>"Dad, I'd really rather not take anything. The purpose of leaving is to start fresh. We can't do that if we hold old keepsakes close." Zoe leaned against the doorframe of the study room where her father was busy gethering trinkets close to his heart in a briefcase."These are not keepsakes. These belonged to your mother. These are the only few things we have left of her. It doesn't matter we go, she is going with us." He stopped and looked at his daughter, "I don't have anything else to take from this pack either."He was trying to stay strong for his daughter but the pack was his home. The land of his ancestors. It was hurting him to leave at this age. But he knew it was impossible to stay among those who had turned on him and made him endure so much humiliation while being aware of his innocence."Zoe, sweeties there is someone here to see you." Aunt Julie came from behind them, nervously."Who is it?" Zoe turned to face her, leaving her father to his packing."It is be
>I offered to drop Simmons at the train station. They had decided to leave their car with Aunt Julie who had chosen to stay behind saying that she felt too old to begin again. Zoe had stayed silent the whole ride to the train station. She was upset, she had every right to be upset.Mr. Simmons went to buy two tickets, leaving Zoe alone with me."I didn't get to give it to you earlier." She said."What is it?" I asked, taking a small piece of paper from her hands, surprised that she had talked to me."Your final cheque. I never got to pay you the final installment of your fee. This is the money the pack paid us for Dad's case." She didn't look at me."You don't need to-" I started but her sharp gaze pierced me."According to our contract, I was expected to pay in full. In case of failing to do so, I owed you double the money. I was a paying client, wasn't I? Here is your final installment. Thank you for being lenient." Her words cut like a silver knife through the hea
>"What was so important that it couldn't wait for the weekend? You know John's still in custody. We shouldn't be meeting like this." I heard Claire say to the man."Were you followed?" He asked instead of answering her."Of course not. Do you think I'm an idiot?" Claire replied offended."Did you bring it?" He then asked."Yes." She sighed and took something out of her purse."Now, what are the orders?" Claire asked as she handed the small item to the man."Is this everything you have?" He asked instead of answering her question again."Yes, David. Now, what are my orders? Why did I have to give all my research up?" She asked. I could sense a hint of desperation in her voice. That was not the Claire I knew. What was going on?"Oh, Please. You and I both know, as well as my superiors that you would never give up all your research this easily." He smirked at her."As valuable as my work is for me. Our cause is more important." She growled and stepped closer to him and th
>After changing two trains and showing our papers at the border of our new pack, Dad and I took a taxi to our apartment building.It was in a nice area, in the fairly wealthy part of the city. We paid for the taxi and made our way to the elevator. "Hold it!" Someone called right before the door was about to close. I placed my foot to stop the door and someone rushed in a hurry and thanked me, "Thank you so much," the fairly young girl huffed and fixed the folder she was holding."No problem." I smiled even though she was not looking at me."Zoe? Zoe Simmons? Is it really you?" The girl asked and I looked at her surprised."Angelina? What are you doing here?" I asked and we both smiled at each other excitedly."What am I doing here? What are you doing in Golden Eclipse Pack?" She asked excitedly."I got transferred to this pack. I am officially from Golden Eclipse now. New beginnings and all that." I told her."Wait, really?!" She exclaimed. Dad was watching the whole int
>"Where are you taking me?" Claire asked in a small voice but received no answer.The ride to my cabin was tense. My thoughts were jumbled up and she was fidgeting in her seat. A man was dead. I had mind-linked Luca to clean up that mess and find everything about that man as soon as possible. I wanted to know everything that was going on in the territories of these neighboring packs. Were my people in danger? What was Claire truly up to?When we pulled over, I silently led Claire inside and locked the door.My eyes stopped for a second at Zoe's portrait that I had painted here. The only reminder of the pure and destined emotions and passions that I had experienced."I missed this place. It has been so long since we were last here. Do you remember when you-" She started nostalgically but I interrupted her in a monotone,"Give me your purse." "Xavier?" She asked as if she was surprised that I was acting like this."Your purse. Now, Claire." I repeated.She opened her
>"Dad, the lunch is in the fridge, warm it up when you want." I called out as I grabbed my coat from the hanger."You know, you didn't have to wake up so early to cook breakfast and lunch. I'm the one who taught you how to cook. I am quite capable of cooking for myself." Dad came from his room and gave me a hug."I know. But it doesn't hurt that you need rest and I wanted to do something for you." I kissed his cheek and grabbed my purse, making sure that I had my phone and every important thing with me."You have done so much for me already. Best of luck for the internship." Dad smiled at me as I opened the door to leave."I haven't done half as much as you've done for me. And, thank you. I hope my new bosses are better than the ones I've had in the past." I smiled as I left the apartment."I'll pray for you." He said and locked the door after me.I took a deep breath and walked towards the elevator. I wanted to hope for the best but given my history, I was expecting the
>I let Luca in and his worried voice sounded in my head through the mind-link,"Alpha, I'm afraid I've got seriously bad news." Got straight to the point.I let my hands through my hair and sighed. What was the worst that could happen after the way Claire had betrayed me?"Lay it on me, Luke." I ordered."Alpha. I found the identity of the man. He wasn't easy to find out, even for me. His name is David Malarkey. He works for the Alpha King's intelligence. He is a part of the elite squad working on questionable werewolf research, among other things.""How questionable are we talking about here? And what other things?" "Questionable like real wolf experiments. And other things like live witch experiments. That was the gist of what I was able to find out in this time frame. I am still on it. Looks like there is a huge dark pit of information where this came from. I've got a few guys working on it currently.""Luke, what was this man doing with Claire?""Alpha, I'm not ex
>I was led through the lobbies and a few sets of stairs. Everyone seemed to make way for the man walking beside me. I was right, he was someone important here. He walked with grace and confidence like he owned the place and it reminded me of the way Xavier used to mingle with his pack. He was kind, sweet, and genuine with those people. Until he decided I wasn't the one for him."Penny for your thoughts? You seem to be lost in your mind." My companion smiled charmingly at me and I looked at him like I had just realized that he was walking with me as well."Yes, sorry. First day at work. What were you saying?" I asked after politely apologizing."First day, huh? I knew I hadn't seen you before. Don't worry. You are dressed for the job and if you are here, know that you deserve to be here." He supported me and I appreciated his words."Thank you." I nodded grateful for his words."You do know where you are right?" He leaned in conspiratorily and I got a whiff of his pinewoo
>It took an hour and a lot of emotional blackmail on behalf of Aunt Julie to convince Zoe to let Xavier go with her to Kansas City. And that too only on the condition that nothing would be expected of her and it was only a test for Xavier to see if he can keep to his word.After a lot of persuasion and tales of mates, second chances, belief in the Moon Goddess, and the fact that technically Xavier was the only one left in the world who was hers and on her side for good, Aunt Julie smiled and patted Zoe's back, "I'll go up and tell him that you need to talk. Be nice, okay?"Zoe didn't dare roll her eyes at Aunt Julie, she respected her way too much for that. But she did shake her head slightly knowing how Aunt Julie managed to convince her but she let her do it. If anyone had any right to Zoe, it was Aunt Julie after everything she had done for the Simmons family and how she had been so much more than just a distinct cousin of her Dad and their housekeeper. She was family a
>Zoe climbed up the stairs decisively while Xavier stayed in the garage trying to calm down and make peace with the fact that his forgiveness was going to take some time. He was hopeful that it would come eventually, just a bit late.He wanted to tell Zoe about Claire so she would stop worrying about him going back to her. But, Zoe already had so much on her plate, that she didn't need to be pulled into everything Claire was a part of. Xavier felt like it was pointless to make his worries hers when she hadn't even forgiven him yet.The more important thing was staying by her side. Which meant, he had to persuade her to let him come with her. The world was a much darker place than she knew and he wanted to protect her from it even though physically she didn't need protecting.Plus, he had no idea how idea what awaited them at those coordinates. Since it had been more than a decade since those numbers had been put down on that letter, there was a possibility that they would f
>"Zoe, I cannot relate to your pain or anything you are going through. So, I will not even try to say that I understand. I don't. And I know how many times I have let you down," He started the speech he had been working for hours as they drove to Silver Moon two days ago."Don't, please," Zoe tried to turn away. She wanted the apology. She had spent nights dreaming of the moment Xavier realized what a huge mistake he had made to let her go. But, that was not the moment for it. She was already an emotional mess."Let me, please. You need to hear this and I need to say this." He cautiously stepped closer and held her arms gently to ensure she didn't leave without hearing but could if she wanted to."Why? You didn't care about saying or being heard a few months ago." Zoe looked up at him bitterly, his touch igniting sensations stronger than she had ever felt because of her heightened senses."Believe me or not but I really thought that letting you go to have a new life was th
>"What are you so happy about?" I asked Aunt Julie whose excitement was confusing me.Instead of answering me straight away she sat me down on a couch with a nostalgic look and held my hands motherly before finally speaking."Did your Dad ever tell you that you have your mother's eyes?" She asked with a soft sad smile.She didn't wait for me to answer, probably because she knew the answer to her question. She resumed, "Of course not. He did his best to remove any mention of her from his life. That was his way of dealing with his grief."What about my grief? I wanted to ask but I chose to listen.She was right, no one was allowed to talk about Mom in our house. I was never allowed to ask any questions. Aunt Julie tried her best to fill that hole in my life but for a ten-year-old girl, no one could replace her mother. I barely had any memories of her either. The psychiatrist had told Dad that it was a form of PTSD. I don't remember what the trauma exactly was, but apparentl
>Zoe ran to her room and gathered the contents of the box. She got her old laptop and searched up the location. She rushed back down and went outside to the broken car.Xavier and Aunt Julie followed her as Zoe opened the backseat door."You can't go in that. I doubt it's even going to start." Xavier commented."It better. The coordinates are a two-day drive away." Zoe replied without looking at him. Then, she suddenly turned to him, "Key?" She brought her hand forward expectantly."Zoe," He started but she was getting impatient, "Key, now."He sighed, fetched the key from his pants pocket, and placed it on her open palm. She grabbed it and turned without a thank you. Aunt Julie tried to protest, "You can't let her go alone,""I'm not. Don't worry, " he said and waited for Zoe to try starting the car. He crossed his arms and waited as she turned the key in the ignition, but the car didn't start. Zoe stubbornly tried to keep trying instead of admitting that he was right. T
>"What are these?" Zoe put the envelope on the coffee table between herself and Xavier.Glad that she was finally talking to him, he leaned, his brows furrowed in confusion and concentration, "Letter to you?" He said."The number, what are those?" Zoe resisted the urge to roll her eyes or go over and kiss his confused expression. She knew he was trying not to upset her further. She didn't know why he suddenly cared but a small part of her was relieved that he hadn't mentioned his chosen mate yet or gone back to her. By the looks of it, he was only worried about Zoe. She didn't want to let him in her heart and get it broken again but she wasn't sure if he had left entirely the first time either."Looks like coordinates." He thought out loud."I knew it." Zoe snatched the envelope back, their fingers brushing for a moment and both tried to not show how the touch affected them."I can get the location checked. That is, if you want.." Xavier offered softly.Zoe didn't answer b
>"Weren't you informed not to call? The lines can be intercepted!" I whisper-yelled into the phone as soon as I was sure neither Aunt Julie nor Zoe could overhear."This one's fine, Sir. I made sure. And this is urgent." Jacob spoke in a hushed tone like he was afraid."Well?" I said expectantly, urging Jacob to resume."We were found. Some of our men work for your father and call him Alpha. I don't know how they found out." Jacob informed."Did they take Claire?" I asked expecting the worst."No. They tripped off an alarm I had planted around the area and I got a fifteen-minute headstart. I drugged Claire and took her before they could get us. They knew about the underground room." He told."Where are you now?""At the Shaw Safehouse. I cleaned up any evidence of the underground room being in use before we left. They won't know Claire was there." Jacob reassured me and then said, "But the bad news is, the cleanup team at Golden Eclipse didn't do as great of a job.""W
>The next morning, Zoe was up and out of the house just as the dawn broke through the sky.She had a restless night, the same nightmare burning her mind whenever she closed her eyes. She had waited for her wolf for so long. And then, she had taken even longer to accept that, unlike her fellows, she would never be able to transform into one because she was wolfless.Now, she had a beast. Granted it was not a regular wolf but an animal nonetheless and she wanted to transform. Her mind focused on her need to feel herself shift consciously just to be sure that it had actually happened. Also, this newfound focus helped distract her from the grief of her father.She called out to Dahlia and fell to her knees, trying to force her bones to move, for her skin to get covered with thin grey fur and for her canines to elongate and sharpen. Nothing happened.Dahlia did her best to aid her human but it proved futile as no matter how hard either of them tried, Zoe's body refused to trans
[WARNING: This chapter contains details of gore and death. Proceed with caution.]>That night Zoe slept in her old bed. Apparently, no one had known about their departure from Golden Ecplise or their arrival at the Silver Moon.Xavier chose to stay and Aunt Julie asked him to stay in Joe Simmons room but he refused knowing that when Zoe found out, she would be furious. She blamed Xavier for her father's death, and truthfully, so did he.Aunt Julie wanted to ask about Xavier about his pack but he had been so quiet that she decided otherwise.Zoe sat on her bed looking at the contents of the wooden box. She stared at the pictures. This time with more attention to detail than she had earlier in the day. She read the notes behind each. Some were normal comments about the picture while some were in the same language as the bundle of paper and needed to be decipered. It was just all too much information to be digested at once. The only good thing that came out of opening that