Candace
"Welco back, Luna Candace!" Bree rushed forward as I stepped out of the limo.
Everyone else was caught up in welcoming the Alphas and fawning over Deidre. My maid bead up at , her blue eyes bright with excitent.
I studied her warily, pulling Cookie against my chest. Why was she being so...nice? "It’s Lady Candace, Bree. I’m not Luna."
Yet, Star added smugly.
"Oh, but you will be soon," Bree replied, darting past to retrieve my luggage from the boot.
She was probably just being nice, I knew that, but she made my chest tighten uncomfortably.
Was she pretending? Was this so ruse to get under my skin and then drive a knife into my back?
She seems nice, Star quipped as Bree fell into step beside and we walked into the packhouse together.
"How was your trip? Did you go to the Eiffel Tower? When Tanya said you guys were going to Paris, I almost passed out. I heard it’s so beautiful!" She gushed, practically bouncing on her heels as she wheeled the luggage ahead of .
Nice or not, it could be deceptive. Everyone in the pack had turned against the minute my family was declared traitors — everyone except my anonymous helper.
"...Is it as high as they say? Oh, we’re here." Bree’s voice drifted back into focus.
She opened the doors to my quarters and imdiately set about unpacking my luggage. She kept chatting as she worked, while I sank onto the sofa in the living area, watching her quietly.
Cookie wriggled out of my arms and darted around the room, yipping excitedly on her little paws. Could Bree be my anonymous helper?
No, she was just a kind girl. Where would she have free access to dicine and food as a maid?
Maybe we can learn to trust her with ti?
Yeah, I thought. Ti.
Speaking of ti, we’d better get on with investigating that night, Star reminded.
That was true. I had to get my head back in the ga and clear my father’s na. That was the most important thing to now.
"Is there anything I can do for you, Luna? Do you want sothing to eat, or can I draw you a bath?"
I pressed my lips into a polite smile. "Thank you, Bree. I’d like to be alone, if that’s all right."
Her wide blue eyes dimd slightly, but she nodded, dropping into a curtsy. "Of course, my lady. Send for any ti."
I waited until the door clicked shut. Then I crossed to the closet and pulled out the bags Luna Ashley had given before the honeymoon.
I settled onto the plush carpet, Cookie trotting over at once to nose through everything alongside .
Inside one of the bags were books, a few photographs, and so of my mother’s things that Luna Ashley had kept. I found a note River had slipped to several days before he died.
I had already been working as a maid by then. My father was executed for betraying the pack, and my mother, Stephen, and I were stripped down to pack slaves.
But the Pendragon brothers still ca to see back then. They would appear at the small room where I stayed with Mom and Stephen — waiting for judgnt — in the evenings or far too early in the mornings when no one else was around, and for a while, it made things a little more bearable until when I woke up in River’s pool.
I didn’t know that the next ti I would see him, he would be lying in a pool of his own blood, with everyone pointing to as his killer.
I smoothed the note open, frowning as I read it for the first ti in three years. It was one of River’s riddles or at least, that was what I assud. He had always loved them. He had tornted all of us with his riddles since we were children.
"Count backward from the evening bell. X marks the spot from hell. If anything happens to , find the truth, Candy."
Did he know sothing about the setup my father had been caught in? Why was he so certain sothing would happen to him?
What did the riddle even an? X marks the spot — that had to be a location, didn’t it?
I pressed the heels of my palms against my eyes and breathed through the pressure building behind them. One week had already slipped by, and I was no closer to the truth of the night that had taken everything from .
Candy, calm down, Star soothed.
Cookie let out a low whine and ca over to nuzzle my legs.
"I have to know what happened. I have to clear my na and my family’s na. It’s just so freaking hard!"
We won’t find anything if you’re agitated, Candy. Maybe we should go for a swim? We’ll feel better.
I lifted my head. A swim sounded good. Everyone would be tied up with whatever, I could have the pool to myself and think about what to do next.
I reached down to give Cookie a gentle pat.
"Thanks, girl. Thanks, Star."
I’ve got you.
Rising to my feet, I browsed through the closet and found a sunset-pink bikini. I hadn’t worn one in three years.
It felt rather strange standing before the mirror in only a bikini. So of my scars were starting to fade.
I studied my face, and warmth rushed into my cheeks when my eyes landed on my lips. Ragnor had stared at my lips back at the hangar, hadn’t he?
I could have sworn he was going to kiss . My body ward at the thought. I hated that I would have wanted him to, too.
With a quiet huff, I grabbed a robe, slipped it on, and headed for the pool. My flip-flops scuffed against the floor as I walked.
Thankfully, there was no one around. I shrugged off the robe and dove in, laughing softly as the cool water closed over my body.
"Oh, it has been so long," I sighed, gliding forward. I had only taken a few strokes when my skin prickled.
Soone was near. My head pushed through the surface, and the scent of vanilla bourbon, dark amber, and smoke curled through the air.
Only one man carried that scent. I swept my hair back from my face and looked up into Reign’s hazel eyes. A cigarette hung between his lips.
He had on nothing but black swimming trunks, and they rode low around his hips, revealing the sharp V that disappeared beneath the waistband. My throat went dry. I dragged my gaze away from his trunks and up his muscular torso, over the tattoos trailing along his arm.
His hair was tousled, a single loose curl falling across his forehead.
He’s gorgeous for an asshole, Star purred in my chest, and I swallowed a snicker. I had to get out of here before he opened his mouth and ruined it.
"I didn’t know you wanted to use the pool. I’ll leave."
"Stay."
I tried not to look at him. The pool was large enough for two people to swim without acknowledging each other’s existence, but it was growing very difficult, considering Reign was moving through the water barely feet away from .
From the corner of my eye, I watched him cut through the pool, the muscles in his back shifting with each pull. He ca up for air and dragged a hand through his wet hair. Water stread down his neck, his chest, the ridges of his abs... Goddess, I needed to get out of here.
Just a few more minutes, Star yipped. We can stop after just a few more-
You are no help to at all, I told her.
The pool water seed saturated with his scent, his heat as though everything else had dissolved and he was the only thing left.
Every breath he drew when he dove under, the sound of his arms slicing through the water, the low grunts he made as he surfaced, all of it wound around like sothing I couldn’t shake.
When he straightened to his full height, the water lapped just above his tapered waist. I wet my lips, suddenly parched, my eyes tracing where that deep V led.
"I can take it off if you wanna see more," he drawled, lifting his arms to rake through his dripping curls. His biceps rolled with the motion.
Wonderful. He had caught staring. I ignored him, pretending he wasn’t speaking to , but when had Reign ever picked up on a social cue?
"Like what you see?"
He was not going to let this go.
I turned to face him then, color rising in my cheeks as his gaze dropped to my chest. The mory of his lips on my skin on our wedding night surfaced and then, just as quickly, the ugly mory of his cruelty, and what he and his brothers had done.
"Watching a stray dog lick his balls would have been more impressive," I snapped and moved to climb out of the pool.
The edge was too high, though, and I slipped. In an instant, Reign closed the distance and caught before my head could connect with the concrete.
"What the fuck?" he snarled. "You could have hurt yourself!"
"As if that’s any worse than what you three have already done to ." I pulled away from him when he spun around, my back hitting the wall behind — his hazel eyes blazing, a thick arm locking around my waist.
A gasp tore from my throat as my back t the concrete edge, and his body, hard and unyielding, pressed flush against mine. My eyes went wide as it registered exactly what was happening.
Reign groaned, squeezing his eyes shut for a breath. The thick swell of his cock pushed against his wet trunks, hot even through the water, and he bared his fangs as he leaned in.
"Let go," I gritted out, fighting to gather my senses. "What would your precious Didi say if she saw you like this pressed up against an like ?"
"You tell , sweet." His voice had dropped to sothing rough and frayed. His face dipped against my hair, and I heard him draw a long, slow inhale before his nose skimd down the side of my face and along my neck.
My back arched without my permission, pressing even closer against him.
No, no, no — what am I doing?
"Sll so fucking good. I’d wager you’re already wet, Little Dove," he breathed, his hot tongue flicking over my neck. His mark throbbed warmly, and for one unguarded second, the pleasure of it swept everything else away.
There it was again. Little Dove. He hadn’t called that to my face in three years — not until our wedding night — and now twice more in the sa week.
"Wet with disgust?" I scoffed, pressing my palm flat against his chest and pushing with every ounce of strength I had. "Yeah. You’re right."
His hand left the pool edge, and he traced his thumb across my lips, leaning closer still. His warm breath washed over my face.
"If you don’t let go, I’ll knee you in the—" I swallowed the remaining words when my eyes swung behind to et a familiar pair of cold green eyes.
Deidre.
An idea took shape in my mind, and my gaze slid back to Reign. Maybe it was ti for a little payback. I closed the distance between us and crashed my lips against his.
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