From Here to Ecstasy

Recap

My grandmother took me by the hand and whispered to me. “You will find your mate at the castle. But, make sure he’s your true mate. There are good and bad at the courts who wouldn’t mind being your mate. Your wolf will let you know who he is. Listen to her carefully. She will never steer you wrong. She may be sarcastic and uppity, but she’s a great wolf and Beta. You and Sonny need to leave in two days, so take the time to comfort your parents, brother’s and sisters, okay?”

Windy’s POV

I nodded my head. “I will watch for my true mate. Thank you, grandma. You know mom and my dads are going to be sad, but they can visit any time they want to. I guess I will have to remind them they can teleport to see us.” I sighed and grinned at my grandmother. “But, this is going to be one hell of an adventure, one I can’t wait to see where it leads.”

“Just watch your brother and your back. Court is a dangerous place. Make sure you are spelled tightly and make sure your room is spelled against anyone but your family’s teleportation.”

I nodded my head and looked at my mother. She had tears in her eyes but she was trying hard not to let them fall. I walked over to her, a sad smile on my face. I was going to miss my family so much. I knew it was going to be hard on all of us. My brothers teleported to my mom, hugging her tightly. I stopped in front of her and pulled her into a hug.

“My baby’s leaving me!” She cried loudly. “I don’t know how I’m going to handle you and Sonny being away from me. I’ll try not to embarrass you, especially when I come to see you at the castle. I’ll make sure not to treat you as a little girl too,” my mom cried into my shoulder, soaking my shirt with her tears.

“It’s okay, Mom, I’ll have her back. It’s nice to meet you, Honor Athena. I’ll take care of your pup and call if anything happens,” my wolf said with awe in her voice.

“You better take care of my pup. I don’t want anything happening to her. I’ll be checking on her from time to time, okay? I’m sure we will be seeing you soon,” Honor Athena commented.

My wolf quit talking and listened to the footsteps coming down the hall. For some reason, I was on high alert. I didn’t know what was going on, so I went invisible and teleported behind the man. I reached out and grabbed him in a headlock.

“Damn, Winter, let go of my head!” The man yelled. I didn’t know how he knew my name and I didn’t care to know how he knew. He was in our packhouse and he needed to be taught a lesson.

“Uh, Winter, let go of your brother,” my mom told me, her eyes wide as she watched me.

Wait, what?

This man had to have used a spell to look like one of my brothers. He wasn’t getting out of my hold, not when he was fooling everyone. I growled low. “Who are you? Why is my mom seeing you as one of my brothers? What spell did you use?” I questioned the man.

“Winter, it’s your brother Sonny. He’s gone through the same transformation that you have. You didn’t use your nose to find out who he was,” my grandmother, the Moon Goddess, told me.

Did she say, my brother?

My mom, dads, and siblings started laughing, while the idiot, me, still held him. I took a breath in and he was indeed my brother. I let go of him quickly and stepped back from him. “Sorry, Sonny. I didn’t recognize you.”

Sonny turned and looked at me. “Shit! I didn’t know you went through the same pain that I did. Are you okay?”

I nodded my head and walked into the office and sat down, hiding my face by pulling my legs up and covering most of my face. I was embarrassed. I thought about it for a few seconds and realized I was the only one who even knew someone was coming up the steps and I shouldn’t be embarrassed by making sure my family was safe.

“I noticed no one else heard Sonny coming up the steps. You only heard him when he yelled out. So, technically I did do something right, something none of you did. So, what does that say about your skills?” I spat out the words in my mind.

“You go, girl!” My wolf yelled as she pranced around in the back of my mind. I mentally rolled my eyes at her.

“You’re right, Windy. I guess that’s why you’re the Royal Beta. I never heard him coming, nor did I feel anything off. But, I had already had a talk with Sonny and was there when he went through the transformation. I still should have sensed him or heard his footsteps. You’re going to be a great Royal Beta,” my mom confessed as she squeezed me in a tight hug.

“Can’t...Breath,” I panted out as she let go of me quickly, almost causing me to fall on my face.

I watched the amusement in my mom’s eyes. I shook my head at her and rolled my eyes at her, causing both of us to burst into laughter. I noticed everyone looking at us as if we were somehow struck dumb. They should know my mother and I had a wicked sense of humor, but I guess they didn’t think I would be so carefree with her. I just grew up a few years, okay fourteen-years, my growing didn’t change my humor, personality, jokes, or heart. Whoever thought I was changed completely would find out quicker than they could blink that I was the same. I’m the same me, sarcastic, witty, smart, and lovable. I guess it would take time for them to see me as a kid in an adult body. But, I also knew I would not show that side of me except my family and my mate.

“Earth to, Windy,” Sonny said as he snapped his fingers in front of my face.

“Huh? What?” I asked, looking at everyone in confusion.

My dad, Blaine, whispered loudly, “She takes after you. She goes into her mind exactly like you, mate.”

“What did I miss?”

“Only new instructions of when we leave, what to expect, and what needs to be done,” Star, my wolf, sarcastically said.

“Aren’t you a ray of sunshine,” I sarcastically quipped back as I rolled my eyes.

“Ahem,” my grandmother cleared her throat to get my attention. “You can play with your wolf later.”

I looked at her in horror as everyone else laughed. “Grandma!”

“Did I say something wrong?” She asked, looking around at everyone in my parent's office.

“How-how is she supposed to play with her wolf? It would be like…” Sonny trailed off with a scream.

I looked around and saw where everyone was looking. I looked down and saw my wolf had separated from me again. I sighed and pinched my nose. “Star, it isn’t nice to scare my family.”

“Well, they wanted to know how you were going to play with me,” she answered drolly into everyone’s mind.

“Okay, then. Would you come back to me?” I sighed again. She did have a point. Everyone did want to know how we were going to play with each other. But, I would have preferred telling everyone first before I showed them. She probably scared the new King.

New King?

“Hey, what happened to the old King?” I asked as I looked at my grandmother with narrowed eyes.