LOGINAlmost immediately after I did that, the car behind me suddenly moved back into the fast lane, pressed hard on the gas, and sped past me, rushing down the road and leaving me behind. I let out a small breath of relief. It was probably just some stupid kids messing around.“Elara? Are you okay?” Orion’s voice came through my phone.I jumped in surprise. I had almost forgotten that I called him. The relief I felt after the car drove away had completely cleared my mind.“Huh? Uh... yeah, sorry. I think I accidentally called you,” I said.I did not want to scare Orion, especially over something that now seemed so small.“Are you sure?” he asked, his voice sounding tight with worry.“Yeah. Definitely. I was actually going to call you anyway,” I said, trying to sound relaxed and casual about everything. “I’m heading home from Stormy’s. I’m about three minutes away. I just wanted you to know.”He sighed, and I got ready for him to lecture me about not telling him or not waiting for someone t
Once we finished putting away the groceries, Orion took Kael to train with Jaxon. He had missed an entire day of training with both of them, and I thought spending time with them would be good for him.“You go ahead. I’ll be okay here,” I said.“Not by yourself,” Orion said. “Come with us and watch the men work.”Kael immediately became tense. I remembered being a teenager and knowing how it felt when your parents—or in my case, grandparent—stayed around while you were trying to do something. He would probably feel more comfortable if I was not there.“I’ll go to Stormy’s,” I said. “I haven’t seen her for a couple of days. That way I won’t be by myself. What do you think?”Orion looked unsure but finally agreed. He still insisted on driving behind me to Stormy’s house and waiting with Kael by the curb until I was safely inside. Stormy was already standing at the door and waving me inside as Orion drove away.“Looks like you’ve got yourself a nice bodyguard,” she said while locking the
The bold and aggressive way Varek kept pushing us did not make sense at all. Money was important, yes, but I had already said I would pay him. So why was he still threatening us? He was acting as if we had missed a payment date or told him to fuck off. This all felt personal somehow. Money, out of everything in the world, was one of the least personal things I could think of. And right in the middle of everything was Vale.I met Jaxon at the barbershop, while my head was still full of questions. The barber, an old man named Claude Shipley, was a human who had always had a good relationship with the pack. The man had already been old when I was a kid, but his small barbershop was a well-known place in Pinecrest Valley.“Afternoon, Claude,” I said as I walked inside.He was just putting the cape around Jaxon’s shoulders when I entered.“Good afternoon, Orion. How are you?” the small man asked.“Better than I deserve.” I looked at him and around the shop.The three of us were completely
I looked at my father’s old laptop sitting on the other side of the desk. It was locked, but the password was written on a piece of paper taped inside the top drawer of the desk. After paying all the bills, I pulled the laptop closer and turned it on. Once I entered the password, I looked through the different files, searching for more proof of my dad’s bad habits. Maybe he had placed a million-dollar bet on the Super Bowl or something.While searching, I sent Selene a message.Orion: Random question. Was the pack having money problems when you moved away? Or was everything still okay?Selene had stayed longer than I did. If things had been getting worse for more than ten years, then that could explain where the missing money went. Slowly losing money through betting over fifteen or sixteen years could possibly do that.Selene: Nope. Everything was still good when I left. I didn’t know about any problems.Another dead end.Orion: Thanks anyway.I continued looking through more files,
As I drove up the long driveway to the alpha house and saw what was waiting for me, I let out a groan.“Well, shit,” I whispered.Around twelve cars were parked near the house and across the grass in my yard.People stood around in front of the closed garage door, waiting for me to get there. Every one of them was a pack member. Some I knew immediately, while others I only knew from seeing them around or from when I was younger. There were business owners and pack members who needed financial help. There was only one reason they could all be here.Before I even stepped out of the truck, they started throwing questions at me.“Is the pack not paying for electricity anymore?”“I got a shut-off notice yesterday, Orion.”“I can’t afford to pay these utility bills. It’s not part of my budget. The pack accounts always took care of this.”“Are we all getting abandoned?”I lifted my hands to calm everyone down.“Can everyone please wait for a second?”Since the Blackthorne family had owned th
My heart started beating faster. There was only truth in his eyes. He would actually leave everything behind to come with us. He would leave his pack to stay with us.I knew almost no alpha would ever do something like that. For shifters, pack was everything, even more important than family. But for Orion, things were different. For him, family seemed more important than anything else. For most shifters, this would have been a huge choice, but the way Orion saw it, there was really no choice at all.A few seconds later, his phone rang. It was almost like fate had heard us. A pack elder was calling because something needed Orion’s decision.“Damn,” he said after ending the call. “I have to go. Looks like you two will eat without me.”“It’s okay,” I said. “I can finish everything. Maybe Kael will be awake by the time I’m done.”Orion kissed me again, and like every other time, it took my breath away.When would it stop feeling so unreal and start feeling normal? Then again, I was not su
The only sound inside the truck was the steady noise of the tires rolling along the road.A huge weight had finally been lifted from my chest, but it was quickly replaced by a suffocating feeling of dread.Elara pulled her hand away from mine, and my stomach immediately dropped.“You fucking asshol
I did not like the sadness I saw in his eyes.“Whenever there’s something I want, she does her best to make it happen. Most of the time, I think really hard before I ask for anything. I don’t want to make her stressed, you know?”I did understand.But he was much too young to be carrying thoughts l
I grunted. “From what I know? People become loan sharks for a reason. The moment they smell weakness, they strike.” “Should we call Jaxon?” Selene asked. “Probably,” I replied as I pulled out my phone. Jaxon had handled a lot of unofficial operations during his time in the military. If there was
He looked at me carefully, clearly worried that I was about to say something he did not want to hear or judge him for something.“I guess so. What’s wrong?” he asked.“Do you know a man named Varek Kane?”The confused frown on his face and the way he looked up at the sky while trying to think made







