterlife?"

"We didn't have a lot of time to talk about it."

"Three days."

"Three days here, Raff. I don't know. I think I didn't exist for awhile, but it felt like just a few minutes there. It was beautiful and peaceful. Like a dream. But in the middle of it all were places where things were dead and dying. They said it was caused by your anger."

He didn't know how to process that. No matter how angry he was with her, he never wanted to hurt her, and if she'd not come back, would his pain have stained her eternity?

"I'm sorry. I really am. I promise to not rush into something like that again, but I need you to be honest. If you were in the same position, would you not sacrifice your life if you thought it might save me?"

Seawater soaked his pants as the tide rose, and he watched the surf recede as he gathered his response. What would he have done if the roles had been reversed? The answer was obvious. He'd gone in after Mac, knowing full well that he could end up dead, but it had been worth it to end that war. He wanted Meribella to be free of the deal she'd made with them, and he didn't stop to call and ask for her permission.

"I probably would have done the same thing," he admitted.

"So why are you so angry with me?" She sounded small.

"Meribella," he grabbed both sides of his head as if to hold himself together. "I'm a fucking mess without you. I have been since the day I pulled you out of that car. I thought you were a human, and my opinion of humans was pretty low. But I couldn't stop trying to save you. I knew even then that you were important to me. After everything we've been through, I thought we were finally in the clear, but then I had to hold you while you died. And in that moment, it wasn't someone else who took our happiness away, it was you. So, it was easier to blame you and be angry with you than it was to miss you."

"I hate this," she sobbed. "You're sitting right next to me... you were just inside of me, and I feel like there's more distance between us right now than when I was in the other world."

That was it. He was going to take her into his arms. After she answered one final question.

"What did you mean when you said our curse was broken?"

"Do you remember when you told me the story of the Moon Curse? You talked about how it was when it started out as a Blessing."

He did remember that day. Meribella leaned against him as he read from the book about his people. Her hair, so much longer then, fell over her shoulder and pooled in her lap, and he wanted to stop reading and run his fingers through her hair.

"I do."

"I was supposed to move on to Avalon with the three sisters, but Aurora offered an alternative. She bonded with me the way Alfric and his wolf first bonded. It gave me a tether back to my body, and-" she reached over and took Raff's hand in hers, "because I fall under the Moon Blessing, I'm safe from the curse."

"You mean that's all it took to free us? For another wolf to accept a human?" his heart swelled with joy.

"No, Raff. Not everyone. Just me. I'm sorry."

Though he felt a little deflated, it didn't erase his happiness. He dragged her into his arms and let himself breathe her in. Without fear. Only desire and love and all the things he held himself back from when he was the greatest threat to her. His body stirred, thinking about a round two without the side of guilt afterward.

"You're sure?"

"I'm certain. Celene told me herself, and Aurora confirmed it. I wouldn't have let what happened in the bedroom happen if I hadn't been sure. You're persuasive, but not that persuasive."

He widened his eyes and laughed. "Oh, you don't think?"

"But Celene did say she wanted to end the curse."

"You asked her?"

Meribella blushed and buried her face in his chest. The innocent movement made him groan. If she thought they had problems keeping their hands off each other before, she was in for a big surprise now. Not only because there was no denying anything between them anymore but because he never wanted to let her out of his sight again.

"I might have told her she needed to remove it."

"Only you would tell a moon goddess to break her own curse."

"Fae Queen, actually, and of course. Anything for you. But that means we have to end this thing with Morgan. They're stuck in Avalon until she's handled, and as long as they're sealed away, it means they're powerless here. But we can really, truly end it."

"Then we take care of Morgan. Together this time." He tugged her onto his lap and kissed her. "I love you."

"I love you, too. Are we going to be okay?"

"We'll figure it out. We always do." It wouldn't be easy. Even now, there was a blemish on this moment. An ache that wouldn't diminish despite all the happiness her being back brought him. He wiped a tear from her cheek. "Now, we need to tell the others."

"Can we tell them later?" She wiggled on his lap and her hand went to the fly of his jeans. "I'm not wearing any panties."

"You'll be the death of me woman," he groaned as she lowered her body over him.

"Never again," she promised.

She stole his next words from him as she began to move. He held onto her and she him. Their fingers interlocked as their hearts and bodies became one. From starlight until the morning sun brushed pink streaks across the sky, Raff showed Meribella how he forgave her, and in return, she pulled down the last barriers between them. Through their bond, he felt the truth of her promise and the hope for a better future.