It Begun

Winston

I had just finished my workout when Janine cornered me.

She had that weird smile on her face, the one that always made me think she was up to something. Whatever it was, it usually ended badly, with her expecting me to bail her out.

I didn’t have the energy to deal with her today. So I walked right past her and headed toward my room, hoping she would take the hint and move on.

Nope, of course not.

She followed me straight into my room, wrapped her arms around my waist, and whined, “Wiiinn!”

Ugh. I hated when she called me that.

I didn’t know why, but her presence irritated me even more than usual today.

Without turning around, I removed her arms from my waist. “What is it, Janine?”

“Winston, you have to help me,” she whined.

I closed my eyes for a second.

What the hell was I going to have to do to get this woman out of my room so I could meet Grandad? Luckily, I didn’t have to wait long for an answer.

“My parents told me to accept my mate, but I don’t want to.” She paused. “I want to be your Luna.”

Ah. So that was what this was about.

Great.

I finally turned around to face her. “My Luna? What are you talking about?”

“Well, everyone is talking about you becoming Alpha next month. Obviously, you’re going to need a Luna, and since I’m your girlfriend.” She slowly traced a finger along my arm. “That means I’ll be your Luna. Right, Winston?”

I moved away from her touch. “Wrong.”

Her smile disappeared.

“You’re just a plaything to me. My mate will be my Luna.” I walked toward the door, pulled it open, and pointed into the hallway. “Get out.”

“Winston!” She stomped her foot and pointed a finger at me. “You wouldn’t dare!”

I pushed her out. “Watch me.”

Then I closed the door in her face.

Finally, I headed for the shower, but Janine’s words stayed in my head. Why the hell had I started messing around with her in the first place?

I had been in a vulnerable place that night. I needed to feel something, and Janine had been there.

So I went for it. Afterward, I kept telling myself I would stop; I never did. Even when Grandad warned me that Janine would eventually become a pain in my ass, I didn’t believe him.

Until now.

I had just gotten out of the shower when someone knocked on my door.

I swear, if that was Janine again—

I yanked the door open. “I thought we” I stopped mid-sentence.

It wasn’t Janine. It was Wyatt, one of my brothers.

I stepped aside and let him in.

“What’s your problem?” he asked as he sat on my bed.

“Nothing.” I wasn’t going to discuss Janine with him. “Did you find out where those pictures came from?”

“Of course I did.” He said it smugly, then said nothing.

I stared at him. “Anytime you’re ready to tell me what you found would be great.”

“Oh, right.” He leaned back. “They came from her hometown.”

I froze.

Wait. What?

How the hell did they come from her hometown?

Before I could ask, Wyatt continued. “I checked and found out that someone from the Moonstone Pack took a flight there.”

I frowned. “That’s too easy. They have a private jet. Why would they let someone connected to their pack get on a regular flight?”

“I think you’re the one being naive and underestimating these people,” my wolf said.

I clenched my jaw. Was I being naive? Or was there something bigger going on?

“Am I missing something here?” I muttered.

“What are you mumbling about?” Wyatt asked.

I shook my head. “Did you get a picture of the person?”

“That’s the problem. The records say someone got on the plane, but when I checked the cameras, I couldn’t find anyone from the pack.” His frustration matched mine.

“Of course it wouldn’t be that easy.” I grabbed what I needed. “Come on. Grandad is waiting for me. You can tell him what you found.”

Something about the entire situation bothered me; I just couldn’t figure out what it was yet. For now, I needed to focus on what was directly in front of me instead of the nagging feeling that something wasn’t right.

The second Wyatt and I entered Grandad’s office, I knew it would be a long day. One look at his face told me something had happened. Something bad.

Even Wyatt noticed, and he normally missed things like this. “Grandad, did something happen?” Wyatt asked.

“Something sure did happen!” The way Grandad yelled immediately put me on alert.

He took a deep breath. “Sorry, boys. It’s just” He rubbed a hand over his face. “After all these years, they finally found her.”

Her.

He had to be talking about the late Alpha and Luna’s daughter. “Are we bringing her back?”

That seemed like the only solution now.

“That’s the plan. They found her and tried to take her,” he said.

My entire body tensed. “They didn’t, did they?” I didn’t understand it, but the thought of her getting hurt caused an ache in my chest.

I rubbed the spot and took a deep breath. “Do you want me to go get her?”

“No. I need four plane tickets under different names,one for her, her parents, and her best friend. The friend was there when everything happened,” he asked.

I looked at Wyatt. “You can handle that, right?”

He nodded and left the room to take care of it.