Three
Mia Conner Three years later The culinary fellowship had been a gift. I didn't even remember applying for it, but after I got pregnant with my daughter, things had been so busy that sometimes I didn't even remember my own name. It was in California, and I took my daughter and moved to a small suburb there called Delta. I worked at their small, community college and taught pastry making. I'd started out as an assistant, but after graduating with my masters, I'd gotten the teaching position. Today was my last day in the program though. Even with a three-year-old, I'd still managed to save up enough money for my bakery. Within the last few months, I'd bought a place, and I had enough money to finally start working on it. Things would be tight for a while, but once I had the shop, I would finally be my own boss. "We're going to miss you!" my co-worker, Stacy, said. She was one of the other faculty members on the staff. She taught hospitality management. She hugged me tightly, and I hugged her back. "Thanks," I said, "I'll miss you too. But don't worry. You'll still see me. After all, the bakery isn't that far from campus. You can come in and get your morning coffee. Maybe I'll give you some blueberry muffins for free. I know those are your favorite." Stacy beamed at me. "You're the best, Mia. I'm so glad everything is working out for you. And how cool that your new apartment is going to be right above your restaurant? No early morning commute for you. You'll be able to spend so much time with little Harper." I nodded. It had been hard, being a single mother with Harper. But at three years-old, she was quickly growing into being her own little person. She would be in pre-school in the fall, and I would have more free time then I knew what to do with. "It's great. Things are finally looking up." "Maybe you can finally get some sleep," said Stacy, "have those weird dreams stopped?"I shook my head. "No. It's weird, too. Every night it’s the same thing. I wake up, and there's a wolf at the edge of my bed. I'm not even that into wolves." "Maybe you've got a mate." Stacy nudged me, and I rolled my eyes. A few years ago, werewolves had been discovered when one of the richest families in America had morphed into one at a congressional hearing and attacked a congressman. Since then, everyone had been equally fascinated and horrified by them. Especially the idea of mates. Some werewolves had soulmates, someone that the universe bound them to be with. It was said that a werewolf could feel a connection to their mate the minute they found them. And that it would drive them crazy with lust. If you crossed a werewolf's mate, the werewolf wouldn't stop until they had gotten revenge for them. "I'm in my mid-twenties, with a three-year-old who's the product of a one-night stand that I don't remember. I'm not exactly mate material, Stacy. I'm pretty sure werewolves want someone respectable and they've got that whole weird, purity thing too." Stacy poked me hard with her finger. "Don't be like that. You could totally get a werewolf if you wanted to. Or maybe a hot fae or something." I laughed. "I'm okay, really. I've got the bakery, and Harper, and that's all I need right now. Maybe later I'll have time for romance." "Right. Cake?" She cut a slice of the chocolate cake she'd gotten me, and poured a little champagne. There were a few other professors around and some students that had all come to wish me well. "Sounds good," I said, and I took the piece that she'd cut for me. We talked, and ate, and then it was time for us to clean everything up. Tomorrow, it would be my first day working on bakery stuff. It hadn't opened yet. That wouldn't happen until the end of the month. There was still plenty of prep to do, like recipe testing and I needed to meet with the plumbers to make sure the bathroom was going to be up and ready by the time I opened. Not to mention a whole bunch of other stuff I had to do in order to get the restaurant up to code. I'd enjoyed my time at the college but I was just as excited about my new journey. And I definitely didn't need a man to be part of that. Romance was out of the question. At least until Harper was a little older. I didn't want her having a string of strange men she called "uncles" or having people think I was unfit for any reason. I drove home to the bakery, and when I got inside, my aunt Rachel was there waiting with Harper. She'd moved to California with us when I'd gotten the fellowship which had really helped with the whole school thing. While I worked at the college, she had taken care of Harper. Harper was a tiny little bundle of energy, with brunette curls, and big, brown eyes. She hadn't asked any questions about her dad, but I had a story prepared for when she did finally start to. I wasn't going to hide anything from her but I wasn't going to shatter any romantic notions she had early on. I had my suspicions who Harper's dad was. But that was even more reason for me not to get involved with him. Mason Crescent wasn't the type of man I wanted raising my daughter. And I didn't need handouts. "Mommy!" Harper jumped off of Rachel's lap and ran to me, wrapping her tiny little arms around my legs. "Hi, sweetie," I said, hugging her back. "How are you?" "Good!" Aunt Rachel got up from where she was sitting. "Hi, honey. How was your last day?" I smiled. "It was great. How was this little munchkin?" I looked down at my daughter who looked up at me, grinning. "Good," said Aunt Rachel, "we went to the park and played a little, didn't we?" Harper nodded. "Right. Well. Pizza for dinner?" "Yes, please!" Harper said. We went upstairs to the apartment that was overhead the bakery. I ordered a pizza for us, and put Harper in front of a movie. I sat at the small, dining room table I had with my Aunt Rachel across from me. "So," said Aunt Rachel, "something exciting happened for me." "Exciting huh," I said, "what's that?" "I got a job." I raised an eyebrow. "A job. What for? You know I'll still pay you for watching Harper." "I know," said Aunt Rachel, "but the little one is going to be in pre-school soon, and I need something to do. Anyway, I got a job as a secretary." "Oh, where at?" I asked. "That's the wonderful part! Remember your old friend, Brooklyn?" I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I remember her. Why?" I hadn't heard from Brooklyn in years. It was like once I got the fellowship in California, she dropped off the face of the earth. I had wanted her to be Harper's god mother, but she hadn't even been there for the birth. "Well, it's her company," she said, "she finally made that app thing she was always talking about. It's some fashion thing. She connects personal stylists with everyday people, and they do it like a subscription thing. She's even got a whole closet full of designer pieces for employees to use!" "Wow," I said, "that's amazing. I'm glad she finally followed her dreams." "Oh, and you'll never guess who else was there." "Who else?" "That tall drink of water that you were always arguing with. Her brother. Ransom?" "Mason," I said. My heart pounded against my chest at the mention of him. "What---wh-what was he doing there?" "He works there. He's her vice president." "Her vice president," I said, "but he was CEO of his family's company. Why is he working there as her vice president? That's kind of a big change for him." "I guess his health has been in decline," said Rachel, "and his family refused to let him work for the company while he wasn't feeling well. So, his younger brother took over and he's working for his sister. He still looks good." I made a face. "Aunt Rachel, he's old enough to be your son." Rachel chuckled. "Don't worry. I'm done with romance. But you, sweetheart, I remember the way you were together. You two got on like a house on fire." "I hate that saying," I said. "Anyway," said Aunt Rachel, "Brooklyn gave me one of her cards. You should give her a call and catch up. Oh, and I'm mad at you. How could you keep that they were werewolves from me?" I blinked. "What?" "You knew about them being werewolves, didn't you? You lived with her for four years." I froze. "N-n-no. I was never told that." "Well, they are. Apparently, they're one of the most prominent packs in the US. They're billionaires, did you know that? Oh, and Brooklyn wants to see Harper. I showed her pictures. She was so excited for you." "You…you told her about Harper?" I said. Aunt Rachel nodded. "And that Mason was extremely curious about her too. I think he's lonely. He'd make a great Step Dad, I think." She winked at me. I groaned. "Aunt Rachel, he can't be a Step Dad. I don't need anyone to help me." "I was just kidding," she said, "no need to get so huffy. I know the two of you have history---" I clenched my fists together. "We don't have history." Aunt Rachel raised an eyebrow. "I think you do." She tilted her head to the side. "You know, when Harper was born, I didn't ask any questions. But you told me that you had made a mistake and that you didn't remember who the father was. I'm beginning to think that you do remember, and you just didn't want to tell me. Is it because of the werewolf thing?" I shook my head. "I didn't know anything about the werewolf thing, I promise. That's as much of a shock to me as it was to you." She crossed her arms over her chest. "But Mason is Harper's dad?" I nodded. "He's the only person that made sense. I was with him on that Vegas trip for Meredith's bachelorette party. But he's a controlling asshole. He was always acting like he knew what was best for me." "Hmmm…" "Hmmm what?" "Well, werewolves do have mates you know…."I made a face. "I'm not his mate. If I were his mate, I wouldn't have been left alone. Mason likes controlling everyone around him. I don't think he would have let me go if he knew I was his. He probably would have forced me to marry him right away or something. And Brooklyn can't keep a secret to save her life. There's no way that she wouldn't have told him." "Really?" said Rachel. "Because you didn't know that she was a werewolf. Maybe he kept that information from you because he didn't know how you would react. You should call Brooklyn, and see Mason again. He might surprise you. Besides, he deserves to know his daughter. I know you didn't like him but that doesn't mean that he wouldn't be a good father." "I can take care of my daughter," I said, "and I don't need any help. But…you're right about Brooklyn. I'll try giving her a call. It would be nice to see her again. I've missed her." "She missed you too," said Rachel, "and who knows maybe you will---" "I'm not reconnecting with Mason. I've got nothing to see with him."Four Mason Crescent "What are you doing?" I demanded. I stormed into my sister's office the minute he had seen the e-mail about the new hire. Rachel Conner was Mia Conners aunt. And, according to the company wide e-mail my sister had just sent, she was also going to be the new secretary working for me. Brooklyn smiled. "I'm helping out family." I glared at her. Inside, my wolf was pacing, and it howled with anger. Whenever it did that, my eyes blazed yellow and Brooklyn must have seen it. Her eyes blazed yellow too as if in response. "Don't take that attitude with me. Mason, Mia is your mate, and you've stayed away from her long enough. Harper's your daughter. You deserve to be happy and I don't want to see you die because you're too stubborn to be with her. Rejecting her is making you weak. You need to embrace happiness." I clenched my jaw. "She'll get killed." "You don't know that," said Mia, "the world isn't the same place that it was years ago. Everyone knows that our family
Five Mia Conner For the first time in my life, I didn't have anyone to answer to. I woke up early, had breakfast with my daughter, and I took her to pre-school. I then had to pick some things up for the bakery and by the time that I was done with everything, it was already lunch time. I went to a restaurant nearby and I got a sandwich and some lemonade to drink. I was sitting on one of the outdoor tables when a shadow fell over me. "Mia Conner?" a voice said. I looked up, and was surprised to see Sullivan Carina in front of me. Sullivan was one of the werewolves that had announced themselves to the world in recent years. We'd gone to college together. He was around my age, twenty-something. He was tall, with blond hair, and blue eyes. "Oh my god! Hi." I got up and gave him a hug. "What were you doing there?" "My family is opening a new branch of their company here. I was sent to help oversee the California branch." I smiled. "That's amazing, I'm so happy for you." "Than
Six Mason Crescent "---and you know, Mia's daughter is just the cutest. Harper? She's three, but she's already super smart for her age." Rachel Conner had been rambling since she started her first day. The woman was nice enough. Mason remembered that about her. But he hadn't remembered how chatty she was. The last thing he wanted to deal with was her talking all day, especially about Mia. Since he had decided not to be with Mia, he had been losing his strength that came with being a werewolf. He also couldn't shift anymore. But his werewolf was still there, just tired and unable to be the fearsome thing that he once was when he still had the title of Alpha. "Rachel, that's all very interesting, but I do actually have a meeting that I have to get to." "Oh," said Rachel, "that's fine. Actually---" her cell phone rang, and Mason winced. "Oh, hi, Mia. Yeah, the job is going great. I'm actually here with Mason right now. Do you want to sa
Seven Mia Conner I had another weird dream. Instead of waking up with one wolf staring at me, in the dream I was in the woods. I wore a white dress, and there was a group of people looking at me. The strangers' eyes glowed a bright blue, then they looked up at the moon and howled. I looked at the moon too, and was surprised when a howl escaped me as well. It wasn't a noise that I had ever made. I looked back at the crowd of people in the woods. And in their place, there were wolves. Wolves that were looking at me with a kind of hunger I had never seen before. I should have felt scared but instead, there was a strange sense of calm. As if I belonged there. A large, white wolf came through the crowd and went up to me. Mia, someone was saying my name. Mia. I locked eyes with the wolf and I had the strangest sensation that it was the wolf that was speaking it to me. In my mind. My heart pounded against my chest. I saw flashes of a little girl, with a man and a woman that I di
Eight Mason Crescent I had a routine. I got up early, about six o' clock a.m. in the morning. I would do a quick workout, get showered, and then I would eat something healthy for breakfast before my driver would come and pick me up to work. On this particular morning, I woke up and started working out. I couldn't even lift the weights. I fell to the ground, and that was the last thing that I remembered was darkness. "…Mason….Mason….Mason, please wake up." Someone was shaking me, and I looked up into the face of my sister. Brooklyn looked at me with a worried expression. "Oh, thank goddess!" she exclaimed. "You're awake." I raised an eyebrow. My head was pounding, and I winced as I sat up in bed. "What do you mean I'm awake? What happened?" "You were unconscious," Brooklyn said, "and you stayed that way for two days. Mason, you know why this is happening. And you know how to fix it. You need to stop being ridiculous and be with Mia. You are doing a disservice to your daughte
Nine Mia Conner I was going to Vegas. Ever since I'd had Harper, I hadn't really gone anywhere. It wasn't like I'd ever had the money to. But I'd saved up a lot to get the bakery, and I had enough that I could make the trip work. When I got to the airport, I checked my luggage and went to wait until the plane arrived. As I sat there, I noticed a tall, burly man in a suit with sunglasses on inside looking directly at me. It might have been my imagination. After all, the sunglasses could have meant that he was looking anywhere and not at me. But the hair on the back of my neck stood up every time I looked over at him. I checked my phone. The plane wouldn't arrive for another forty minutes, so I got up and went to go and get a coffee and a magazine to read. I figured if I were right, the stranger in the sunglasses would follow me. As I was walking towards the coffee and magazine stand, someone grabbed my arm. "Hello, Mia." I looked up at the stranger that had grabbed hold of
Ten Mason Crescent "There's been a problem." Brooklyn traveled everywhere with an assistant. You couldn't be the CEO of your own company without doing that. Even on vacation. Brookyln's assistant was a tall, lithe young man with brown hair and brown eyes. I had been surprised when she hired him. Usually, assistants were female. But I supposed it came from the outdated notion that men in power wanted someone pretty to look at to help them. Either way, Quincy had worked for the company since the beginning. He seemed to be the only one that could keep his wayward sister in control. Brooklyn had a habit of doing things her own way. Sometimes, it worked out for her like with the company. But other times, it got her into trouble. Quincy helped her during those times. "What problem?" Brooklyn asked. "You had me track Mia," he said, "she disappeared once she got to the airport. I haven't been able to track her. And…
Eleven Mia Conner There was a tall man with long, grey hair looking down at me. I was in a room that I had never been in before. And my head was pounding. "Where am I?" I asked as I sat up in the bed, I'd been placed in. "Your home," the grey-haired man said, "finally. Rachel did a good job keeping you safe but it’s time that both of you came home." "Home?" I asked. "I'm sorry, do I know you?" He shook his head. "You should know me. I'm your uncle. Barrett Harwell." I blinked at him. "Hartwell?" the last name made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. They were one of the wealthiest families in the US and they were known for their mysterious disappearance. Their businesses were still running, but no one had any clue where the family was. "Surely you remember your last name?" he said. I shook my head. "Aunt Rachel never mentioned any of this. I thought the rest of my family was dead…." "No," he said, "they were o
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