Chapter 31 : When You're With Your Mate

*Gemma* I hadn't had the mindset to consider what was next for either Raisa or myself. All we had been focused on was escaping Connor and not whatever was beyond that. I didn't know about her, but I did not excel at planning ahead in anything I did, and now I realized the hard way that would be my downfall. As I lay in bed, all I could come up with were two options: leave or stay. Leave to get on a boat and a train back to Lyrehaven and somehow get a ride back to Opal Springs where my family would be waiting. I could go back to Lynn and hug her until my arms hurt. I could hug my parents and weep as I told them I was sorry, and all I wanted to do was make things better for the Brooks family. I could take that teaching job and hope everything returned to normal and put my journey to the West behind me and never look back. Or… I could stay. I could talk to Jerah and Jaci and wonder if they wanted me to join Moonwake just as they wanted Raisa to. Did they even want an Easterner, a