Twenty-twoMason Crescent“This was done on purpose,” Mia grumbled as the two of us climbed into a subtle, black, SUV. It was the least inconspicuous car that the Hartwell pack had. There would be less chance of people following us in it. Brooklyn, Barrett, and Oliver would be following along in a Tesla, but I’d insisted that I go alone with Mia.“You’re still weak,” Mia reminded me. I grinned as I held open the door for her. “Yes, but spending time alone with you will revive me.”She crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not sleeping with you. Just because we’ve agreed to work together, that doesn’t mean that I still don’t hate you right now. It’s going to take a long time before you fuck me again.”I chuckled. “Are you getting in or not?”Mia scowled. I forgot ho
Twenty-three:Mia ConnerMy first semester at college had been a blur. I went to class, did homework, and because of Brooklyn, I found myself partying more than I would have. While Brooklyn seemed to go through her fair share of boys, no one seemed to be interested in me. By the time that Spring Break rolled around, I was planning on having time alone to myself to decompress a little bit. But Brooklyn, as always, had other plans.I was studying in the library when she plopped down in the seat next to me. “You know, we need a party!” she beamed at me.I sighed. “Brooklyn, we’re always doing something. Seriously, someone came by our place looking for a keg and we’re not even twenty-one yet.”Brooklyn smiled. “Okay, it’s not really a party we need. We need a vacation. And my parents have an awesome vacation house! It’s going to be totally empty this week.
Twenty-four:Mason CrescentThere was a reason that I wanted Mia to remember that week in The Hamptons. Because I wanted her to know exactly how much I cared about her. How long I’d been pining for her…. I never hated her. I just hated that I couldn’t have her. Still, I didn’t make that weekend easy for her. I couldn’t. Because if I did, that would mean admitting I wanted a human that I couldn’t have.Back then, I would have seen that as losing control. But Mia wasn’t a human. She was a werewolf. A female Alpha. Rare, and powerful. Now I could make her mine. But I had to make her understand why I hadn’t before. The trip that we were on was the perfect place to do that. We had plenty of time alone together.The Spring Break that we spent together years ago had been right around the same time that Meredith got kidnapped by The Carina Wolf Pack. It was why I didn’t kiss
Twenty-five:Mia ConnerThat Spring Break was the worst vacation I had ever taken. I remembered Brooklyn had taken me up to my room, and we spent one afternoon by the pool tanning and having fun. When I woke up the next morning, there was a text from Brooklyn saying she had to deal with some family business but that I could enjoy the house. But not to leave because she’d be back to take me back to school.For three days, I was by myself, alone.I tried calling Brooklyn a million times, but no one answered. Then, one morning, I woke up to the feeling of someone touching my neck. I jumped up in bed, and let out a yelp. Standing there, looking at me with a furrowed brow, was Mason.“Were you…” I thought of the sensation I’d felt. “Were you just checking my pulse?”Mason nodded. “You were too fucking still. It was unnerving.”&
Twenty-six: Mason Crescent On that Spring Break trip, my wolf wanted her. Badly. Every, single second I pictured fucking her on every surface of our very expensive, very old mansion. I wondered how she didn’t blush every time I looked at her. Because I was convinced this girl was my mate. I was also convinced she had to have known everything that I was thinking. But Mia didn’t react at all to whatever dirty thoughts I was thinking about her. Somehow, that made it worse. Was she lying? Maybe she wasn’t a human. Maybe she was a spy. Maybe The Carina Pack had sent her there to fuck with me. Because they knew I didn’t have a mate, and that I could very easily be manipulated. She rejected me, and I almost turned in front of her. Why did that hurt so badly? It wasn’t even as if she was saying she wouldn’t be my mate. She didn’t know anything about werewolves or mates. Either way, that morning that we almost had bre
Twenty-seven:Mia Conner The party that Spring Break had been something to remember. Brooklyn had gone all out. Somehow, she’d gotten a DJ, a photobooth, and a cotton candy machine, and a tattoo artist. The back lawn of Crescent Manor had been completely turned into something resembling a carnival and a party. The dress that Brooklyn had conned me into wearing was night blue, with silver half-moons sewn into it. I also wore black, strappy high heeled shoes that were killing my feet. My hair had been curled, and I wore a blue crescent moon choker around my neck that Brooklyn had let me borrow. I found myself out on the balcony of the guest bedroom that I was staying in, looking out at the madness. It wouldn’t be long before Brooklyn dragged me dow
Twenty-eight: Mason Crescent It had been a long, quiet drive so far. I had made sure to think of nothing but that Spring Break Mia’s freshman year. I wanted her to understand why I didn’t kiss her when I should have. It would have been too complicated for us to be together then. “Too complicated?” Mia hissed. I jumped in surprise. I was still driving, and had forgotten that Mia could read my mind too. “Er…” Mia smacked me across my chest. “Pull over!” she demanded. “What?” “PULL OVER!” she ordered. Her eyes were blazing with fury, and I found myself unable to not do as she said. She was my mate, and my Alpha. I had to listen. I pulled the car over to the side of the road. Mia got out, and so did I. “Do you really think that any relationship is ever going to be easy?” she asked. “We weren’t together because you wouldn’t tell me the truth! That was the only reason. Do you realize that if you had a
Twenty-nine:Mia Conner It wasn’t just getting to the hotel. We had to check-in. We had to find our room. We had to put our luggage down. Mason insisted on checking to make sure there was no one actually IN the hotel room, because he was a paranoid freak and thought that The Carina Pack was following us somehow. Then, the tearing of the clothes finally happened. It was all sweating, and panting, and licking, and caressing, and…. Then I was on the bed, with a very, very naked Mason Crescent looming over me. “I don’t have a condom,” he admitted, “I wasn’t planning on this happening…” “I’m on birth control,” I told
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