Moon Rise (Twilight Shifters Book 2) by Kate Danley Read Free Book Online Page B

truth and help him than have it destroy him."
    Aein rolled onto her stomach and rested her head on her hand.  The grass crunched beneath her.  "I was only there for a few days," she said, "and I don't want to go back.  I can't even imagine what happened to him out there alone for those months."
    "The shift is probably the only thing that kept him alive."
    Aein shrugged.  "He killed people he knew.  I think there is a part of him that wishes he was the one who died."
    "I hope he's not carrying around guilt for something he is not responsible for... for something he doesn't even remember."
    "But he knows he did it.  And for Lars?  That's enough."
    The fire crackled.  "Then we must make sure he knows he is more than that.  His life adds up to more than one chapter, no matter how terrible it might have been.  It is the rest of his days which define him."
    "I hope he figures that out," said Aein.
    "And how about you?" asked Finn, with the same casual nonchalance.  "How are you holding up?"
    Aein stretched her fingers in her hand.  She was still so weak, so unable to fight like she used to.  "It aches," she said.
    "But how about your head?" asked Finn.
    Aein tried to smile, but failed.  "It aches, too."
    "You are more than one moment, too, you know," he replied.  His voice was as warm as the fire they laid beside.
    "I keep telling myself that," said Aein.  "But I keep thinking if I had just made a different choice, all of this would never have happened.  I could have prevented everything."
    Finn nodded.  "You're right."
    His agreement took Aein aback.  "You're not going to tell me that I am being ridiculous?" she challenged.
    "Isn't that what you want to hear from someone?  That it is all your fault?  That if you just learn what you did wrong well enough, this won't ever happen again? And what was the lesson?  Not to trust people?  Not to trust those you love?"
    Aein shifted uncomfortably.  "That's not what I am saying..."
    "If you are responsible, it means that you have some control over this situation.  And isn't that what you want?  The ability to stop it?" asked Finn, gazing at her without judgment. 
    His words struck too close to the truth.  Aein's throat tightened and she couldn't look at him. 
    "It was my greatest wish when I was in your shoes," he said kindly.
    "You've been through something like this?" she asked, unbelieving that someone as strong and put together as Finn could have ever made a mistake as huge as hers.
    His brow furrowed.  A log crackled, spewing sparks into the air.  "I'm not much older than you, Aein, and here I am, the commander of the Queen's forces.  Of course.  Of course I have made a decision which went disastrously wrong."  Finn ran his hand over his stubble.  His eyes became distant with the memory.  "Your stronghold and mine, this whole wedding business between Queen Gisla and Lord Arnkell, it was because of outside threats.  The Haidra Kingdom has been at war since I was a child.  I was practically given a sword before I was weaned.  My first few battles went well.  I moved up through the ranks as the anointed golden boy.  But then... one time I was supposed to lead my troops on an attack.  I saw an opening, or what I thought was an opening.  Every man under me perished.  The sound of their cries still wake me at night.  I survived, though.  Managed to be in the right place at the right time to kill their king, which won us the war.  I was decorated a hero."  Finn laughed grimly.  "Can you imagine?  Watching your friends get cut down because of a decision you made, and then being rewarded for it?  Every day I woke up and I wanted to die."
    "What did you do?" asked Aein.
    "Queen Gisla's father sat me down and had this talk with me, the same as I'm having with you.  You think it is rough for people like us?  Imagine if every decision you make causes a chain reaction like that every day.  I had the one battle.  Gisla's father was responsible for