Chapter 2

“This is a bad idea.”

“No, it’s not.”

“It is. Why did I agree to this?”

“Because you love me?” Selene retorted as she looked at Michael in feigned innocence.

It was a few hours into Selene’s seventeenth birthday, and as usual, she woke up after having the same mysterious dream again. Just like her last birthday, she felt a caress that woke her up. She could not go back to sleep and called Michael to meet her at her door.

Selene’s family had a house separate from the pack house, but Selene decided to move into the pack house once she turned fourteen. She claimed witnessing her parents’ love every day was too nauseating to bear. So, she was placed on the third floor, which is where the females of the pack were housed. The men were a floor below.

Michael had to sneak to her room, as unmated male wolves weren’t allowed on the female floor at night. He knocked on her door, after which she dragged him inside her room. Now, they were sneaking out of the pack house to go to a club located on neutral grounds between Moonsedge Pack and Dareville Pack.

“The Alpha and Luna are going to kill me,” Michael groaned as he once again questioned his sanity for agreeing to go along with her.

Selene looked at her best friend, unimpressed. “Would you rather I go alone?” He frowned at this, and she grinned in triumph. “That’s what I thought. Now be a good friend and help me have the best seventeenth birthday of my life.”

“Technically, you can only have one seventeenth birthday, so—”

Selene cut him off with a glare. He raised his hands in surrender.

They started hearing loud music blaring through the woods, and just a few meters away, they could see Sinville Club. Selene screamed in excitement and dragged Michael along until they were baring their fangs to the bouncer at the door to prove they were werewolves. They got rid of their scent before leaving the pack house, so the bouncer could not have smelled that they were wolves.

Selene and Michael both stared wide-eyed at the bodies dancing dangerously close to one another and the unmistakable smell of wolfsbane. Selene was in awe, and Michael in dread.

“The Alpha is so going to kill me for this,” he whispered to himself.

Selene managed to convince him to try wolfsbane, and a few drinks later, they were both cross-eyed and dancing to the loud music like everybody else. An hour later, both friends were at the bar laughing and downing more drinks when a random wolf stalked up to them and placed himself between them.

The wolf turned to Selene with a look that was supposed to be a smirk but looked more like a grimace with his bloodshot eyes and hazardous hair.

“Hi sexy, I’m Josh. How about we go dance for a while?” He leered at her and grabbed her arms to pull her away with him. Selene smacked his hands away and told him to fuck off.

“Come on now, playing hard to get is not attractive,” he taunted, his words slurring. He tried to pull her away with him again. Michael pushed him away and stood in front of Selene.

“Didn’t you hear her say fuck off, or are you so drunk you can’t hear?” Michael pushed him again by his chest.

“And who might you be?” the wolf asked as he sized Michael up. Both wolves stood toe to toe. Michael was about two heads taller, but the wolf was muscular and looked like a pack warrior.

“The one who’ll be kicking your ass if you don’t back off,” Michael growled. The wolf scoffed and smirked at him.

“Don’t be so stingy, man. At least let’s share her.” He looked at Selene like a toy he couldn’t wait to play with. Michael saw red and swung a fist at the wolf.

Selene screamed as they both broke into a fight.

***

Alpha Bennet paced about in his office with barely contained anger. Luna Margot sat at the desk with her hands folded, her gaze just as intense.

“Explain yourselves this instant,” Margot leveled a hard stare at the two pups kneeling on the floor with their heads bowed.

Michael and Selene looked at each other in silent dread.

“I’m sorry,” Selene mouthed to him. He shook his head to tell her it was okay but winced in pain. Selene bit her lip as guilt flooded her. Michael was in bad condition. His lips were busted, he was sporting a huge bruise under his right eye, and he seemed to be favoring his left leg.

The fight between Michael and the wolf at the club escalated so badly that everyone in the club stopped dancing to watch the fight. Troublemongers cheered them on, and Selene fought her way to get closer to separate the fight but kept getting pushed by people.

The bouncers had to intervene, and the trio was kicked out of the club. The bouncer ordered each to contact their pack to come get them. Warriors from Moonsedge pack and Dareville pack came to get their respective troublemakers.

Selene and Michael were led to the Alpha’s office as soon as they got to the pack. There, they met a fuming Alpha and Luna. Selene could smell a hint of arousal as they entered the office, which meant her parents were probably getting at it before she mind-linked them about the fight.

The tension in the pack office was so thick a knife could slice through it. Bennet was finding it hard to rein in his wolf. Being pulled out of his bed at midnight from the arms of his beautiful mate to deal with his unruly children was not something he was enjoying. Michael became so close to the family that they practically raised him and saw him more as a son than a pack member.

Alpha Bennet stopped his pacing and addressed Michael. “I already know this was not your idea, as I’d like to believe you’re smarter than that, but why didn’t you stop her?”

Michael bowed his head in shame, unable to look at his Alpha.

Selene looked at her friend guiltily and faced her father. “It’s not his fault, Papa. He tried to—”

“Quiet!” her mother was the one to cut her off. “We know you’re more to blame, missy. We’ll get to you soon.”

“Now, Michael, answer your Alpha,” Margot had her attention back on him.

Michael had always feared his Luna more than his Alpha. She had a way of making you seem so little and ashamed of your actions.

“I’m sorry. I should have made sure we stayed within pack lands,” Michael apologized. He felt guilty for not being able to keep Selene safe. He promised her since they were kids that, he would protect her like an elder brother would.

Alpha Bennet sighed. He was tired and just wanted to get back to bed with his mate. He mind-linked his Luna about the punishment he decided on, and she nodded in approval.

“Alright, listen up.” Both pups straightened and looked at their Alpha attentively. “As punishment for not only sneaking out of pack lands and endangering yourselves but also getting in trouble with another pack, you both are forbidden from seeing each other for a month.”

“Papa—” Bennet raised his hands to cut his daughter off.

“Selene, you will move back into our house, and you are not to step a foot outside until a month is over.”

“But it’s my birthday!” she screamed in outrage with tears in her eyes.

“You should have thought of that before. Now go pack your things and meet us downstairs in five minutes,” Bennet commanded in his Alpha voice.

Selene stormed out of the office, crying. Michael remained in his spot on the floor with his hands clenched.

“You can go back to your room, Michael. You get cleaning duties for a month.”

Michael stood up, nodded stiffly to both leaders and left the room in a more controlled manner than his best friend.

Margot sighed and walked up to her mate, hugging him from behind. “You did the right thing, love. They need space away from each other to realize they are no more kids and need to be more responsible.” She placed a kiss on his back. “Besides, they need practice for when either of them gets mated and starts building their own family.”

Bennet turned around and held his wife close. “What if they’re fated mates? Selene is not eighteen yet, so Michael can’t know if she is his mate.”

Margot chuckled. “They are not mates.”

“How are you so sure? Look how close they are.” Bennet had always wondered if it was the mate pull that made the children so close.

“I just know. Call it Luna instincts?” She looked at her mate playfully. “Those two were once siblings in a past life, I am sure of it.” Unable to resist, she kissed her mate.

Bennet growled into the kiss. “We are finishing what we started once we get back home.”