She had a lot to do today. Thinking of a man she had never met—and would never meet—was just plain absurd. She had Phoenix. She loved Phoenix. She was happy with Phoenix. Several of her pack were meeting her at the house to help her pack up what she didn’t want to sell in the estate auction coming up this Saturday. The house had sold quickly, but all the contents wouldn’t fit in the two-bedroom apartment she was moving into the first of March. She didn’t want any of Marc’s crap anyway. It was best to sell it to people who would appreciate it, and then donate the money to charity.
“You leaving?” Phoenix said on a yawn.
When she made eye contact with those beautiful, bright blue eyes of his, a smile spread across her face and she pulled the shirt over her head as she went to him. Bending down, Mena pressed her lips to his. She snickered and pulled away when he moaned, knowing he would make her late if she allowed him to deepen the kiss. “Go back to sleep. I’ll be back before dusk.”
“I made reservations at Village Tavern in Birmingham for 8:30. The South is seriously lacking on classy restaurants, but it’s the best I could find. I thought you could use a relaxing night out with your boyfriend. It’s about a two hour drive, so can you be here and ready by 6:30?”
Mena grinned. “You don’t eat.”
“No, but you do, and I want to take you on a date. We can people watch. Maybe I’ll get lucky and there will be a guy there who is cheating on his wife. The strip of lighter skin around the ring finger on a man’s left hand is a dead giveaway that his ring is in his pocket.” He winked. “I’ll follow him to the restroom for my meal.”
“I’ll be back by 5:30 then,” Mena said, and then bent to give him one last quick kiss before she left him to put her hair up in a ponytail.
“Mena…” Phoenix said as she slipped her shoes on and grabbed her jacket.
After spotting her purse on one of the chairs, she picked it up and shouldered the strap. “Yeah?”
His eyes were full of worry as he looked at her. “I love you, Lupacchiotto. You mean the world to me. Be safe today.”
Laughing lightly, Mena went to the bed again. “I’m only going to pack, Phoenix. The worst thing that could possibly happen is me getting a cardboard cut from one of the boxes.”
He took her hand and brought her fingers up to his mouth. As he looked up at her from under his thick lashes, he said, “That would be a tragedy. I’d hate to have to murder a box, so be careful, my love, because I would. I would annihilate a box for you.” He pressed his lips to the back of her hand as she laughed.
Chapter 58
Tuesday, February 24th 2015 9:56 a.m. CST
Montgomery, Alabama
Mena
The rain was really coming down now, but Mena didn’t mind. At least it wasn’t the snow and ice they’d had the week before. She really despised the multiple personalities the South had during its seasons. She’d much rather live somewhere where the weather stayed the same for the most part of the year, somewhere like Arizona or Nevada. She didn’t mind the heat of summer, but even the heat in the South was downright ridiculous. It wasn’t just heat here. It was better explained as scorching humidity, but even scorching humidity was better than cold and wet, in her opinion.
“I packed up everything you had in the corner of the dining room,” Jess said. “Want me to stack the boxes by the front door so the guys can load it into the U-Haul when they get here?”
Mena sat back on her heels and sighed, wondering how she and Marc had accumulated so much shit over the years. It would be less work to just set a match to everything. She sighed. “Yes, that’s fine. Thank you, Jess.”
“Will do, boss,” Jess said, then left.
The slow drum of the doorbell sounded through the house, and Mena wondered why any of her pack bothered with ringing it or knocking. Her home was their home. She’d informed them many times, yet they pushed the damn button for the doorbell anyway. She was convinced they did it to irritate her.
“Jess! Will you get that?”
“Got it, boss!” came Jess’ reply, and Mena shook her head as she chuckled. She was really glad Jess didn’t hold it against her that she had killed her mate. Mena really liked the girl.
The sound of low voices lightly echoed into the pantry where she was packing up canned goods, but she assumed that Roel and Brad had arrived with the U-Haul truck.
“Uh, Mena?” Jess said from the door, and Mena looked up as she put a can of green beans in the box.
“What is it?”
“More like a who instead of a what, and whatever he’s selling, I’m buying stock in it. There’s a guy at the door. He wants to talk to you.”
Mena got to her feet and brushed off her clothes, regretting not hiring a maid for the sole purpose of dusting. The stuff was everywhere in here.
She could see the guy was still standing in the open doorway as she walked up the hallway toward the foyer. He was tall and well-built, with long, dark hair and light green eyes. His tanned skin told her that he either didn’t live in the South—at least not during this time of the year—or maybe he had a tad of Indian blood in him. He sure looked like what she imagined a Cherokee Chief would look like, and she agreed with Jess: whatever he was selling, she was buying.
“Yes?” Mena said, but the guy only stared at her.
A slow smile stretched his thin lips out, revealing straight, white teeth. His hand came forward, and she shook it. Warm and dry, but definitely soft and free of any calluses, like he wasn’t used to manual labor. She couldn’t tell that by looking at his muscular build. Surely he would have to use those hands to workout.
“May I help you?” Mena said, when she realized he hadn’t spoken yet.
“Yes,” he said, his voice deep and a little raspy. “I believe you can. May we converse in private, ma’am?”
“Gah!” A pretty young woman, with equally tanned skin and pleasant features popped out from behind the man, startling Mena. “Stop with the proper stuff, Slade. You’re making me gag, and I don’t want to throw up on Andra’s porch.”
The guy rolled his eyes as he growled out something that sounded like ‘sinner’ or ‘sinna’.
Mena’s brow furrowed as she watched the girl. She was sure she’d never seen her before, but there was an air of familiarity about her. And why had she said that? There wasn’t an Andra that lived here. This was her house until the closing. Were these the people who had bought the house? Or did they know them? “Excuse me?” Mena said.
The girl stuck out her arm and grabbed Mena’s hand, shaking it vigorously. “Nice to meet you… again. I don’t mean to be so casual, but we’ve already been well introduced, and you need to hear what we have to say. May we come in?”
Mena blinked in confusion. “Uh… sure,” she said, and then stepped back, opening the door wider, so the guests could enter the house. After they walked in, she said, “I don’t believe I caught your names.”
“I’m Slade, and this is Sinna,” the guy said as he checked out all the boxes and stuff piled up everywhere. “Are you moving?”
Well, that answered the question of whether they were the new buyers, Mena thought, and then walked to the living room. “Yes. This is a little big for me to live in after the death of my husband. I found an apartment. Some friends of mine are helping me get some things moved today.” The couple just kept looking around, as if they were scoping the place out to break into after everyone left tonight, not that she would care if it meant she didn’t have to pack up anything else. “I’m sorry,” she said, “but why are you here again?”
“To talk…” Slade glanced to Mena’s right side, and she turned her head to see that Jess was standing there, just staring at Slade. Odd name, Mena thought as he finished his sentence, “…in private, if you don’t mind.”
“Sure,” Mena said. “Jess, do you mind giving us some privacy? I think Tracy could use some help upstairs.”
Sinna’s eyes grew wide. “Tracy is here?”
Mena gave her a co
nfused look, and then her eyes shifted to Slade. He seemed uncomfortable with this news, too. “Yes. Have the two of you met Tracy?”
“We need to do this fast,” Slade said as he looked around the living room. “There’s no way to lock this room. Do you have a room we can go into that will lock from the inside?”
Mena’s eyes bugged out. “Are you kidnapping me?”
Sinna laughed. “No. Sorry. He talked before he realized how that might sound. He just means that he doesn’t want to be interrupted during our conversation, and that maybe some of your friends will want to do that to keep you from hearing what we have to say.”
Mena sighed as she walked across the living room, through an archway, took a left down a short hall and walked into the study. “Is here okay?” Slade closed and locked the door, and then he nodded. “So, what’s this about?” When there was silence from Slade, Mena looked to Sinna. “Well?”
Sinna looked at Slade and rolled her eyes. “Did you even plan what you were going to say to her when you got here?”
“Yeah, but it all sounded crazy,” Slade said.
Mena nodded. “It’s all sounding pretty crazy to me, and I haven’t even heard anything yet.”
“I’m glad I came with you,” Sinna said. “I can only imagine the catastrophe this would be if you tried this alone.”
“Will one of you tell me what this is about?” Mena said, her voice rising in frustration.
“Mena!” Tracy yelled from down the hall, and Sinna and Slade both turned to look at the door.
“I’m in here!”
“You can’t let her in,” Slade said, panicked, and then grabbed Mena’s wrist when she took a step toward the door. “Please. You must hear what we have to say before you let anyone in here.”
The door knob rattled, then Tracy shouted Mena’s name again before pounding on the wood. “Who’s in there with you, Mena?”
“Please,” Sinna said, “don’t let her in or you won’t find out the truth.”
“The truth,” Mena whispered as she took a step back, pulling her arm from Slade’s. He let her go without any resistance. “What truth? Who are you people? Were you the ones who took me?” Mena began to panic as she backed up. Flashes of the brief memory she had of killing the guy raced through her mind. “Are you slayers?”
Slade’s palms came up. “No. We saved you from the slayers.”
Mena shook her head. “Phoenix saved me from the slayers.”
“Mena!” Tracy shouted. “Open the door!” Then it sounded like she was talking to someone else, because Mena could barely make out her words. “What did they look like again?” Jess said a few indistinct words, and then Tracy cursed. “Slade, don’t do this!
“I don’t have a choice, Tracy,” Slade said. “She has a right to know—”
“I demand that everyone shut the hell up!” Mena shouted, shutting everyone up. The banging on the door even stopped. She focused on Slade. “Why are you here?”
A whimper came from out in the hallway, and then there were footsteps running away from the door.
Slade held out a single white envelope to Mena. It wasn’t thick, but the stationery was of great quality. Flipping it over, she read the address:
Andromeda Keller
46 Top Pointe Lane
Las Vegas, Nevada
89103
Battling confusion, Mena lost and allowed her eyebrows to draw in. She’d just named her wolf Andromeda, but that had to be a coincidence, right? She’d never heard of Andromeda Keller before. “I don’t understand.”
Slade nodded. “I know. That’s why we’re here. We need to tell you who you are.” Mena’s eyes grew wide as she took a step back. “Open the envelope, Andra.”
Andra. Andra. Andra. Andra. The girl—Sinna—had said that name at the front door, but she had a feeling she’d heard someone call her that before. Who? Who was it? Trey! In her dream, Trey had called her Andra! She almost laughed at the absurdity of how this all sounded. She didn’t know Trey Thatcher in real life.
Sighing heavily, she ripped off the end of the envelope then took out two letters from inside. If nothing else, it would at least answer a question and get her to the next question she’d need an answer to. It wasn’t every day that someone showed up at your door and told you that you were someone else.
The first letter she opened was a short one.
Dear Andromeda,
We are so pleased here at the council to congratulate you on your mating nuptials with Ace Keller. Furthermore, we are happy that you have taken the role of Alpha from your late husband, Marc Hoke. We do hope you are settling in quite well with your new pack and pride. I look forward to seeing you in May.
With warmest regards,
Abhor Leatherly – Council President
Mena blinked slowly a few times, and then read the letter again, and then once again. It had to be a joke. If she had received this letter in her own mailbox, she wouldn’t have questioned anything except the person it was addressed to on the envelope. But to get it from two strangers… Something wasn’t right.
She folded it back up and opened the second letter without responding to the stares of the people in the room with her.
This one appeared to be a formal invitation of some sort. Again, the stationery was expensive, with black and gold font and bordering.
The Council and other members of
The Shift
Cordially invite you and five guests of your choosing to our upcoming
Masquerade Ball and Shift Ceremony.
The dress will be formal, and since it is a Masquerade Ball,
Do not forget your mask.
Date:
Saturday
May the Second
Of the Year
Two Thousand and Fifteen
At Seven o’clock in the Evening
Location:
Peabody Opera House
1400 Market Street
St. Louis, Missouri
63103
“All Alphas are to attend,” Slade said in a quiet voice.
Mena folded the invitation up and slid both letters back in the envelope before responding to what he said. “I think you’ve got the wrong Alpha.”
Slade grinned. “I am certain that we do not.”
“How can you be certain?” Mena demanded. “You’ve never seen me before. You know what I think? I think this is a prank.”
Sinna shook her head. “We’ve met you, Andra. Ace Keller is the Alpha over our pride of lions and you are his mate. He loved you and you loved him. You were at our compound from February fourth through February sixth, before you were taken by slayers and the bond had to be broken in order to save both your lives.”
“The bond…” Mena whispered as she shook her head.
“Ace was the only Alpha who agreed to bond with you,” Slade said. “Jesus, didn’t your vampire tell you anything? The moonrising wolf would have taken over otherwise. Ace bonded with you and spent five days with you at Phoenix’s compound. He helped you destroy the one who was trying to kill you and take over your pack. Shit. I don’t remember his name. Sinna, do you—”
“Daryn,” Mena whispered.
“Yes,” Slade said, “Daryn was his name.”
“Phoenix told me that he killed Daryn.”
“I hate to be the one to inform you of this, but your boyfriend isn’t a damn angel. He’s a blood sucking demon,” Slade said, and then he seemed to think better of himself and took a step back. “I’m sorry. He actually did help kill Daryn, but Ace is the one who initiated the attack and took action first. Ace would have crossed oceans and moved mountains for you. I had never seen him so happy before.” Slade’s hands came up to rest on his hips as he sighed. “I’m not here to try and get you back together with him. The way he is now, he doesn’t deserve you. It was better for you to know the truth now and be able to prepare yourself.”
Suddenly in a fog, Mena looked down at the envelope in her hand and her vision blurred. This could
n’t be true. It just couldn’t be. Because if it was, that meant Phoenix had lied to her and, once again, took the matter of making her choices for her into his own hands. But it wasn’t only Phoenix who had kept this from her. If this was true, her whole pack had known about it and hadn’t said a word. That kind of pain was too much to suffer through. She shook her head. “No. I can’t believe this. I won’t. You need to leave. Now. Get out!”
“May I say one more thing?” Slade said. “I swear we will leave after you’ve heard it.”
Taking in a deep breath, Mena squared her shoulders and lifted her chin, ready for the end of the world, if that’s what was to happen next. “What is it?”
“Just because you don’t believe it, doesn’t mean it’s not true. Ace doesn’t remember you, either, but he got shot twice when we were searching for you. After I got him back to the house and half-ass healed up, he asked me to record a video message of him for you.” Slade held out a business card, then flipped it over to reveal something hand written. “That’s the link. Watch it or don’t. It’s completely up to you. Whether you believe all this or not, the cruel reality is that you are mated to my Alpha and you will see each other at the Shift ceremony in just a little over two months. After that, your pack and Ace’s pride will be stationed together in the same territory. You will have no choice but to go.”
She swallowed, and then looked at Sinna. The girl had tears in her eyes as she nodded. “We miss you so much. I wish you could remember us.”
“Phoenix,” Mena said, and then cleared her throat. “I would have never loved any other man besides Phoenix—”
“You did” Slade said. “You broke things off with Phoenix in Las Vegas. He was pissed about it and asked Ace’s best friend to add an ingredient to the spell that would destroy the bond. The extra ingredient gave you both amnesia.” Someone started pounding on the door.
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