On the floor next to the three pups, two men were sitting. Rayvin recognised Logan. He was sitting and playing with the pup that looked to be a little older. She assumed it was his daughter. He had not been able to stop talking about her when they had met last time. As they walked into the room, both men looked up and Rayvin saw the recognition and surprise in Logan’s eyes. “Sammie?” he said, getting up from the floor, taking the pup with him. Mikael, alpha Graham, luna Bella and Mickey all looked at her.“Sammie?” Mikael asked her. “Right,” she nodded. “Hi, Logan. Sorry to say that I haven’t been entirely honest with you. My name isn’t Sammie, it’s Rayvin,” she told the gamma. “Rayvin? As in luna Rayvin?” he asked.“I guess so.”“I didn’t see that coming,” he said. “Well, I’m happy to see you. It looks like you have met my mate. Let me introduce my daughter, Mavis.” He walked over, nodded toward Mikael and held out the pup towards Rayvin. She took the cute little pup, with big bro
‘We are heading over to you,’ Rayvin mind linked Mikael as she and Bella walked towards the alpha’s office. Bella knocked on the door and opened it. Clearly, they both had told their mates they were heading for the office. Both Mikael and Graham were walking towards the door with a smile. The two lunas got a kiss from their mates and then they handed the pups over to the men. “I’m taking Rayvin to our apartment to get changed and then we are heading down to the spa,” Bella said. Mikael looked a little alarmed. Before Rayvin had time to ask what was going on, he looked at Graham.“This spa, how popular is it?” Mikael asked his friend. Graham gave Mikael a knowing smile.“It’s okay. It’s booked for the afternoon just for the girls. Otherwise there is no chance I would allow Ellie in there,” Graham said, slowly swaying the pup in his arms as if it was a habit and not a conscious decision. “Happy to hear that. I’m with you on that,” Mikael agreed, mirroring Graham’s movement. “Allow?”
They had arrived home late in the evening and after being apart the entire day, Mikael and Rayvin had done their best to catch up on the physical intimacy. Mikael was awoken by an alarm clock going off, he felt Rayvin stir in his arms and he glanced towards the alarm clock on the bedside table, five am. “Sweetie, you are going to kill us both if you drag us out of bed this early,” he told his mate and took a firmer grip around her waist and pulled her back into his arms. He heard her giggle, and he relished the sound for a moment. “I need to get some training in. It has been a couple of days since my last one,” Rayvin told him as she snuggled up against him, rubbing her jaw against his shoulder. “I can give you a workout. Just give me an hour more of sleep and then I’ll get your pulse going for an hour or two,” he said, adding a little growl at the end.“As tempting as that is, Max. I don’t think that kind of exercise will help me when I’m on the job,” she told him. “Sleep for a co
Mikael stayed close to Rayvin. They were dealing with a human, but he wasn’t about to take any chances. “Oh fuck, finally, people. I have been kept here for ages and I have only seen people like two times,” the man in the chair said. “Hey, don’t I know you?” he then asked, looking at Rayvin and Diana.“No,” Rayvin deadpanned him.“Right, right. Never seen you, got you,” he franticly agreed. “We need to talk about the drugs you have been selling,” Rayvin told him.“Drugs? Ah, come on lady, don’t be like that. I’m a free spirit. I make my money in whatever way I can,” he said.“I don’t care about the drugs, I care about what you people have put into them.” The man looked at Rayvin.“Hey, hey. No, my products are clean. I don’t work with diluted shit. The people I buy from are good people. They’re not shit that put things like that in the product, real classy they are,” he told her.‘Is this common amongst humans? To run their mouth like this? We haven’t even threatened him yet,’ Ben a
Rayvin enjoyed the excitement she could feel from Mikael at her suspicions. He did his best to hide behind his serious alpha-face. With a remarkable effort, she focused on the problem at hand. On the table in front of them, the items were spread out. “Something is definitely up with that app,” Ben said. “He got upset as soon as we mentioned it,” Mikael agreed. “Why would you install a calculator app? Most phones have one already,” Diana asked. Rayvin reached out and opened the bag that contained the phone. She turned the phone on. There was no lock activated on the phone. They all shared a look. It all seemed too strange. In the middle of the home screen there was one app logo. It was a plain logo with numbers in different primary colours. The title read ‘Miracle calculator’. Rayvin was about to press it when Mikael put his hand over hers.“Are you sure it’s safe? What if it’s a trap, and it explodes or something?” he asked.“Not likely. Our warriors would have noticed explosives i
Rayvin woke the following day and stayed curled up in Mikael’s arms. Today, there would be no morning training. Today, there would be a funeral. It would be a tough day and she wanted a moment of peace before facing it. She felt Mikael stir next to her. “Is it time to get up?” he mumbled in a sleepy voice. Rayvin had to smile. He could be so adorable. “Not yet. You can sleep for another half an hour,” she told him and placed a kiss over his heart. He hummed as to confirm he heard her and tightened his grip around her. Rayvin relaxed into him and lay, half asleep, and watched the sun come up through the window. Spring would be coming soon, she thought. The days were getting longer. “Why aren’t you sleeping?” Mikael asked, still with his eyes closed. “I prefer to be awake and enjoy this moment,” she told him. “If you would have told me, I would have stayed awake and enjoyed it with you,” he said, placing a kiss on top of her head. She smiled and raised her head off his chest so she
The day after the funeral, Mikael was sitting in the meeting room in the pack house with Rayvin by his side. It would be the first alpha meeting for her as his luna. As always, the thought of her in her rightful place made Mikael happy. He logged onto the meeting and the screen in front of them filled with images of other alphas and lunas. Rayvin reached out and took his hand. Mikael could feel her nervousness through their bond. ‘Relax, Ray, you have done worse things than this,’ he mind linked her while they waited for everyone to join. ‘I know, but this is important,’ Rayvin answered. Mikael smiled at her and placed a kiss on the back of her hand. “Thank you for joining. We have some serious issues to discuss,” Alpha Brutus started the meeting. “But before that I would like to congratulate Alpha Mikael, who have found his luna, and welcome Luna Rayvin to our circle,” he continued. There was a moment of enthusiastic congratulations from the participants.“Thank you. I have been v
“I can’t believe it,” Diana told them and turned her phone around so they all could see it. ‘3 APRIL 5 PM LAKEWOOD APT 205’ was written on the screen. “You are a genius, sweetie,” Mikael said, placing a kiss on Rayvin’s temple. “That’s five days from now,” Ben pointed out. “It is, and that is an address in the city, in the worst part of town,” Diana said. “Thank you for your help, Laika.” Rayvin said.“My pleasure, Luna,” Laika said and took the hint and packed up and left. “What do we do now?” Rayvin asked. “We are assuming this is a meeting with the drug dealers?” Mikael asked.“I think that is a fair assumption,” Rayvin agreed. “We should go. It’s the best way to see who we are dealing with,” Ben said. “I agree,” Diana told them.“I do too, but what do we do when they arrive?” Rayvin asked. “If we kidnap them without knowing who they are, it may get the human authorities’ attention. We have been lucky with Liam. No one seems to be looking for him, but if people start going
Mikael looked at his mate and he knew she would dig her heals in on this. She had the adorable wrinkle between her eyebrows. He would have enjoyed a small scuffle with her any other day. But not today, not with these stakes. “Ray,” he said in a warning voice. “Max.” She had mirrored his voice and stood looking at him. “You are not thinking about going in to that place,” he said.“I am.”“Forget about it. I will lock you in one of the cells before I let you do something like that,” he told her. She scoffed and walked up to him. She stood so close to him she had to tilt her head slightly to look him in the eyes. He could see every golden thread in her eyes. “Listen to me, Max. I love you, I respect you, but that does not mean you get to control me. I have told you from the start, I’m not a meek and obedient Luna. You told me that was okay, that I could be who I wanted. Well, this is who I am. I am the kind of Luna that won’t stand by when I know I can help. If it turns out the agent
“I knew she never really cared for me,” Mikael confirmed, and it tore at Rayvin’s heart. “But I never blamed her for it. You saw me as your successor, as a carbon copy of you. She saw me as a duty, a box to check as Luna. I understood this early on. It didn’t mean it was easy to live with. Do you remember the summer Grey, his sister and mother spent here? I dreamed about Lilly asking me if I wanted to go back with them when they left. I had never seen another Luna with her children. I thought our family was how all Alpha families were. But seeing her, how she treated her children and how often Alpha George called to check on his family and how much attention both Grey and Lotte got. It was eye opening and gut wrenching all at the same time,” Mikael explained. Rayvin could feel the old pain he carried through their mate bond. “I gave you everything. I made sure you grew up strong, not spoiled,” his father objected.“You gave me nothing. I had to earn everything, even your attention. T
After the call ended, Mikael got up with a grim look on his face. “I’ll make sure the preparations to move him are started,” he told Rayvin. Rayvin got up and took his hand. “Stop. Just pause for a second,” she said. He had blocked their mate bond again, but Rayvin didn’t need it to know he was hurting. “You and me are going for a run,” she added.“Ray, we can go after I get things started,” he objected, and she hated how tired he sounded. “No, I’m going to insist that we go right now. Don’t make me use the mate card, Max.” He looked at her for a moment and then nodded. “Thank you, love,” she said, giving him a soft kiss and leading him out into the forest. They stripped down and shifted. ‘Catch me if you can, I won’t even use my abilities,’ Rayvin mind linked Mikel before taking off. For an hour, he chased her all over the pack land. Finally, Rayvin let him catch her by the waterfall and they both lied down in the snow and watched the dancing water. ‘Feeling better?’ she asked. ‘
Rayvin was discussing the training of the warriors with Diana. They had brainstormed and had the idea of building an obstacle course in the woods. It would make it easy to train warriors in different conditions and if it was done correctly, it would be able to adapt to the level of the trainee. Rayvin’s phone rang. She looked at it and saw an unknown number. There wasn’t anything strange about it. She hadn’t added all members of the pack’s numbers to her phone. “Rayvin,” she answered, not knowing if it was someone from the pack or a human. “Explain yourself, Rayvin,” someone shouted. Diana could hear it on the other side of the table and raised an eyebrow. “Hello, uncle. Yes, I have had a good day. How about you?” Rayvin said in a calm voice. She had never heard her uncle this upset before. It had to mean the actions the packs had taken were having an effect. “Stop playing games. What the fuck have you done? Why are our investments dropping like stones in the ocean?” he asked in a
Mikael looked at the report on his computer screen and frowned. He made sure to check his protective barrier toward Rayvin was in place. He didn’t want her to worry or blame herself. Mikael had sent Ben away to go to the pack doctor with Diana. It was time for the first official checkup. He heard to door open, and he didn’t need to lock up, he didn’t even need to rely on the exotic smell that grew stronger as his mate made her way to him. Rayvin was the only one who would enter his office without asking for permission. Not even Ben or Diana did it. But there was no ceremony between Mikael and Rayvin. She walked up to him and sat at his desk. He looked up at her and smiled as he placed his hand on her knee. As always, his hands always sought out contact with her. “Hi,” she said. “Hi.” She looked at him as if she was waiting for something. When nothing happened, she shook her head.“Are you ready to talk about it or do you need to brood some more?” she asked.“What are you talking abo
The party was in full swing, and Rayvin was having fun. For one night, it was good for the pack to let go of everything that was going on and just enjoy themselves. She and Mikael were making the rounds around the room, talking to people and making sure everyone was having a good time. “Vinny, it’s time for us to leave,” Luna Bella said and gave Rayvin a hug.“Thanks for coming, Bee. And thank you for lending me your stylist,” Rayvin said, giving Mickey a hug as well. “It was fun, it brought back a lot of memories,” Luna Bella told her. Mikael and Rayvin followed the party from the Blackmoon pack to their car and waved them off. “We have been at the party for almost three hours,” Mikael informed Rayvin as he closed his arms around her. “I didn’t know you were keeping track,” she said with a smile.“Three hours must be enough, don’t you think? No one would miss us if we didn’t go back,” he continued. “Tired already? I knew you were a little older than me, but you are losing your s
“Are you nervous?” Luna Bella asked as Mickey did Rayvin’s makeup. “Definitely,” Rayvin confessed and squirmed a little in her seat. “Don’t be, it will go perfectly,” Diana reassured her, and took another sip of the sparkling cider. Rayvin had decided they all were drinking cider instead of champagne. “You look amazing, if I may say so myself. It’s easy when working with people like you and Bee,” Mickey said. Rayvin was thrilled that he, Logan, Luna Bella and Alpha Graham had made the trip to Whiteriver to attend her Luna ceremony. She was even more grateful that Mickey had volunteered to help her get ready. He was an amazing stylist. Mickey had made Rayvin’s blond hair form into loose waves that cascaded down her shoulders and back. He had put soft makeup on her face, but as a contrast put gold eyeliner in an extended cat eye. It made her amber eyes stand out and gave her a warrior look. “Time for the dress,” Diana said, excitedly. Rayvin had listened to everyone and ordered her
It was Wednesday afternoon, Rayvin and Diana walked up to a tidy-looking town house in the human town. Diana was carrying a gigantic apple pie. Rayvin had asked the kitchen to make it for the bookclub she and Diana had been invited to. She had, unfortunately, forgotten to tell them it was meant for humans. They had made it with werewolf appetite in mind. ‘Ready?’ Rayvin mind linked Diana.‘No, are you sure I need to be here?’ Diana asked. ‘If I have to be here, you have to,’ Rayvin insisted and rang the doorbell. Mrs Goldstein opened the door with a big smile on her face. “Hello, Mrs Goldstein. This is my friend Diana Quickpaw,” Rayvin said.“Hello, nice to meet you. And please, we aren’t that formal here. Call me Ruth.”“thank you for inviting us, Ruth. We brought some apple pie,” Diana said. “Oh my,” Ruth said, looking at the giant thing in Diana’s hands. “You two know we are just six persons in the book club and it’s a one-day event,” she then giggled and took the apple pie fro
“What do you think?” Rayvin asked Mikael when they were alone again. “I like him. I have a feeling Gray will get two new pack members soon,” he said. “You think Milly will make a permanent move?” she asked and leaned against him. He pulled her closer and kissed her neck.“I think so. She seems to be happy there, and he has a good job in the area. I can’t say I’m sorry to see her go. But I am happy that she has found her place in life. If nothing else, it will make Ben’s life easier,” he said.“You’re right, Ben will have other things to deal with soon,” Rayvin said with a smile. “And I agree with you. I think he will make a good addition to a pack. It’s easy to see he is just as much in love with her as she is with him. They make a good couple,” she added. “One less problem. I think this is the beginning of a new trend. Our problems will start to untangle and go away from now on,” he told her. “Don’t jinx it, honey,” she joked. “Do you have anything else planned for today?” he as