Unbelievable Faith

by Jess Bryant

  Michael winced. Leo frowned but he sat down in the chair he’d righted. Michael stared at the other man until he looked away.

  “I’ve got it under control.” Leo finally spoke when Michael remained quiet.

  “No.” He shook his head slowly, “You don’t. And the fact that you think you can control it, control him, worries me even more.”

  Leo leaned forward, his elbows on his knees and swiped a hand over his face, “He’s a gigantic pain in the ass. Overbearing. Overprotective. Just overwhelming. How the hell do you put up with him?”

  “He means well.”

  “He treats me like I’m a stupid child instead of an equal.”

  “He means well.” Michael repeated when Leo looked sullen, “He wants to take care of you and you know he’s right. We can’t let you go back there. Not yet, there were followers of Maddox that got away. They could be waiting for you and I won’t allow you to risk your life when it would be smarter to send out scouts first.”

  “Allow?” Leo’s eyes flashed gold with anger but Michael only shrugged.

  “You’re my family now. Luna is mine. That makes you my brother. I don’t risk the lives of my family and if it takes Darius to keep you here, I’ll let him do each and every thing he threatened.”

  “You really think you can hold me hostage?”

  “I won’t have to. One word to my mate and she’ll make sure you see reason.”

  Leo’s jaw twitched and he groaned, “Using my sister against me, Hudson?”

  “We’re family now, like I said. Our packs have always been peaceful. We’ve had a good run being aligned but it’s more than that now. The Crescents and the Moirae are linked by blood. You have my back. I have yours. We’re stronger together and we’ll protect each other.”

  “Of course. I came to you for support before I knew you and Luna were fated. You helped me get my pack back and saved my sisters. I owe you.”

  “You don’t. You don’t owe me anything except to keep yourself safe. My mate would be very upset if something were to happen to you.” Michael gave the other man a pointed look, “And I have a feeling my best friend would be too.”

  If Leo could have blushed, Michael was certain his cheeks would have flamed red. Ding. Ding. Ding. Michael couldn’t help but snort a small laugh. His suspicions had been correct and he knew it before now. Still, seeing the big man across from him fidget was well worth prodding.

  “You know I don’t care, right?” Michael softened his voice when Leo remained quiet.

  The other man snorted this time, “Well, that would make one of us then.”

  “Fate decides things without our input. He knows that as well as any of us.” Michael frowned.

  “Yeah, well…” Leo scrubbed a hand over the top of his head and blew out a rough breath, “Speaking of fate, I have to ask about my sister. You, uh… You know what she is right? That’s she’s not… like us?”

  Michael acknowledged Leo’s need to change the subject and let him get away with it. If Leo thought he had Darius under control, he was wrong but he’d learn that himself. He was right about one thing at least, Leo was an Alpha and he could handle himself. Mating was a complicated issue as it was and he should focus on his own anyway.

  “I’m aware.” He nodded.

  “And it’s not a problem for you?”

  “We’ll figure out whatever problems it creates with the packs but, for me, no. There’s no problem. She’s mine and she’s perfect. I couldn’t have asked for a better mate.”

  A small, sad smile flickered across Leo’s face, “I’m glad to hear that. I worried… all my life I’ve worried about her because she’s different. Our parents… they’d be thrilled to know she’s mated to a powerful Alpha that will put her first.”

  “I’m only sorry I didn’t meet her sooner. Maybe none of this would have happened and they’d still be alive if I had.”

  “Everything happens for a reason right?” Leo scrubbed a hand over his face and sighed, “We’re here now. All that’s left to do is move forward with the life fate’s given us.”

  Michael nodded, thinking about how much he and Leo had in common. They’d both lost their parents, brutally. They’d both inherited their packs after a lot of upheaval. They both put the people they loved first. Pack and family were everything to them, and now they were joined because of the links that would be forged through the mate bonds.

  This was the life they’d been given and they would make it a good one.

  He’d promised Luna he would be worthy of her and it started right here and right now. He couldn’t bring back her parents. He couldn’t undo the horrors that Maddox had delivered to her. He couldn’t bring the bastard back from the dead so she could kill him herself. But he could keep her family safe.

  “We’ll send scouts out to the boundary line today. If nothing looks amiss, I’ll send Darius with you and you can go home tomorrow to begin righting the damage that’s been done to your pack. In the meantime, spend the day here with your sisters and just be happy you’re all safe. “

  Leo frowned but nodded, “I can work with that.”

  “Good, because when you go back, they’re not going with you. The girls stay here with me and Luna for now. Once you’ve settled things with your pack we’ll discuss with them where they’d like to live until they come of age, either with you or here with Luna. Agreed?”

  His friend didn’t look happy but again, he nodded, “Agreed. I don’t want to put my sisters in any more danger. They’ve been through enough. I’ll take charge of the Crescents and clean up the mess Maddox left and then we can reconvene about their safety and their housing.”

  “It’s a solid plan.” Michael lowered his voice, “And it will give you some time to work things out with him too.”

  Leo shot a glance at the door and scowled again. Michael tried not to laugh. It wasn’t funny. Not really, but he could hear Darius muttering and cursing on the other side thanks to his wolf hearing. Leo must have heard it too and he rolled his eyes at Michael.

  “Who the hell is he fighting with now?”

  Michael smirked and raised his voice, “Darius! Let him in.”

  The door opened almost instantly and Rafe stuck his head in, “Hey.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Oh, nothing I just…” Rafe cleared his throat and smirked, “You should come out here and see for yourself.”

  Michael frowned but stood. With the door open, he could hear the rest of the lodge and the normal soft murmurings were amplified. Something was happening in the common room. There were too many voices for him to make out but one of them rose above the rest.

  He marched around his desk and shot his brother a look, “What has your mate done now?”

  His brother shrugged but moved out of his way. Darius glared at him as Michael swept the hallway with his gaze. His friend inclined his head to the side, indicating the direction he should go and Michael gave him a nod before sweeping past him. Yeah, his friend was pissed but he was still his best Enforcer.

  Michael shot down the hallway and felt his men fall in step behind him. Darius on his right. Rafe on his left. Leo bringing up the rear. The four of them must have made one hell of a sight because as soon as they reached the doorway the members of the pack that had crowded the room split like the red sea.

  He stopped as soon as he caught sight of them. Zoey. He’d known she was in the middle of whatever trouble was brewing. She’d always done whatever she wanted and now that she was mated to Rafe, she was uncontrollable. He loved her. God he loved her. He’d always loved her fire and her passion for life. But he also kinda wanted to strangle her because she’d known he wanted to keep Luna to himself for a while longer and yet, there his mate was right in the midst of the commotion as her sisters and Zoey played a round of doubles at the billiards table and half the pack cheered them along.

  It wasn’t just him being selfish. He’d wanted to keep Luna locked up in his room, sure, but it was about more than just th
at. He’d wanted to keep her safe, away from the pack, for as long as he could. Out here, in the middle of them, they’d be able to sense her wolf. The others would figure out that she wasn’t an Alpha and they might try to challenge her.

  But even knowing that she shouldn’t be in the open like this, not yet, not without his protection, he couldn’t help but smile at the sight in front of him.

  She was gorgeous. Smiling and laughing, she lit up the whole room. Her hair was in wild curls around her face. When she leaned over the pool table and bit her lip, focusing on her shot he couldn’t keep himself from moving towards her a moment longer.

  She looked so at home here, in his pack, surrounded by his family and friends. This was where she belonged. She was happy and for the first time in a really long time, his life felt perfect. Felt like his own. Felt like it was exactly right. And it was all thanks to her.

  Luna sank her shot and rose up with a triumphant whoop. She saw him then and her grin nearly split her face. Michael didn’t stop, didn’t pause. He walked straight through the crowd, dragged her into his arms and kissed her soundly.

  The group of onlookers whistled and laughed but he ignored them. For once in his life, this wasn’t about them. Wasn’t about the pack. This was about him and the woman that made him whole.

  The woman he could scarcely believe he was already falling in love with.

  Chapter 16

  Luna sank into Michael’s embrace. She nuzzled against him, rubbing herself all over him, wanting his scent on her and hers on him. She’d missed him today. It had only been a few hours but it was too long apart. They were newly bonded, the circle wasn’t complete, and she’d felt an ache to find him and finish it all day.

  She’d enjoyed her morning with her sisters and with Zoey. She’d learned so much about the Moirae pack and about the man that was her mate. Nova had been right. Zoey’s relationship with Michael was complicated, or at least it had been.

  They’d been best friends since childhood. They’d truly believed they were fated to be together and then, when they’d found out that they weren’t they’d clung to each other out of familiarity and friendship. Zoey’s mating with Michael’s older brother Rafe was new and had been hard fought between the three of them. Luna could admit, to herself at least, that she hadn’t liked hearing Zoey say that she considered Michael her best friend but the more they’d talked the more at ease she’d become with it all.

  This woman was important to her mate. She was a friend and confidant. She’d helped him through some of the toughest days of his life. She knew him, inside and out, but she wasn't in love with him. Not the way a mate would be. Not the way she was clearly crazy about Rafe. The redhead all but lit up at the mere mention of her mate and though her smiles were sweet and genuine when they’d discussed Michael, Luna hadn’t felt any jealousy between them.

  Luna had listened to Zoey’s stories of a young Michael and relished all of the new information about her mate. She’d learned that as the baby of his family his parents had coddled and spoiled him. Her heart had broken when Zoey told her about the day they’d been killed and how Rafe had fled leaving all of the responsibility of the pack to Michael. She’d wanted to find him and hug him and tell him that he was more than just Pack Alpha when Zoey called him a workaholic with a tendency to put everyone else's needs above his own. Luna had listened and she’d fallen a little bit more in love with the man that was her mate.

  When Zoey had suggested they get out of the stuffy room, she’d hoped the other woman meant they were going to find MIchael. She’d wanted to see him. Needed to touch him. The pull between them was still there, would always be there now, and she’d agreed to leave the room where he’d expressly asked her to stay today because she’d only been desperate to find him.

  But Zoey hadn’t taken her to Michael.

  Instead, she’d given Luna a tour of the lodge. She’d chirped and pranced through floor after floor and room after room, introducing Luna, Maya and Nova as they trailed after her like a flock of newborn chicks to each pack member they met along the way. She’d pointed out where the kitchen was and the laundry rooms. She’d waved a hand down a long hallway that apparently led to the pack offices but when Luna had paused there, sensing Michael was somewhere that direction, her sister-in-law had only giggled and dragged her towards the common room.

  She’d said Michael was in meetings. She’d also promised that as soon as he found out Luna was out here that he’d come running. And, knowing Michael as she did, Zoey had been right.

  They’d begun a game of pool, the four of them breaking into two teams, and as they’d played more and more pack members had appeared in the doorway to watch. Luna wasn’t naive. She knew they wanted to get a good look at the woman that had mated their Pack Alpha. But she ignored their stares as best as she could and simply enjoyed the unexpected joy of playing a game with her sisters. She’d even been winning until she felt Michael’s big, looming presence enter the room.

  Now, with his mouth on hers and his hands roaming her body, she couldn’t even remember the rules to the game let alone the score. She wrapped her arms around him as well and kissed him back. She knew every eye in the room was on them and she didn’t care. Let them look. Let them see that she belonged to this amazing man and that he wanted her, no matter what her shortcomings may be.

  Michael broke the kiss after a long moment with a nip of her lip, “I thought you were spending the day in bed relaxing?”

  “Zoey thought this would be more fun.”

  He chuckled low and shot a look over his shoulder at the redhead who batted her lashes innocently, “Oh, I’m just sure she did.”

  Luna scrunched her nose up, “Are you mad?”

  “Not at all.” Michael kissed the tip of her nose sweetly, “I was just sitting in my office wishing I was with you. I missed you, babe.”

  “I missed you too, mate.”

  He made a low noise in the back of his throat and nuzzled her neck. Luna sighed and tilted her chin, giving him more room. He ran his lips over the silver marking scar he’d put on her flesh and a shiver of heat and awareness ricocheted through her body. He hummed as if he could feel it too and then kissed the mark before pulling back slightly.

  It was then that Luna realized the entire room had gone deadly silent. She bit her lip and looked around. The members of the pack that had gathered around were watching them with a mixture of shock, amazement and horror. Some of them were smiling. Most of them weren’t and of that group, the majority of the haters were women.

  Luna could guess what that was all about. She tilted her chin up and stared back at each and every one of them until they looked away. Michael growled, low in his chest, a warning to his pack members to tread lightly, but she put her arm around his waist and squeezed. He frowned but stopped emitting the warning signal instantly.

  They’d talked about this. She had to stand up to these people herself. If she didn’t, they’d continue to see her as weak. She bared her teeth at a woman that refused to look away, the hatred and disgust clear on her face as she looked between Luna and their Alpha. She was clearly one of the females that had wanted Michael for herself. Zoey had warned Luna there were more than a few in the pack. Females that would take her lack of an Alpha wolf as proof she wasn’t truly Michael’s mate and see it as an opportunity to insert themselves between them. But Luna wasn’t going to allow anything or anyone to come between them and she intended to prove it right now for everyone that was present.

  She turned her back on the woman, earning a gasp from someone she couldn’t see. It was a bold move. Firm. A show of power. It said that she wasn’t afraid of the woman. She was leaving herself open to an attack but she didn’t think one would come, not here and not now, not with Michael holding her tightly to his side and glaring at anyone that dared look at her unkindly.

  He smiled softly down at her, “Have you eaten, babe? I was thinking we could…”

  “Michael.” A woman’s voice broke into the momen
t a second before a hand closed around his shoulder, all but pulling him away from Luna, “Can we talk for a moment in private? I want…”

  Luna didn’t think. She didn’t plan. She simply reacted.

  Her wolf hissed and her teeth elongated as she identified this other woman as a threat. In one move she had the woman’s wrist in her hand and she twisted. The blonde that had dared to touch her mate hissed in return but stumbled when Luna shoved her backwards. They slammed into the wall and Luna used her other arm as leverage, pressing against the woman’s throat. The woman’s eyes flashed gold as her own wolf rose in anger but Luna was well trained against Alphas and she held her position of power easily.

  “Mine.” She hissed through elongated teeth that all but dripped with the desire to tear this woman apart, “My mate. My man. Touch him again and I’ll rip your hands off. Understand?”

  The woman struggled against the hold but Luna only tightened her grip. Her claws had elongated and dug into the woman’s wrist where she held the offending appendage to the wall. The blonde tried to head butt her but Luna jerked back and then slammed her into the wall again, pressing against her windpipe with more force.

  “Understand?” She growled.

  “Mi-Michael.” The blonde whimpered, her gaze turning frantic as she struggled against a hold she realized she couldn’t escape. “Michael, please.”

  Luna snarled at the woman. Even now she dared speak to Michael instead of to her. She wanted to rip her throat out but despite the show of force being good for her standing in the pack, she didn’t actually want to murder anyone today. She felt Michael move in closer behind her and the warmth and security of him as he put an arm around her waist, his big palm resting against her stomach possessively, calmed some of her anger.