Chapter 3: Homecoming

Thalia POV

“FUCK, PAPI!” I cried out, collapsing on Aiden.

We are both breathing heavy, and he has a huge smile on his face. He kisses the top of my head. “We are definitely doing that again. You were sexy as fuck, Mojito.”

My body is still humming as I snuggle up to Aiden. “I’m glad I’m on birth control for now. Four pups, two that shift and two that float. I just want to enjoy my mate for a while and raise the four we have now. At least until this war passes.”

“We have thirteen months. I have no idea what Julian is up to, but we are doing everything we can to be prepared.”

“It helps that we were able to bring down the councilman who helped Heath. Sinclair found him quickly.”

“Yeah, it cut off another lifeline for Julian. So we know he doesn’t have a tool being built.”

“At least not by Heath,” I said.

My phone rings beside me, and I move to answer it. “Hello?”

“Tally!” Kaia said happily. “We made progress today. We need to tweak the configurations a little more, but then we are going to shrink the device.”

I sat up. Aiden caresses my back as he sits up with me. He moves my hair out of the way and kisses my shoulder.

“That’s great. How long before you figure out the rest of the optimizations?”

Sinclair said in the background, “By the end of the week.”

“Great!”

“Sinclair thought about shrinking the device, too. How do you feel about a glove?”

“A glove?”

“Yeah. Sinclair brought up a great point. Better to have both hands for combat. Make the device a glove.”

I smiled as I looked back at Aiden, who had a silly grin on his face.

‘I’m thinking ‘Ironman’. That’s a cool idea,’ he said in the mind-link.

“I want one for each hand,” I said. “Aiden likes the idea, too.”

“I want one for each hand, too,” he pouted.

I bit my bottom lip as he pouted. His eyes darkened. Mmm…

“Oh! By the way, Sinclair, can you be back by the end of the week? Adrian is coming back, and we are throwing him a welcome party,” I said.

“Sure! I’ll be there. How is he doing?”

“He seems ready for a change,” I said honestly.

“I feel that,” Kaia said. “Sometimes, the hardest moments of our lives make for the sweetest and best times of our lives.”

“When did you become poetic?” I laughed.

“Since being mated to Isaiah.”

I laughed, and so did Aiden. “Mate bonds do that to a person.”

“Well, I will be there. Send me the details, and I will plan accordingly,” Sinclair said.

“Will do.”

We said our goodbyes, and then Aiden pushed me back down on the bed and climbed on top of me. “So you like my pouting face, Mojito?”

He kisses my mark, and I moan. “I like all of you, guapo. I want all of you…right now.”

He growled approvingly. “Your wish is my command, tiger.”

He crashed his mouth on mine and did exactly as I wished for several hours after that.

***

Julian POV

I’ve been scouting Sinclair. She is pretty damn brilliant. The one thing that surprised me is that she is building the tool I need.

“How the fuck does she know how to build my tool?!” I shouted.

“We don’t know, Alpha. She has been working on it for three months. Ironclaw also has some special gemstones for the tool to use on the weapon.”

“How do they have this stone?”

“From what our scouts said, there is a mine within Ironclaw,” my Beta said.

So Paul had that mine and kept it from me? I only just found out that his wife divorced him, and he violated everything in the prenup. Everything was transferred to his ex-wife, and she is now Isaiah Willis’s wife. He got the pack from Paul, and now she is the Luna and has all his assets.

I heard from Whitaker at Black Enterprises that Birch was taken into custody. Then Whitaker was taken into custody for the prostitution ring. I am just glad everything was handled through shell accounts that cannot be linked back to me.

How is it possible that everything is falling into their lap, but my efforts are being trampled? I have dedicated my life to this prophecy. Dedicated my life to becoming powerful and having infinite resources. I never tried to find a mate. I said I would do that after I accomplished my goal and reigned over the werewolves. So why? Why does the Moon Goddess shun me? Weren’t the Shadow Maws her first and preferred race? Why turn her back on me, who wants to restore order?

“Sir?”

I snapped back to reality. “What is it?”

“Ronan has been tracking Ms. Cross’s movements, too. How would you like me to handle him?”

“Don’t do anything yet. If he tries to hurt her, then intercept her. Make it look like we are her saviors. I can use that to get her to work with us.”

“Understood.”

I sat back down and looked at Sinclair’s photo. She isn’t much to look at. Frumpy clothes, glasses that are too big for her face. Her hair looks limp and lifeless. She isn’t completely unfortunate, but it’s painfully obvious that no one has ever bothered to tell her that her appearance is unattractive.

Still, she has a decent body. It’s just hidden by those ill-fitting clothes. I bet if she switched to contacts and dressed better, she would be worth looking at. Maybe that’s what I can do. I can help her reinvent herself. Save her from Ronan. Then help her reinvent herself. She would feel like I care about her. She won’t suspect that I want her for the tool and for her tech skills.

I called my Gamma in. “Bring me Conrad Cross. I want to learn more about Sinclair.”

“Yes, Alpha.”