Trista’s POVMy hands were shaking. I was letting my emotions take over. I didn’t want to let him see me like this, so I steadied my breathing.I stared at Liam. He was quiet. What is thinking, I wondered. After a little bit, he said, in a very quiet voice:“I didn’t know.”“Didn’t know what?” I asked.“You never told me any of this. I had no idea you felt that way. I thought…” he lowered his head. “I thought you liked being a full-time housewife. You never said otherwise.” He fixed his eyes on mine. “I’m sorry, Trista. I really am. For everything.”His eyes were sincere. This time, his apology really hit some. I felt like I’d finally gotten through to him, like FINALLY, after all this time, he understood. I’d given three years of my life to him, to our pack. During that time, I’d put my own dreams on the back burner. I’d put everyone else first.I’d almost given up being a mother!I studied his face. He looked ashamed. This was the apology I’d been waiting for.I’d been afraid of com
Liam’s POV Monday mornings were always a shit show. A million things always piled up over the weekend. 56 unread emails. A stack of papers for review on my desk. Meetings all afternoon.I sighed and took a big swig of my coffee.But then my secretary called to tell me there was someone to see me. “A Miss Trista Moonlar?” Trista! Relief washed over me. I’d been trying to call her all weekend but she was avoiding my calls. I’d been so worried that she wasn’t going to accept my offer. That she was going to pack up and move back to Milan. In fact, I’d had a bit of a panic attack sometime yesterday afternoon. I called her five times in a row. Not my finest moment, I know. But I was freaking out! She was here now though? In the office? First thing on a Monday morning? Perfect. Unless she’d come to tell me in person that she wasn’t accepting my offer. I shook my head. No. She would have just texted that. It had t
Trista’s POVHa! I’d held my own against that smug Carlos. I was really proud of myself. Other than his little hissy fit about the shares, the meeting had gone really well. I walked out of the meeting feeling like I was on cloud nine.But even though I felt a high level of satisfaction, something nagged at me.Lucy. Carlos had mentioned Lucy.How well did he know her? It seemed like maybe they were friendly?It also seemed like Liam and Lucy’s breakup had been bitter…I decided to focus on the positive, and to celebrate with a vanilla latte from the cute little coffee shop across the street. With my coffee in hand, I plunked down at a seat outside and dialed Johnson.It was a habit of mine, I realized. Whenever anything good happened in my life, he was the first person I wanted to share it with. I couldn’t wait to tell him all about the meeting, and the way I’d defended myself against that arrogant executive.But the call didn’t connect.Huh. That was strange. I’d have to try again la
Trista’s POVHazel and I rushed home. She drove like a bat of out hell, but I didn’t even object once.Was it true? Had Liam found out where I lived? Had he seen the children?We pulled into the driveway and ran up to the house. But before we were even inside, we heard a male voice inside the house. He was talking to my children!I shot Hazel a nervous look as I reached for the doorknob.If Liam found out these were his children, what would he do? I’d done everything I could to hide the truth from him. My heart pounded in my chest.I looked at Hazel with a pleading look. After all, Liam was Hazel's Alpha, and the pack's rule was that you could not betray the Alpha's order. But I knew Hazel would not betray me. I didn't want to put her in a difficult position.I gestured to Hazel and waved my hand to let her go first. But Hazel shook her head and tapped her chest. She winked at me and made a gesture as zipped her mouth. We grew up together and know each other best. I know I can al
“Emmmm, your friend is… cute.”Johnson glanced out the window at the back of Hazel's leaving. I took a quick peek at him and joked to him, “You are the type of man my friends like. I can create some opportunities for you two. ”“No, no, no. I'm just curious about what your friends from childhood are like. You rarely make friends in France. I'd better continue reading stories to the children.” Johnson nervously explained and closed the curtains tightly, which made me laugh.After Hazel’d left, I sat on the couch and listened to Johnson finish his story. He was enthralling as a story teller. He used different voices for the characters and everything. The house felt cozy and warm. Comfortable. I realized it wasn’t just the children that had missed Johnson.After dinner, Gladice cleaned up the dishes, then I excused her for the night.“Well, I really should get the kids ready for bed,” I said to Johnson, trying to subtly cue him that it was time for him to go, too.“Sure. I’ll just wait h
Trista’s POV The following week was the most relaxing one I’d had since I returned to Summerset. Having Johnson in the house felt so natural. Gladice was not very comfortable at first, letting Johnson be alone with Belle and Billy. But after a day, she told me that she had never met a young man like Johnson who had never had children of his own but took great care of the kids. I smiled. Indeed, I could not imagine without Johnson how I would have managed to raise a pair of twins alone in a foreign country for five years. Johnson came home one day, bursting through the door. “I have fabulous news,” he said. “I found Billy and Belle a school for kindergarten.” I was planning on enrolling them in the local public school, so I cocked my head, curious about this ‘school’ of Johnson’s. “It’s called the Scornbrooke Academy. Actually Hazel recommended it to me.” he explained, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
Trista’s POVThe day of the big photo shoot finally arrived. I walked into the HS building, my stomach in knots. I was actually nervous about running into Liam. He’d given me my space, which I was grateful for, but I knew we couldn’t avoid each other forever.I got to the dressing room and was surprised to see that Stevia was already there.“Darling!” she said, rushing towards me. She air-kissed me on both cheeks. “Lovely to see you again. You look fabulous! Have you lost weight? You’ve lost weight. You can’t fool me!”I blushed. I hadn’t lost any weight. She was just being kind. But I appreciated it. I wasn’t sure how she would be towards me after the whole media launch debacle. I was thrilled to see there were no hard feelings. In fact, it felt like we were old friends. She linked her arm in mine and led me over to the mirror.Brenda was waiting for me at the table. “No need for a full makeover this time,” she winked. I thought back to the afternoon I’d spent with her and the ma
Trista’s POV Johnson was NOT happy. I could see it on his face. I scrambled out of Liam’s arms and back onto my feet, even though my ankle was throbbing.“I thought you were shooting a product endorsement. But it looks to me like you’re filming some sort of romantic drama,” Johnson quipped sarcastically.“It’s not what it looks like,” Liam said defensively.“No? Because it looks like you were cradling Trista in your arms. If that’s not the case, then enlighten me.” Johnson glared at Liam. The tension in the air was palpable. Everyone could feel it.“She’s hurt. She tripped on a wire and cut her ankle. I was helping her. That’s all.”The tension in the air was palpable. Everyone could feel it. “Hurt?” Johnson’s eyes grew wide. He rushed over to me and knelt down to examine my ankle.“It’s nothing, Johnson, really,” I said dismissively. Everyone in the room was staring at us. I was embarrassed.“There’s…blood…” he said. Then he stood. His face was strange. Pale and twisted. Hid
Trista’s POVHow was this possible? How could they be ripping off designs I’d sold in Milan? And they were calling them ‘custom designs?’ My mind reeled as I stared at the picture of Moon Mates. I’d been SO proud of that design. I’d worked myself to the bone in Milan to create it! With Lucian’s help, I’d procured just the right material that had worked perfectly for the design. It had been risky, using Moon Mates for the competition since every other design had featured glittering jewels and high-end gems. But I’d taken a chance and it had paid off. My mind flashed back to the competition and the rush of pride I’d felt when the crowd had gasped, in awe, at my special design.And now it was being sold in some crappy brochure? Under someone else’s name? A new level of fury bubbled inside of me.This was unbelievable!“I can buy this?” I asked, pointing at Moon Mates. “I can order it? Right now?”She nodded enthusiastically. “Oh yes,” she said, a wide smile plastered on her face.“How mu
Trista’s POVI was furious.My designs had clearly been leaked, but how did this? The only people that had seen my designs were the board of directors at HS. I’d given a presentation and showed them some of my concept drawings. I’d told them about what I wanted my store to look like, and my dreams for my jewelry line. My ideas had been well-received but after the presentation, whether it was a press conference or during the production of the product samples, everything had been strictly confidential.I’d made sure of it, since I’d been worried that someone would steal my designs. So to ensure that no one could, different product series and different parts of the production were assigned to various processors, but not a single one of them had my complete design drawings.And yet, this store was full of exact replicas. I didn’t understand! Clearly, my designs had been leaked to someone. But how? Hazel had been in charge of everything. She’d overseen the process herself and there was NO
Trista’s POVI swiped the tears from my cheeks. There was no use just sitting there, crying. It wouldn’t solve anything. Until I heard from either Johnson or Dagny, there was literally nothing I could do to help either of them, even though I wanted to so badly. I’d come to work to distract myself, so that was what I had to do. If I let myself dwell on this, I’d become a nervous, emotional wreck. I couldn’t let myself get so sentimental. I had to stay strong and calm.I decided to take a moment to collect myself before I dove back into work. I pushed back my chair and went to the window to get some air. I propped it open to allow a fresh breeze waft through my dusty, stuffy office. But as I glanced down at the busy street below, my eyes fell on the jewelry store across the street.I was stunned to see that it had already opened for business. That was quick! When I’d left two months ago, the store had still been under construction. I assumed it would be several months before the store o
Trista’s POVThe first thing I noticed was a thin layer of dust on my desk. It made sense, since we’d been gone for almost two months at that point. Everything else was exactly as I’d left it, and it felt really good to be back in my little office.I dusted my desk and then sat down. I organized my draft designs while I booted up my computer. When I logged onto my email, I was surprised to see an email from Johnson. At first, a swell of hope gripped my heart. Was he reaching out to me? I quickly opened the email, hoping that maybe the email would let me know where he was and how he was doing. But then I realized that the email had been sent two months ago.I scanned the email. In it, he told me that he’d found a shop for me in New York. He’s also included some pics of the shop. The tone of the email was excited, optimistic. I slunk back in my chair.He’d sent it right before Hazel and I had decided to go on our European adventure. I’d been so busy right before we left that I hadn’t ch
Trista’s POVI woke up the next morning to sunlight streaming through my window. It was just Billy, Belle, Jules and I in the house now with Liam and Hazel gone. We asked Jules to stay under the ruse that we needed his help looking after the kids. The truth was, Jules had to stay with me for the time being so I could protect him, just in case. Liam and both felt Jules needed to be with me.Jules took his job as a pseudo nanny very seriously. He was already in the kitchen making the twins breakfast when I wandered in. He had one of my old aprons on and he was flipping pancakes like nobody’s business.“Uncle Jules is taking us to school,” Belle said happily.“After pancakes,” Billy added.“If that’s okay with you?” Jules asked. “I want to see their school and I thought you might like to rest.”That was really sweet. I didn’t have the heart to tell Jules that I wanted my car today while the kids were at kindergarten so I could go and check in on my office.“That’s great,” I told him. “I
Trista’s POV “What?” Liam asked. “Red Moon Pack? Are you sure?”“Of course I’m sure,” Hazel said. “I was surprised too. I thought our cooperation with Red Moon Pack only started in the past three years or so. But these contracts said otherwise. They were much, much older than that. I don’t understand though. I thought Blue Moon Crescent and Red Moon pack had a poor relationship until recently. So why do they have contracts from years and years ago? I assumed you probably didn’t know about this since you never mentioned it. I guess your parents must have signed those contracts and not told you about them. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off with those contracts, Liam. The whole thing just seems fishy to me. So, I came over here to tell you myself. Luckily, I came just in time for dinner.”Hazel winked at me while Liam sat in stunned silence. Apparently, Hazel had been right – Liam didn’t know about those old contracts with Red Moon Pack.“I don’t know what to s
Trista’s POV“Your parents are back,” Hazel blurted out, a cookie poised in her hand. My pot of vegetables began boiling over so I rushed to the stove.“What?” Liam asked coming into the kitchen fully. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked Hazel.“I am telling you. Now,” Hazel chuckled. “Besides, you’ve been a little busy.” She glanced down at the bandage around his stomach under his shirt. “I didn’t think it was pressing.”“You didn’t think it was pressing,” Liam sighed, repeating her words in an exasperated tone. “When did they get back? What do they want?”If I didn’t know better, I’d say there was an edge to Liam’s voice. I thought he’d have been a little more excited to hear that his parents were back. But his tone said otherwise.“A few days ago,” Hazel shrugged.“What have they been doing?” Liam asked, pulling up a chair while I drained the vegetables. We heard Jules explode into a fit of laughter from the living room, followed by Billy and Belle. “Other than following me around
Trista’s POVWe walked back into the house. I was really glad I’d had that talk with Liam, but now that all those things were out of the way, my mind went back to the problems at hand. The children were in the living room, crawling all over poor Jules.“Let’s play pony, Uncle Jules,” Belle exclaimed, clapping her hands.“Yes! I want to ride Uncle Jules!” Billy laughed.I was anxious, but I tried not to let Jules or the children see.“Oh, all right,” Jules sighed, rolling his eyes playfully. Then he got off the couch and went down on his hands and knees. “Pony Jules at your service,” he said. Then he lowered his front half down to the floor and Belle climbed on. He paraded around the room with Belle on his back. She cheered and laughed with delight.It warmed my heart, seeing the children having so much fun. And honestly, it looked like Jules was having a great time as well, which made me happy since the poor man had been through a lot in the past few hours.“Perhaps he missed his call
I hope he can read my mind.In fact, I also need his support.I know that the current situation may not be optimistic, and I can't just leave them alone and pretend nothing is happening; On the other hand, I can't put the children in danger if I’m helping Johnson and his family.If there is someone else here I can trust and who will protect my children at any cost, then that person must be Liam, their real father.“Liam, not just Johnson, but the whole family are wonderful and decent people. They helped not only me, but you too! Liam is the one who saved you by throwing you out of the VIP room window and told me to leave. And Johnson is the reason we were able to escape and come back here, to the United States. He distracted the black-clad men. If he hadn’t done that, who knows what would have happened? And Dagny, she healed your wounds. I know you feel she is unfriendly. But if you knew their family history you would not say that. They are Lycans. For many years they have been hunted