Artemisia POV

“They were kissing!” Zeno shouts, making me gasp.

“Liar!”

Giorgio groans, passing a hand over his face. “This is enough! Zeno, I’ll be thinking about an appropriate punishment for you, and you will apologize to Alpha Blackwood appropriately.”

After what had happened at the lake, and the members of the Blood Fang Pack retreating immediately after the protection of my pride, as my brother eloquently put it, Giorgio panicked.

He sent everyone home right away and declared the party over.

Naturally, he used me as an excuse, telling everyone I was feeling unwell.

As if anybody cared.

Fearing a looming war because of my brother’s reckless behavior, he proceeded to execute his first agenda item as Alpha and ordered everybody into our living room.

Which had been the perfect thing to do. Because this way I could discuss directly with everybody in my family and the higher commanding staff in our pack, that I was caught by my little brother while I was trying to get some sugar from the enemy pack’s Alpha.

Cool. Cool. Cool.

“But I already did!” Zeno wails, having my brothers snicker around us.

“This was some lame excuse for an apology.” I snort, looking at him with my arms crossed over my chest.

He sticks his tongue out at me, “Well, thanks a lot, sister! I was just trying to save your dignity!”

My jaw literally hits the floor, and I slap his chest. “Don’t you dare!”

“Okay! I’ve had enough! Everybody out!” Giorgio shouts, and we all stand up to leave the room as he points his finger at me. “Not you!”

I hear my brothers snicker while leaving the room, and my mother and their mates look at me with a pitiful expression.

As I get left alone in the room with my new Alpha and Luna, I sit back down with a sigh, while my brother takes a chair and sits down in front of me.

“Missy, what happened?”

I shrug, pouting. “Nothing! I showed him around the lands, as we couldn’t get to you guys. And then we landed by the lake. But we were just talking.”

“Okay,” Giorgio says calmly, pressing his hands together. “And was he mean or aggressive towards you?”

I shake my head repeatedly. “No, he was very nice.”

Diana’s suspicious hum makes me groan, and I throw my head back. “Listen, there wasn’t anything to it. He rescued me from Rick a few moments before, so maybe he got his protective sense reawakened. I don’t know.”

I throw my hands in the air, while Giorgio and Diana flash me the same confused expression. “He rescued you?”

“Yeah. Well, he saw me being uncomfortable with him and came to my rescue.”

I sigh as their expressions morph into shock. “As I told you, he was nice.”

“What about what Zeno saw?”

Rolling my eyes, I chuckle awkwardly. “I don’t know what he saw, but I would have noticed if we were kissing.”

My heartbeat accelerates as they stare at me, and I clear my voice as if it could fool their heightened senses.

“Do you think he is… you know…” My brother begins to stutter.

Diana gasps, slapping him on his arm. “You can’t ask her like that!”

“He isn’t my mate,” I say with a sigh, and they look at me, mortified. “I didn’t feel, smell, or sense something special.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, baby,” Diana says soothingly, making my brother hiss at her. “What are you sorry for, now? A moment ago, you were scared for her.”

They start bickering, and I slump back against the backrest of my chair.

If she was scared, it was a good thing I hid the fact that I sensed Cassy stir.

“Look, I was just being nice,” I say while twirling the fabric of my dress around my finger.

Giorgio takes a deep breath, looking at me with a serious expression.

“Well, if it wasn’t just that, we will find out soon enough anyway.” He says, making my heart skip a beat.

***

After reaching my room feeling drained, I let myself slump onto my bed. 

“They must be fucking kidding me,” I groan, my face buried in my pillow. 

The image of Cayden standing right beside me while he is staring at the lake, and the moon gives him all the advantageously light, appears before my inner eye. 

Oh, I’m fucked. 

Of all the cute or handsome partners I could find in the pack and our ally pack, my wolf has to get fuzzy at the only Alpha who is off-limits. 

Nice, Cassy. Thank you for that. 

‘It is not my fault that his scent had me wake up from my nap.’ 

I jerk up as I hear her talking to me clearly. 

‘Cass!’ 

 ‘Leave me alone.’ She simply says snippy, ‘Just try to not fuck it up this time.’ 

Turning around on my back, my hand goes to my lip automatically, and I gulp. “I must have misinterpreted what he was about to do. That is for sure.” 

I chuckle to myself, but my head starts spinning before I can even stop my panicky thinking. 

What did Giorgio mean when he said that we would find out?

---

Giorgio

The sun's rays make me open my eyes with a groan, and I turn around, laying my arm around my wife’s waist, and pulling her close.

She giggles, turning around to kiss me, and I smile. “How are you feeling?”

“Strange, but good strange.”

I chuckle, hugging her tighter. “I’m glad.”

“Are you still worrying about Missy?”

Shrugging, I press a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Yeah. I can’t shake off the feeling that something bad is going to happen.”

“I’m sure it will be alright,” she says, caressing my hair. “And, if he really is into her, it might not be so bad.”

I hum, closing my eyes. “I don’t know. What if he just acts nice to play her? She is still going through so much because of Rick. I couldn’t handle seeing her hurting again. A rejection or betrayal of a second-chance mate is quite devastating.”

“I know. But she will be fine. She is strong, even if you all treat her like the princess getting bruised by a pea.”

Groaning, I shake my head. “Yeah, but unfortunately, it is not peas we are talking about.”

She laughs and retorts something with a broad smile. But I don’t get to hear it as my brain literally explodes at the incoming mind link from one of our head warriors.

“BREACH AT THE BORDER!” He yells over and over again.

Cutting it with a painful groan, I get up hastily, tearing myself out of my beloved’s arms.

“Sorry, babe. But I just got the warning of something happening at the borders. I have to go and check it.” Bending down to kiss her, she looks at me worriedly.

“Okay. Take care!”

“Always.” I smile at her before I storm out.

***

As I arrive at the border, I get filled in by my Beta as I come to stand next to him.

“They haven’t moved yet. I guess they have been waiting for you, Alpha.”

“How many more?” I say, looking at the men standing mere meters away from us, between the trees.

It is clear which one is leading this mission, as it must be the one grinning provokingly, while the others stand behind him, and partly hidden by the trees.

“Just those six, as it seems.”

I check the men and nod. “Okay. Let’s see what they want, and why they have stopped just a few steps into the territory.”

My Beta makes a big gesture, summoning another of our warriors, while making the others wait in alert.

“Does he look familiar?” I ask him as we near them with cautious steps.

My Beta answers with a low growl. “Looks like a Blackwood.”

“Alpha Giorgio.” The bulky man speaks up as we have nearly reached them. “Please apologize for my little invasion right after your special day, and please accept my humble congratulations on your coronation.”

What a prick.

As he bows theatrically, I have to force myself not to snort. If he were anybody else, I would have had his head by now.

But I wouldn’t dare to threaten a pack member of the Blood Fang.

He continues to flash his mocking grin, obviously testing our patience. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t invited last night. But my brother told me it was a blast.”

“Thank you, erm…”

“Finnegan Blackwood. But you can call me Fynn.” He answers with a grin, having the time of his life.

“So, what can we do for you, Fynn?”

Tilting his head at me, he seems to mind-link with his companions shortly. “I know that my mate was on your grounds yesterday. I want you to show me every woman of your pack, so I can take her home.”

Take her home.

“How would you know that your mate is one of our women? I won’t present you with anyone without any proof.”

His expression darkens, having me shift on my feet. “I smelled her on him.”

‘If he is the Alpha’s son… I might know who his mate is.’ My Beta mind links me, making me want to gag.

A second chance, mate? This idiot?

‘We have to get him off her trail, make him believe she is one of another pack.’ I say, panic expanding in my chest. ‘Tell Zeno to get her.’

Goddess, please no.  

I know that what I’m doing is highly risky and goes against so many laws of our kind, but I can’t let her fall into his hands.

“How would you even know it was one of ours? She could have been a she-wolf of another pack.”

I figure that my sorrow is showing on my face, as I can clearly recognize the emotion of him not being convinced showing on his face.

As he ponders over something quickly, he turns around to one of his men on his right side and stretches out his hand.

I can’t see what he gets handed, but my instincts seem to register the situation precisely before I can grasp it.

My heartbeat increases its pace painfully as he lifts his arm, releasing a red fabric from his grip. The red stole of my sister’s dress sways in the wind, wafting her scent my way.

A sly grin appears on his face as he continues to hold the item up.

“You have a sister, right, Alpha?”