A/N: I'm so sorry for how long this update took. I had trouble getting the chapter order fixed and then ran into some writer's block.
Sixty Mason Crescent I hated everything about this. Mia going into enemy territory made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I knew Valentina better than anyone. She was vicious and power hungry and she would do whatever she wanted whenever she wanted. Valentina wouldn’t care if it hurt someone else. But I had to realize that Mia was also an Alpha. She was lethal too. And I wouldn’t always be able to protect her. “What are we doing?” Mia asked. “You’re going to train,” I said, “if we’re going to fight, then the two of us are going to make sure that you’re invincible. Valentina is one of the fiercest women that I know. She will come after you and come after you until there is nothing left. I’m not going to let that happen to the two of us.” Mia smiled up at him. The two of them were in the training room. It was filled with weapons of every kind and everything a person would need to work out. “Are werewolves always under attack?”
Sixty-one: Mia Crescent My whole body ached. Mason had me in the gym for several hours a day. My mornings started with a run. In the evening, we went over plans with Barrett, Oliver, and Cole. Camden was trying to get into the Carina wolf pack so that he could get close to Valentina. I didn’t like anyone from our family being around that woman. But Mason insisted that he was the backup plan in case my plan failed. “I still think this is a bad idea,” Mason said. He pulled me up from the mat. “I’m yours. Valentina could never sway me.” “If she’s dangerous for me to be around, she’s dangerous for you too. I’m the Alpha. I’m supposed to take care of my pack.” “Technically, your pack is Barrett and Oliver. I’m pretty sure they can handle themselves. They would also rather have me deal with Valentina instead. She’s going to know that you’re not me, even with all of the magic. I don’t think you’ve been around me en
Sixty-two Mason Crescent I always knew Valentina was unhinged. But I never expected her to be this unhinged. Camden was dead. It took a lot to kill a werewolf. She’d gone through the trouble of working with hunters to make my life miserable. As I fell to my knees, the door burst open. I looked up sharply. Valentina stood in the doorway. “We need to talk,” she said. I jumped up and lunged at her, tackling her to the ground amid the snarls of my pack. “You killed my brother!” Valentina pushed me onto my back without any trouble. “I didn’t kill Camden” “No, did you have one of your foot soldiers kill him for you?!” I roared back. “Hunters!” Valentina hissed. “Hunters have been killing off mates. It was never my brothers. Do you think I would come all of this way just to tell you lie knowing that you would probably want to kill me for your brother’s death?” I stopped. I let her go from
Sixty-threeMia Crescent I wanted to tear her face off. Every word that Valentina Carina spoke made my claws come out. “They’ve been killing off mates,” said Valentina, “and it seems that their goal is to make it so that werewolves can’t reproduce anymore.” I wanted to listen. I wanted to be rational. A leader. An Alpha. But every time I looked at her, I kept on thinking about how she had a whole history with Mason that I didn’t. I hated that. “Whose they?” Mason asked. “You remember those assholes that were kidnapping pups back when we were in high school?” Valentina said. “It’s the same group. Only they’ve decided that it isn’t pups that are the issue, it’s mates. They’ve been using magic to track us. Which means that there’s someone that has betrayed us.” Oliver, who was there with us, bristled. “Edwina Campbell.” I glanced at Oliver. “That wasn’t Edwina that tried to sabotage us. That was Aunt Rachel that was
Sixty-fourMason Crescent “I take everything back,” said Mason, “I don’t like the sound of this.” Valentina laughed. “You aren’t the one calling the shots anymore, Mason. He was really bad about that when we dated. He always called the shots. He thought that I wasn’t strong enough to deal with the complicated world of Alphas.” Mason shot her a look. “You don’t get to interfere with us.” “Relax, Mason. I’m not trying to interfere with you. I’m just sharing information.” Mason glared at her and placed an arm around me. I laughed a little. I liked how much she made him protective. At the same time, however, Mason kept on trying to keep me in the dark. I didn’t like that. I knew I was new to the world of werewolves and magic. But I was never going to learn if he kept on trying to hide things from me. “I hate this. I don’t trust her. This whole thing could be a trap.” “They killed my mate!” Valentina hissed.
Sixty-five Mason Crescent “I don’t trust this bullshit.” Oliver was pissed about working with Edwina. I couldn’t blame him. I wasn’t used to not being able to call all of the shots. But if Mia and I were going to survive, I needed to be okay with her being in charge too. She was an Alpha. She had just as much power as I did. The group of us, me, Mia, Oliver, Barrett, Cole, and Valentina was outside of Edwina Campbells home. It was a cabin in the middle of the woods not far from where we lived. I wondered if Edwina had known that she would reunite with Oliver at our home. Witches were supposed to have visions. Not all of them, but usually when it concerned mates, they could sense them. Especially if they were werewolves. The door opened and the blond girl came out of her home. “Welcome!” she said. “I’m glad everyone could make it.” “Do you have someone waiting to sabotage us?” Oliver hissed. “Is that why you’re so excited
Sixty-six Mia Crescent I took a picture of myself at the airport. I posted it onto social media. Connected with some college friends this weekend. Going home. Never thought I would see Mason Crescent again. Blast from the past! The second was of a picture of Mason and me. Edwina had a theory that the hunters were tracking mates through magic and social media. Rachel had been a snake in the grass so I had no idea what kind of tracking devices might have been in my home or in my bakery. When I got back to my home, I was stunned to find that the restaurant was completely finished. The contractors had continued working in my absence. Life hadn’t just stopped in the midst of me finding out who I really was. It hadn’t been that long, yet it felt like it was a million light years away. “Home sweet home,” I muttered to myself as I stepped in. I had had this place built with the hope that it would be my foreve
Sixty-seven:Mason Crescent First, I contacted the other wolfpacks. I let them know that I had reunited with Mia and that she had run away. I made no mention of her being a Luna. I did mention the hunters that had been coming after our packs. After, I started “searching” on my own for her. I went out on runs in my wolf fun. I got closer and closer to where she was. California. The place that she had originally wanted to call her home. With each step of our plan getting closer, I found myself worrying. It was the same worry that I had had since the beginning. That Mia wouldn’t want to be with me if she knew the truth. Only now, that worry had changed to what would happen if Mia got back to California and wanted her old life before me? One that wasn’t complicated by werewolves and magic and me. “You okay?” Cole asked. We weren’t in our wolf form. We had reached Las Vegas just by shifting and running. But now, we were in our human clothes,
Seventy-four:Mia Crescent Somehow, I had survived the fight. Mason took me back to New York. Valentina was dead. My uncle was dead. My brother was dead. And Edwina had nearly died in the process, but she had managed to survive somehow. There was also something strange that had passed between her and Cole that I couldn’t explain. One day, back in New York when Harper and I had been reunited, I had been having lunch with her in the big kitchen as Mason was off working on something pack related for me. I heard fighting coming down the stairs. “We’re not talking about this,” Edwina hissed. “We have to,” this came from Cole. The two of them came into the kitchen. They didn’t even notice me and Harper sitting inn the kitchen together as they talked. “It was stupid!” Edwina shouted. “I made a mistake. That’s it. We’re not going to do anything. It’s wrong.” “Look, you’re from the same world as me,” said Cole
Seventy-three:Mason Crescent The fight had been brutal. Not everyone had survived. The hunters were dead. Oliver was dead. Barrett, who had been a traitor the whole time, was dead. We were in one of the witches homes. Valentina had ended up getting burned alive. She was dead. Turned to ash. Edwina was almost drained of her power. My wife, my precious Mia, was hanging from a thread. She lay on one of the beds in the guest room of one of the high priestesses of the coven. I didn’t even know the woman’s name. All I could focus was that Mia was near death. It seemed that the rumors of mates dying when the other died were just that. Rumors. But when she was weak, I could feel it. I was struggling to even bring myself to her side. “Brother,” said Cole, “are you alright?” I reached out and I grasped my wife’s hand as though simply by touching her that I would be able to gain some of her strength. Or maybe ma
Seventy-two:Mia Crescent It happened the same way it happened with Stacy. My wolf sensed the danger before I saw it. The hunters had known exactly where we were, but judging by the look on Valentina and Edwina’s faces, neither of them had planned on the hunters finding us. I didn’t know how that had happened. Someone had to have betrayed us. Then, through the crowd, I saw someone coming forward. My uncle, Barrett. He was holding something in his hands. Edwina let out a scream. “Oliver!” her wail echoed through the desert. “You know, Mia, I think you’re a bit too trusting. I don’t think that’s going to make for a good leader. So, I think I’m going to have to destroy you and your whole family. Because you weren’t even raised as a werewolf. You thought you were a fucking human for most of your life. You had no idea that you were even being watched by some of the deadliest people on the planet for most of your life.
Seventy-one:Mason Crescent I wanted to trust Mia. And I did. But it wasn’t Mia that I had the problem with. It was Valentina. Valentina was notoriously power hungry. As we followed her and Edwina to wherever they were taking us, I kept on thinking of Camden, lying there, dead. It was the hunters that were responsible. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something worse coming. “Are you alright?” Mia asked. “You’ve been quiet this whole time.” I shook my head. “It’s nothing.” “Your eyes are glowing and you are clenching your jaw,” Mia told me, “There’s something going on in that head of yours. Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?” “I’m keeping my mouth shut,” I told her, “Because if I say something, you’re going to get pissed at me. I don’t want you pissed at me. I know you’re trying to be an Alpha. I want this to work for you. But I don’t trust Valentina. I know how her mind works.” Mia sn
SeventyMia Crescent I knew the minute that Mason arrived. I could feel him. Stacy was unconscious and tied to a chair. Without thinking, I left her alone and ran from the bakery down the stairs to the front where Mason had only just gotten out of his truck. “Mason!” I called out. He ran to me, picked me up, and twirled me around in his arms as he kissed me. I could only feel him. There was someone coughing behind us and Mason quickly put us down. I glanced over at Cole and couldn’t help but be sheepish. “Sorry Cole,” I apologized. Cole rolled his eyes. “It’s fine. But you know, we’re kind of in a life-or-death situation here. You’re the ones that have a daughter that you would like to reunite with. We should probably focus on taking out the bad guy’s thing first.” Mason smirked. “Don’t worry, brother. We know exactly what we need to do. Where’s the girl?” “In my apartment,” I told him. “Come on,” he s
Sixty-nine: Mason Crescent There were two, beat up men in the back of the truck Cole and I had driven down. Hunters that had tried to take us out. Mia had already been attacked by another one, a woman that she’d known back in California. “If you grip that steering wheel any harder, you’re going to break it,” Cole warned. “They were right fucking there!” I hissed, slamming my hand against the center console as I drove. “I stayed away from Mia and Harper to make sure that they were safe. The whole time, they were in danger. I fucking wasted time that I could have been with my wife and daughter, Cole. And I didn’t even know Mia was my wife until recently.” Cole coughed. “That’s my fault. I’m sorry. Cal and I shouldn’t have interfered. We just wanted you happy and you were being so stubborn about the whole Mia thing because you thought she was human…” “I didn’t trust her,” I said, “I should have. I should have known t
Sixty-eight: Mia Crescent In the movies, the plan would have gone fast. Because this wasn’t a movie, it took time. Days. Days of being by myself, days of trying to act like everything was normal. The café was finished so I mostly had to order supplies and look into hiring people. I had to wait and pretend that I was clueless to everything. I missed Harper. I missed my husband. I was tired of everything being constant danger. I wanted to be safe. But it wasn’t easy to draw darkness out when you were looking for it. It was much easier for darkness to strike when you weren’t looking. I kept on wanting to call Mason, but I couldn’t. I had to wait until the Hunters came for me. I busied myself with the bakery, and pretending to be back to normal to everyone that knew me from before. But it was almost impossible. I kept looking over my shoulder every time my back was turned e
Sixty-seven:Mason Crescent First, I contacted the other wolfpacks. I let them know that I had reunited with Mia and that she had run away. I made no mention of her being a Luna. I did mention the hunters that had been coming after our packs. After, I started “searching” on my own for her. I went out on runs in my wolf fun. I got closer and closer to where she was. California. The place that she had originally wanted to call her home. With each step of our plan getting closer, I found myself worrying. It was the same worry that I had had since the beginning. That Mia wouldn’t want to be with me if she knew the truth. Only now, that worry had changed to what would happen if Mia got back to California and wanted her old life before me? One that wasn’t complicated by werewolves and magic and me. “You okay?” Cole asked. We weren’t in our wolf form. We had reached Las Vegas just by shifting and running. But now, we were in our human clothes,
Sixty-six Mia Crescent I took a picture of myself at the airport. I posted it onto social media. Connected with some college friends this weekend. Going home. Never thought I would see Mason Crescent again. Blast from the past! The second was of a picture of Mason and me. Edwina had a theory that the hunters were tracking mates through magic and social media. Rachel had been a snake in the grass so I had no idea what kind of tracking devices might have been in my home or in my bakery. When I got back to my home, I was stunned to find that the restaurant was completely finished. The contractors had continued working in my absence. Life hadn’t just stopped in the midst of me finding out who I really was. It hadn’t been that long, yet it felt like it was a million light years away. “Home sweet home,” I muttered to myself as I stepped in. I had had this place built with the hope that it would be my foreve