Three

My sister wasn’t a bad person. A little obsessed with money and status? Yes.  But in today’s modern age, it was almost impossible not to be. When she met Desmond DuPont, however, I knew that Nina was really in love with him. She started teaching herself how to cook and clean. She studied finances, along with the history of werewolves plus their customs. She wanted to be deserving of the title of luna. She knew how important it was.

She saw it as the biggest honor she could possibly get.

Luna’s were frequently humans chosen to be mates. It helped keep peace between werewolves and humans to have that connection. The First Luna had been a girl from a village who had sacrificed herself so that her village wouldn’t be destroyed for trespassing on werewolf property. At least, that was what werewolf legends told us. Immortal archives were ancient. Sometimes the truth got lost in the lore. Who knew what was really real?

The Alpha was with my sister, Nina, long enough that I thought of him like family. I’d been eighteen when he’d disappeared. The two of them had been going on a trip. He had wanted to introduce Nina to all of the other werewolf packs. There were about thirty of them in the U.S, this was something Alpha’s traditionally did when they were picking their mate. Sometimes, if a pack didn’t agree with an Alpha’s choice, it could affect the mating ceremony going forward.

Everyone had loved Nina though. They saw how much she cared.

On one of those trips, there was something in the middle of the road that caused the car to go into the lake. Nina was pulled out but Desmond was nowhere away to be found. Now, Desmond DuPont was standing there in front of me, alive. “You…you…how are you here?” I gestured to the room. “You’re supposed to be dead! It’s been six fucking years!”

I stepped closer inside from the entry way I had been lurking in. I noticed for the first time that there were two other people in there. Desmond’s beta was there, a guy I remembered who was named Eric, and Calix’s sister, Lola. She was a tall, pale, blond woman who was also one of the managers of the Night Owl. She was also scary as hell, looking at me like I was dirt in underneath her long, perfectly manicured, red nails.

She hadn’t been happy when I’d been hired at the bar. She wasn’t happy now, either.

Desmond crossed his arms over his chest with a charming smile on his face that made me want to punch him. Even though I knew it wouldn’t hurt the immortal at all, being a scrawny human. He had always kind of made me feel that way, even in the moments where he was nice to me. “Well, I didn’t die. I’m very much alive and well. Looking excellent, if I do say so myself, for a dead man.”

“You’re not going to look excellent if you don’t tell me why you aren’t dead?!”

He tilted his head to the side. “You look angry. Why are you angry?”

“You were like five minutes away from being my brother-in-law! I considered you family. You died!” I shouted at him. “I went to your funeral. I laid in bed with Nina for days. She was devastated after you were gone. I was, too. Even my mom. We…were going to be your family.”

Desmond chuckled. “Was Nina sad? Funny, since I am fairly certain her and my brother planned it. At least I know that she’s a good actress.”

“They…they didn’t start dating until recently.” I didn’t bother trying to not sound defensive. My sister might have driven me crazy, but she was still my sister. Only I could talk shit about her.  Definitely not her ex-boyfriend. “They waited six years. She’s thirty, Desmond. She almost thought she was never going to get picked because of what happened with you. She’d been going to this stupid, fucking thing since she was eighteen.”

“Funny that she waited exactly the time period to wait before someone new becomes Alpha.” He peered closer at me. “Your sister knew I didn’t have any plans of making her my mate so she decided to take matters into her own hands.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You…you weren’t going to make her your mate?”

He shook his head. “No. I wasn’t going to make her my mate. She was obsessed with me. She wouldn’t let me go. She invited herself on that trip.”

I frowned. “That’s not something my sister would do—I mean—” I stopped, reminding myself of how Nina desperately wanted to be Luna. So badly she would have done anything to get it, including read more into a relationship than there really was. Our family history wasn’t the greatest in Moon City. Being human made us outsiders. She thought that her being a luna would fix everything for us. “That’s actually exactly what my sister would do. Okay, but what does all of this have to do with me?”

It was Calix who spoke next, “Desmond needs you to pretend to be his mate. He wants to make your sister jealous and get Damien to admit that he tried to kill him to take over the pack. He thinks you are the perfect catalyst to get Nina jealous and start telling him about the truth.”

I glared at him. “You’re crazy. I’m not doing this. This is my family. I can’t….”

Desmond towered over me, reminding me he was still the Alpha. The one responsible for my family’s safety in Moon City. “If you say no, you’re going to have to be banished from Moon City. I can’t have someone living here that tried to kill me, Iris. By saying yes, you will be protecting your family.”

“First of all, it’s been almost six years since you’ve been missing. Six years is the time it takes for the pack to do a Trial of The Gods which Damien’s already petitioned for. I know, because he’s probably going to ask my sister to be his luna tonight. They’re making preparations for it. There’s nothing to guarantee you’ll keep your power.  Second, most werewolves are given their mates by the gods. You get to choose yours as an Alpha but that’s dangerous magic. It’s like a binding covenant with the universe or something! I don’t want to be in a binding covenant with the universe with my sister’s ex-boyfriend I’ve never been interested in!” Everything spilled out of me, my voice filled with panic.

Desmond seemed to get taller, looking down at me, his golden eyes flashing with rage. “First of all, don’t lie to me. I know I affected you at least a little bit. I saw your high school notebook doodled with my name on it. Second of all, I promise, I won’t make you go through with it. I know that you’ve already got plans for your life.”

“Those journals were private! Also, how do I know that you’re being truthful?” I stepped backward. He stepped forward again. “There’s magic ceremonies mates have to go through.  Especially if your human.”

Calix cleared his throat. “Because I’m your guardian, kitten.”

I stared at him. His smooth voice always left me a little dazed. Along with this new nickname. He had never once called me ‘kitten’. “G-g-guardian?”

Guardian, though, I knew that one. I had heard that phrase bounced around before. I knew it was a common thing for immortals to do if they had someone that they cared about. Swearing fealty to a coven or a pack was another way to do that. This was more common for human families that were descended from immortals in the secret cities where immortals lived. But I had never fully understood why. Calix smiled.

“It means that you are protected by me.” Calix stepped closer to where I stood. He was a lethal killing machine who shouldn’t have made me feel warm and fuzzy. Sometimes, I truly hated how much I let him affect me. “As a human, if anything happens to you at the hands of another immortal, I will take responsibility for it.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Meaning?”

“Meaning you would be officially in my coven. Mine to care for. Mine to protect.”

My eyes widened. “That’s usually reserved for family members or lovers.”

Calix tilted his head to the side. “Isn’t that what we are, kitten? I have known you for a very, very long time and I do consider you…precious to me.”

My heart pounded against my chest. This was almost more than I had hoped for. “I want to talk to you outside for a minute.”

Calix smirked. “But there’s nothing you can’t say in front of my dear, dear friends.”

I glared. “Outside, now.” I went outside and Calix followed me. The door closed behind me.

“What’s the problem, kitten?” Calix tilted his head to the side in a way that reminded me of the raven he sometimes shifted into. I’d caught his raven form following me home on more than one occasion, especially after the frat boy’s incident.

He was always making me feel safe even though he by far was the deadliest thing in the room most of the time. The one I should have been running away from.

I whirled around to give him a withering glare. “Where is this suddenly coming from? You’ve never had any interest in me. You’ve certainly never called me kitten.”

“I’m one hundred and fifty.” He reached out to gently touch my shoulder. “I…. I am careful of who I get close to, Iris. But- “

“You don’t have to tell me. I know.” I couldn’t help but sound dejected as I spoke. It was one of the things Nina was always telling me whenever I got flustered about my boss.

He sighed. “Will you let me finish? You only just turned twenty-four. You are young. I’m not in the habit of taking advantage of young girls.” He reached out and stroked my cheek. “Of course, being immortal, that makes that complicated. But I’m not that kind of man. In fact, I’m not a man anymore.” He smirked. “I’m not a complete idiot. I’ve seen the way you look at me. I know how your heart pounds against your chest when you see me. If this all turns out well, I should like very much for us to be something.

I crossed my arms over my chest, making a face. “You know?” I groaned. “You can’t possibly know. It’s not fair that you’re listening to my heart beat—WHY are you listening to my heart beat?”

“Vampire, remember?” His red eyes held mischief in them as he spoke. I shouldn’t have liked it, but I did.

That didn’t stop me from wanting to kill him. I wanted to kill both of them, really. Except when immortals asked you for a favor, it was very difficult to say no to. Especially when your family’s whole existence was protected by them. Mine was. I didn’t exactly have the luxury of saying no, even though I had no idea what I was walking into.

I looked at him. “The games of immortals were not one for humans to play lightly. I’m surprised you of all people want me to get mixed up in something like this.”

“However old fashioned the word maybe, I am still a monster my dear. You should never forget that even if I do write your paycheck. But I promise you, I wouldn’t ask you to do this if the fate of The Secret Cities didn’t rest on this whole plan.”

“Can’t you ever call me in for good news? Like a raise?”

“Do this, and you’ll get a lot more than a raise. What do you say?”

I sighed. “Let’s go back in the room. I have more questions.”