by E. M. Moore
I try to sit up then, more alert now that I see a way out of this. “We have to call them. We have to save my parents.”
Jonah clasps my face in his big, meaty hands and makes me look at him. His lips pull tight as he appraises me. “We have safety protocols in place. Trust me. I know what I’m doing. This is in my wheelhouse, remember? We can’t jump to conclusions. We’re going to wait here for information. My father won’t let anything happen if it gets to that point, okay?”
I close my eyes, breathing in deep. Panic is clawing at me from all directions, and I don’t know where to put it all. It makes my brain feel like it’s short circuiting. “I’m sorry. I know I’m not helping but I’m just so scared for them.”
He stands and helps me to my feet. “In Lunar, when shifters are under suspicion, they’re sent to the Pack Council holding facility. They’ll be kept there until the situation can be sorted. There’s nothing we can do at the moment. They’re under our security team’s watch, though, so we’ll be the first to know if anything progresses.” He tugs on my hand. “Come on. Let’s take showers and find some clothes.”
Everything he says makes sense, and I relax with the knowledge that Mr. Livestrong is in the thick of things. I walk naked through the sprawling safe house that’s more luxurious than I would’ve imagined a safe house could be. I peek out the blinds, spotting a crystal-clear reflection in the distance through a thicket of trees. “We’re at the lake?” I raise my brows. I always imagined a safe house would mean a huge room with no windows, but that’s exactly opposite the case with this. It’s like any of the other extravagant homes on the lake. It’s well decorated, modern, and fancy. I’m not sure where all the security Jonah said the house has is, but evidently, it’s hidden away somewhere.
Jonah leads me down the hallway, and we pass several well-appointed bedrooms. I glance inside as my mate gives me more insight into the alpha’s security. “We purchase properties under different names so no one can trace it to the Greystone’s or my family. To any of the surrounding neighbors, this house appears to be like any other rarely used family vacation home. If the alpha were to come under an attack, he could be moved between several different locations to assure his safety. Some of the safe houses are remote, others are hiding in plain sight. I brought you here because this was the closest location that wouldn’t also send us straight into the middle of Lunar.”
“But this is posh,” I protest, still not believing that this is considered a safe house. The high ceilings are decorated with wood beams that open the space up. I’m so busy admiring the design that Jonah has to take me by the shoulders and herd me to a door on the right. A sprawling bathroom opens up with a walk-in shower that boasts two showerheads.
He smirks at me in the mirror as I glance around with my jaw practically on the floor. “The alpha likes things nice. We did a complete overhaul when we bought it.”
He opens the glass door and walks in, turning on both showerheads before beckoning me forward. Despite the dried mud caked on his torso, he’s a dream. His chiseled muscles flex. From head to toe, he’s a perfectly cut, shifter god. I step in after him, waiting for the water to heat. “I’ve never seen a double showerhead before.”
“Rumor has it, the alpha and his wife shower together all the time.”
I raise my brows at him. As soon as I get lost in his brown eyes, tension crackles in the air between us. His very being calls to me, and with everything going on, I seek his warmth. His comfort that only he can provide.
He tips his head back and the shower spray rains down over his neck and shoulders, glistening down his taut muscles. “It’s something I could get used to,” he murmurs, watching me with a heated gaze while I step under the showerhead. My eyes close as the hot water soothes the kinks out of my muscles. I dip my head, letting the water run through my hair. It’s like a balm to my soul.
“I thought I lost you,” he growls. “You didn’t stop when I called.”
His harsh words make me jump, and I turn toward him, blinking. Rivulets stream down the sides of my face, droplets clinging to my lashes and distorting my view.
His mouth parts, and his eyes widen. “Of course. You could resist me.”
I recoil. “I didn’t. You brought me to my knees.”
He shakes his head, a small smile coming to his lips. “You’re a Greystone, Kinsey. Alpha blood.”
He reaches for me, and I swat his hand away. Anger seeps through my limbs. “I’m not a Greystone.” Hurt fills his eyes at my rebuff, and I groan in frustration. “I’m not one of them, okay?”
“I just meant that you have Greystone blood in you which is why you were able to partially resist my command when I was chasing you through the woods. I thought it was because you’d distanced yourself so much that you had no allegiance to pack dynamics whatsoever. Honestly, this makes so much more sense.”
If distancing myself from the pack was possible, I’d have already done it. Hell, I might even do it now. The freaking alpha’s sister—who’s technically my aunt—is trying to take me out. “All I wanted to do was make sure my parents were okay.” Bitterness laps at me as my words settle in the air around us. Jonah purses his lips. He’s right about my alpha blood, and I know he is, but I can’t handle the idea of being a Greystone. The concept that people I share DNA with are trying to kill me or make me go Feral is devastating. They’ll never be my true family. My parents did everything to have me. They broke the law, and most likely damn near broke each other in the process.
What my father must have gone through when my mother was with Shane Greystone…. It chills me to my core.
I’ve seen Jonah jealous. I’ve felt my own jealousy rise up. Fated mates are as primal as you can get, and my parents had to do the unthinkable to make sure they stayed alive.
“Your parents are strong,” Jonah reassures me. I peek over, watching water flow down his cut body. Dirt and grime pool at his feet, slowly spiraling toward the drain.
“They did what they had to.”
“And we’ll do what we have to.” He opens his arms, and I walk to him. He wraps me up in one of his humongous hugs—a true mate safety blanket. I settle for real because though everything feels like it’s up in the air, this right here—my fated pairing—is the end and the beginning. It’s what everything will start and come back to, and as long as I have Jonah, I’ll be okay.
He kisses my temple before reaching behind him to grab the shampoo and squirts some in his palm before working it through my long tresses. When he finishes, he tilts my head into the spray to rinse the soap from my hair. While I stay there, he shampoos his own mane, and then we switch positions until we’ve both rinsed the muck of the day from us. If only I could find something that would erase the worry, too.
Plush towels sit on shelves under the sink. Jonah pulls two out and wraps me in one. The soft material feels like silk on my skin as I dry off. Afterward, he leads me out of the bathroom and down the length of the hallway. At the very end sits a master bedroom. A gigantic four-poster bed sits in the center with enough room around the sides that I could do cartwheels. Immediately, he goes to the closet and brings out two sets of clothes. “We have hundreds of these kinds of outfits lying around,” he tells me, passing me a stack. “We call them shift-safe outfits. If you ruin them, it doesn’t matter.”
My parents had a few of those too, but nothing as nice as this. Their shift-safe outfits were paint splattered, and the kind of clothes you worked in the garden with. These are brand new.
I tug them on, frowning at the fit before I realize these were likely meant for the alpha’s wife because what Jonah pulls on also fits him perfectly.
“Come here,” Jonah says, beckoning me toward him. He sits on the edge of the bed, looking every bit the alpha right now with his stern, hard jaw and serious face. I walk to him, and he yanks me between his legs, pinning me there with a hard grip on my hips. “You’re my family, and my family’s family. We’ll do everything we can, but I meant what I said yest
erday. We’ll leave here if we have to. I’m not letting Lydia get her hands on you.”
“We can’t go Feral, Jonah. We’ll die.”
“I’ll take my chances.”
“They won’t kill you,” I protest. “They’re only after me.”
The low growl that starts in his chest curls my toes. “If they touch you, it’ll kill me. When are you going to learn that?” His bite into my hips increases.
I place a steady hand on his. “I do get it. But if they hurt you, it’s the same for me. If one of us can come out of this, it’s you.”
Before I know it, I’m flat on the mattress, and Jonah’s wolf eyes lock me in place. He’s still mostly in his human form, but sharp teeth have elongated past his lips, showing off his fierceness.
I don’t care what he says about me being a Greystone, he’s obviously the alpha in this family, and I’m just fine with that.
“Don’t make me punish you, Kinsey.”
I smile at that, but this is so not the place. My hand finds his chest, resting just above his heart. “Fine. I’ll stop trying to save you.”
He gives me a cocksure smile. “You don’t have to worry about me.”
He can say that, but it’s not going to change my mind. Dread pools in my stomach. I feel so damn helpless. “I’m scared.”
Pulling away, he moves us side-by-side and cradles me to his chest again. “Let me take care of you, Little Mate. You don’t have to worry when I’m here.”
He threads his fingers through my hair. Before long, the day catches up with me, and I start to doze. I’m not used to running in my wolf form. Hell, I’m not even used to shifting yet.
In his arms, I don’t have to worry about what my true lineage means for my mom and dad. Or for me. I know we’ll handle it together. And with the Livestrongs completely on our side, I have more family than I’ve ever had.
28
The sun’s rays warm my face. For a moment, I think I’m lying in the garden, soaking up nature’s energy source. But everything comes crashing down on me again when I move my arm and find the bed empty next to me.
I sit straight up, heart pounding, sniffing the air, but my surroundings are so unfamiliar that I can’t sort through the different scents to find Jonah. He was so adamant about saving me yesterday that I wouldn’t put it past him to run out, leave me here, and do just that. I hop out of bed, and lunge for the door. When the knob turns freely in my hand, I breathe a sigh of relief. At least he hasn’t tried to lock me in here.
Stepping out into the long hallway, I pause to search for any sign of him. The house is calm; quiet. My wolf comes to attention since she knows we’re searching for Jonah, and it’s the first time I’ve felt her since she gave up control yesterday. I let her lead the way, picking up his delicious aroma as we make our way through the foreign house. In the kitchen, I find a closed door. I turn the knob and reveal a set of steps that lead down to the basement. His scent is potent here, so I follow the footsteps and begin to relax when I hear his low murmur.
The basement is nothing like the upstairs. Instead of boasting a washer and dryer or a dank, mildewy smell like most houses, this downstairs is set up like a high-tech detective’s office. Several TV monitors run footage of the house’s surroundings. A locker filled with guns sits along the opposite wall, and on a corkboard to the right of that, a map of Lunar and the other pack territories is pinned down.
Jonah turns toward me, brow furrowing as I make myself known. He motions me to him, and I come closer. He places his arm around my hips while he leans against a counter, a landline phone in his hand. “When is this going to be?” he questions, staring at me but talking into the receiver.
His tone makes my wolf scratch to the surface. It’s as if she’s reacting to Jonah’s wolf on some other level. “What’s going on?” I whisper.
He squeezes my hip but ignores my question. Instead, he says, “Yeah, it’s Kinsey. She just woke up.” He pauses for a moment. “She’s okay.”
I rest my head on his chest. Being close to him helps soothe me, and I need a whole lot of that.
“We’ll stay here and wait this out,” Jonah remarks. My shoulders straighten. Whatever he’s referencing, I don’t think I’m going to like it. He grips the phone tighter. “Talk soon,” he says before hanging up.
I pull away. “What’s going on?”
He sits on a stool, tugging me into his embrace. “It’s Lydia. She’s putting your parents on trial.”
I breathe out through my nose as trepidation sings through my veins. It’s what we expected, but it doesn’t make it any easier to hear.
“She has the DNA results in hand, so she can punish them for their transgressions.”
I stare at him straight in the eye. “We can’t let her do that, Jonah.”
“My dad believes she’s trying to draw you out of hiding. Your existence is what she’s fighting against. Lydia Greystone has always been a purist. Now that she has evidence you’re not from a fated pair, she’ll do everything she can to stop you from mating with me and force you out of Lunar. We can’t play into her hands.”
I shake my head. “Jonah, their punishment won’t be just a slap on the wrist. She’ll cast them out of the pack. Even if by some small chance that doesn’t happen, the truth will be out there for everyone. It will completely ruin them. Especially my mother. They’ll make her out to be nothing. Less than nothing. If you thought the bullying at the party was bad for me, it’ll be worse for her because now they have proof. She’ll be ostracized more than she ever was.”
Jonah presses his lips together. His eyes soften, but determination still hangs there. He won’t break. His only focus is me. All he cares is that his mate is in trouble. It’s his nature to protect me at all costs.
“Jonah, I love you,” I tell him, reaching out to cup his cheek. “But my parents are my parents. I can’t let them go down for this. There’s still a chance that we can change Lydia’s mind. We have to do it before she tells the whole pack. It’ll devastate my parents.”
“Kinsey....”
“Jonah,” I snap. I’m not budging on this, and thanks to the Greystone blood, he can’t make me stay. “I’m going. And if your big, brooding ass wants to protect me, you’re going to have to follow.”
He drops his gaze to the ground. “You’re a pain in my ass.”
I place my hands on his shoulders. “Well, according to your parents, that’s to be expected.”
He half shakes his head. “We don’t know how far she’s willing to go. If you show up, she might order you killed right there. She’s a Greystone. She can pretty much do whatever she wants and no one will question it.”
“You won’t let her. I won’t let her. I’m not going to sit back and sacrifice my parents when they’ve already sacrificed so much. If Lydia doesn’t want the Greystone name tainted, she’ll shut her mouth. It won’t impact me at all to throw them under the bus.”
Jonah slams a shaking hand onto the counter, and a crack splits the wood. “Fuck,” he roars. After gazing at me for a long time, he picks the phone back up with a frown. “Change of plans,” he states when his dad answers. “We’re headed into Lunar.” Jonah closes his eyes, listening to whatever his father is saying on the other end of the line.
My stomach flips. I know this is killing him. He’s going against his very nature to do this for me, but this is the only way.
“Meet you there,” Jonah finally says, then hangs up.
I blink at him. “Your parents are coming?”
“My father is. My mother will be home, protected,” he emphasizes, zeroing his eyes on me. When I don’t back down, he continues with a sigh. “He’s hoping Lydia will see that we have support and she’ll stop. It’s a big if, Kinsey. We’re going but you’re to stay behind me at all times. No buts. I’ll be in complete territorial, possessive mode, and if you don’t do what I say, there’s a chance I’ll be the next one in trouble. Murdering a member of the alpha’s family is generally frowned upon.”
>
I touch his chest, trying to calm his wolf. “How long until we leave?”
He stands, moving me with him. “We have to hurry if we’re going to catch her before the Council meeting.”
Jonah sidesteps me and goes into alpha security mode. He grabs an already filled tactical bag from a shelf in the gun locker, and we make our way through the house and outside. Once there, he tells me to strip and then shoves the clothes I was wearing into the bag. “Stay in your wolf form,” he orders me. “She’ll protect you.”
“I’m not supposed to be in my wolf form.”
“That’s the least of our worries, babe.”
He double checks the bag as I stand there waiting for him. The sky rumbles with thunder. Over the lake, the sun still streams down as if the day is going to be beautiful, but behind Jonah, the sky grows dark and threatening, matching the tension in my body. Hopefully, the storm will blow over, the dark clouds will break apart and lose momentum, and we’ll once again feel the bright sun shining down on us.
Jonah tugs me forward to kiss my forehead. “Ready?”
I nod into him, and then he steps back and shifts. He paws at the bag, and I bring it around his shoulders before shifting myself. Our wolves take off through the dense forest. Since we’re at the lake, it won’t take long to return to Lunar proper, but Jonah’s wolf presses the pace anyway, making sure we don’t miss our opportunity. He skirts the perimeter of Lunar, and when he starts running along the main road that enters the town, a black SUV pulls up alongside him. He shifts, maneuvers the bag off his shoulders and dresses inside the tree line. “Stay a wolf,” he reminds me with a glare. “I’ll do the talking.”
My wolf pulls her lips into a snarl. He knows how I feel about this, but I also know Jonah is in that territorial part of mating, and he won’t be able to stop himself if he feels I’m being threatened.
Well, he can thank the Greystones for making our introductory mating period even rockier than it would have been. I can’t believe I ever used to fantasize that I was one of them. Now that it’s true, it’s the last thing I want.
