Arise

The moment the Alpha of the Crescents stood up from his seat, all sounds silenced. The Luna also began to rise along with their eighteen-year-old daughter.

“This morning, we welcome the arrival of the Beta Logan Miller and his mate, Rosetta Bay.” Alpha Jackson Crescent acknowledged us with a smile. “I hope you enjoy your trip,” he raised his glass. “and we can build a stronger pack relation.”

Logan smiled. “Thank you for having us.”

As the Alpha and his family sat back down, breakfast was served.

The table was filled with his family and rank, including some of his most trusted members.

“Apologies for introducing you to my pack like this over breakfast.” Alpha Jackson Crescent was the same from what I remembered him as only I knew him as Mr. Cress. When I had worked front desk at my parents’ vet hospital, he would come all the time with a new puppy each month. His hair was still black, probably recently colored, while his eyes aged.

Logan smiled. “It’s no problem at all.”

“Our meeting will start in a couple hours, so I have asked Emily to show you your room after breakfast and then a tour.” He gestured to his daughter, who was currently staring intently at her phone. He frowned. “Emily.”

She abruptly looked up and quietly mumbled an apology before subtly looking back at her phone.

“It’s okay, she’s a teenager. My sister acts the same way.” I gave her soft smile to which she returned with a smile herself.

“It’s been awhile, hasn’t it, Rosetta?” Sylvia asked. While Mr. Cress would bring in new puppies, Mrs. Cress would be there to yell at him for finding more dogs, but she was there at every vet appointment.

“I had no idea you guys were werewolves, Mrs. Cress.”

Someone cut me off. “That’s Luna to you, now.”

My eyes moved to the person who spoke. He looked like he could be Sylvia’s younger brother.

“That’s alright, Stiles. She’s adjusting to her new life.” She laughed. “A small world, isn’t it?”

I kept my eyes on Stiles. “Minuscule.”

“This is my brother Beta Stiles.”

Instead of introducing himself, he ate. What was his problem?

Logan and Mr. Cress started up another conversation while I ate silently listening, but drifting.

We had no idea how this meeting would go. They were dealing with rogues and were skeptical to allow Logan to help. A lot of packs had heard about the pack who’s Beta betrayed them for rogues, but was welcomed back. His name wasn’t a trustworthy one, but we hoped that this would be one step closer to building back relations with those doubtful packs.

They had come to us for help and we were the only pack that had answered their call.

It was a statement.

After we ate, Emily begrudgingly led us to our room.

Her black hair was tied up in a high pony tail and the sounds of her heel clapping against the floorboard reverberated through the hallway.

“Here you are.” She stopped in front of a door and led us in.

“Thank you, Emily.”

As she left, she stopped and turned her head. “Forewarning: Uncle Silver isn’t your biggest fan,” she said looking at Logan. “I’ll come back to take you guys to Dad’s office in an hour. Good luck.”

I watched her leave then turned to Logan when he spoke. “They seem to be nice people. All except the Beta.”

My lips twitched. I dragged the suitcase to the bed and unzipped it. Pulling out my clothes, I gestured to the bathroom. “I’m going to shower. Do you mind calling Caleb?”

“Already on it,” he said as he brought the phone to his ear.

I turned the shower on and quickly undressed. I untied my unruly hair and let it fall past my shoulders.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror.

To say I looked bad was an understatement.

I had lost color everywhere.

I turned away from the mirror and stepped into the shower. Moving back, I let the hot water consume me and watched the steam rise.

Logan and I hadn’t talked since we arrived at my parents’ house. We had just left things as they were. It’s what we had always done.

Not waiting for the shower to get cold, I turned it off and hopped out. Drying myself was another feat without another towel to wrap my hair up. Every time I bent down, my hair would fall.

I needed another towel.

I wrapped the damp one I was using around myself and then opened the door, peeking my head out.

The towels were folded into a neat stack on top of the dresser.

“Logan?”

Logan was laying on the bed, staring at the ceiling fan but lifted his head when he heard me. He propped himself up on his elbows. His face held a blankness to it.

Something was wrong.

I pointed to the dresser, avoiding eye contact. “I need another towel.”

He looked over to the dresser before sliding off the bed and grabbing it.

I reached out to grab it but looked at him. “Is everything okay?”

He clenched his jaw and shook his head before walking to the suitcase and grabbing clothes from it. With a frown, I closed the door and poorly wrapped my hair in the towel, changing quickly. I walked out to see Logan sitting at the head of the bed, clothes held tightly in his grip and still staring at the ceiling.

I slowly approached him and sat in front of him tucking my legs under me. “We’re not doing this again, so tell me.”

He straightened his jaw before looking at me. He moved forward, reaching for a wet ringlet that had fallen from my wrapped-up hair. He pulled at it gently and watched the curl bounce back. I ignored what it did to me. “Beta Stiles stopped by. He thinks I’m a hypocrite for trying to help rid their pack from rogues.”

I scooted closer to him. His eyes darted to my legs then back to my eyes. He noticed. “What did you say,” I asked quietly.

“I said nothing. He walked away as soon as he threatened me.”

My eyes widened. “He what?” My hands were on his shoulders.

He stared at me before saying, “Caleb shouldn’t have sent me.”

I shook my head, causing my towel to unwrap and rest on my shoulders. My hand inched up to his neck. “Logan Miller you were born to be the Beta of the Moonrise Pack. Don’t you ever forget it.”

He looked at me for another moment before pulling off my towel. My heart started to speed up. His lips twitched up slightly. I was closer to him now. I wanted to see his dimple.

We stayed like that for a while.

“I can never tell what your feeling.”

“What?”

His hand moved up to rest on my neck, his thumb over my pulse. “I never marked you.”

Heat rose up my face. “Whose fault is that.” My voice was barely audible.

“I can only hear your heart and even then, I can’t tell.”

He could definitely hear my heart now. Hell, even I could hear it beat against my chest.

I gulped and moved away from him as his hand slid down my arm, leaving a trail of goosebumps. “You should probably go shower.”

His eyes flashed gold. “Yeah, I should,” he said before scooching off the bed and walked into the bathroom with the towel he had taken off me.

I fell flat on the bed.

I had a feeling this weekend would be defining. We were sharing a room for three days. I was still unsure of where things would go from here. Unsure of how I felt and of what would become of us. I still loved him that much was obvious. He was meant for me after all. But, we were complicated, and I couldn’t continue unless we became uncomplicated. If Jordan and Dylan worked things out, why couldn’t we? What was holding me back now?

My thoughts were interrupted by the bathroom door opening. I lifted my head and my eyes met directly with his abdomen.

I blinked before roaming my eyes slowly up to his face.

He had only a towel wrapped around his waist.

When my eyes met his, he shrugged. “Nothing you haven’t seen before.”

I narrowed my eyes before dropping my head back on the bed. He knew what he was doing to me. This was his opportunity to win my heart back using everything in his arsenal.

I couldn’t say I wasn’t enjoying it.