Page 7 of Snow’s Charming (Hope Runs Deep #7)

“Only if you want it. I get this is all new to you. And—for the record—we would have had the time to get to know each other if you lived here in the packhouse, but because your father left, we didn’t get that chance.

Our bond would have been seamless by now.

But, Sesi, I’d like to get to know you now.

When you were promised to me, your mother was already sick and your father wanted to ensure your safety if anything happened to him before you turned 21.

It was the only part of the will we had a leg to stand on to take you back with that asshole lawyer your stepmother hired. ”

“How come I was in the dark about being a shifter?”

“You weren’t supposed to experience your first transformation until you were 21. My guess is that your father always thought he’d have time to tell you the truth.”

“But wouldn’t I have known about my wolf beforehand, at the very least? I mean, don’t they have a personality all their own?”

“If you were bitten, yes, that can happen. But you were born a shifter, so your wolf has always been in sync with you. That makes it harder for your human side to connect with it as a separate entity. Sometimes they talk to you telepathically, but usually not until after your first shift. And when they talk to you, it seems more like an intuition or inner voice than an actual person talking to you in your head. ”

“I see. That actually makes a lot of sense. So, Dad was the shifter?”

“Yes. But so was your mother.”

“But Jackie is human?”

“Jackie is mortal, yes. However, she’s also a witch.”

“Okay.”

I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding in. It was hard to wrap my head around all of this shifter stuff, so hearing about witches was beyond crazy, but I was determined to get past the crazy for some answers about Dad and Mom.

“So why did my father leave the pack? I assume it’s because of Jackie?”

“Sesi,” Sylus said as he placed his palms on my shoulders before continuing, “your father never left the pack. But he moved once he married Jackie, and that was to protect all of us.”

“So he knew she was evil—didn’t he?”

“From what the brigade can piece together, we believe Jackie put a spell on your father to make him marry her. But I’m still gathering intel on her. That’s why Jerry and Josie worked as your staff.”

“Okay. I think I can add some more pieces to this. As I got older, I saw the cracks in their relationship. However, because my father was a strict Catholic, he wouldn’t divorce her unless she cheated on him or abused me?”

“Yes.”

“Maybe I should have told him she hit me, then? I didn’t because he always seemed so happy to be with her. All of that happiness must have been the spell she had over him.” I said with a frown.

“I’m sorry you’ve gone through all of that.

But please know, that three days before your father passed, he realized what she’d done to him.

Any black magic done to someone loses its potency three days before one’s death.

Has to do with the moon cycle, as my father told me.

And that’s when he reached out to my father.

He wanted to make sure you wouldn’t be under the same roof as that bitch.

That’s why the pack was at the wake. I wanted to be there for you, Sesi.

I promise I did! But my father thought it best that you only saw the brigade.

Jackie doesn’t know about me, and it’s best she doesn’t.

It would have made things harder for you to come here willingly if Jackie met me.

Plus? My wolf wanted to rip her apart after I found out she raised a hand to you.

Sesi, I would have killed her if I were there.

And honestly, say the word and I will end her.

You understand that the only reason I wasn’t there was because my father forbade me.

I may be the new Alpha, but no matter what, my father has control over me until the coronation. ”

“A lot of this makes sense. Thanks for filling in the blanks.”

I wasn’t sure what else to say to him. I found it hard to pay attention to anything except his mouth because I wanted to taste his lips and tongue so damned bad! My inner goddess was screaming at me again.

But wait? Now that he explained things—was that my wolf screaming at me and not an inner diva?

I’d always heard that inner voice—even when I was too young to grasp the difference.

I just assumed that the voice was me, well, an older version of me, anyway.

A voice that guided me to do the right thing always.

I figured it was God or Jesus when I was really young.

Before I could philosophize about the topic more, his voice broke my thoughts.

“Here.” He said while he pressed a tee and sweatpants into my hands. “The master bath is just past the walk-in closet. I had one of the omegas take a trip to Bath and Beauty Works for you and grab a floral, fresh, fruity, sweet, and woodsy scent for you because I wasn’t sure what you’d like.”

My brows shot up over my forehead.

“Sylus—that’s an insane amount of money to spend on body care!”

His lips quirked up into a full smile.

“Nothing’s too good for my Luna. And, please, if you hate them, we can shop for a fragrance you’d prefer tomorrow. Because I mean it—we are going shopping tomorrow. I’ll let you get showered and dressed. After that, would you like something to eat? I can have the kitchen whip up something for us.”

“I don’t want to trouble anyone. It’s pretty late.” As soon as the words left my mouth, my stomach protested with a thunderous gurgle.

“Baby,” His voice was deliciously dark and husky as he palmed my cheek, “you are not a bother to anyone here. You’ll realize this is a loving family and as loving as your father was to you. They’d be happy to fix anything your little grumpy stomach desires.”

“How about grilled cheese, tomato soup, and some fries? Is that okay?”

Sylus let out a chuckle.

“That’s a perfect late-night snack. I’ll let them know and meet you back here in an hour—sound good?”

“I’ll be ready in 30 minutes. I don’t take long to get ready.”

Sylus’s eyes darkened.

“So this is all-natural beauty—huh? No makeup? I love it. But, baby, if you want makeup and haircare stuff like a blow dryer, curling iron, and flat iron, let’s get it all tomorrow too—okay? You are a queen and deserve to treat yourself as one.”

I gave him a small smile before I turned on my heel and headed for the bathroom. It was nice that he thought so highly of me, but I didn’t want anyone fussing over me. I didn’t need that. All I ever cared about was caring for others.

“And that’s what a Luna is!”

The voice was so clear in my head. I assumed it was my inner diva, but why was she saying that?

She was always telling me to save myself for the one whom I never thought I’d meet.

Yet, she’d been radio silent the minute I met Sylus.

Why? It made me question everything about me and Sylus.

My inner goddess was pulling stupid shit, for sure. I couldn’t figure any of it out .

The bathroom was bigger than the walk-in closet.

And when I turned to gaze at the shower, a gasp escaped my lips.

The shower could fit 10 people in it! I always lived comfortably.

The house I grew up in was a mini-mansion at over six thousand square feet, as far as I was concerned.

But this? This was the Beverly Hills California type of living!

I probably should have asked why there were more bathrooms than bedrooms, but I guessed the penthouse served a dual purpose.

To entertain the pack and to house the Alpha and Luna.

Alpha and Luna.

The thought seemed so surreal, yet just an hour ago, I shifted into a wolf. And no matter how much I thought I was dreaming up all of this, I wasn’t. I turned the knob on the shower to hot and 10 shower heads rained on my forearm.

Holy Shit!

All of this was overwhelming. But I was determined to wash the stink of Jackie’s signature off me.

For whatever reason, her stinky perfume seemed to permeate around me and I couldn’t take it any longer.

I placed Sylus’s sweats and tee next to the shower, stripped myself from the blanket, and hopped into the shower, letting the water bead on my skin.

I put my head under the water and heard two voices in the bedroom.

“I don’t care. You need to find out more for me.”

The voice sounded like Sylus’s, but who was he talking about ?

“It’s not adding up for me, Beta. Find out all you can and report back to me. I want to sort this out.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

I wasn’t sure what that was all about, but clearly, he was talking to someone in the pack.

I gazed at the shelf containing all the body wash instead.

Each of the five scents had matching body lotion and fine fragrance mist. All of them, except one, were classic scents.

Whichever Omega picked these out seemed to get me without even knowing me.

I picked up the classic ones first: Cherry Blossom, Freesia, Cucumber Melon, and Lavender Vanilla to inhale the deliciousness, but once I picked up the one called Moon and Stars, I fell in love with it.

When I finished showering, I toweled off and slipped into the tee and sweatpants.

I was thankful the sweats had a drawstring at the waist because they would have fallen off otherwise.

Sylus was fit, but he had a larger frame than my petite one.

A delicious combination of citrus and sandalwood assaulted my nose as I drew the tee over my head.

My belly heated for the owner of that scent once the tee contacted my skin.

How I could want him so badly plagued me.

I’d never felt this way about anyone ever before.

Sure, I was only 21 and hardly kissed enough frogs, but every fiber of me had me believing I’d found my prince.

Well, maybe a better word was king, I guess?

That term seemed to fit since he was the Alpha.

But all of this still seemed so unreal. I’d just finished dressing when I heard a knock on the bathroom door.

“I’m here. If you aren’t finished getting ready, I can come back.”

I instantly wrapped my hand around the doorknob. The need to be close to him overpowered me. It almost scared me. Almost. This pull shouldn’t be this strong, though. Right?

Before I could think further, my hand twisted at the knob and opened the door.

His scent assaulted my nose, and I found every part of me wanting to pull him close.

Before I could tell my limbs not to do so, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him to my chest. My chest sparked heat as it contacted his hard, chiseled planes.

MINE!

My inner goddess was louder than I’d ever heard her before. Her thoughts became mine and my lower body instinctually arched. My lips pressed to his neck, the one place I found his scent the greatest.

“You smell so goddess-damned good!”

Wait…Why was I saying, goddess? I’m a Catholic. I don’t believe in a goddess—or do I?

My heart started pounding in my chest. This guy made me think crazy.

I had to place a hand on his peck muscle to put distance between us.

This was getting weird again. My ears burned, and then everything seemed to darken and fade.

It felt as if I was in a dark tunnel. Sylus’s voice mumbled something inaudible.

I tried to open my mouth to ask him to repeat himself, but I couldn’t talk.

His arms wrapped around me, giving me warmth and comfort.

God, how I loved his touch. I shouldn’t, but damn it. I did!

“Baby? You need to breathe. Let’s do it together. In.” He said as he placed a protective hand on my cheek. “Out baby.”

His breath was so warm and calming against my forehead. My heart rate instantly tamed from just his words alone.

The haze lifted, allowing me to come back to my senses, and I finally opened my eyes. I didn’t even realize I screwed them shut. Nor did I realize until now that he was trying to help me come off of this sudden panic attack.

He kissed my forehead as his hands pressed into my shoulders.

“Baby, that’s it. In. Out.”

I didn’t understand any of this. Why was he so calming for me? Why? Just because I was his Luna? Sure, I’d read about fated mates and their bond in romance novels. But it didn’t mean we had that! It couldn’t. Right?

“Baby, please. In. Out.”

My heart was still pounding pretty hard and I’m sure he heard it with his werewolf’s ears—again romance novels and all. But I was no longer under the spell of my panic attack. My heart was racing for another reason.

“No!”

It was all I could muster .

He retracted only a foot away from me with palms outstretched in my direction, but I instantly hated the distance. I hated the instant cold overcoming my body, which was mourning his touch. I needed his skin on mine.

“NO!”

I instantly wrapped my arms around his torso and pressed his waist to mine.

“I need you close to me!”

He froze in place at first, and then he cupped my hips.

“Baby, I always will stand by your side. But your wolf is popping out for a visit and we need to control her together. Your wolf and you know that I’m your mate.

But since your wolf came out tonight, she’s feisty and wants to take over.

I’m the only one that can help you with calming her so you feel the comfort you need.

” His hands were on my shoulders now. “Tell your wolf that it’s okay. I’m here.”

“What?”

I understood nothing, but I loved having him in my arms.

“Keep your wolf at bay, baby. You can do it. You are a powerful Luna.”

With his words, the rage bubbling inside me ceased as I told that inner bitch to shut up.

Instantly, I felt as whole as I did when Dad was alive.

Was Sylus the secret to me being whole again?

I let out a breath to steady myself and my racing thoughts.

There was no way I was going to solve any of that right now.