Johnson glared back at Liam.“He was invited,” I told Liam. “By Hazel as my guest.”Liam shook his head and scoffed. “He’s an outsider,” Liam said. “These are OUR people. Are you sure you really want to bring an outsider into our community?”“No, he’s also…” I started to say. But then I stopped. I didn’t want to tell Liam that Johnson was a Lycan.“He’s what?” Liam asked, raising his eyebrows. But something about his expression told me he knew something about Johnson. Did he already know the truth?“He’s also…excited to be here,” I finished vaguely. Good one, Trista, I chastised myself. I’d never really been a good liar.“I bet he is!” Liam snapped. Then he fixed his eyes on Johnson. “I know ALL about you,” he said, his voice low. “You’re a liar. Pretending to be all clean and innocent. Fooling Trista with your dirty tricks.”“Liam,” I gasped. This was hardly the place or time! This was a wedding and I wasn’t about to let Liam make a scene. “Stop it.”Liam glared at Johnson. He cli
Trista’s POVThe party at the grassy area was only one part of the afternoon party.Apparently,half the guests were down at the beach.The Red Moon pack was a little famous on the east coast in the werewolf world for having their very own beachfront.Most of the packs on the east coast were in the forest or the mountains.Red Moon Pack was unique because the pack was right beside the ocean.I pulled on Johnson’s hand.“Can we go down the beach?”I asked him,excited.“Of course,”he smiled.He followed me down the trail that led to the waterfront.I gasped as we crested a small hill.The sight was breathtaking.The beach stretched on in both directions for miles.The azure water lapped gently at the white,sandy shores.There was a big bonfire,with flames blazing,surrounded by tables and tables of food.Everyone was barefoot,happily taking in the sun and the peaceful seaside vibes.As we approached,a couple puppies ran in front of us.They squealed with laughter as they chased one another across th
Trista’s POVThe elder glared at us.The elders sitting on their perched chairs glared at us.The front row turned around and glared at us.I blushed….deeply.Hazel didn’t make eye contact with me.She pressed her lips together and stared at the ground.Was she upset?I couldn’t tell.But everyone else she the hell was.“Do you have something you’d like to say?”the elder holding the dagger asked.Johnson’s face was also beet red.He stammered and wrung his hands.“I…um…well…no…Sorry.”“Shsh,”I snapped at him.“I apologize,”I said,addressing the elder.“My friend,here,has never bore witness to a wedding ceremony before.He was just…a little…surprised by some of our customs.It WON’T happen again.”The elder stared at me for a moment.I didn’t think it was possible to get any redder in the cheeks,but then he said:“Perhaps you and your FRIEND should leave.”I was mortified!Was I being kicked out of a wedding?My best friend’s wedding?In front of all these people?There were few things so shameful.T
I couldn’t accept our pack being a laughing stock.I wanted our pack to be respected.So I used all my savings to start a business for our pack.I was smart and I rallied.I was determined to make our pack rich,so that all our little pups could have a better life.Liam also had an affinity for business affairs.He had a talent for it,so I handed over the business I had built to him.That way,I could focus on being a good wife and Luna for him and the pack.And he thrived.He really did.He excelled.But he became very,very busy.And the busier he got with the business,the worst things got between us.Everything just sort of…changed.He withdrew from me.In fact,come to think of it,I don’t know if I ever heard him say‘I love you’.I craved his love.I wanted him to love me.But I don’t know if he ever did.And then…He broke our mate bond and divorced me...“Is it over?”Johnson asked,as people clapped happily, which made me suddenly wake up from my memories.“No,”I said,his voice snapping me back
Trista’s POVThe bonfire blazed, the flames licking the sky. People dumped more wood onto it, even though it was almost out of control. The moon was high in the sky. A lot of people had let their wolves out, and they were running and rolling around. Some were even fighting – a playful sort of fight that males wolves tend to do.The serious part of the day was over. The vows had been said and the new Luna and Alpha had been crowned. It was time now for the werewolves to let loose.And letting loose they were.If you’ve never seen a werewolf bonfire, it can be a bit hard to explain. It’s sort of chaotic. We have a primal urge in us and when we let loose, well, it’s a bit of a raucous, rampant, wild mess.It’s all in good fun, though. And no one really gets hurt.Not usually.“This is madness!” Johnson said, his eyes wide as he took it all in.“This is a typical pack wedding,” I replied.It felt good. It felt good to be back with a pack. I felt…at home. Even though it wasn’t my pack. The
Trista’s POVCrap! Liam was right. It was a treasured wedding tradition, but I hadn’t even thought about it since I hadn’t been Luna in so long.“Come with me,” Liam said, motioning for me to follow. Johnson glanced at us from over his shoulder. I knew he didn’t want me talking alone to Liam. But werewolves really value their traditions, and this was important. So…I followed Liam over to a secluded corner of the lawn.The party was in full swing now. It was noisy and chaotic as wolves danced and rolled around on the sand. The bonfire was blazing high and the scent of cooked meat and burnt logs wafted through the air.Despite the massive fire, the night was cool. I wrapped my arms across my chest to keep myself warm.“Are you cold?” Liam asked. “Here, take my coat.”Before I could respond, he took it off and wrapped it around my shoulders. “Thank you,” I said. “But as for Hazel’s gift, I’m not sure what we can give her,” I told Liam. “When I left the pack, I didn’t really bring anyth
Trista’s POVI was speechless. I held the ruby ring in my hands and stared at it.It was my wedding ring. The ring I’d sold. “How?” was all I managed to say.I NEVER thought I’d ever see my precious wedding ring again. I didn’t understand. The other ring had been passed down in Liam’s family. But this ring? Where had Liam found it?“It was a coincidence,” Liam shrugged. “I was at a jewelry auction one day, and there it was! I recognized it immediately. You know, I was a little hurt when I saw it. You sold your wedding ring? That stung, Trista.”“I had no choice, Liam. I was broke. You and Lucy had just got me fired. I had no money.”“I assumed that was the case,” Liam said sympathetically. “I’m really sorry, Trista. I can’t even imagine how hard that must have been for you.”I closed the lid to the ring. He’d apologized enough. It didn’t matter. ‘Sorry’ didn’t change anything. I didn’t want to have this discussion again. “You’re right. You can’t imagine,” I said dryly.Just then, a w
Trista’s POV“Monsieur Alpha Liam,” the man said, reaching for Liam’s hand. He took Liam’s hands in his and shook them. Then he leaned in and air kissed Liam on either cheek. “Tres wonderful! I am Alpha Lemone, of the Dove Song Pack in France. We are so honored to be here.”“Ahem,” the girl beside him said, batting her eyelashes at Liam.“Of course,” Alpha Lemone said. “Allow me to introduce Claudette. My daughter. Claudette, this is Alpha Liam of the Blue Moon Crescent Pack. And this is…” his voice trailed off as he turned to me. “I apologize, madame. I do not know your name.”“Eden,” I told him, feeling uncomfortable. I suddenly remembered the pen name I used for my jewelry design drafts, so I blurted out the name. These were clearly VERY high status people. The way they socialized with people was like wearing a gentleman's mask, which made them seem polite but hypocritical. So it didn't seem like there's anything wrong with me wearing my ‘mask’.Liam raised one eyebrow a
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
Trista’s POVThe early evening air was cool and fresh. I inhaled the scent of the forest just beyond my back yard. I’d missed the smell of the forest. My mind flashed back to the night Johnson and I had sat out here, after Hazel’s wedding and sipped on ice cold beer. I’d been so comfortable that night with him. We’d gazed up at the star-speckled sky and let the night roll by. By the time I’d woken up the next morning, he was gone. It was the last time I’d seen him, the REAL Johnson, not the man in the VIP room at the High Seine auction.That had been months ago, before our cruise and our shopping trip through Europe. Before I entered the competition in Milan. Before Liam was shot and we raced to the Milan border to track down Johnson’s parents in France.Had it really been that long ago? So much had happened since then, it was hard to fathom. And even though it felt like a lifetime had passed since that night, every time I thought about Johnson, sitting there, beside me with a beer in
Trista’s POV“What do you mean?” I asked. Liam eyed me, his expression serious.“I mean,” he said, “Jules is a werewolf. I can accept him into Blue Moon Crescent Pack. He’ll have the pack’s protection.”I paused, stunned by Liam’s idea. I hadn’t even thought of that, but Liam was right. Since Jules was a werewolf, Liam could formally accept him into the pack. He’d be safe there with the entire pack behind him. He’d be protected. It was actually a really good idea.It wasn’t that easy though. “What about his life?” I asked. “Jules has been living as a human. He’d have to give all that up. He’d have to leave the city and learn the ways of the pack.” Shifting from life in human society to life in a pack would be jarring for Jules, to say the least. It wouldn’t be an easy transition.“He’d get used to it, with time,” Liam said. “He was never given the option of living with a pack. That choice was taken from him when his parents withheld the truth. Maybe this is the best thing for him? Be
Trista’s POVBilly and Belle laughed with delight as Jules entered their bedroom. My mind spun with everything Jules had just told us. I felt sorry for him. He’d been struggling with the fact that he was different his entire life, without knowing why. That must have been so hard for him. I still found it strange that Jules had no wolf scent, though. I wondered why. It was highly uncommon for a werewolf not to emit the wolf scent. It was how we recognized our own kind.Was his wolf weak? Disabled? It didn’t make sense. But I didn’t have time to dwell on things like that.We had more pressing matters to think about.“Mercury and Storm are the key to this whole thing,” I told Liam. “They have the key to the vault. Or at least, they know where it is. I’d been hoping that Jules knew about the key, or at least knew more about his parents and their role in all this. But that was a dead end.”It was crystal clear that Jules had given us all the information he could.“That’s an understatement,
Trista’s POV “They never told you,” Liam said. “Your parents? That they’re werewolves?” Jules shook his head.I was stunned but I guess that made sense. If they hadn’t told Jules that he was a werewolf, why would they tell him that they were, too.“They just raised you in the human world?” I asked.“Yes,” Jules shrugged, but I could see the shock in his eyes. He was trying to process all of this, but it was a bit too much for him. “They never said anything like that…about being…wolves. So when I started hearing the wolf voice in my head, I thought I was crazy. I never told them that I thought something was wrong with me. I didn’t want them to worry. But now…you’re telling me…Are you sure?” “Yes, Jules, we’re sure,” I told him. He lowered his head and fiddled with the cuff of his sleeves. “Oh,” was all he said. This was unbelievable. Mercury and Storm had kept their identity hidden from Jules for his entire life? As well as his o