Filed To Story: In the Shadow of the Past Luna (Lily & James)
“And?”
“I am still trying to find the right one.”
I laughed as I gave him a quick kiss and grabbed my purse.
As we walked out, I took a final look around. I really had loved Ravenswood, and it felt bittersweet saying good-bye to this chapter of my life. But it was time.
(Brady POV)
To my surprise, after I asked Charlotte to go back to my pack with me, she did not say anything. Instead, she wrapped herself in a sheet, grabbed her phone, and raced to the bathroom.
At first, I was fairly certain that she was calling someone to have me committed. Which, to be honest, may
I have been a very reasonable reaction.
However, instead of calling someone to have me committed, she called a friend for advice. And that gave Kalen and I both some hope.
Now, I admit that I should probably feel guilty for listening to her conversation. Or rather, for listening to Charlotte’s end of the conversation. But outside of leaving the hotel room which I was not willing to do there really was not a good way for me to avoid hearing it.
Whispers and running water might be enough to shield a phone conversation from most wolves, but I am both a special wolf and an alpha. Although I could not hear what Charlotte’s friend was saying, I could definitely hear most of what Charlotte said. And I could do so without even trying.
I should also confess that hearing Charlotte’s conversation did something for my ego. Specifically, when
Charlotte told her friend that I was hot and that the sex had been amazing, it immediately filled me with pride. In fact, I half-wondered if my other one-night stands in the past had said similar things about me to their friends.
“No, you arrogant jerk,”
Kalen chided me.
He was about to say something else -which I am sure would have been a few horribly offensive comments about my typical sexual skills- but thankfully he was cut off when Charlotte said that she wanted to come with us.
Now it was his turn to gloat.
Unfortunately, that gloating was short lived. We next heard Charlotte say something about not wanting to interfere with her friend’s honeymoon period, and we realized that her friend must be trying to talk her out of saying yes.
That is when I knocked on the door; I needed to keep Charlotte focused on her own gut reaction to the situation and not her friend’s.
I know it was lame. But at that point, I had become just as invested in the idea of bringing Charlotte home with us as Kalen. I did not know if it was male ego, fear of rejection, my own gut instincts, or my own very her on that plane.
Thankfully, a couple of minutes later, Charlotte came out of the bathroom with a smile. She quickly confirmed that she would be willing to come.
Forty-five minutes later -after a very fast stop by Charlotte’s parents’ house to pack a bag and leave a note we arrived at the airport.
As we pulled up, Charlotte pointed out a “really adorable couple”
that was kissing while waiting in line at the outside security checkpoint. After they took a break from kissing, the male must have said something funny to the female, because even from a distance you could see the female laugh. They then continued to stand face to face, wrapped in each other’s arms as they gave each other loving looks.
Sad to say, but what Charlotte considered “really adorable”
came across to me as two people who desperately needed a room. The public display of attention seemed unnecessary. Of course, that could have partly been my own broken heart talking. Having met Charlotte, my heart hurt a lot less than it did the day before, but I was not 100% yet.
In any event, the taxi finally pulled over and I helped the driver pull Charlotte’s and my bags out of the trunk. As I did so, I heard Charlotte squeal and run over to the couple that we had seen making out. I looked up to see that the couple had finally broken apart, allowing their faces to be seen.
And that is when I realized who the “adorable couple”
was.
Seriously? Did the Moon Goddess hate me?
The “adorable couple”
that had been making out was James and Lily. And apparently Charlotte already knew them.
(Lily POV)
I could hardly believe it when I heard Charlotte squeal and saw her running up to me at the airport.
“Lily!”
she exclaimed happily. “What are you doing here?”
“I told you that James and I are heading out today. I take it that you and your mystery wolf are flying out too, as opposed to driving?”
Charlotte smiled. “Yes. And now instead of texting you his name, I can introduce you to him.”
Charlotte pointed to a taxi around 500 feet away, which is where a tall red-headed wolf was standing.
Brady.
James started laughing next to me. I glared at him.
“What? You have to admit, this is just priceless.”
Charlotte looked at James and I in confusion. “What is going on? Do you… do you know Brady?”
I pinched the top of my nose. “Yes. Alpha Brady of the Black Moon Pack.”
“He’s an alpha?”
Oh my Goddess.
“Yes, Charlotte.”
“Oh.”
Brady slowly and hesitantly came walking over. As James and I greeted him with all the timid awkwardness that you might expect after our fight yesterday- Charlotte studied all of our faces. I could almost literally start to see puzzle pieces putting themselves together in her head.
“Wait… Brady, is… is Lily the she-wolf that you fell for? The one who you came to Ravenswood to save from her mate?”
James let out a low growl, but I put my hand on his arm to calm him down.
Brady’s face fell. “Yes.”
“So I just had a one-night stand with a wolf who is in love with my friend?!?!? And who came here to break up my friend and her mate?!?12
“Yes.”
Brady looked ashamed, and I could tell that Charlotte was starting to get hysterical. I quickly grabbed her and pulled her to the side, leaving Brady and James to hopefully not kill each other.
“Charlotte, take a deep breath,”
I urged her.
“Did you… did you…. did you and Brady ever…”
“No, I never slept with Brady. I kissed him, but that is it. And he did not love me, Charlotte. He thought he did, but he didn’t.”
“You and James are perfect together. Why would he want to break the two of you up? And why would he fly all the way here to do it?”
I took a deep breath. “It is complicated, Charlotte. I have not told you the whole story.”
“I was going to go with him, Lily. Back to his pack. How can I do that now?”
“Brady is a good guy, Charlotte. Now that I know that he is the one that you met, I actually feel a little bit better about you going with him. He is not someone who jumps into relationships easily. Not since…”
“Evelyn. Yeah, he told me about her too.”
“Oh, see? That is good! And you said that he said Kalen wants you go with him?”
“Kalen?”
Goddess, the things they talked about versus the things that they did not talk about.
“Kalen is his wolf.”
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?