Trista’s POVIt was an odd thing to say. Devour me with his eyes?There was something about his tone.I should have bolted for the door. I should have run.But the truth was, I was torn.I was intrigued by this man. Who was he? What did he want from me? He wasn’t human so WHAT was he? Why had he bid on my jewelry and demanded to see me?“Come,” he said again. He was still sitting, in the dimly lit corner. I was strangely drawn to him. Serena acted like he was dangerous. I didn’t feel like that, though. Arrogant? Yes. Bossy? Absolutely. Entitled? You bet.But not dangerous.So, out of curiosity, I moved towards him.It was so damned dark in that room though. I stumbled over a low coffee table and tripped. But instead of hitting the floor, I fell into his arms.He’d caught me with lightning speed. Inhuman speed. If I hadn’t been sure before, I definitely was now.This man was NOT human. He held me, dipped backwards in his arms. He hovered over me. Then he removed one arm from my bac
Trista’s POVI ran out of the VIP room, my dress clutched in my hands. I put it back on as best I could, even though I had to hold it together with my hands. I couldn’t let anyone see me, not like this, so I ran to the stairwell and hid in a corner.Tears spilled from my eyes.What just happened? Who was that man?He looked like Johnson but he couldn’t have been. There was no way! Johnson knew I had poor eyesight. He knew how much I hated dimly lit rooms. Johnson would NEVER try to trick me like that.My breath was coming in ragged gasps. I had to calm myself down.The man’s silver eyes flashed through my mind. Johnson had beautiful blue eyes. And yes, I’d seen them turn a strange sort of uncontrolled red before.But never silver.I wrapped my knees into my chest and rested my cheek on my knee. I was calming down now but I was still very upset.That man had spent a hundred million dollars on my jewelry! Yes, Johnson was rich, but he wasn’t THAT rich. He couldn’t flippantly squander a
Johnson’s POV Fear.That’s what I saw in Trista’s eyes as she pried herself from me. I released her then I watched with narrowed eyes as Trista ran out of the room.“Arggg!” I hollered, plunging my claws into the table. It was all I could do to stop myself from grabbing her. I wanted to run after her but I knew I had to stop myself“What have I done?” I whispered out loud, horrified at myself. My wolf, Silver, growled menacingly. “Get her,” he demanded. “She’s yours!”I shook my head, my claws digging into the table.“No,” I told him.“Yes,” he hissed.“SHUT UP!” I snapped at him.He paced, his fur bristled. “She belongs to you. CLAIM HER!”My hands shook. “I won’t let you hurt her,” I said. “Stop it, you bastard.”Silver stopped pacing. He chuckled, a low, threatening laugh. “Bastard?” he scoffed sarcastically. “A moment ago you were deliberating between fucking her or tearing her to shreds. If I’m a bastard, then so are you. Admit it.”He glared at me, and I saw the gleam
*Warning*: Dear reader, I apologize for the somewhat gory and violent content of these two chapters. It is meant to show that Johnson did go through a dark moment.Johnson’s POVMy mother had called me, out of the blue. I was in the United States, missing Trista. Her words made my blood run cold. “Please come, Johnson,” she pleaded into the phone, her voice barely above a whisper. “Your father’s been shot.”I hung up the receiver and booked a red eye flight to Milan.Shot?My father?But whom?I rushed to their home in the south of France, expecting the worst. I knew by then that my father was involved in some pretty shady business, but I hadn’t known the extent of it until I arrived at their estate.I ran into the lobby of our family home and instantly noticed a strange atmosphere. Instead of being greeted by our butler, the lobby was full of big, burly men in black suits.“Where’s my father?” I demanded, unease settling in. Who were these men? Where was our normal staff?Just then
*Warning*: Dear reader, I apologise for the somewhat gory and violent content of these two chapters. It is meant to show that Johnson did go through a dark moment.Johnson’s POVMy uncle Felix. My cousin Leopold. A dozen bodyguards.All dead.My father?I rushed to his bedside. I lowered my ear to his mouth. Thank god! He was still breathing.Jake walked to the bed and hovered over my Uncle Felix’s body.“Ssshh,” Jake told me, putting a finger up to his mouth. I watched him with wide eyes. Jake was smaller than his twin brother had been, and far less imposing. Yet, watching him there, hovering over his own FATHER, something told me he was FAR more menacing.We listened, and sure enough, Felix was still breathing, although it was raspy.“Oh,” Jake said, covering his heart with his hand. “You didn’t finish him off. You saved him, for me? How sweet.” “I…” But before I could say anything else, Jake whipped out his gun and shot his father square in the back of the head. His skull ex
Johnson’s POVJake suddenly changed directions and walked over to the one-way window. He tapped on it lightly. It seemed he wasn’t going to stop me from leaving after all. So I reached for the door handle.“My oh my,” Jake said, peering out the window. “What have we here?”He smacked his lips and looked at me over his shoulder.“You really ought to come see these ones, Johnson. The one in the gold dress? Mmmmm. She’s delicious.”Wait.Gold dress?Trista was wearing a gold dress. I saw her enter the room with Hazel.“I’d LOVE a taste of her,” Jake said, clutching his dick for effect.Maybe it was a coincidence? There were probably tons of women wearing gold dresses down there on that floor.But then again…What if it wasn’t? My protective instincts kicked in and I went over to the window.“That one…right….there.” Jake pointed at the window and I looked down. Sure enough, he pointed right at Trista. “She’s a tasty one, isn’t she?”My blood boiled.He was leering at Trista and the way he
Johnson’s POVThe men stepped back from the window.“Get me a drink,” Jake told one of them. He nodded and poured himself a whiskey.“You staying?” he asked me as I also walked over to the bar.“Yup,” I said nonchalantly. Even though I didn’t want Trista to have anything to do with me anymore, I couldn’t just abandon her. Not with these men ogling her like that.I’d tried to keep my distance from her. It had damn near killed me though. I missed her so so much. But I was caught up in this whole mess now with the mafia. And I still didn’t know the full truth about my father’s underground business.So I had to cut Trista free.AFTER the auction. First, I had to know she was safe.I poured myself a whiskey and swirled it around in the glass.“You were awfully quiet just now, cousin,” Jake said, eying me suspiciously. “What’s the matter? Don’t you like girls?”I had to keep playing the part. I had to keep convincing these men that I was on their side, that we were in an alliance. At least
Johnson’s POVTrista walked into the room and my heart stopped. It had been a while since I’d seen her this close up. She was radiant in her gold gown. She had a bright smile on her face, and rightfully so! She’d just sold her jewelry for $100 million dollars! Her eyes scanned the room and I saw her smile falter.She didn’t like the sight of these men lounging on the couch, sipping their whiskey. She hadn’t known what she was walking into and now that she was here, she was having doubts. I could read her thoughts on her face.I resisted the urge to rush to her and hold her in my arms, to tell her it was okay, that I was here. But I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t let her know it was me. I had to pretend I was one of these men so she wouldn’t recognize me. I also couldn’t let her see my face so I skulked into the back corner, into the shadows.I knew she wouldn’t be able to recognize me in the dark shadows, especially since she had such poor eyesight. She thanked the men on the couch, s
“Who are you?” I asked the second voice in my head. Silver’s voice was gone. I didn’t understand. Where was this second voice coming from? It was so different than Silver’s. It was soft and gentle. Silver’s voice tore through my head like a whip. This voice rippled and floated. I was instantly drawn to it.“Quill,” the second voice said. “I’m your other wolf.”Other wolf? But how could that be? Did he mean that…Silver was my wolf? My heart dropped. If Silver was my wolf, then that meant – my wolf was a blood-thirsty, evil beast bent on killing everyone and anything in his path?Oh God.But wait. He’d just said ‘other wolf’. So that meant…“I have two wolves?” I asked, confused.“Yes. We’re twins,” the gentle voice confirmed.Twin…..wolves?“We’re nothing alike, Johnson,” the second voice, Quill, continued. “In fact, we’re polar opposites. We argue all the time.”“Why haven’t I heard your voice before?” I asked.“Silver often overpowers me,” Quill explained. “But I’ve found a way to br
Johnson’s POV“Impressive,” Jake smirked, looking at the shattered window. I hoped he bought it. If he knew that I was trying to protect both Liam and Trista, and that I let them go on purpose, it would only pique his interest in both of them, especially Trista. He’d want to find her and have a ‘good time with the bitch.’ I couldn’t let them happen. I had to persuade him that I hated both Liam and Trista. “Yeah well, he deserved it,” I snapped back, lacing my voice with as much venom as I could. “He was a pompous ass.”Jake nodded appreciatively. “And the bitch?” he asked, meaning Trista.“She’s nothing,” I snipped, waving my hand in the air dismissively. “I was nice to her at one point. I mean, come on, she’s a hot piece of ass, after all. I wanted a taste of her. But she chose that scumbag ex of hers over me. So I naturally got pissed and snapped. I wanted some revenge on the woman who hurt me. But she got away before I could.” I chose my words carefully, hoping I could fool Jake.
Johnson’s POVJake began to chuckle, a low, guttural laugh. I thought for sure he’d raise his strange gun again and shoot Liam right in the head. But he didn’t. Instead, he turned the gun over in his hands. I could tell by Liam’s reaction that it wasn’t an ordinary gun. Clearly, Jake and his men had come to the auction prepared. They must have known they might encounter a werewolf. I could only assume, but something told me that the strange gun had some sort of power over werewolves.Jake proudly showed his men his weapon. They nodded appreciatively. I stared at the gun, my eyes falling to a peculiar emblem. It looked like some sort of S. I had no idea where that gun came from, but there was something about it that I really didn’t like.“Looks like it finally came in handy,” Jake chuckled. “I knew it was.” Then he turned to Liam. “That was for my father, you mother fucker.” Jake motioned at Liam and his gun wound. “He always hated you fucking wolves.”The wolf was gone from Liam’s f
Johnson’s POVI glanced around the room. Any minute now, these men would fire off another shot with their strange weapons. They’d already shot Liam in the stomach, but they wanted to kill him. Their next shot would be through his head.An uncontrollable fury ripped through me. I tried to push it down. I had to save Liam. But Silver smelled blood. He gnashed his teeth! I was so mad at Liam. What was he thinking? Why had he come in here? Didn’t he know these men were dangerous? Why had he just barged into the VIP room unannounced?He was an alpha but he was no match for these men. Not when they were armed with guns.Liam looked at me, confused. He was holding his stomach, blood oozing out through his gunshot wound. Then his confusion gave way to anger. He narrowed his eyes. He thought I was one of them, one of these men. And I had to keep acting like I was. But I couldn’t let them kill Liam! Jake lifted his strange gun again, his lips curled into an evil smile.NO!I reached out and gra
Trista’s POVDagny eyed me with a quizzical look. “Are you certain?”I completely understood her trepidation. It was like a miracle. I was shocked myself. But I was sure. Jules was the person we needed. “Yes,” I said emphatically. “There’s only one personal assistant named Jules at HS. It has to be him.” I grinned from ear to ear. I felt like finally, we’d caught a break. The irony wasn’t lost on me. Jules was supposed to be working for Johnson, but he was Liam’s personal assistant. So he was basically working for Johnson’s rival. It was all so surreal. “You think he knows where the key is?” I asked.“If he doesn’t know firsthand, then he’ll know how to find out,” Dagny said.I nodded. “Then I should go back to the United States immediately,” I told her. Of course, I had some ulterior selfish reasons for wanting to go back.I missed Billy and Belle terribly, as well as Hazel. Relief flooded through me. Finding Jules would be easy. I knew exactly where to look! Plus, I could hold my
Trista’s POV“I know what you’re thinking,” Dagny said. “I have no idea what’s in the vault, I don’t know where the key is and I can’t tell you where Storm and Mercury are so how are you possibly supposed to find them, right?”Yup. She pretty much nailed it right on the head. That’s exactly what I was thinking. But then she flashed me a mischievous smile.“Well, I might not know where Mercury and Storm are, but I know where their son is.” I balked. Their son? I’d assumed that Mercury and Storm were both men. But apparently my assumptions were way off base.“Mercury and Storm fell in love. They got married and had a child, a boy. He’s just a little younger than Jonathan. Maybe four years or so? Anyway, Storm and Mercury wanted their son to return to the land of their ancestors. So they left Europe and brought him to the United States. He was raised there from a young age and they integrated him into human society. He went to school, graduated, and got a good job at a good company.”
Trista’s POVI appreciated Dagny’s support. I wasn’t sure yet what I was going to do. The Erasthai bond came with a lot of inherent risks and I needed time to carefully sort through it all. But in the meantime, we needed to come up with a game plan for our current situation.“What should we do now?” I asked Dagny. “Do you know where Stewart it?”“Yes. He must be hiding somewhere,” Dagny told me. “He changed the color of the curtains in the window in the attic to warn me. So I think he’s around here somewhere. I can stay here, hidden in the cottage and look for him.”I nodded. That made sense. If Steward had been in the estate to change the curtains, then he was probably nearby.“What about Johnson?” I asked. I was really worried about him, even more so now with all the things Dagny had told me.“Well, based on the information you gave me about Milan, I think he’s safe for the time being. It sounds like Felix’s younger son is running the show now. He’s likely taken control of all the m
Trista’s POVI turned the words over in my head.The Lycan Erasthai?“No, I don’t think I have,” I told Dagny. The words were unfamiliar to me.She nodded. “Well, the Erasthai is a special bond that Lycans experience. Werewolves have matebonds appointed by the Moon Goddess. But Erasthai is an emotional bond that comes from the heart.”“It’s like a matebond for Lycans? This Erasthai?” I asked.“Yes, sort of. But it’s much stronger. Much more serious,” she told me.I found it hard to believe that anything could be stronger than a werewolf’s matebond, but I had no point of reference since I wasn’t a Lycan. So I had to take Dagny’s word on that.“I’ve sensed Johnson’s feelings for you. I sensed them when he came to visit us at our estate. I think you might be Johnson’s Erasthai.”I also knew Johnson had feelings for me, but I thought they were just human feelings, since I thought Johnson was human. But now Dagny was telling me that his feelings might be something much deeper. If Erasthai
Trista’s POVI was speechless.Me? Had I just heard her right?She looked at me intensely.“Like I said, Trista, I can’t be entirely sure. It’s only a guess. But something has changed. Something has instigated his wolves and I know how he feels about you. I think you might be his mate. And his wolves are reacting to that.”She stated it so matter-of-factly. But her words sent my thoughts whirling. I was relieved we were downstairs in this secret room. I was grateful for the privacy as I grappled through the enormity of the things Dagny was telling me.I was the reason his wolves had awakened? Me? I didn’t like that thought. It was bad enough that Liam was upstairs right now, injured by a mystical Silvery because of me. If what Dagny was saying were true, then I’d activated Johnson’s dormant wolves? But how? And why? I considered Johnson to be family, but up until a little while ago, I’d thought he was human. I’d known him for five years and there hadn’t been a single day I thought he