My eyes were wide as I stared at Tobias’ back, “DAMNIT!!!” He growled. That seemed to shake my uncle from his own shock, “What the hell was that!?!” Tobias didn’t answer right way, “He fucking mindlinked!” He still didn’t answer my uncle, “Lynelle have the warriors who stayed behind to comb the area. There was still someone close enough for him to mindlink.” I could hear her leave. He finally looked at my uncle, “He was from Raging Tide.” My uncle paled and then looked at me before he rubbed his brow and raked his hand through his hair, “Fuck!” I looked at him worried as Tobias finally turned around to face me. Then I put it together. He was the enemy and that’s why he had Lynelle kill him, “Alpha, I’m so sorry. I had no idea we had captured the enemy. If I’d known, I would have-” Tobias held his hand up and shook his head, “No Anthony, you meant well. What’s done is done. At least we know and can prepare.” Okay, maybe I was wrong, “Prepare?” Tobias grabbed me and pulled me into a hug. 

Every part of me that made contact with him lit up with excitement. He pressed his face into my hair and took a deep breath, “A-Alpha?” I started to push against his chest so I could pull back to look up at him. He let me and then Cain’s voice came from behind me, “You can’t let him have all the fun.” I turned around to face Cain and the playful smile that had been there faded quickly. His eyes locked on my hands. He was in front of me in the blink of an eye, “What happened?” He sniffed the air around me and sighed in relief, “It's not your blood. You had me worried there for a second.” I heard Tobias take in a sharp breath behind me, “There’s no time to be relieved though.” He gestured to the gurney with the dead lycan or rather werewolf now that I know he was from Raging Tide, “He found out that Lily was my Luna and mindlinked someone before Lynelle killed him.” Something flashed in Cain’s eyes and I suddenly felt sick. I finally realized what Tobias and my uncle had been so upset about. It wasn’t a loss of information at the death of the Raging Tide werewolf but the fact that he knew who I was and told someone.  

If they were still talking I heard none of it and eventually my hands shot out to both of them, grabbing them by the arms, “Wait! What does that mean?” Cain was who answered me, “That means that if that information finds its way back to that bastard of an Alpha at Raging Tide then he might target you. We don’t know for sure but we think the reason my first mate was killed was because he was specifically targeting her.” Fear was bubbling up inside me. Over the course of less than a week I had gone from just a visiting human to a possible assassination target!?! I couldn’t breathe. So much had happened in barely two days. I was getting dizzy. I tried gasping for air and the last thing I saw as my vision blurred and started to go dark and the worried faces of the men who were supposed to be my mates.

Hands grabbing me. So many hands. Harsh voices. Darkness. Silence. Cold. Everything was so close and quiet. Then a dim, pale blue glow, a sweet voice, too beautiful and delicate to be real, more like whimsical music, “Lily, my sweet, delicate little Luna. You have found them. They need you. I’m so sorry to overwhelm you like this but I promise you great happiness for your sacrifice. I have a gift for you but you’re not quite ready yet.” The pale blue glow faded and it was dark again and the cold only faded when a tingling warmth danced up my arms. Sweeping gently up and down them. 

My body relaxed and I hummed in response to the welcomed warmth. It slowly spread and filled my core. Cain’s beautiful and perfect face appeared before me, a sweet and warm smile graced his cool chiseled features. Then Tobias appeared next to him. Side by side they both looked like gods before me, Cain pale and beautiful as the moon and Tobias sultry as the tropics. They both moved forward and wrapped their arms around me. Cain kissed my lips while Tobias kissed and sucked upon my neck and collarbone. A gasp slipped from me between Cain’s lips. Their hands moved about me exploring every curve they could find. I broke the kiss with Cain and gasped again. He moved to the other side of my neck and I moaned as they both touched and kissed my body.

“Lily?...please Lily.” Why did Cain sound so far away? “Lily…Lily, wake up.” I grimaced, “I don’t know what you’re dreaming about but you need to wake up before I lose control of myself.” What? What is Tobais talking about? Dreaming? I opened my eyes and found myself laying in a massive cozy bed in an unfamiliar room. Tobias to the left of me standing about four feet away from the bed, his body tense. To my right in the furthest possible corner of the room stood Cain, his body tense and his back pressed against the wall. Then the realization struck me that not only were they NOT touching me but I was also not somewhere I knew. 

I shot upright, “Where am I?” Tobias jumped back at my movement but answered, “We assigned you this room in our wing of the villa.” God this room felt hot. I started to fan myself, “Why do you have it so hot in here?” Cain shook his head, “No, it's not hot in here. Its-” a knock at the door had all our eyes move to the door. The door then slowly opened and Abby poked her face into the room. She gasped excitedly, “Lily! You’re awake!” She pushed her way into the room and Tobias and Cain both made for the door, “You two take some time and chat okay?” Tobias called over his shoulder before closing the door. Abby watched them before she turned her attention back to me and made a funny face, “They both seemed tense.” I nodded. They did seem pretty tense.     

Abby pulled up a chair and sat next to the bed, “How are you feeling?” I shrugged, “I feel fine but it’s hot in here.” She made a confused face, “Really? It feels fine to me, even a little cool. That’s something I like about visiting here in the summer. It's like the stone walls keep it cool inside.” She was right, “Maybe it’s just me then. I must still be a little more off than I realize.” Abby pointed to the nearby window, “I can open the window for you? The sun has almost set so it's starting to cool off outside.” My eyes went wide, “I’ve been out the whole afternoon!?!” Abby froze then shook her head, “No…you’ve been out for a day and a half.” My jaw fell slack. I couldn’t believe it.

I looked down at my hands in my lap while Abby went over and struggled with the latch on the window, “These stained glass windows are pretty and all but they sure are heavy and hard to open.” I giggled a little as I heard her grunting. The window finally conceded to her efforts and let out a small groan as its old hinges slowly swung open. I could hear crickets chirping outside and the sweet scent of the summer evening filled the room. I took a deep breath in as Abby sat back down, “Uncle Anthony said it was because you had gone through too much stress in such a short amount of time. Though no one told me why you passed out in the first place. I thought you had a strong stomach and could handle blood.” She teased. 

I didn’t laugh with her though as I remembered what had triggered my collapse. I shook my head, “No…” I chewed the corner of my lower lip, “It wasn’t the blood.” I fidgeted with my hands in my lap for a moment, “I guess…technically it was one of the patients.” I let the memory fill my mind, “Aunt Lynelle had finally caught a living member of Raging Tide and because of me and Uncle Anthony she had to kill him.” I didn’t look at Abby as she gasped, “What? Why?” I kept my eyes on my hands, “He heard Uncle Anthony call me Luna and he mindlinked someone from his pack.” I finally looked at her and met her confused expression, “Luna is what they call the mate of the Alpha.” She nodded but I could tell she only sort of understood, “Essentially, it means that I am of significance to the pack and because of that, I might have a target on me. Tobias and Cain think that Raging Tide had been targeting his first mate too. I collapsed before I could ask them why they thought that…but thinking back on things I think I know why.” That hollow feeling filled my stomach. I was scared, “Remember when Aunt Lynelle told us about Beta Cain and her concerns about him?” Abby nodded, “I think they targeted his mate because of the negative effect the loss would have on him. Therefore weakening the strength that supports Alpha Tobias, especially since he himself didn’t have a mate.” She nodded again as her brows pinched together in worry, “So what does that mean for you?” I shook my head, “I don’t know. I collapsed after I figured that much out and when I woke up both the Alpha and Beta seemed almost afraid of me. No one has talked about anything with me since, you’re the first person to see me besides them since I woke up.” We were both quiet for a bit.

I shrugged, “Honestly….it sounds like I am more of a liability than anything for this pack.” My eyes fell back to my hands and something twisted in my stomach at my next thought, “Maybe I should leave now. Get away from here.” I looked at Abby again, “Then I won’t be a risk to anyone here and I’ll be far enough away back home-” Abby started shaking her head, “I don’t think that will happen. The one thing that I do know about everything that has happened is everyone thinks that you, the Alpha, and the Beta all need to have your mate ceremony as soon as possible.” My eyes went wide, “What!?! Why!?! And why didn’t they wait to discuss this when I was awake?” She shrugged, “I don’t know. I am still treated as we’ve both been treated up to this point, getting the basics and no full details.” Now I was irritated, “Alright, fine!” I pulled back the blankets and crawled to the edge of the bed. When my bare feet touched the cool stone floor, an edge of relief washed over me. I had almost forgotten how hot I was feeling because of the conversation. I took a deep breath, “Let’s go have this conversation they all seem to think I don’t need to be a part of.” I then headed for the door not caring that I was in my pajamas, and how I got into them was a concern for later. I had a mission.