#1 The Rise of the Crescent Moon
Chapter 8

Josephine

Before I knew what I was doing, my hands were in his hair and his lips were moving against mine. This isn’t where I thought this conversation was heading, but I couldn’t stop myself from kissing him back. Goddess, I thought I would have lasted more than 48 hours before kissing him and revealing my true identity. I was nothing but a love sick puppy at this point.

I pulled away from him, gasping. I looked into his eyes and was met with darkness.

“What’s your name?” I whispered, knowing August was no longer in charge. A growl came out of his lips,

“Arlo.” he blinked and then August’s blue eyes were back.

“Your Alpha Johnthan’s daughter.” He whispered. I nodded, biting my lip.

“Please don’t.” August begged, rubbing his thumb across my bottom lip,

“That’s mine to bite.” He purred. I pushed on August’s shoulder and he moved back. I wiggled out from under him and slid to the end of the couch. I motioned for him to join me. I could sense that his walls were crashing down. The control he had mustered up around me was failing the more time we spent together and the more he realized how much I already knew.

“When my parents were killed, my brother took me in.” I explained. August looked at me in shock, more shock than I expected. Something dawned on me.

“What did the pack think happened to me?” I asked hesitantly.

“We were told the entire Alpha bloodline was gone.” August said quietly. I felt my eyes widen as I stared past August, burning a hole in the wall behind him. August brought my attention back to him,

“I’m beyond happy that’s not true.” He said. I couldn’t focus on our mate bond right now. I had questions about the pack, questions I didn’t think I would get answers to so soon.

“Is Benji….” I started, but the words caught in my throat. I hadn’t even put two and two together before now. I stood up from the couch and paced the living room.

“Love, what’s wrong?” August’s voice was laced with concern.

“Your Benji’s son.” I said, not a question. His last name was, in fact, Hayes. August nodded. He was gripping the couch like his life depended on it. He was holding himself back, trying to stay calm, trying not to crowd me. I silently loved him for that.

“Benji would have become the Alpha.” I was thinking aloud. Again, August only nods. I stop pacing and lock eyes with him,

“You’re the Alpha now.” August stood then and grabbed my hands.

“I am.” Oh for the love of the Goddess...I melted under his gaze.

“Your brother, he’s still alive.” August’s voice was cautious. It took me a minute to figure out why.

“He is, and living in North Carolina with his human mate, April. He has no idea that I’m here, he’s going to kill me when he finds out.” Poor choice of words. August growled, his arm protectively wrapping around my waist.

“Jared left the pack before my parents died,” I began to explain,

“He gave up his title, he didn’t want it. His mate was terrified of the pack, she was going to reject him. So, he left and followed her to North Carolina. He has no claim to your title.” August relaxed around me. I imagine the thought of having to duel with your mate’s brother and only living relative wasn’t exactly pleasant.

“What about the business?” He asked quietly.

“The last thing Jared ever wanted to do was take over that business.” I smirked, tracing his cheek with the tip of my finger; he purred in appreciation. Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ FindNʘᴠᴇl.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“You’re human.” He mumbled, nuzzling his nose in my neck. I nodded against his touch,

“Yes.” I was barely audible. His breath tickled the soft spoke next to my collar bone and I shivered.

“My precious fragile human.” August whispered. I shoved at his chest, pushing him away. He stumbled backwards, tripping over the rug and landing on the couch. He looked up at me, shocked at my strength. I crossed my arms over my chest,

“I’m the daughter of an Alpha, his blood runs through my veins. I trained with wolves since I was 6 years old. I am not fragile.” August chuckled, holding up his hands in surrender,

“Of course, baby.” He adjusted himself on the couch. August looked at me funny,

“You trained with the pack?” He asked. I sat down next to him,

“Yeah, after I nearly drove my father nuts begging to train like Jared.” I laughed.

“Huh.” Was all he said.

“Actually, Benji trained me for the most part with his…..” I paused, my eyes pulling together as realization dawned on me,

“With his sons, Mason, Logan, and Wyatt.” I looked at August in confusion.

“My brothers.” August replied.

“But, not you.” I said

“My father sent me to the Warrior pack to train when I turned 8.” The Warrior pack were the most elite werewolves from across the country. Alpha’s send their sons and future replacements there to train or to whip their delinquent wolves into shape. Their packhouse was in Maine so they often made their way down here for our festivals. I hardly ever attended those events, but when I did, I avoided the Warriors. They were all huge and rude.

I was surprised that August would have been sent there. Benji didn’t know he was going to be an Alpha at the time and, if I remember correctly, Mason is older than August and would have been next in line to take over Benji’s title.

“He said I needed to be trained harder than any other wolf before me. I had to be stronger, faster than my enemies. I had to be a warrior if I wanted to be able to protect what was mine. I had no idea why only me and not my brothers or what he meant by it all,” August caught my gaze and I locked on to his eyes,

“I can guess why now.” His voice turned husky but I was too busy working out the truth on my own.

“You were 8 when he sent you away.” I clarified. August sighed and nodded.

“That was the same year my father finally agreed to let me come to the pack house and train. I had begged him for years to let me come, always throwing a tantrum when he left me behind. I wanted to train with my brother, I wanted to be strong like my father. My mother was comfortable hiding in the cabin, but I wasn’t,” I grumbled,

“One morning he told me I could come along, that I could train with Benji and his sons and some of the other omega pups. But, he told me that I had to be better than everyone else. He said that if I wanted to train like a werewolf I had to be better than them. When they were stronger, I had to be faster, when they were faster, I had to be smarter. He signed me up for human gymnastics to ensure that I could use my agility against a wolf. He said that I couldn’t afford to be weak if I wanted to keep what was mine.” August’s words echoed back at him from my mouth.

“They knew we were mated. Your father wanted to make sure you could stand on your own and they wanted to make sure that I was capable of protecting you in our world.” August reached for my hand but I pulled away and stood up,

“But, I don’t understand.” I started pacing again. August groaned and stood up, watching me.

“Don’t understand what, love?” He cooed.

“I never saw you, not once. Are you telling me that you never came home to visit before my parents were killed?” I asked.

“No, I came home all the time.” He tried to come near me but I avoided him, I needed space to think clearly.

“Then why did I never see you? Why did my father confine me to the cabin near the holidays and festivals, occasions I’m sure that you were home for? Why did they keep us apart?” I was practically yelling now, throwing my hands around as I talked. I felt a wave of calm wash over me and realized it was August trying to settle me.

“I don’t know, baby. Maybe there wasn’t a reason, maybe they were just trying to prepare us. I’m sure it would have been different once I turned 18.” August tried to soothe me, running his hands down my arms as they laid folded against my chest. But, August couldn’t calm me, because I knew something else, something that was going to break his heart.

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