Chapter 3

IZZY POV

“Ow!” I yelled as my head cracked against the truck window for the third time in less than a mile.  Mom was behind the wheel of a rental truck with bad springs.  It was the most uncomfortable ride I’ve ever taken.  Mom smiled at me, looking excited.

“Just a little bit more,” she promised.  I looked out the front windshield, a gloomy look on my face.  I was excited, but a little nervous.  Mom seemed weird when she was telling me about this place.

“Tell me again about Moonstone Pack?” I asked, naming the town we were heading towards.

“It’s kind of like a gated community, but it’s a whole town,” she patiently explained to me again.  “Your Aunt Luna and Uncle Alpha are kind of like the mayors.  They run the place.  They have triplet boys who will be home from boarding school tomorrow.  They’re coming back from Italy.  A specialized course of study.”

I had heard all this before.  I had questions.

“So why aren’t we getting our own house?” I pouted.  “I don’t want to live with two adults and three kids my age that I don’t even know.”  I was worried they’d be like the kids at high school.

“We will, someday.  But I wanted some time to get us acclimated to our new home before making any major decisions.”  Mom was being remarkably patient with me, and I was acting like a pouting child.  I couldn’t help it.  I didn’t like the town we were living in, but at least I knew what to expect.  This was too new.

She braked as a tall, stone wall came into view, extending as far as I could see in either direction.  It was easily ten feet tall, and the top had another five feet of electrical wires.  I looked at my mom in disbelief.

“What sort of people live here?” I asked, shocked.  “Is everyone super rich or something?”

Mom chortled.  “No, not really.  I grew up here.  It’s pretty normal.”  The huge gate swung open, and a man hurried out to mom’s window.

“Alessia!” he shouted through the open window.  “You’ve finally come back to the pack!  You are as gorgeous as ever!”

Mom gave me a quick look before putting a wide grin on her face and turning to the man.  “Jackson!  You’re as big of a liar as you ever were!”  She put the truck in park and hopped out.  “Stay here for a second, sweetie,” she said before walking away with Jackson.

I could see them talking and Jackson looking over at me a few times.  I pretended not to notice, instead studying what I could see of the town through the open gates.  It looked like it opened into a road much like the one we came in on, just better paved.  I hoped so.  My butt and back hurt from all the bouncing around we did.

Mom climbed back into the truck and put it in drive.  Jackson waved at us as mom drove through the gate, carefully steering on to the road.  I looked behind us to see them swinging the gate closed.  So weird.  Why did they need all this security?

I sat in silence, just looking around.  Mom took a left at the intersection and started to drive up the hill.  At the base of the hill there was a huge building. 

“What’s that?” I asked, curious. 

“The packhouse,” she answered.  “It’s this town’s version of a community center.”

We got to the top of the hill and I gasped.  At the bottom of the hill, in its own little private valley, stood a house.  It was much more than a house, though.  It was like a castle.  It was in the middle of lush, green lawns with several outbuildings.  I looked over at mom.

“Aunt Luna and Uncle Alpha’s house.  It’s called The Alpha House.”  She looked smug.  For once, I didn’t have anything to say.

She drove slowly down the hill and into the circle drive that had a beautiful fountain of two large wolves playing.  Mom parked it and was out of the car and halfway up the stairs to the house before I had time to catch my breath.  A beautiful, blonde woman had come running out of the house and into my mom’s arms for a big hug.  A handsome man with salt and pepper hair and a goatee was standing behind her, a big grin on his face.  Mom went from Aunt Luna’s arms to his.  Uncle Alpha was so big that his arms wrapped completely around mom and she looked like she disappeared.

I got out of the car slowly, shy around these new people.  I shouldn’t have worried.  Aunt Luna ran down the stairs and grabbed my hand.

“Izzy!  You’ve grown so much since I saw you last.  Do you remember?  I came in the winter when you were ten.  Your mom and you took me skiing and I was so bad at it!”

Recollection suddenly hit me.  “I do remember!  We thought you broke your leg but twenty minutes later you were trying again!”  I remembered that she was a terrible skier and we had laughed so hard at her efforts.

“You remember!” she was beaming at me and I couldn’t help but feel welcome.  Aunt Luna had a way about her that made me feel like I was the most important person to her.

She stepped back to take a look at me.  “Look James!” she exclaimed.  “Isn’t she exactly the way you remember Alessia from high school?”

Uncle Alpha came down the stairs and took a close look at me.  I squirmed a little, uncomfortable at the scrutiny.  “She sure does,” he boomed, his voice happy.  I relaxed a little.  He was as sweet as Aunt Luna.

Aunt Luna clapped her hands.  “I gave you the entire west wing on the third floor,” she told my mom.  “There’s a room for you and one for Izzy.  Ensuite baths, of course.  And I’ve assigned Debbie and Lizette to your floor so if you need anything, let them know.”

“When are your boys coming home, Jenna?” my mom asked.  Belatedly I realized Jenna was Aunt Luna’s real name.  I wondered why the nickname.

“Tomorrow.  I’m excited for them to meet you.”  She glanced over at me.  “For them to meet you both, actually.”  She looked at my mom and they exchanged glances.  I rolled my eyes.  I knew what that meant.  They were going to try to set me up with one of her kids.  Well.  I hoped it wasn’t a prerequisite for me to stay here.  Because I don’t care how nice this place is, I’m not hooking up with some dork to keep living here.

I may have changed my mind, though, when I walked into my suite.  Aunt Luna pointed mom to her room and walked with me into mine.

“Here’s your sitting room.  I had them bring a laptop up here for you to use.  I know you’ll want to keep up on your studies so you can graduate with your class.”  She pointed to a state of the art Surface laptop that was probably more expensive than our rent for the month.  I tried not to drool. 

“Printer, paper, supplies in here,” she said, opening a built-in cabinet revealing the items.  “Through here is your bedroom,” she said, leading the way.  I followed her in and tried not to squeal in delight.  Aunt Luna looked at me, anxiously.  “Do you like it?”

I nodded, groping for words.  “I love it,” I finally managed to get out.  And I did.  It was tastefully done in white and pale pink, a combination I would have never picked for myself, but I just now discovered that I loved.  Everything looked soft and fluffy and comfortable, not at all stuffy.  I looked around in awe and then turned to Aunt Luna. 

“Thank you,” I choked out.  She looked pleased. 

“I have one more surprise,” she said.  “You’ll have to forgive me.  I’ve not had a girl in this house before, and I have always wanted one to spoil.  I had so much fun decorating your room and shopping for you.”  She led the way over to another door and opened it wide.  Inside was a walk in closed filled top to bottom with clothes, shoes and accessories. 

“Your mom gave me your sizes.  I hope you like them.”  For someone as confident as Aunt Luna was usually, she sounded a little hesitant.  I was speechless, looking at everything all at once.  Finally, I turned and threw myself into her arms.

“Thank you, Aunt Luna,” I breathed.  She gave a sigh of relief and hugged me. 

“I’m so glad you like it,” she said softly.  “I’m going to have so much fun spoiling you.  We’re going to have the best time.”