(Brady POV) I woke up the next morning to the sound of my phone ringing. I groaned as I struggled to open my eyes, not wanting to wake up. “She smells amazing,” Kalen linked me. “What? Who?” “The she-wolf laying next to you. She smells amazing,” Kalen repeated. Uh-oh. I quickly sat up in the bed and looked around me. Not only was there a she-wolf laying next to me, but also both of us were completely naked. "She is beautiful," Kalen gushed. "She will make beautiful pups." I silently studied the she-wolf. Kalen was right; she was gorgeous. But why was Kalen talking about pups and not yelling at me for blocking him last night? He never took any interest in any of my one-night stands in the past. More importantly, who the f&&k was this she-wolf? I rubbed my hands down my face, struggling to remember. Then, suddenly, almost like an answer to my question, the memories of last night came flooding back to me. Charlotte. The she-wolf’s name was Charlotte. She rejected her

Now those wolves want Lily dead, but of course killing her has now gotten tremendously harder. In the hopes of getting leverage, they kidnapped Sammy this morning while he was playing in his room and they left that note. However, we intercepted the kidnappers before they left the pack with Sammy. Evelyn still believes that Sammy has been kidnapped, and the kidnappers’ bosses still believe that Sammy has been kidnapped, but he is fine. We have the kidnappers safely kept in the dungeons in Red River, unable to mind-link. We will keep them there until you return and the werewolf council is functional again.” I ran my hands through my hair as I tried to process what my father had just told me. What the f&&k. Evelyn was behind all of this? Or at least some of it? How? Why? “How did… how did you figure it out?” “It was all right there in front of you, Son, but you were too blinded to see it. Evelyn knew that the wolves who attacked the pack were after Lily. She either knew tha

(Lily POV) "Let me explain more," the Moon Goddess said. Before she could, I interrupted with my own question. I could not help it. The Moon Goddess’ words were re-opening old wounds and making me remember all my old insecurities about living under Stephanie’s shadow. “Are you… are you saying that I was your second choice? And that Stephanie was your first?” Feeling my distress, James quickly pulled me off of my chair. He then adjusted our positions so that I was sitting in his lap while he held onto me protectively. The Moon Goddess smiled at his gesture before she leaned forward, grabbed both of my hands, and looked at me with almost-scary seriousness. “I was worried that you might think of it that way, Lily. But, no, I am not saying that you were my second choice. I am saying that you were not who I originally expected to put into this position. That even I sometimes make mistakes.” “That sounds like the same thing.” “It is not. I love all of my children, and you ha

“Thankfully, we do not need to worry about that,” the Moon Goddess answered with a smile. “Although I can say you may have had the same destiny, but perhaps it would have been framed a little bit differently.” The Moon Goddess stood. We did as well. “You need to go home now and take care of your pack and the council. Once those are taken care of, you will need to begin to work on the other packs in the United States and throughout the world. Your wolves will be able to guide you. I will see you again in the future. In the meantime, know that I am only a prayer away.” The Moon Goddess gave each of us another hug, and then paused. “Lily, could you do me another favor please. When you see Evelyn, I would like you to give her a message for me.” After giving me the message, the Moon Goddess waved her hand in the air. A puff of silver smoke exploded, and then suddenly James and I were back in bed in my apartment. But for the golden piece of paper in my hand, I could have easil

“You stayed over at Derek’s?” I asked, feeling surprised. “No… um… we rejected each other yesterday.” “What? Oh… Are you ok? Where are you?!?!” “I… I sort of… met someone else.” Oh, Goddess. “Charlotte, please tell me that you did not have another one-night stand.” She did not say anything. Although I had never had a one-night stand, I was not offended by the idea of them. It just made my heart hurt for Charlotte, because one-night stands had been the entirety of her sexual experience. “Char…” “What?” “Did you have another one-night stand?” “You told me not to tell you.” I rolled my eyes. “Goddess, Charlotte. Well, why are you calling me and not getting out of there?” “My one-night stand was with a wolf. A really hot wolf. It was my first time with a werewolf, Lily, and it was amazing. Or at least what I remember was amazing. We were both super drunk and broken hearted and it escalated.” “Fast forward to the part where you are still there and are having to call m