Chapter 1

Anna

I smoothed down the long black dress that Quinn had found for me to wear to Evelyn’s memorial. I had worked with Mrs. Peterson and the rest of her church to plan a nice service to celebrate Evelyn’s life and what she meant to us.

I stared at myself in the mirror. My pale blond hair was neatly pinned out of my face but flowed down my back. I had put on some mascara to darken my eyelashes and make my green eyes stand out. Austin had made me blush by comparing them to emeralds, but I had to admit that I liked having him look into my eyes with affection.

Satisfied that my dress and hair were appropriate I carefully picked up Evelyn’s urn. James had quietly given it to me a couple of days ago along with a reassuring squeeze of my hand. We were making progress because he hadn’t made any snarky comments at all to me the last two days. He would usually be able to get me so mad, but a small part of me liked the challenge of getting the upper hand of our verbal sparring.

I chewed my lip worriedly; I hoped he hadn’t backed off because he thought I was too weak to handle it. I sighed as I very carefully made my way to the door with my purse over my shoulder and both hands firmly on the urn.

All of the guys had given me some time to myself after James had given me Evelyn’s remains. It wasn’t until I had held the urn in my arms and I was alone in my room that I had finally let all of my emotions out.

For some reason, having her there with me made everything seem so real and so final. I had let all of my grief and anger flow through me for as long as I needed, and I was left with a sense of peace and acceptance.

I knew that being here with this pack is what Evelyn would have wanted for me; I owed it to her to make the most of this opportunity to be part of a real pack. I wasn’t going to give up on finding justice for Evelyn, but now I had my pack to help me. I wasn’t alone anymore.

Mason and Jason met me at the top of the stairs. I gave each of them a brave smile and tried not to get distracted by how handsome they looked in their suits. It was rare that I saw them in anything but jeans or workout clothes. They were well-muscled from working out all the time, but not so bulky that they looked awkward in suits. They were more wide receiver than linebacker.

Their brown hair was gelled into the messy-hot look that they pulled off so well. Jason was clean-shaven, but Mason had some scruff that added a little bit of roughness to his otherwise posh look. Mason took the urn from me and Jason gave me his arm to help me down the stairs.

Quinn had picked out some ridiculous heels to go with this dress, I proposed flats, and we had compromised on wedges. With the long dress and uncomfortable shoes, I was more than happy to take Jason’s arm to avoid tumbling down the stairs.

Mason and Jason were going with me to the service and the gathering afterwards. Austin, Cody, Caleb, and James were going to meet us later tonight when I released Evelyn’s ashes into the ocean. Cody had already checked, there would be a strong breeze tonight that would carry the ashes out to sea.

Evelyn had told me that when she was growing up she had always wanted to visit the ocean. She had been so happy when she moved to her house near the oceanfront, so I thought she would be pleased to have her ashes carried away by the ocean breeze into eternity.

We were about to start down the stairs when I heard a door open in the hallway behind me. The three of us turned to see Caleb looking nervous. His dark brown hair was messy as if he had just gotten out of bed and his warm brown eyes were unsure.

“Uh, hey Anna. I just wanted to say…” he hesitated and cleared his throat. “I don’t know the right words for this- is good luck today appropriate?”

I gave him a warm smile and headed back down the hallway to him. I held out a hand to him and he enclosed it in one of his.

“Thanks, Caleb.” I told him softly.

He blushed but looked me in the eyes. “If you need anything today, I’m here for you. You can call or text, I will keep my phone on me.”

I gave his hand a squeeze. “I appreciate that Caleb.”

“Anytime, Anna Banana.”

I chuckled at his nickname for me.

Jason was getting tired of waiting and headed down the hallway to us. “C’mon, Anna. It’s time to get going.”

Caleb gave him a reproachful look, but Jason just ignored him and tossed me over his shoulder.

“Hey!” I squawked as he carried me down the stairs.

He laughed. “Those look like uncomfortable shoes, Anna.” He teased me. “I wouldn’t want you to fall.”

He made it down the stairs without dropping me but showed no intention of putting me down as he walked to the door.

“Okay, Jase.” I said, warning in my voice.

He just laughed, and I got nervous. Now was not the time for pranks, today was important.

“Put her down.” Austin’s voice came out of nowhere.

Jason set me down gently and I tried to fix my now messy hair.  He stood next to me on my right and Mason on my left so that I was standing between the twins. Austin strode towards us with a scowl on his face. He was well-dressed, as per his usual, but his dark blonde hair looked like he had been running his hands through it. His blue eyes flashed with impatience. If the twins were wide receivers, Austin was the quarterback.

Austin stopped in front of us and eyed both the twins. “Remember what we talked about, no shenanigans today. Be prepared for anything that might come your way.”

I frowned, was Austin expecting trouble today?

The twins both had serious looks on their faces.

“You got it, boss.” Mason told him.

Jason opened his suit jacket and I saw a flash of a handgun in a holster. I gaped in surprise, but if anyone noticed the shock on my face they ignored it. 

“We are locked and loaded, boss.” Jason told Austin confidently. Austin gave each of them a nod and his gaze softened as he looked at me.

“If either of them give you trouble, you let me know.” He said softly.

I smiled at him. “Don’t worry; I can keep them in line.”

He gave a chuckle and then smiled at me affectionately. “I don’t doubt it.”

Jason opened the front door for us and we headed to the car after one last goodbye to Austin. The sun was shining brightly today, and it was unseasonably warm. It was going to be around 70 degrees today, which was warm for November, but Evelyn would have considered it to be absolutely perfect.

Mason carefully buckled the urn into a seat with a seatbelt and I nodded at him in approval. He looked a little embarrassed when Jason smirked at him, but he just shrugged and mumbled, “What? It’s important to Anna.”

My heart warmed at his thoughtfulness. Today was going to be difficult, but not as difficult as I had thought. I had already said goodbye to Evelyn in my heart, today was a day to celebrate her and what she meant to me. I was grateful that both of the twins were going to be here for me today if I needed to lean on them a little.

Because of the temperature we left the windows open so I could feel the heat of the sun and the coolness of the breeze as we drove. The twins took the road that gave us occasional glimpses of the ocean and the breeze carried the distinctive scent of salt water.

I had spent the couple weeks living with the guys at the giant mansion. Initially, I had been nervous about going back to work after everything that happened. But Austin was surprisingly supportive of my return. The twins had wanted me to just quit my job and asked Austin to give me a work assignment for the pack.

I was grateful that Austin realized how much my job meant to me. I had spent most of my childhood being told that I was nothing- just a burden, a useless piece of garbage soaking up precious resources. Having a career gave me a sense of identity and accomplishment. I wasn’t nothing, I was a pharmacist at Seaside Navel Medical Center.

It might seem silly to some people, but I felt like giving up my job would be giving up the life and the identity that I had struggled so hard to get. It had taken years of personal sacrifice to get where I was right now, and I didn’t want to throw it all away just because some guys asked me to.

I felt like giving it up would make me return to being nothing, just a leech living off of the pack’s generosity. I know Austin wouldn’t feel the same hatred and disdain for me as my uncle had, but fear was ingrained deep inside of me.

While I was determined to retain my independence and self-sufficiency, I wasn’t stupid. There was a murderer still out there and there had been a kidnapping attempt on me just last week. James had put together security protocols for me and I was happy to comply.

I might be an expert in my field, but I needed to trust them to be experts in theirs. Judging by how quickly the Seaside pack had tracked me down once they became aware there was a female hiding somewhere on their territory, evasion was not one of my strong suits. Once they had caught my scent in Evelyn’s house, it had taken them less than 24 hrs to find my home and my job.

 The twins and I had settled into a routine during the past couple weeks. They would take me to work and wait until I was safely on base before going to their classes or running errands for the pack. I stayed in view of the many cameras in the hospital and didn’t wander into the public areas for lunch like I used to.

After work we would make dinner for whoever was in the house that night, and I would help out with any assignments the twins might have for class. I smiled as I thought about how much of a family we were becoming.

“What’s so funny?” Jason asked, cutting into my thoughts.

I smiled at him, “I was just thinking about the three of us, you know, we are like the three musketeers or something.”

Mason laughed. “James would probably disagree. I heard him complaining to Cody about the three stooges last night. I’m pretty sure he was talking about us.”

I giggled. “He’s probably still upset about the glitter.”

Both of the twins laughed. Earlier this week we had tried to put a very fine glitter in his body wash but were disappointed when almost none of it stayed on his skin. To make up for the fail we mailed him a glitter bomb. He was still finding glitter everywhere days later. Probably because I kept sprinkling extra glitter in his room and his office when he wasn’t around.

Mason pulled up to the church where the service was being held and drove slowly through the parking lot, looking for an empty space. I slouched down in my seat and glanced over at the urn. Now that the moment was here, I no longer felt ready for it.

I chewed on my lip. “So, what do I say if Mrs. Peterson asks questions about the investigation?” I asked the twins.

The twins glanced at each other.

“Why would she ask questions?” Mason asked me.

I ran my hands over my dress, smoothing out the nonexistent wrinkles. “Because she’s the one who found the body,” I said quietly. “She knows the truth.”

Jason shook his head at me. “No, she doesn’t. The council’s clean-up crew took care of all of that. No one knows that she was murdered except us.”

I frowned at him. “I get that you can buy someone’s silence, but money won’t make anyone forget. She might just be waiting to get me alone to talk about it because she can’t talk to anyone else.”

Jason laughed and didn’t even try to hide his smile when I glared at him.

“Anna, the council didn’t bribe Mrs. Peterson not to talk.” Mason told me gently. “They have connections with the lamia, so they really did take her memories. All Mrs. Peterson will have left is a fuzzy recollection of finding the body of an elderly woman who died in her sleep.”

My jaw dropped. “What’s a lamia?” I asked them as Mason slid the jeep into a parking spot.

Both twins turned and looked at me in astonishment. “I know you said that Evelyn didn’t teach you much about wolves…” Mason’s voice trailed off as he looked at Jason.

“We assumed that she would have taught you about everything else in our world, though. Since you were in hiding you should have known what to look out for.”

I shrugged in dismay. There was more than just us werewolves out there? How could I have not known that?

A couple walked past the jeep on their way into the church. “We can talk about this later, Anna. A church parking lot with humans wandering through isn’t the place for this.” Mason told me.

Externally I just nodded and reached for the door handle, but internally I growled in frustration. How could there still be so much that I was ignorant of? I glanced at the urn as I stepped out of the vehicle.

Evelyn had kept so many secrets from me. A part of me understood that she had done it to protect me, but another part of me was angry that she had never completely trusted me with her secrets.

She should have told me that there were more than just wolves out there that I had to hide from. What if I had run into a lamia without knowing it?

I leaned close to Jason so I could whisper in his ear. “By lamia, do you mean the Persian snake people of myth and legend?”

Jason’s eyes widened in surprise before he burst out laughing.

“What?” Mason asked curiously as he came around the other side of the Jeep, holding the urn.

Jason must have sent him what I had asked via their bond because he laughed as well.

“Think more like Edward Cullen, minus the glitter.” He told me with a chuckle.

I scowled at both of them, but I took Jason’s arm when he offered it to me. Mason followed us into the church, carrying the urn.

Vampires were real? This was ridiculous, what was next? Witches, faeries? These guys had better be ready to do a lot of explaining when we got home later today.

We stepped inside of the church and the sunlight disappeared as the door shut behind us. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the dim light inside. I sighed. I guess the shadowy light gave the event a solemn feel, but Evelyn hated being trapped in the gloomy indoors when she could be outside in the warm sun.

The church also had a musty smell to it, as if someone needed to air out the stuffy foyer. It was probably the right atmosphere for a funeral service, but I think Evelyn would have preferred more of a celebration of life. I tried to be appreciative, the church had been very accommodating to schedule this with such short notice.

Mrs. Peterson met me right in the entranceway. “Anna! I’m so happy to see you.” She reached to give me a hug and Jason released my arm so that I could embrace her.

I stiffly gave her a brief hug to be polite, but pulled away as soon as possible. She didn’t seem to notice and turned to Jason. “I didn’t know you had a beau!”

“Oh, he’s-“ I started to tell her Jason was not my boyfriend, but Jason interrupted me with a big smile.

“Mrs. Peterson! Anna has told me so much about you, I’m so glad to finally meet you. I’m Jason.” He held out a hand for Mrs. Peterson and she blushed before reaching forward.

“Well, aren’t you charming?” She tittered, obviously taken in by his good looks.

Mason cleared his throat from behind us and Jason waved a hand towards him. “And that’s my brother.”

“Oh, my.” Mrs. Peterson gaped at Mason and then back at Jason. “Twins…there’s two of you.” She murmured to herself.

I smiled at her, trying to deflect her attention off them. “Where would you like us to put the urn?” I asked her pleasantly.

“Oh, on the table inside will be fine for now, dear.” She answered me, fanning herself a little with the program that had been printed for the memorial.

“Jason will get that,” Mason said as he shoved the urn into Jason’s arms.

“I’m actually Anna’s other boyfriend, Mason.” He told Mrs. Peterson with a huge grin.

Mrs. Peterson and I just gaped at him in astonishment. She was the first to recover and gave a nervous laugh. “And you‘re funny, too. I need to introduce you to my niece.”

Mason gave a polite laugh, but he still had a huge grin on his face. “Oh, no. Anna doesn’t share her men with other females.”

I elbowed him sharply in the ribs. “He is funny, isn’t he?” I asked Mrs. Peterson, my cheeks flaming red.

She gave us a strange look. “Just remember that you are in a church right now, young lady.”

I nodded in embarrassment. “Of course, ma’am. I’m sure Mason is done with the jokes now.”

She nodded and as she walked away I glared at Mason.

“What was that about?” I whisper-yelled at him, pulling him into the corner and out of sight.

He shrugged. “If Jason can be your boyfriend, why can’t I?” He asked me with a wicked smile.

I rolled my eyes. “I never said Jason could be my boyfriend, he came up with that on his own.”

He put an arm around me and leaned close. “Who cares what anyone here thinks of us.” He waved a hand around to encompass the crowd that was gathering in the church. “You don’t belong in this world anyway.”

I closed my eyes and breathed in his scent. “I guess it doesn’t really matter, it’s just that I’m already socially awkward, so being weird brings it up to painful levels.”

He wrapped his other arm around me to bring me into a hug and I enjoyed leaning into his embrace.

“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” he murmured into my ear. His low voice sent shivers down my spine and warmth flooded through me, but this time it was not due to embarrassment.

“What did I miss?” Jason’s voice came from behind me.

“Nothing,” I murmured as I pulled away from Mason.

“Anna said we can both be her boyfriends as long as we don’t embarrass her.” Mason told him solemnly, but I saw the sparkle in his eyes.

Jason smiled at me. “I’m glad you came to your senses, Anna. We make very good boyfriends.”

I just rolled my eyes. “At least you’re humble.”

Jason held out his hand for me with a smirk. “Mrs. Peterson reserved us seats in the VIP section.”

I took Jason’s hand, but reached back for Mason’s hand as well. Mrs. Peterson was probably going to be gossiping about the girl with two boyfriends as soon as we were out of her sight, so I was going to enjoy the support the twins were willing to offer. Mason gave me a pleased smile as he took my hand and the three of us walked into the church together.

We walked in and had a seat in the front row of the pews. I felt a little uncomfortable having the entire church staring at my back as I sat between Mason and Jason, but Mrs. Peterson had hung a little paper sign on the pew to reserve it for us. I would have felt like I was disrespecting her kindness if I tried to sit anywhere else. No one spoke as the church slowly filled with guests. The atmosphere was quiet and depressing, as if everyone felt that they needed to project an air of sadness.

I was a little surprised that Evelyn had spent so much time here. When she described her church I had always pictured somewhere bright and cheery where she celebrated the joy of life with the other church members. Maybe I was letting the circumstances cloud my judgement, maybe this was a happy place to be on normal days.

I had prepared myself for this event, expecting that it would be difficult to talk about Evelyn without shedding a tear. But I had not expected to feel this oppressive sad silence weighing down on me. I had expected more of a celebration of her life.

I shifted a little in the uncomfortable wooden pew. Mason squeezed my hand and I could see that he was just as uncomfortable. The church had been built in the 1930s and was clearly not built for men over six feet tall.

The memorial service went well. I was relieved that I did not have to speak in front of everyone. Mrs. Peterson had told me that it was better left to ‘those of us within the church’. I think she meant that as a slight, but I didn’t mind.

The church slowly emptied to the reception hall that was housed in the basement of the church. There were no windows present in the room, only florescent ceiling lights interspersed with the beige ceiling tiles.

Mrs. Peterson had arranged for a potluck, but instructed me not to bring anything. I politely sampled most of the dishes that the guests had brought and walked around the room, thanking people for coming.

The twins were well behaved during the reception and we made small talk with Evelyn’s friends who had attended. I knew it was time to leave when people started whispering and sending strange looks our way. It looked like the gossip about us had now been spread throughout the entire room.

I sighed and tugged on Mason’s sleeve. He gave me a questioning glance.

“Can we go?” I asked him quietly.

He gave my hand a squeeze. “Of course, is everything okay?”

I nodded. “I’m just done here.”

Mason gave Jason a signal and I walked over to Mrs. Peterson to say my goodbyes.

“Leaving already, dear?” Mrs. Peterson asked in her fake-nice voice.

I smiled at her. “The service was lovely, thank you for having it here. I’m sure Evelyn would have loved it.”

“Of course. When you are done living in sin, I hope you will consider joining the church here. We are a very forgiving crowd.”

I blinked at her in surprise.

“Lovely to meet you!” Jason said loudly. “But we have to get going.”

He tugged on my hand and I followed him out, not even bothering to respond to Mrs. Peterson.

“Mace went to get the car,” Jason told me as we waited by the entrance. I was relieved to be back in the bright sun and I could hear the waves of the ocean in the distance. The parking lot was close enough to the beach that they had to block it off during tourist season, otherwise it would be packed with the vehicles of day trippers.

“Mason already has the urn?” I asked nervously.

Jason smiled. “Of course, we aren’t about to leave Evelyn with a bunch of judgmental bitches.”

I laughed. I should probably feel upset that she had been so rude to me, but I really just felt free. I would never have to see anyone in that church ever again, so their opinions didn’t matter to me. Walking out of the church caused a huge weight of oppression to be lifted from my shoulders. They were probably a group of lovely people, otherwise Evelyn would not have spent so much time with them. I tried not to let Mrs. Peterson’s parting comment color my opinion of the whole group.

But I was happy that now I could go home and be with my pack. I wouldn’t get any judgment or condemnation from them. I know that I had only been with them for a short time, but I felt like they had embraced me into their family. Although, I had to admit that I was starting to feel more for them than just friendship.

It didn’t help that the six guys I lived with were insanely attractive. The more comfortable I became around them, the more my thoughts were starting to drift into inappropriate directions. I had thought there were a couple times when the guys were attracted to me as well, but I had been too nervous to push the issue.

Jason suddenly snapped to attention, breaking me out of my thoughts. “Mason needs us!” He told me urgently. “I need you to stay close to me and follow my directions exactly.” He said with a serious look in his eyes. “Playtime is over.”

I nodded in agreement, but my heart started to pound. Was Mason okay? Serious Jason only came out in emergencies.

Jason unbuttoned his suit jacket and I remembered the handgun he had flashed earlier. He strode off and I followed close behind him, nervous about what we were going to walk into.

Jason stalked through the parking lot confidently and I trotted after him. I quickly kicked off my shoes and bent to pick them up without losing pace with Jason. He didn’t even pause to smirk at me or make a quip about my shoes, so I knew the situation was dire.

The pavement was rough under my feet, but I was able to better keep pace with him without my shoes. Plus, I would be ready if we needed to run once we got Mason. I really hoped it would not come to that.

Jason motioned for me to stay close as we turned down a row of cars and caught sight of Mason.

He was standing next to the Jeep. The driver’s door was open, and it was all that stood between him and a group of three men. He flicked his eyes to us as we approached, and I could see a flash of relief across his face before he went back to looking threatening.

Two of the men turned to face Jason as we approached but the third never took his eyes off Mason.

“I was starting to wonder where you were.” The man who had addressed Jason was as large as Cody and had a dark beard. He smirked at us. “I don’t think I have ever seen the two of you apart before.”

His two friends snickered. I glared at Beardy. No one who messed with my twins was going to get away with it. I think I surprised Jason just as much as myself with the overwhelming protective urge that surged up inside of me and bubbled out in the form of a low warning growl. Beardy just looked amused when I let out my growl.

“This is the female everyone has been talking about?” Beardy trailed his gaze from my feet up to my chest. “I guess I can see what all the fuss is for, I wouldn’t kick her out of bed.”

This time Jason was the one to growl. “You will never get anywhere near her.”

Beardy threw back his head and laughed. “I’m going to enjoy taking her away from your pack when the council gives the order. We might even have to make a stop before I present her to them.” He winked at me.

I really wanted to punch this guy. Jason must have had the same thought because his hand twitched. “You’re lucky you are under the council’s protection.” Jason snarled at him.

Who were these guys? They must work for the council, but what were they doing here? If they were here for me I was sure Beardy would have taken pleasure in announcing it.

“Was there something that you wanted?” Mason asked coldly.

Beardy didn’t turn around to answer Mason, but instead addressed Jason. “Just in the neighborhood and thought we would see what the Seaside Pack wanted at a human’s funeral.”

Jason shrugged. “We’re leaving, does it matter?”

“Leaving with the human’s ashes.” Beardy stated pensively. He turned his gaze back to me, so Jason stepped in front of me to block his view.

“Sounds like we are done here.” Jason stated.

The tension was thick in the air as everyone faced off against each other. The threat of violence hovered around us and no one moved.

Jason and Beardy had their gazes locked, neither of them wanting to be the first to look away. I could see Jason’s hand slowly creeping up towards the holster under his jacket.

Crap! I needed to do something before things got out of control.

“Beardy!” I shouted.

His eyes flicked towards me and his staring match with Jason was broken.

“It’s John,” He told me irritably.

“Oh, okay.” I stuttered. I wracked my brain for something to say. I had just wanted to break the tension; I didn’t actually have anything to say.

“I kind of like Beardy.” Jason told him with a chuckle. “It has a nice ring to it.”

“It’s been fun chatting,” Mason added. “But it’s about time to go. Anna gets cranky if we don’t feed her lunch on time.”

Beardy gave me a mocking bow. “We wouldn’t want to keep the princess from her lunch.” He waved at his two henchmen and they sneered at me before following him to their SUV.

Mason and Jason watched them until their vehicle had disappeared around the corner.

“What was that about?” I asked, my voice sounding aggravated.

The guys glanced at me and then each other. “Let’s talk while we get out of here,” Mason suggested.

Jason motioned for me to go ahead of him into the Jeep and Mason started to drive before we even had our seatbelts buckled.

Jason was furiously texting while Mason drove. “Uh, guys. You promised talking?” I reminded them. Jason just grunted but Mason met my eyes in the rear-view mirror.

“Sorry, Anna. Those were the errand boys of the council.” He told me seriously.

“Technically, they’re enforcers,” Jason muttered.

Mason snickered. “I can’t wait to tell everyone that you called John, ‘Beardy’.”

I blushed. “Well, that’s what I was calling him in my head and I wanted to get his attention.” I told him defensively.

Jason laughed. “You had perfect timing; I’m not sure what would have happened if you hadn’t been there to break the tension.”

“Would any of that have happened if I wasn’t there?” I asked bitterly.

“Honestly, it very well might have.” Mason told me. “The council has had us under a microscope ever since Austin started accepting lone wolves and ‘rejects’ into his pack. I think when the council allowed Austin to start his own pack they expected him to recruit from the pool of extra males in the other packs. They had no idea that they were approving a pack of military miscreants and lone wolves.”

“Hmmm,” I said, trying to lighten the mood. “I can see why they would think the two of you are trouble.”

Jason looked up from his phone to give me a wry look.

“How did they know where we were? Did they follow us?” I asked nervously.

“Probably,” Mason murmured irately. “We should have been on the lookout for that. We fucked up and let down our guard.”

Jason gave me an apologetic look. “Sorry, Anna. I know it was important for you that things went smoothly today.”

I just shrugged. “You guys aren’t to blame, those asshats are.”

Both of the twins grinned at my description of the enforcers, but quickly went back to brooding. Austin was probably not going to be happy about this. He and James already worried about my safety when I was away from the house, but I wasn’t going to let them put a damper on my freedom. I still needed to be able to live my life.

I frowned to myself. Now I had to worry about being stalked by both mysterious kidnappers and council enforcers? I did not like the thought of the council targeting our pack. I thought because Austin’s father was on the council they would look favorably upon us?

I was going to have a talk with Austin when we got back.