“I am Sloane Calder,” I repeated hesitantly, fighting the humorous laughter.
“I am the Luna of this pack.”
“I am the Luna of this pack.”
“I am one badass wolf who doesn’t take anyone’s bullshit.”
I laughed loudly. “Isla,” I whined.
“Say it!”
“I am one badass wolf who doesn’t take anyone’s bullshit.”
“Thank you.” She winked. “I am going to be the best Luna this pack has ever seen.”
“I am going to be the best Luna this pack has ever seen,” I said quietly but proudly.
“I don’t think your pack can hear you,” she teased.
“I am going to be the best Luna this pack has ever seen!” I said obnoxiously loud in spite.
She smiled at her achievement and shook my shoulders. “Your pack is going to love you,” she promised, hands still resting on my shoulders maternally. “They just need to get to know you.”
“I know,” I mocked, eyes twinkling.
“Let’s go bother Rush, I need to learn more about my new brother.” Her nose crinkled as she skittered out of the room, her thin legs making quick steps across the oak floors. I ran after her, her long hair whipping behind her.
Sentimentality hit me, and I stopped, watching her hair flip around the corner. I smiled at the memory of us in the woods before I met Rush.
“Are you coming?” she teased. I followed her and opened Rush’s office doors. He looked up from a map and took his reading glasses off. “I have questions.”
“I might have answers,” Rush chuckled, rolling the map up and tying a string around it.
“Do you have any older, attractive brothers?” She turned her head and blinked her eyes innocently.
“Unfortunately, I’m an only child,” he said, stepping away from his desk. Isla sighed. “I do have an unmated Beta, though.”
“No,” I shot quickly, looking at Rush’s devious smirk. “Beckett and Isla are not mates, no way.”
“Why not?”
“Because,” I answered Isla. “He’s rude and cranky, and he never laughs.”
“That’s because he needs Isla to break him out of his shell,” Rush snickered, raising his eyebrows suggestively at Isla. “Think about how much more enjoyable he would be.”
Isla torqued her shoulder flirtatiously and flipped a piece of hair over it. “I’m willing to bite the bullet to help you both.”
“No,” I said firmly, knowing they were joking, but the possibility of being related to Beckett made me uneasy.
“You’re no fun,” Isla jabbed. “Well, I do have other questions, and I need you to leave Rush and me alone in order to conduct my research.”
“I’m not leaving,” I whined, not wanting to be left out of the conversation.
“I’ll come find you soon,” Rush promised, pressing a kiss to the side of my head and pushing me gently towards the door. I reluctantly closed the door and stepped away from it, irked that my mate and sister were excluding me.
I wandered down to the kitchen and sat at the counter, lazily spooning bits of frozen yogurt in my mouth. Isla and Rush met me in the kitchen twenty minutes later, when the carton was almost empty.
Isla stepped forward, head high. “I approve of him,” she declared.
“I’m so happy,” I said sarcastically, dropping the spoon in the empty container. Rush squeezed Isla’s shoulders roughly, brotherly, to which Isla flinched away. She swatted his arm four times, pushing him towards me.
He wrapped his arm around my neck, his elbow clenching over my neck, pulling me towards his chest. I tried to push him away, but he held me firmly, kissing the top of my head.
“You’re choking me,” I informed him, tapping on his arm to alert him. He laughed loudly and pulled me until I was standing. “Can’t breathe.”
“Could you keep that in the bedroom?” Cordelia glared as she entered the kitchen behind Isla.
I remained quiet, turning slightly into Rush’s body to discourage myself from snapping at her. If I was going to be a good Luna, the first step was to be better than the previous one. I promised myself I wouldn’t take her meaningless jabs seriously; I would turn my cheek, be the bigger person.
“Judging by the distasteful joke and the condescending tone, you must be Cordelia,” Isla mused, looking at Rush’s mother criminally.
“And judging by the uncivilized attitude and less than presentable appearance, you must be Sloane’s sister,” Cordelia sneered. Isla growled, her doe eyes turning to slits. “Just as easily riled, too, I see.”
“Don’t talk about my sister,” I told her, stepping out of the comfort of Rush’s body. His arm twitched, resisting his instinct to protect me as his mother moved towards me.
“I can talk about whoever I want to talk about. This mongrel’s relation to you is of no importance to me. My opinion is the same as the pack’s; girls like you will never fit in here,” she said almost kindly like she was offering me advice.
“Call her a mongrel one more time,” I threatened, my spine itching to shift.
“Dear, there’s no reason to get angry about things you cannot change. There is a place for people like you, it’s just not here. People eat here.”
The words she said didn’t register in my head. There were times when our more primal side took over, and we reacted on emotion and instinct; we often called it our ‘wolves’ taking over, and mine was yearning for Cordelia’s blood on my dry tongue.
“Leave,” I ordered. My voice was more animal than human, and it amazed me that I was still standing on two feet.
“Gladly,” Cordelia spat, grabbing a magazine from the counter.
“No,” I snatched the book and threw it back on the counter. “Leave this house.”
“Who do you think you are?” she hissed, leaning towards me.
“As the rightful Luna of this pack, this house is now mine and your son’s. Your place here was circumstantial and privileged. I want you out of here by nightfall.”
Cordelia leaned back and looked at her son, disbelief, written across her aging skin.
“Rush,” she called, her voice softer.
“She’s right,” he admitted painfully. “This house is no
