by Belle Kayce
“Is it wrong that I want to save her?” I ask, hating how my voice is wobbly. When I’m mad, I cry. It’s the one thing I hate about myself. I can keep it together if I’m sad. But if I’m angry or frustrated? That’s when I cry. I really just want to be done with this conversation before I just start crying in front of him, which is the last thing I want to happen.
“Pack your things. You’re leaving with Cole right now.”
“I don’t need you to protect me.” With that, I storm off into my room. I shut the door not so quietly and just slump on my bed. I wish he would believe in me for at least a second that I can do it.
What kind of a whack luna am I? Am I even a luna? I haven’t even been introduced to the pack. I have to be introduced even if I am not yet a part of it. Wasn’t that a given? Is Lance embarrassed of me?
That has to be it.
My inability as a werewolf is my biggest insecurity. I hate it so much.
Lance has a finality in his voice. I’m leaving with Cole. No questions. Lance himself is seemingly going to figure out all my problems with Grayson.
Getting off the bed, I pack the one toothbrush in my bag and make sure the deodorant I bought is also inside.
When I open the door, Cole is already there waiting for me. His face his solemn, and he just says, “Let’s go.”
I think Cole figured as much that I don’t want to deal with Lance, so we don’t bother stopping to say goodbye to him.
On the other hand, Paxon and Grayson are waiting by the door. Cole just nods at them as a form of goodbye, walks out of the door with our bags and then puts in the car.
”Don’t worry, Ava. Your mate will come back to you in one piece,” Paxon tells me at the doorway.
“How can you be so sure?” I ask Paxon bitterly.
“That story about Lance killing six alphas in the war? Let’s just say he could have killed more,” Paxon answers me.
My heart beats a little faster. What the heck does that mean?
“Hopefully, we won’t see each other again,” Grayson suddenly says to me, but his tone was teasing. “You bought me nothing but misery and land.”
“Smell you later.” I smirk at Grayson.
***
The car ride on the way home is silent. Of course, Lance stayed back to deal with my crap. Trent and Steven want me dead. Why do others have to be involved?
Cole is putting in gas, and I don’t want to get up to eat something even though I’m really hungry.
When Cole comes back, he hands me a bag, and I see a granola bar and a Kit-Kat.
“Thanks,” I mumble to him, grateful for his thoughtfulness. He starts the car and drives, then enters this sketchy secluded road.
“So she speaks.”
“You’re one to talk.”
“Your irrational idea that you can save your friend is dangerous for you,” Cole says.
I’m silent. Then, “he doesn’t think I can be a luna, does he?”
The car screeches into a complete halt, flinging me forward. Fortunately, I have my seat belt on so, I didn’t fly out the windshield and die.
I look at the driver like he’s insane.
“What?” Cole looks like he did nothing wrong.
“What do you mean ’what’?! Geez, you can’t just stop in the middle of the road! I could have died!” Not to be dramatic.
“You would have been fine. I would have caught you,” Cole says easily. “Ava, you really believe Lance doesn’t think you can be a luna?”
“Cole,” I sigh, “just look at me. He doesn’t think I can save someone.”
“I don’t think you can go up against three alphas, Ava. Even I can’t do that.”
“Okay,” I say, relenting, I get that but still. “But I haven’t been introduced to the pack yet.”
Cole glances at me pointedly. “You haven’t shown the slightest interest in staying Noctis Luna, nor do you want to be a luna if I remember correctly.”
“I’m just scared of what a failure I’d be.” There. I said it. And I am projecting it all on my own mate.
“Why do you think you’d be a failure? Lance would help you every step of the way.”
I shake my head. “What if I’m not cut out for this?”
“Many alphas would agree with you on that,” Cole says. “Alphas are born as heirs, but many of them grow up thinking they’re not fit, that they don’t deserve it. I thought the same thing when my father tried to teach me the ways. There is always going to be that doubt. Rip it up and throw it away because it only gets bigger the more you doubt yourself. Lance is not embarrassed of you. He doesn’t want to push you into something you’re not comfortable with.”
Why is Lance so considerate? He’s making me look bad.
“I’ve made the decision to join the pack though,” I say tentatively. It’s been on my mind, but saying it out loud makes it more real.
“Have you told Lance?” Cole asks, surprised by this.
“He can sweat it out,” I say. I put my seat down, ready to sleep during the entire annoying car ride. “Good night.”
***
I don’t know how long I’ve slept, but it only feels like for three minutes when I feel someone shaking me slightly. Cole whispers, “We’re here.”
The familiar-looking mansion appears before me. The lights on are on, and the fountain in the middle of the driveway is also lit up.
Home.
I take my bag in the trunk to head over to my room. I also need to find Bo to make me feel better.
Once I get inside, my entire body freezes as I see someone so familiar come down the stairs.
Our eyes lock.
“Julia?!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“You will never have a mate.”
Those are the words Lance always heard from his biological father, Xavier.
Those are the words Lance thought to be true and that he deserved for a time in his life.
Male wolves shifted at the age of fourteen, females at the age of sixteen. Werewolves are the opposite of humans when it comes to puberty. The male goes through the shift first. It’s almost a blessing to female wolves.
At twenty-two, Lance was not too hopeful of having a mate at all. It’s been seven years of not having found her.
Only once, fleetingly, did the idea of a mate ever helped him in his life. The thought of someone that meant for him, who would actually love him, kept him alive at the whipping post at the age of fourteen. When the lashes were done, his father’s words were already stitched in his brain. As his father whipped him over and over again, he talked about how Lance was a monster and how he could never have someone love him. The idea of a mate never surfaced again. Lance accepted it.
Then she came.
He found his miracle.
At first, Lance feared she would run away in the other direction when she found out it was him but she stayed. He thought the scars on his back, the ugliness he deserved on his skin, would scare her but she stayed. She wanted to see them. She wanted to see him. Nothing had ever surprised him as much.
She keeps surprising him.
Now, he probably ruined everything by wanting to protect her because her safety comes before everything. Asking for her forgiveness will be the first thing he will do when he comes back from this.
Lance sits on his bed, wanting to sleep away the sudden ache of being apart from her. Cole gave him the update on where they were, but the ache is heavy on his heart.
Her scent lingers in the room.
After a while, he sleeps on her side of the bed for comfort.
***
In the morning, Paxon and Grayson sits on the dining table. Paxon’s pack members are gone. It’s only them. Grayson told Lance before the meeting that it would be better to leave out the fact that Miguel is a mole to Kade.
Lance will.
Right now, Lance’s priority is getting justice for Paxon.
“Wow! You really drove out your mate out of here, huh?” Grayson asks, r
aising an eyebrow. “Will she really be safer without you?”
Grayson is goading him.
“Let’s get to the matter at hand,” Paxon cuts off and he looks at Lance.
Grateful, Lance nods. “I can go there alone and take care of it,” Lance starts off.
Grayson lets out an exaggerated breath, rolling his eyes. “We all know you can.”
“Both our mates were affected,” Paxon says. “So I don’t see why you, Grayson, would want to help in any way. Forgive me for being suspicious.”
“I don’t know. There’s something about the idea of punching Kade that sounds appealing,” Grayson says.
“You are getting no land,” Lance reiterates. He doesn’t think that Grayson will let the land problem go. For some reason, Grayson is getting the northern lands little by little without anyone noticing. Bo noticed the land changes, and this talk with Grayson was a long time coming. “Kade’s pack will be dealt with according at the alpha council.”
Grayson snorts. “I didn’t know you were such a stickler for the rules. This could just be between us.”
“Paxon will decide his punishment on Steven,” Lance continues. “The alpha council will decide on the rest of the matter.”
“You really trust the judgement of the alpha council?” Grayson locks eyes with Lance. It’s another taunt. Little does Grayson know that Lance’s patience is endless.
“I do,” Lance says. “You think it hypocritical of me, but order like that is needed.”
“Do you want to know what I think?” Grayson asks. He doesn’t wait for the other alphas. “I think we should screw the rules. We all take Steven, Trent, and Kade’s lands. Split up—”
“Enough!” Paxon stands up banging violently on the table, his voice angry. “I don’t care about land, Grayson! If you think that’s all there is to life, you will live a miserable one, you greedy pig!”
“That’s a new one,” Grayson mutters.
“Steven is still alive while my mate is dead! He killed my mate! For no reason! I’m sitting around here hearing about your complaints about land. Obviously, you know nothing about mates or what I’m feeling inside. If you want land, you will have to fight. Just say it right now, Alpha Grayson Black, and I will challenge you to a duel if you want land so much.”
Lance glances at both the alphas. Both of them are tense and tired. Lance knows Grayson wouldn’t accept the challenge. Whatever Grayson’s agenda, it is still a mystery to Lance.
“Maybe it would be better if you didn’t come,” Lance says in a low voice.
Grayson stands up and points his finger at Lance.
“I’m going with you guys,” Grayson shoots back.
Lance leans back on his chair, assessing Grayson, who is definitely a loose cannon. What would the risk be if Grayson came with them?
“If I don’t allow it?” Lance asks testily.
Paxon’s eyes widen as Grayson goes a little pale.
“When we get there, one wrong move you make and you’ll have to answer to me.”
Grayson clenches his jaw. “Don’t worry, demon eyes, I won’t make any trouble. I told you, I’ll help.” Grayson storms off.
Paxon looks at Lance. “Sargon just informed me he’s—”
Outside the hallway, Grayson’s clear voice exclaims, “Ha. Sargon. About time someone interesting showed up.”
Someone chuckles darkly. “If you’re here, that doesn’t mean well for anyone.”
This is the mourning beta that Lance wanted to see.
The stranger enters the room, and his eyes land on Lance, narrowing into slits. “Why in the name of my great-grandmother is Lance Stryder here?”
“He’s a guest,” Paxon answers his beta. “I’m glad you’re here.”
Sargon looks away and Lance stands up, taking in this opportune moment. He didn’t think the Beta would show up anytime soon, but now that Sargon is here . . . “I need to speak to you in private, Sargon,” Lance says, looking at the beta closely. Ever since Lance came to Paxon’s territory, his suspicions only increased, and they couldn’t be proven until now. Seeing Sargon in the flesh proves what he initially thought.
Sargon shrugs, grabbing a beer bottle from the fridge. Paxon exits the room to give them their privacy but not before looking at Lance perplexingly.
Sargon raises his free hand. “Look, I don’t even know you, so you can’t have any beef with—”
“I’m sorry about Vanessa,” Lance cut him off. Sargon looks taken by surprise. “If my own brother were to die, I don’t know how I’d handle it.”
Sargon scoffs, his entire demeanor changing suddenly. “Thank you kindly for the regards. Is that why you’re here?”
Lance wish he doesn’t have to say it. He doesn’t know how to say it. “Paxon didn’t tell you?” Why would Paxon keep this significant information from Vanessa’s twin brother? Was Paxon going to keep Sargon out of the thing entirely? Lance searches Sargon’s face again.
“Tell me what?” Sargon’s voice gets higher.
“There are two things then that I would like to tell you. I feel as though you may want to sit down.”
“I can stand,” Sargon assures arrogantly.
“We know who killed Vanessa.”
Sargon almost falls on his knees.
Lance swallows. The information can’t be easy for anyone. “Please, Sargon, sit down.”
Sargon grunts but sits on the dining chair and takes a sip of his beer, shaking his head. “Who is this dead wolf?”
“I need you to ask you something beforehand.”
Sargon looks at Lance in defiance.
“About who your mother is.”
“My mother?” Sargon gets up quickly in defiance again, the reaction Lance expected from him.
“I know you’re half a werewolf.”
Sargon’s eye widens. “How did you—”
“Can you shift?”
“Yeah?” Sargon regards him with deep suspicion.
“Your father was a beta?”
“Yeah, he was. Geez, are you making some family tree project?”
“You mother left your father, did she not?”
Sargon is silent. “I don’t care if you’re an alpha or the fact that you can kill me. I’m leaving.”
“I don’t mean any disrespect,” Lance says.
“Where are you getting at, Alpha?” Sargon asks venomously.
“I think your mother had another child.”
The beer bottle shatters as Sargon throws it on the wall, almost hitting Lance. Sargon clenches his teeth, battling with himself.
“I heard from my drunken father about it.”
That’s all the confirmation Lance needs.
”Paxon said it . . . how my mate, Ava, looks like Vanessa. I see it too. Seeing you now . . . the resemblance is crystal clear.”
“What are you saying?” Sargon whispers.
“My mate is your half-sister.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Sometimes it’s hard to pinpoint exactly when you have become best friends with a person. It just happens, you know? Not with Julia. I remember like it’s only yesterday. My snot-nosed six-year-old self thought I was cool with my bright, flashy pink glittery book bag at the pack day care.
Werewolves aren’t bullies. It’s not the older ones but the kids that don’t know what it means to be in a pack. Pups are the bullies. If pack members are mean to each other, what the heck is the point of having a pack? Even if you are the pack “runt”, you will not be bullied because what’s the literal point of that? If you can’t trust someone in your pack, that means you deny them of your pack. You can’t do that because only the alpha can. I’m a different case because I didn’t get bullied, more like stared at and gossiped about. I remember the pitiful looks I got when my fellow pack members trained in their wolf form and I couldn’t.
When I was only six years old, two male pups tried to chase me down a river, and I couldn’t swim. I slipped on a rock. Julia came to the rescue, gave
me swimming lessons, and we became best friends because I thought her to be a hero.
She is one.
Now, she’s here in Noctis Luna. I hug Julia super tightly as she tries to breath.
“Ava . . . can’t . . . breathe . . .”
Letting her go, I almost cry from happiness because of the crappy few days I just had. Julia is here! Nothing matters now but this. Julia looks slightly uncomfortable but smiles.
“Wait,” I say slowly, coming to a realization that I should have had the moment I saw her beautiful face. “What are you doing here?”
Julia opens her mouth, but Bo comes in and swoops me off my feet and then hugs me. “Thought you would ditch me here all alone, Ava!” Bo puts me down and grins at me, glancing at Julia. He throws up both hands in the air. “Surprise!”
I can’t keep the huge smile off my face. Julia is right here. In the present. Right in front of me. Right now.
“Very surprised,” I tell them, shaking my head, wondering if I’m dreaming. I can wake up any time now and be back at Paxon’s place.
Julia places her hand on my back.
“Bo Bear, you can leave now and give us some time alone,” Julia says sweetly.
Bo sticks his tongue out, and Julia ushers me to a room. It’s one of the guest rooms in the pack house, and I’m glad it seems like she had already made herself at home.
We both sit down on her bed, and I need to know everything. “This is the best surprise ever. Julia, how are my parents and Lisa?”
Julia looks down. I’ve known her my whole life, literally, and this isn’t a good sign. At all. My heart drops.
“Lisa is still in the pack. As for your parents, Ava, I’m sorry but I couldn’t find them. I think they left the pack.”
“They what?” I ask in complete shock.
“Last time I heard of them was right before I came here, and they were saying something about finding someone?”
“You think they’re trying to find me?” I ask her as I sit down. I miss my parents. I miss Lisa. Seeing Julia reminds me of my former home and my family.