**Elliott POV**“We need to get Sebastians old room ready for him since I’m willing to bet he’ll be staying here for at least a couple weeks before his graduation. Cleo, I was hoping you could arrange that and maybe a welcome back dinner party. Keep it small, maybe just us and my parents and we’ll have a bigger one with the whole pack in a few weeks once he and my sister are both officially back for good. Jasper, I was wondering if you could pull records of pack members from 12 years ago to see if Emma was possibly a member here. I know it’ll be hard, but I’m hoping I can do some digging and see if I can find any census Mystic Moon had done of all their members around that time as well. I have a strong feeling she’s from one of the two packs. Cam, I’d like you to hand pick several guards to accompany us to River bed. Once the elders officially put Victor under arrest, they’ll be requiring some of our resources for his transport to trial, and we’ll need some focused and experienced war
**Jade POV**I bounced into my—I couldn’t even believe it was mine!— office, hearing Emma gasp behind me. I myself had actually forgotten how beautifully decorated my office was. I wanted to do what Elliott had with his office, to preserve most of the general look and only add a few new things that made the room feel more like MINE, but the time for that wasn’t now. It was time to learn how to be an equal partner to my mate, and I would not let him or this pack down.“Hello, girls!” Vera exclaimed as we walked through the doorway. I smiled at her and walked toward the sitting area where she was perched on one of the chairs from the desk area that she’d pushed over to the sitting area. There was a tray of teacups with a beautifully decorated matching teapot and a few assorted fruits. “Help yourself, we have a lot to go over and I’m sure you’ll need to gather some energy after last night. How was it?!” She asked as if she really was interested.“It was amazing! We got massages, manicure
**Emma POV**No sooner had I closed the door to Jade’s swanky new office than I heard a deep and terrifying “boo” from behind me. I jumped, only to see Cameron waiting just outside Elliott’s door so I smacked him as hard as I could manage, but it seemed not to make a single difference to him.“Ready for lunch?” Cameron asked, pretending to rub his chest from where I’d slapped him. I narrowed my eyes but nodded, too hungry to argue with him.Cameron and I chit-chatted about what all we’d gone over with Vera as we headed down to the floor I recognized as his when he’d given me my tour. He led me a few doors down before opening one of the large wood doors for me and gesturing for me to head in before him.The office looked fancy, but not as large and expensive looking as Jade’s or Elliott’s. The room was still a nice size, big enough for a smaller sitting area than in the other offices, one wall completely taken up by monitors that looked like different areas around the packlands, probab
**Elliott POV**“Well, your mother said Jade is a natural leader, but I’d expect as much given her lineage, “my father smiled fondly as he talked about my mate. “She said they were rapping up the first day of training so far and they’d meet us on the balcony whenever we’re ready to wrap things up here.”I looked down at the map of silver moon one more time. I know Mystic Moon was somewhere in the woods right on the border of our packlands. I remember it being only about a 30-minute drive there. I’d tried to draw a reasonable search perimeter to start with. Maybe we’d get lucky and somehow stumble upon Mystic Moon if we were able to unlock some of Jade’s memories. It was worth a shot.I was feeling uneasy about the prospect of my brother finding that my mate had in fact been manipulated by dark magic. I worried about what would happen if there was no way to undo the damage and how I could possibly console her if she was going to have to accept that all her memories of her parents were
**Jasper POV**I’d been staring at the same spreadsheet for what felt like hours, and it still didn’t make any sense. Nothing did make any sense, not since we went to river bed. I hated to think that. I hated to be thinking that my best friend—my brother’s— mate was the cause of all this chaos happening inside of me now.I haven’t been able to place how I’ve felt about Jade or even Emma for that matter since we’d put them in the car to come home. Something about both of their scents made me feel like I knew them somehow, but I couldn’t place it. I’d been to river bed several times in my adult life, but it was usually just for conferences or meetings. I hardly ever interacted with anyone besides the person we’d specifically come there to see, so I couldn’t have met them in passing or anything. Elliott usually made sure our meetings were as brief as possible as soon as the alpha’s daughter began to take a liking to him.Cleo had seemed so taken with the girls that I didn’t want to burde
**Jade POV**William and Vera decided it was probably best for everyone to have a little time to take a break and process things, Vera and I promised each other to have some more training tomorrow over breakfast before Juliet arrived. I hated to say it because I’d enjoyed my time with everyone so far, but I was somewhat relieved to be alone with just Elliott for the first time in over 24 hours. My heat had already begun to taper off this morning, so I knew I was capable of being rational about discussing our situation.“So,” I started, looking across the table at Elliott, who was taking a sip of his beer. “I feel like we should mate soon.” I somewhat mumbled, and Elliott put his beer down immediately.“Baby, we have plenty of time to mate. There’s no reason to rush things.” I was comforted by his level-headedness, but I did feel like there was a reason.“Elliott, what have we all been talking about the last hour?” I said trying my best not to sound irritable. “We have so much on our p
**Elliott POV**“I was ready for you then, and I’m ready for you now.” Jade leaned in to kiss me, only making matters worse since she was already straddling me.“Careful, baby. I’m already prepared for round 2 and I don’t want you to overdo it.” I was worried about hurting her. I wanted her more than I could ever say, but I didn’t want her to make herself too sore for drinks later tonight. I was afraid I’d get too into it like I did before, I hadn’t had sex with any virgins before her, but I knew from Jasper that Cleo had been really tired and sore after their first time.“If you think you’re ready for round 2, you’re already behind me because I was hoping for round 2 and 3.” Jade licked my marking spot, immediately taking away any self-control left in me. It was clear that her drive was definitely that of an alpha, in which case we were evenly matched. And who cared if we missed drinks? It was only a few pressing matters, none more pressing than my mate’s soapy breasts just in front
**Jade POV**I stood in front of my closet, bewildered and consumed with anxiety. What were future lunas supposed to wear when they were meeting their future brother-in-law for the first time? Was it even worth the effort? Would he already hate me for making him come home early from school? I was getting closer and closer to an all-out panic attack by the second.I took a deep breath and managed to pick out a pair of loose-fitting light brown slacks, a dark green turtleneck, and a plaid vest. I chose a pair of dark brown loafers with a small heel on them, and looked myself over in the mirror. I looked a lot like Elliott, I knew I’d at least not be over or underdressed, but I didn’t know if I’d look too buttoned up and formal. What if Sebastian wanted a fun-loving sister-in-law? This outfit certainly didn’t scream “I’m a good time.”I flitted over to the jewelry box sitting on a shelf in the corner of the closet. I opened it, stunned at how many beautiful pieces the box was filled with