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
Johnson’s POV Was I a monster?That was the only explanation.I held Trista in my arms, torn between my desire for her and my need to protect her. “Such a tasty little treat,” Silver said, his voice dripping with desire. He was pacing, his fur bristled, his eyes locked on Trista.He wanted her. I could feel it, his desire for her. It was unlike anything I’d ever felt before. It was all-encompassing, all powerful.What would he do to her though? Would he…would he hurt her?He’d ripped an entire room full of men to shreds. What if he was so overcome with lust that he couldn’t control himself and he…he…I couldn’t even say the words.Trista shivered. She sighed. Was it her wolf reacting? Trista had a wolf, too, but she was blind. Trista told me about her, Serena. Her wolf was kind and sweet. Timid and shy. Compassionate. Serena was the antithesis of my wolf.Silver was savage. Brute. Violent and arrogant. He was demanding. There was nothing timid about him. I didn’t know him we
Trista’s POVHazel helped me to my feet. She wiped a tear from my face with her thumb and wrapped me into a tight embrace.“Your dress,” she said sadly. I cried on her shoulder and let her comfort me.I couldn’t believe what had just happened. Who was that man? He had the face of Johnson but his eyes?They were silver. They were ruthless. They weren’t anything like Johnson’s.“Where did Liam go?” I asked, taking a step back from Hazel.“Don’t worry about it,” she said softly, tucking a tendril of hair behind my ear. “Let’s get you cleaned up. You’re a mess.”“Am I?” I asked.She reached into her purse for a compact. She let me look at my reflection.“Good God,” I said, startled by my reflection. My black mascara had run all over my face. My lipstick was smeared and my eyes were red and puffy. There was snot dripping from my nose. I looked disgusting.“Don’t worry, I got you,” Hazel chuckled. She pulled out some wet wipes and went to work. Gingerly, she cleaned the smeared mascara from
Trista’s POV“Oh my God!” Hazel gasped.Screams erupted from the auction floor just as the glass from the VIP room shattered. Shards of glass exploded and people shielded themselves. Everyone turned to look.A man fell from the air, his arms flailing as he fell.“Liam!”He hit the floor with a thud. For a moment, I thought for sure he was dead. But then he struggled up to his feet. We rushed towards him as he simultaneously rushed towards us.When I saw his chest, my eyes flew open. His chest was covered in blood.I clamped my hand over my mouth. He’d been shot! This was exactly what I’d been afraid of. Those bastards put bullet holes into him.Or was it Johnson who shot him?Liam wasted no time, even though he was bleeding like crazy. He grabbed Hazel and I.“We need to GO,” he hissed at us, his eyes frantic.My mind reeled. “Liam, what happened?” I asked as he started pulling us towards the exit.“There isn’t time. We have to get out of here.”It was chaos on the floor. The gun sho
Trista’s POVI was transfixed by the voice and compelled to turn around.Where was it coming from? And why was it so insistent that I leave?I was the only one who could save them? Save who?“Trista! We have to go,” Hazel hissed in my ear. “Something’s wrong with Liam.”All around us, people pushed and shoved, trying to squeeze out the small exit door. Liam had a stern look on his face as his eyes remained fixed on the door. He was holding his wound with one hand. I looked down and saw that the wound was actually in his stomach. This was a relief. I thought he’d been shot in the chest. Given the fact that Liam was an alpha, a wound in the stomach shouldn’t be fatal.But something was wrong.His wolf should have been healing him already. Instead of getting better though, he seemed to be getting worse.Liam’s face was a peculiar gray color. His hand was caked in blood. Right then, Liam swooned. He reached out for Hazel, who caught his arm to steady him.“The stairwell,” I told Hazel. Ev
Trista’s POV“Oh my God, Hazel. It’s…it’s black. Why is it black? What’s wrong with him?”My words came out in a jumbled mess. I wasn’t a doctor, but I knew enough to know that a black wound was really, really bad. It likely pointed to some sort of poison. But that kind? It wasn’t wolfbane, that much was clear.Was it a human poison? And if so, what would that do to Liam’s wolf?Or was it a werewolf poison? I glanced at his chest. His veins were blackening, right there, in front of us, as though we could see whatever poison this was crawling up his chest through his veins in real time.It was horrifying.He needed a wolf doctor, that much was clear. This was no ordinary wound. Even if it was a human poison, he needed a doctor who knew about werewolf anatomy.I’d lived in Milan for five years, but I’d lived as a human in Milan. I didn’t know any wolf doctors. Not here.Liam’s body tensed. He clenched his fist and bit down on his teeth.“Hazel! What’s happening?”Liam began flailing, hi
“Give me space,” Doctor Darren instructed, opening up his medical box. “I need clean sheets and hot water. Towels, too.”I watched, horrified, as he pulled out a scalpel. The blade glinted in the light.“What…what are you doing?” I stammered.He didn’t respond. Instead, he gave me a sympathetic look.“No,” I said, realizing what he was about to do. He was going to perform surgery, right there, on my couch.“I need to remove the bullet,” Doctor Darren said calmly. I felt crazed. I was so worried about Liam, it physically hurt.“Come, love,” Mrs. Lemick said softly, taking my elbow. “He’s in good hands. My husband is one of the best doctors around. Give him space. Show me where the extra sheets and towels are.”Mrs. Lemick began leading me out of the living room. I followed her in a daze. Hazel stayed.“When I tell you,” Doctor Darren said to Hazel, “apply pressure right here.”Hazel was assisting the doctor.‘Pull yourself together,’ I chastised myself. ‘Make yourself useful.’ I
Trista’s POVI woke up groggy on the plane just as it was about to land. My head was still resting on Liam’s chest, and when I lifted it, I noticed I had left a small drool stain on his shirt.“Oh my god,” I said, mortified by the stain. “I’m so sorry.”Liam chuckled. “You should apologize to the other passengers, too. You were snoring so loud, it literally rattled the windows.”“What?” I asked, horrified. I was snoring? “Why didn’t you stop me?”“You were so cute, all fast asleep, snoring like a train and drooling like a toddler,” Liam teased, “Kidding.”I elbowed him hard in the ribs.“Did you get any sleep?” I asked, concerned.“A little,” he winked. “In between your snores.”“Ha ha,” I mocked, rolling my eyes. The seat belt fasten sign came on and we prepared for landing. Now that we were back in the United States, I was anxious to see Billy and Belle. Hazel, too. I’d missed them all a lot.I whipped out my phone as we de-boarded the plane. I called my house but no one answered. I
“It was,” I admitted. “Especially at first. I had no job and I was terrified that me and the babies would be forced to live out on the streets. But as soon as I moved to Milan, I met Johnson.” I stopped and smiled faintly. It was impossible to tell Liam about my struggles with Billy and Belle without mentioning Johnson. I worried for a moment that Liam would take offense to me talking about Johnson. Liam had, after all, made it pretty clear how he felt about Johnson. But to my surprise, he squeezed my hand and urged me to continue.“Johnson was a god sent,” I told Liam. “He gave me a job and took me under his wing. We became…really good friends. And with time, we became more, even though I don’t really know what that is yet. Johnson was always there for us, all three of us, and Billy and Belle adore him. They love him, they really do. And I’ve come to rely on him. I know you and Johnson don’t exactly see eye-to-eye, Liam. But he’s a good man. A loyal man. A kind, loving man. He’s my…”
Trista’s POV“What?” I blurted out, but I was immediately hushed by a man behind us.“For the love of God, just go to sleep,” the man said. Liam and eyed each other, then we both brought our heads closer together so we could keep talking, but more quietly.“They’re mine, aren’t they?” he repeated, without even the slightest hint of anger in his voice. “Billy and Belle?”I’d feared this conversation for so long. I’d been carrying this secret with me from the day they were born. I’d spent years swearing to myself that Liam could never know the truth about his children, that it was a secret I’d keep from until my grave. But from the moment Liam had come back into my life, I’d questioned whether lying to Liam was the right thing to do.Hazel and I had talked about it many times. She gently asked me if raising my kids without a pack was really what I wanted. As far as they knew, they were human. The human world was all Billy and Belle had ever known, but I knew I couldn’t keep their true i
Trista’s POV“Because I still had feelings for you?” I asked.“Yes,” he said, his eyes fixed on his hands. “Because I still had feelings for you so I thought maybe you did too.”“I didn’t,” I said gently. I was surprised that Liam was confessing this all to me, but at the same time, it didn’t really matter to me. If he had been struggling with regret and lingering feelings for me during his marriage to Lucy, well, that was his own damn fault. I was tired of conversations like these. I needed him to understand that whatever feelings he might still be harboring for me were not reciprocal on my part. “Well, thanks for clearing that up,” he said flatly. Then he turned away from me, back to the window. The easy, casual feeling between us was gone. The air was tense now and I didn’t like it. The plane ride had been enjoyable up until that point, and I wanted it to be that way again. I decided to change the subject. I didn’t want to talk about ‘us’ and our past anymore. I wanted to focus
Trista’s POV“A confession?” I asked, momentarily stunned by the seriousness of his voice and expression. What could he possibly have to confess, I wondered. But a moment later, he continued.“It wasn’t just after Lucy betrayed me that I wanted to win you back,” he said, his voice steady.“What? What do you mean?” I asked. Where was he going with this? What was he insinuating?“This is hard for me to admit, Trista. But I wanted you back long before that.”“Liam,” I started. I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear this, but he cut me off.“You’re right. Lucy and I travelled a lot. We went to tons of beautiful places. Tropical beaches with white sand. Stunning European cities with ancient architecture. We even did a safari in Africa.” He paused.“Sounds nice,” I said dryly. What was his point? I already knew all this. I’d seen pictures of him and Lucy at various galas all over the world. Her in a long silk dress, him in a tuxedo, both smiling, hand in hand. I’d also seen the pictures of them on
Trista’s POVLiam and I arrived in Paris with plenty of time. We had dinner at the airport and waited for our flight to board. They called us for boarding and we both took our seats in first class. Liam offered me the window seat but I insisted that he have it. His wound was bothering him – I could tell – and if he sat by the window, he could sleep more easily with his head against the wall. As we settled in, a strange feeling washed over me. I realized that Liam and I had never travelled together. In all our years of marriage, we never strayed far from our pack, at least not as a couple. I glanced over at him. He was fastening his seatbelt.‘How odd,’ I thought to myself. ‘Here we are, together on a plane. I never, in a million years, could have imagined our first trip together would be like this!’“Champagne?” the stewardess asked, her eyes bright. Champagne was one of the perksof flying first class. Liam wasn’t much of a champagne drinker, though, so I went to shake my head and
Trista’s POVBack upstairs in the small cottage, Dagny rummaged through her cup boards. She produced a small, crystal jar.“This ointment will make Liam well enough to travel back to the United States,” she told us. Darren eyed the small jar and I looked at him for confirmation. He nodded, indicating that the ointment was fine.Dagny walked over to Liam, lifted his shirt, and removed his bandage. I gasped when I saw his wound. It was red and angry-looking, with small black veins spread out over his stomach and chest like a spider web. Dagny scooped up some of the ointment with her fingers and roughly rubbed it on Liam’s stomach. Liam inhaled a sharp breath and winced.“That hurts,” Liam said as Dagny continued to apply the ointment in a belligerent way. I had to admit, she could have been a lot gentler. Dagny didn’t reply to Liam’s comment so Liam put his hand over hers to stop her.“Dagny, do you have some sort of problem with me?” Liam asked. “You’ve been very polite to Trista and D
Johnson’s POV“My father wanted to hand over the family business to me,” I told Jake. “But I wanted to go to New York.”“Because of that bitch?” Jake asked smugly. I nodded.When Trista left to go to the US, I felt a void in my life. I realized how much she meant to me. My feelings for her were complicated since we were such good friends. But I missed her so much it hurt. And the twins too. So I’d asked my dad if I could follow her to New York and set up business there. My father had been very reluctant at first. He wanted me to stay in Italy for the family business. He was preparing me to take over, but he said there were a few loose ends he needed to tie up first. I argued with him. I was a grown man and if I wanted to go to New York, then I could. He disagreed. He said my responsibility was to the family first.But then, one day, he just changed his mind one day.“My father allowed me to go to New York because there was someone he wanted me to find.”My father’s instructions had be
Johnson’s POVThe bullet ripped through my shoulder. A bolt of pain ripped through my shoulder, so intense it made me dizzy. Jake chuckled at my reaction.I expected to die. I expected to bleed out from the bullet wound. So did Jake and his men. But as they held me, something unusual happened. The bullet wound spurted blood at first, thick and warm. Within seconds though, the blood stopped. The pain still radiated through my body, but I could feel it healing, as though my muscle fibers were somehow weaving themselves back together with extraordinary speed.Jack frowned, his eyes narrowing. He could see what I felt, that my wound was healing with remarkable speed. He didn’t like this. Flummoxed, he marched right up to me and grabbed my collar. He tore open my shirt to see the wound for himself. Sure enough, the hole from the bullet was already growing over with fresh skin.“I thought that was a special gun,” one of his men said.“Shut up,” he seethed at the man. Then he turned to me. “