Chapter 2

I turned off the shower and got out, rubbing myself down with one of the towels hanging from the rack. As I dried off, I grabbed my sweats and a shirt from my bag, throwing them on. Out the door, I started to explore a little. The house was small, only two bedrooms on the top floor. With an office as well.

Opening up the other bedroom, I looked in to see the bed unmade, a stuffed bunny laying on the bed, and some clothes tossed on the end. My mom definitely made herself at home. My dad was the neat freak of the two of them. Outside the kitchen, of course. Mom in the kitchen she was a cooking goddess and everything had a place. More than once my sisters, Freya and Syf, got in trouble for messing up the kitchen.

I headed down the stairs and sat at the kitchen island with Grandpa. He had a glass of tea in one hand, his cellphone in the other.

“Frankie’s made his move.”

My mom turned from the pot she was leaning over and signed: “What happened?”

“Took over the southern region. Managed a full blown takeover operation of six difference locations at the same time.”

Mom shook her head and turned back to pot. It was easy to forget that my grandpa was the great Morgan Russo. Vampire and mafia boss who was feared and revered in the supernatural community. He ran the biggest and the most unforgiving crew. Every so often, he would work with the High Council but he would never go to the castle. Not even when they dangled information to take out the Mexican mafia boss. He did it, but he refused to come into the area for the information we had. He said he couldn’t forgive the High Council, even if no one from the old High Council was on it anymore.

My mom was no slouch either. She was known as The Huntress in her younger days. She picked the name back up a few years ago when she started doing missions for them again. She had been hurt pretty bad in a previous war. There are still details she wouldn’t tell me, but apparently Grandpa and Dad saved her. For a long time, she had to take steroid shots but now, she was just as strong, if not stronger than she used to be. Grandpa was pissed when he found out she was going back into the field. But honestly, it would pale in comparison to Dad finding out. He would be livid.

“Is Frankie a threat?”

My grandpa chuckled. “No no. He’s a human. A crafty one at that but still human. If anything, I might cut a deal with him. He’s already encroaching on some of my territory but the stuff he’s getting into isn’t really my forte. So I might just allow him to work for a cut.”

Shaking my head, I saw a glass had magically appeared in front of me. I smiled and took a sip of tea. Now, I felt like I was home.

Mom turned a bit and her hands came up, signing ‘Are you staying tonight?’ before going back to the pot.

“No. I mean…you know I won’t say no to dinner, but I have a meeting tomorrow overseas. So I need to get on the plane tonight.” He looked at me and ruffled my hair. I growled at him but he laughed. “I just wanted to see my Grandson that I haven’t seen in forever and my wonderful daughter.”

Mom snorted. She turned fully this times and signed faster again. I wrinkled my nose.

“What? I don’t just come by for food and leave!”

I laughed and shook my head. “You absolutely do. You used to do it when we were kids too!”

“I gave your mom breaks when I took you pipsqueaks out for play dates. Hell, who was the one who taught you to shift like your mom? Me. I bet you were conceived while I was taking your brothers and sisters out.”

A towel slapped him in the face and I laughed harder. Mom was trying not to smile and absolutely failing.

“Princess! What the hell?”

She shook her head and started to pull bowls and plates. Serving us up with some of her loaded potato soup and a side of cheesy bread, we ate at the kitchen island together. I talked about a few things happening with the High Council, including reading up in the library. A lot of what I handled was not allowed to be aired outside the castle walls but some of it could. Mom and Grandpa asked a few questions here and there but we moved on to other subjects pretty quickly.

Werewolves right now were experiencing a time of peace. Most packs had peace treaties with others, and so it was only rogues that were an issue sometimes. Even that was rare and nothing like the stories of when my mom and dad first were running the pack together. Rogues, in my opinion, weren’t all that bad. Some were, of course, but so were some bad packs. I’d run into enough good rogues and bad packs that I felt evened out the scales. A pack protected it’s land but outside of the territory, rogues tended to live very human lives. I wasn’t going to judge them for that. It was a choice. But not all packs, even the good ones, shared my sentiments.

Getting up, I refilled my bowl for the third time and sat back down. My mom and grandpa were looking at me with an expression I didn’t like.

“What?”

“When are you gonna meet your mate?”

I nearly choked on my soup. “What?”

My mom snickered by Grandpa continued. “Your mate. You know. Goddess ordained other half of your soul. The person you are to have pups with and rule beside you as Luna?”

Every question I winced slightly. I stirred my soup a little, before finding a huge piece of bacon and chomping down on it.

'You okay, Vale?'

I shook my head. “Dad didn’t find his mate till he was twenty-three. I still have a few years before then. Plus, I don’t get out much. The only time I ever come into contact with more than just the High Council and the people who work at the castle are when we have meetings.”

I took another bite, staring down at the soup that I had tried to replicate so many times but always failed to make as good. It was my favorite or at least in my top three of meals my mom made. It was home. But I knew this trip wasn’t a homecoming. Not really. I was running away.

'You found your mate.'

My mom’s voice filtered through the mind link and it wasn’t a question. I didn’t reply. There was still too much going on and I wanted to forget it. Not dredge it up so I could feel anymore like I was running away. Grandpa wasn’t going to let it go as he launched into a plan for a world-wide tour to find my mate. Rolling my eyes, I tried to ignore the hammering in my chest. My mom placed her hand on my cheek and smiled.

She turned to Grandpa and sighed vampire speed again. My grandpa’s eyes widened and the narrowed. The air suddenly grew thick and I sat up straight, looking at him with a confused face.

“He did what?!” He shouted, the walls of the house shaking. For the first time, I knew even if I brought out Naresh, I would lose. Naresh paced a bit in my mind, watching my mom to see if we needed to step in to protect her. But she sat up straight, never bowed or even looked remotely uncomfortable. Her eyes looked at Grandpa without seeing.

“And Logan let him?” He roared again.

I realized we had moved on from my mate talk. She had changed the subject, obviously to one that trumped anything I could say about my mate. As much as I was thankful to her, this seemed more serious. She signed and it was a blur but he was staring at her hands. His face got darker and darker.

“That’s why….Auri…seriously? You just let him?”

Her hands slowed and I finally was able to read them. “What was I supposed to do? I don’t have control over that.”

“You’re a Luna! The Luna! Týr’s mate can’t even be called a Luna at this point. She’s just there to pump out pups!”

My mom slapped his arm.

“You know it’s true! You’ve had to help her during every single one of her pregnancies because soon as she finds out, suddenly she’s allergic to work.”

My mom sighed and rubbed her eyes. She started signing again. “Well, she’s on her own for this one. But Logan is there. He will help.”

“I will tear him from limb to limb. I should have the first night he broke your heart. I regret it. He was NEVER good enough for you.”

I cleared my throat. “That’s my dad.”

My mom leaned back and took my in her arms, kissing my forehead.

'And I would never go back on having any of you kids. I love your dad. So much. But sometimes we just don’t see eye to eye.'

I snorted. “I know that. But dad needs to lay off sometimes. I mean how long have you been out here? Alone?”

Her eyes looked down.

“It’s coming up on three months.” Grandpa crossed his ams over his chest.

“Three months?! Mom! I thought you said they got into it a couple weeks ago!” I looked up at Grandpa.

My mom growled at Grandpa who growled right back. “He’s your son. He should know. Don’t growl at me, cub. I didn’t realize the punishment for that was so severe. Shit, Auri. Why do you even stay here?”

She looked back at me and smiled. “It’s home,” she signed slowly. Looking back at Grandpa, her hands came up slower. “My kids may have grown up and moved on, but this pack is still my home. I still have people I want to protect.”

Grandpa ran his hand through his hair and huffed. “I can’t win with you.” He leaned down and kissed her head. “I have to go. Otherwise, I’ll end up doing something you’ll be mad at me for. I’ll call you in a few days.”

She nodded and smiled. He came over to me and pulled me into a manly hug, hitting me on the back a few times.

“It was good seeing you. I’ll try to see if I can’t swing by again before you leave. Take care of your mom, yeah?”

I nodded. “You too, Grandpa.”

He walked by mom again and put his hand on her cheek. “You need anything, princess, call me. You know you can move anytime into it. It’s yours. He left it for you. Everything of his, he left for you.”

She nodded solemnly and patted his hand before he headed out. Turning back, she took his plate and hers to the sink.

'Now that he’s gone. What in the world is going on with you? You have a mate, but you’re here…alone.'

I sighed and continued to eat. 'It’s a long story.'

'I’ve got time, Vale.'