Chapter 3— My Pride and Joy.

Alexander's POV:

My palms were sweating like fucking crazy.

So was my forehead.

And judging by the way my heart was hammering against my ribs, there was a decent chance the damn thing would burst straight out of my chest before Morgan even walked through those doors.

I hadn't slept for shit last night.

Every time I closed my eyes, another wave of excitement shot through my body.

My sister was coming home.

My princess was finally fucking coming home.

One thousand three hundred and thirty-three days. That's how long she'd been gone.

Not that I was counting.

Okay.

Who the hell was I kidding?

Of course I was fucking counting.

I'd called her last week and offered to fly to India to help her pack, but she'd immediately shut that idea down. I was in the middle of an intensive training camp, and Morgan knew how important it was.

That was my sister.

Always thinking about everyone else before herself.

I'd argued with her anyway.

She'd threatened to block my number.

I told her I'd get on the damn plane whether she liked it or not.

Then she reminded me that she was a grown-ass woman perfectly capable of packing her own underwear. And that ended the argument pretty quickly.

Stubborn little thing.

I wouldn't have minded the fourteen-hour flight. Hell, I would've flown twice that long if it meant getting a few extra hours with her before we returned to our hectic schedules.

This week was going to be fucking insane.

Pack meetings.

Warrior evaluations.

Training.

Border reports.

Meeting all the Alfas.

A royal delegation Usher had been preparing for. And probably another dozen things my Alpha hadn't bothered telling me about yet.

Being Beta apparently meant I had forfeited my right to sleep.

But none of that mattered today.

Today, Morgan was coming home.

I practically jogged through Eastern International Airport like a desperate fucking maniac.

I didn't care who saw me.

I was about to have my sister back. And maybe the empty space she'd left inside my chest would finally stop hurting.

Morgan had been gone for nearly four years.

I'd flown to Europe a couple of times to see her, but those visits were never enough.

How could they be?

We'd been inseparable growing up.

Some of my happiest childhood memories had Morgan right in the middle of them.

We used to destroy the living room by building forts out of sofa cushions, blankets, old sheets, and whatever furniture we could drag around without breaking.

Mom and Dad never complained.

Well...

Mom complained about the mess.

Dad pretended to. And he normally helped us. Then they'd crawl inside the damn thing with us.

Some nights, all four of us slept beneath those ridiculous tents.

Morgan would read stories until her soft little voice eventually put me to sleep. Other nights, apparently deciding I wasn't masculine enough, she'd force me to play dolls with her.

And by play dolls, I mean she used me as the fucking doll.

Lipstick.

Eyeshadow.

Blush.

Hair clips.

The whole humiliating experience.

There were photographs.

I prayed to the Moon Goddess every damn day that those pictures never resurfaced.

Then there were the thunderstorms.

Morgan hated them.

The second lightning flashed and thunder shook the house, I'd hear those tiny feet racing down the hallway.

She always came to me.

She'd climb into my bed, crawl underneath the blankets, and curl against my chest as though her big brother somehow possessed the ability to protect her from the fucking sky.

I couldn't.

But she believed I could.

And that was enough.

I loved being her protector.

Her safe place.

Her keeper.

Even when we got older, that instinct never disappeared.

Neither did her habit of stealing my shit.

Sweaters.

T-shirts.

My favorite fucking hoodies.

She'd walk around the house wearing clothes twice her size and then have the audacity to insist they looked better on her.

They probably did.

I still wanted them back.

Now?

Goddess.

I'd give anything to walk into my room and find half my whole closet missing again.

Morgan wasn't that frightened little girl anymore.

She was a grown woman.

She didn't need me holding her hand.

She didn't need her older brother fighting every battle for her. But that didn't mean I'd ever stop being there.

If Morgan needed me, I would come.

No questions.

No hesitation.

I'd fight for her.

I'd defend her.

I'd die for her.

That would never change.

The only reason I'd managed to let her leave in the first place was because she was chasing a dream.

Medicine.

Morgan wanted to become a doctor like our mother. And I knew what that meant to her.

If I'd shown even an ounce of weakness when she left, Morgan would've stayed.

I knew my sister.

She would've sacrificed her dream if she thought I needed her.

So I smiled.

Helped her pack.

Told her how fucking proud I was. And then watched her leave.

She never knew how badly it broke me.

There were excellent medical schools much closer to Crescent Moon.

Universities throughout the four North American kingdoms would've welcomed Morgan with open arms.

She had the grades.

The recommendations.

The academic record.

She could've studied almost anywhere — except Mom had made damn sure she wouldn't.

Long before her death, our mother had given Dad and me very specific instructions concerning Morgan's education. Morgan was not to attend university anywhere within the North American kingdoms.

No exceptions.

She had to leave the continent.

At the time, none of us understood why.

Dad questioned Mom about it.

So did I.

She gave us the same explanations every time.

Morgan needed independence.

She needed to experience other cultures.

She needed exposure to medical practices beyond our kingdoms.

All perfectly reasonable explanations.

Except reasonable explanations didn't require what Mom demanded next.

A fucking blood oath.

I could still remember staring at her like she'd lost her fucking mind. Blood oaths weren't casual promises among our kind.

They were sacred.

Binding.

You didn't ask someone to swear one because you wanted your daughter to broaden her cultural horizons.

Dad knew it too. "Adeline, what the hell is this really about?"

Mom's expression changed.

Only for a second.

But I saw it.

Fear.

My mother had been afraid.

Then it disappeared.

She smiled and told us she simply knew what was best for Morgan.

Dad and I never got another explanation.

And then Mom died.

We kept our promise anyway.

Thankfully, Morgan didn't fight us. Which, considering how stubborn my sister was, might've qualified as a fucking miracle.

She chose Europe.

Three years there.

Then another eleven months in India, where she specialized in traditional and natural medicine—herbs, plants, alternative healing methods, and a bunch of other shit she explained to me during our calls that went completely over my head.

But Morgan understood it.

Morgan understood damn near everything.

My little princess was brilliant. And that wasn't simply an older brother bragging.

She'd been an honor-roll student throughout school, served as student president for two consecutive years, became a council advocate during her senior year, and graduated before her seventeenth birthday.

Top of her class.

Valedictorian.

I still remember sitting beside Dad at her graduation.

Morgan looked tiny standing behind that podium.

Then she opened her mouth. And the entire fucking room listened.

By the time she finished her speech, people were crying.

Dad was crying.

And I—

Fine.

I fucking cried too.

Anybody who had a problem with that could take it up with me personally.

I'd thought that was the proudest I'd ever be of her.

I was wrong.

Because today, Morgan wasn't coming home as the teenage girl who'd left Crescent Moon. She was coming home as Doctor Morgan Elizabeth Miller.

And Goddess...

Mom should've been here to see it.

"Where the fuck is she?"

I glanced at Ryan.

He was pacing again.

"Would you calm down?"

"Calm down?" He stared at me incredulously. "Her flight landed almost an hour ago."

"I'm aware."

"An hour, Alex."

"I understand how clocks work, Ryan."

"We should go find somebody."

"We already asked."

"We should ask again."

I rolled my eyes.

This motherfucker was about five minutes away from charging through a restricted door and getting himself tackled by airport security.

Actually...

I might pay to see that.

"She's fine."

"How do you know?"

"Because she's Morgan."

He frowned.

Earlier, we'd heard an announcement over the intercom requesting emergency medical assistance. Apparently, one of the aircraft loaders had collided with a tug near the runway. Something caught fire, and the driver suffered severe burns.

An ambulance had been called.

So had a doctor.

The second I heard the announcement, I knew.

Morgan.

If my sister saw someone bleeding, injured, dying, or simply needing help, there wasn't a fucking force on this earth that could make her walk in the opposite direction.

Ryan looked toward the secured doors again.

"You think she stopped to help?"

I stared at him. "Do you seriously have to ask?"

He sighed.

No.

He didn't.

Kornell was becoming just as impatient.

My wolf had been restless since before sunrise.

I'd actually awakened this morning to the sound of him weeping inside my head.

I'd never heard Kornell cry like that.

Not since we lost our parents.

"Alexander, I cannot fucking wait anymore. As soon as we get home, you're letting me out. I need to run with Kira."

I almost laughed.

"Calm down, you beast. She's not even through the doors yet and you're already making demands. I get my sister first. Then I'll let you run with Kira."

"You selfish son of a bitch."

I blinked.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. You flew to Europe. You got to see Morgan. I didn't get to see Kira. It's been almost a fucking year, Alexander. It's killing me."

That shut me up.

The pain behind his words cracked something inside my chest.

He was right.

I'd been able to see Morgan.

Kornell hadn't had that same privilege with Kira. The last time our wolves were together was for my birthday almost a year ago.

Kornell adored Kira.

She wasn't simply Morgan's wolf to him.

She was family.

Our little sister.

"All right," I conceded. "You win. We'll let them run."

"As soon as we get home."

"Don't push your fucking luck."

He huffed.

Then Ryan suddenly stopped pacing.

"Oh, my Goddess."

I looked at him.

His eyes were practically popping out of his fucking skull.

The stupid expression on his face would've been hysterical if I hadn't immediately realized what—or rather, who—he was staring at.

My head snapped toward the staircase.

And there she was.

Morgan.

For one second, the entire fucking airport disappeared.

The voices.

The footsteps.

The announcements.

Everything.

All I saw was her.

My little sister.

My princess.

Kornell released a deafening howl inside my head. "KIRA!"

My heart slammed against my ribs.

Morgan reached the top of the staircase and looked down.

Then her eyes found mine.

Her entire face lit up.

Those dimples appeared.

That smile I'd missed for one thousand three hundred and thirty-three fucking days spread across her face. And suddenly, I wasn't the Beta of Crescent Moon.

I wasn't a warrior.

I wasn't Usher's second-in-command.

I was just Alexander.

A big brother who had waited far too fucking long to have his little sister home.

"She's here," Kornell whispered.

My throat tightened.

"Yeah, buddy."

I couldn't take my eyes off her.

"Our girls are finally home."

My heart was beating a mile a fucking minute as I watched her descend the staircase. Morgan's eyes found us almost immediately.

Then she smiled.

Goddess.

That fucking smile.

Her snow-white teeth flashed, those deep dimples appeared in her cheeks, and something warm spread through my chest.

I'd missed that face.

I'd missed her.

Then I heard it.

A small sound beside me.

I slowly turned my head toward Ryan. "Did you just fucking whimper?"

His eyes remained glued to my sister.

"No."

"You did."

"Shut the fuck up, Alex."

I almost laughed.

The man was completely gone for her.

Head-over-heels.

Hopelessly fucking gone. And as much as it irritated me to admit it, I knew Ryan's feelings for Morgan were genuine.

That didn't mean I approved of their relationship.

I didn't.

Neither did Kornell.

Ryan wasn't Morgan's fated mate, and that alone was enough to make every protective instinct inside me uneasy. But I also knew Ryan.

He was one of my closest friends.

A good man.

An honorable wolf.

The kind of warrior who would put his own body between Morgan and danger without stopping to consider what it might cost him.

At least, he'd better.

Because if he ever hurt my sister, being my friend wasn't going to save his ass.

Ryan had always cared about Morgan.

Even before they started dating.

They'd been friends for years, and when she left for Europe, the bastard had been almost as miserable about it as I was.

Almost.

I didn't realize his feelings had changed until last summer.

Ryan and I were attending military training in France when he requested a day off for what he conveniently described as personal business.

Personal business, my ass.

The motherfucker was going to see my sister.

Morgan's school was nearly seven hours away by car, so apparently Romeo found himself a train that could get him there in three.

Three hours there.

Dinner with Morgan.

Three hours back.

All so he could ask her to be his girlfriend in person.

I didn't find out until afterward.

Smart bastard.

Had I known what he was planning, he would've missed that fucking training.

"You would've followed him," Kornell corrected.

"I would've stopped him."

"No. You would've followed him. Together we would have bitten his ass."

I frowned.

Fine.

I probably would've followed him. But only because someone needed to stop the situation.

Kornell laughed inside my head.

"You should have listened to me back then."

"And you should have put your claws up my ass when I didn't."

Before he could say something else—

"Alex!"

Morgan's voice carried across the terminal.

My head snapped up.

She was running toward me.

Everything else disappeared.

"Princess!"

I barely had time to open my arms before she launched herself at me.

I caught her effortlessly.

Her arms wrapped around my neck, mine locked around her tiny body, and for one second I couldn't fucking breathe.

She was here.

Actually here.

Not on a screen.

Not a voice coming through my phone.

Not a photograph I stared at when I missed her.

Here.

In my arms.

I squeezed her tighter.

Goddess, I'd missed her.

Morgan buried her face against my neck, and I closed my eyes. The familiar scent of my little sister hit me, and something inside my chest finally settled.

That empty fucking space was gone.

I spun her around once.

She laughed.

That did me in.

I kissed her forehead and held her even tighter.

"Kira!" Kornell shouted inside my head.

"I know."

"I can feel her! Alexander, I can fucking feel her!"

My wolf was practically doing somersaults.

"Let me take over."

"No."

"Alexander!"

"We're standing in the middle of a fucking airport."

"I don't give a shit."

"Well, airport security probably will when a giant wolf suddenly appears beside baggage claim."

He growled.

Then someone cleared his throat behind me.

"Ahem."

Ryan.

I ignored him.

"Ahem."

I looked over Morgan's shoulder.

"What?"

He stared pointedly at the woman in my arms.

I raised an eyebrow.

Was this motherfucker serious?

"You can wait."

Morgan giggled against my neck.

"I haven't seen her in nine months," I added.

"Neither have I."

"Sounds like a personal problem."

"Alex," Morgan scolded through her laughter.

"What?"

"Put me down."

"No."

"I'm serious."

"So am I."

"Alexander."

There it was.

The tone.

I reluctantly lowered her until her feet touched the floor, but I kept an arm wrapped around her shoulders.

Ryan took one step forward.

I immediately narrowed my eyes at him.

He stopped.

Morgan looked between us.

"Oh, for Goddess's sake. Are you two going to behave like this the entire time?"

"Probably," Ryan answered.

"Definitely," I corrected.

She rolled her eyes.

Yep.

My sister was definitely home.

Then I noticed something on her sleeve.

A dark smear.

I frowned.

"Princess."

"Hmm?"

"Were you being a doctor out there on the runway?"

Her face lit up. "You bet I was."

Of course she fucking was.

"What happened?"

And just like that, Doctor Miller took over.

Morgan started telling us about the accident—the equipment collision, the fire, the worker who'd suffered burns, and how she'd stayed with him until emergency personnel arrived.

Her hands moved while she spoke.

Her eyes brightened.

She talked so fucking fast I barely had time to process one sentence before she moved on to the next.

I didn't care.

I just watched her.

My little sister had landed in the Eastern Kingdom after almost four years away and managed to find herself a patient before she even made it through the damn airport.

Typical Morgan.

Goddess, Mom would've loved this.

The thought hit me unexpectedly.

I stared at my sister a little longer.

Morgan had inherited so much from her.

Not only physically.

Her compassion.

Her kindness.

Her ability to walk into a room and somehow make people feel safe.

That instinct to help without first asking what she would get in return. She was the spitting image of our mother in ways that had nothing to do with appearance.

Although there were plenty of those similarities too.

Mom and Morgan were both petite she-wolves.

Same delicate features.

Same warmth in their expressions.

Sometimes Morgan would tilt her head a certain way or smile at just the right angle and— Fuck.

For half a second, I'd see Mom.

I had inherited her blue eyes. Everything else about me came straight from Dad.

Especially my height.

But Morgan carried pieces of both of them in ways I couldn't explain.

Maybe that was another reason having her home meant so fucking much.

She was my sister, but she was also one of the last living pieces of the family we'd once had.

Morgan stopped talking.

"What?"

I blinked.

"What, what?"

"You're staring at me."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"I'm admiring how short you still are."

Her mouth dropped open.

Ryan laughed.

"Asshole."

I grinned.

There she was.

I pulled her against my side and kissed the top of her head.

"I've missed you so much, Princess."

Her expression softened immediately. "I've missed you even more."

I scoffed.

"Impossible."

"Nope."

"Morgan."

"Alexander."

"I said it first."

"And?"

"So I win."

She smiled sweetly. "That's not how it works."

"According to who?"

"Me."

Of course.

I shook my head.

"You should've become a lawyer instead of a doctor."

"I would've been an amazing lawyer."

"You would've driven the judge fucking insane."

"But I would've won."

Ryan laughed again.

I looked down at her.

Hardheaded.

Stubborn as hell.

Opinionated.

Too smart for her own damn good.

Morgan had always been the kind of person who sometimes needed to touch the fire before she'd believe you when you told her it was hot.

And the Goddess knew that trait had given me more than a few gray hairs over the years. But I wouldn't change her.

Not even the difficult pieces.

Because they were part of what made Morgan...

Morgan.

My little sister.

My princess.

My biggest pain in the ass.

And my greatest pride and joy.