Trista’s POVLucian passed us.He swam so beautifully, almost like a fish, that I would have applauded him if my child hadn't been waiting for rescue in the water.He was at Bella's side in a flash, then pushed her with one hand and quickly brought her back to us. Belle, my sweetheart. Her wet hair clung to her face, but she smiled as she clamored into the boat. I hugged her fiercely.“Thank you,” I said to Lucian. He was holding the side of the boat with one hand, and paddling the water with his other. He smiled up at us, his tan face showing off his gleaming white teeth.“No worries,” he said. “I love a good exercise swim.” Then he hefted himself up and over the side of the boat.I caught Hazel watching him as he climbed into the boat. I didn’t blame her. His muscles strained and flexed as he pulled himself up. He was only wearing swimming trunks, and his wet, tan chest glistened in the sunlight.I saw her blush and look away.“I knew you couldn’t swim,” he told us, as he sat hims
Trista’s POVBelle, Billy, and I strolled through the onboard botanical gardens, ice cream in hand.“Look, Mamma,” Belle said, “a flutterby!”“Butterfly,” I corrected her. They both giggled as it landed on a flower right in front of them.The garden was in an atrium, and it boasted a wide variety of butterflies. Strolling through the garden was a lovely way to spend the afternoon. Hazel was with Lucian. He’d offered to give us both swimming lessons, but I politely declined. Billy and Belle (Belle especially) had had enough water escapades for one day. They’d been bugging me to see the butterfly house, (as they called it), so I told Lucian and Hazel that I needed to be with the kids.Lucian had wasted no time in getting Hazel in the water. We walked by them on our way to the atrium. They were in the rooftop pool. He was holding her around her waist, quite tightly I might add, while she frantically kicked her feet.I think his offer of swimming lessons was really just an excuse to get
Trista’s POV The last two days of the cruise went by in a blur. We ate until we thought we would puke. We sunbathed until our skin was tanner than it’s ever been. We danced until our feet hurt. And we explored every inch of that ship with Belle and Billy in tow. We saw Lucian a few more times, but mostly just for dinner.Hazel discreetly disappeared from time to time. She made lame excuses, like she was going for a run, or she was getting a pedicure. But I knew where she was. Looks like she had taken me up on my advice after all.Good. I was glad she was sneaking off to see Lucian. By the time we disembarked, I was ready to be back on dry land, even though the cruise had been an experience I would never, EVER forget.“First time in Dubai?” our cab driver asked in a thick Arabian accent.“Yes,” we both said, as we drove away from the cruise ship.“Well, you’re in for a real treat then,” he said. “Dubai is one of a kind. There’s no other city like it in the world. Ah, there she
“Mamma, I’m hot,” Belle said, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand.“Me too. I’m all wet.”“It is pretty hot,” Hazel admitted. We’d disembarked early in the morning, but now it was around noon. The temperature was climbing, and we weren’t used to the desert heat. I was worried the kids were going to get heat exhaustion. But just then, my phone buzzed. It was the hotel, our room was ready!We pulled into valet parking, excited to see our room. As we stepped out of the car, though, we were greeted by a pleasant-looking woman.“Hazel? Trista? My name is Aisha. I’m your private translator and tour guide. I missed you when you first pulled up. My apologies. And welcome to Dubai!”Private translator and tour guide? But…we didn’t….Johnson!He must have ordered this for us. Along with the Ferrari.“Well, this will make things a lot easier,” Hazel whispered into my ear as we followed Aisha into the lobby. She then informed us that we’d been upgraded to a top floor suite.“What?” Haze
Trista’s POVI stared at the phone.What was that?Johnson had been acting really strange. He’d been stuttering, which was NOT something Johnson ever did. I thought back to the days just before we left for the trip. The night after Hazel’s wedding, I’d woken up and he’d been gone. And he hadn’t come home. He hadn’t even called me until later that night to tell me he was tied up with business.Of course, at the time I had thought it was strange too. It wasn’t like him to disappear for a whole day. Plus, he had stayed in the city right up until the day I left. I really thought I’d see him before I went away. But nope. He’d been too busy with work.And now?I couldn’t shake the feeling that that was a strange phone call. He’d hung up really abruptly. Was it just me, or was he being a little mysterious lately? Was he really that busy at work? Or was he trying to hide something?I didn’t like thinking that way. I had no reason not to trust Johnson. So I tried to push the thought out of my
Trista’s POVClick.It was the hotel door. I glanced over at my clock. It was 6am. Hazel was sneaking back into her room. She’d been out all night!I closed my eyes and fell back asleep for a bit, but Billy and Belle woke me up a couple of hours later.I had Aisha order breakfast room service for us, with an extra cup of coffee for Hazel. I knew she’d need it. A little while later, she emerged from her bedroom with dark circles under her eyes.“Well if it isn’t sleeping beauty,” I teased her. “What did you get up to last night?”“Me?” she asked. “Nothing,” she said, reaching for the coffee. “I went to bed early. I think I had a touch of heat stroke. I’m not used to this desert heat.”“You went to bed early?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.No she didn’t! The little vixen was out all night. She even had a faint red mark on her neck.“I had a headache,” she lied to me. “The air conditioning wasn’t working well in my room. I hardly slept last night. I tossed and turned.”“Oh, I’m sorry to
Trista’s POVWe had a blast in Dubai, but after a few days we were happy to leave the desert heat and explore more of Europe. We went to Turkey and lounged around in the Turkish baths. Then went to Greece and marveled at the Ancient Greek ruins. We went to Germany and gorged ourselves on beer and sausages. Billy and Belle behaved so well everywhere we went. Hazel and I were in our glory exploring all the cities we’d dreamed about visiting when we were just children. We got around easily, since Johnson had arranged for a private interpreter and tour guide in each city. I tried calling him to thank him, but his phone always went to voicemail. I had shimmers of doubt about his secrecy, but he’d arranged to have flowers in every hotel room we stayed at. Gorgeous, decadent bouquets. So I decided not to dwell on it. I mean, we were in Europe! I wanted to take advantage of every minute. Besides, I was confident that Johnson was just busy with work, like he said. I finally got a hold of
Trista’s POV Our first stop in Italy was Rome.Hazel and I had argued a bit about this. She was eager to see Milan. But I wanted to see Rome. And I wanted the kids to see the Sistine Chapel. Hazel didn’t understand. “How many times have you been to Rome?” she asked. “I mean, come on, Trista, you used to live here.”“No, I lived in Milan,” I told her. “I actually never went to Rome.”I’d been so busy when I lived in Milan that I hadn’t had time to explore all the other cities in Italy, Rome included. And since this was a vacation, I insisted we go to Rome. We were, however, at the end of our trip and there wasn’t much time left.“Fine,” she relented. “But only for the day.”I secretly wondered if her urgency to get to Milan had anything to do with Lucian. But of course, I didn’t say anything. We were booked to take a train that night to Milan. So we did a whirlwind visit of the Vatican, The Sistine Chapel, and the Colosseum before hopping on the train. “And no, there is no tim
“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