Chapter 16

Harper’s POV

The former Luna disappears into the walk-in closet but returns almost immediately with a gorgeous dress draped across her arms.

“This dress has been passed down for four generations from mother to daughter in my family. I have no daughter to pass it to, so I would like you to wear it, Harper,” she says.

“Luna, I can’t—”

“Oh, nonsense. I’ve watched you grow up to be a beautiful young lady, and you can’t go to the mating ball without a dress to match your beauty,” she tells me, taking my hand and pulling me up.

Once I’m on my feet, she holds the silver dress up. It sparkles in the light, the shimmery fabric swishing and touching the floor.

“You should try it on to make sure it fits.”

“Are you sure?”

Nodding, the Luna nudges me toward the closet and tells me to change. Not wanting to hurt her feelings and, honestly, wanting to see how the gorgeous dress fits, I go into the closet. I change carefully so I don’t ruin the dress.

My reflection in the floor length mirror makes me gasp. The dress has an off the shoulder neckline and is fitted till about mid-thigh before it flares out in a beautiful, flowing motion. It’s not too puffy, and the small sparkles woven throughout the dress twinkle in the light.

“It’s a perfect fit.”

Gasping, I turn to find the Luna standing behind me. I hadn’t heard her enter.

“Come out into better light,” she instructs, leading me back into the room and then into the living room where large windows let in sunlight. Her hands rise up to cover her mouth, “Oh, Harper. You are stunning. If you pull your hair up and let your bangs frame your face, you’ll look like an angel.”

Heat floods my cheeks at her compliment.

“I’m so happy that the dress has finally found an owner after all this time. It’s perfect for you,” she tells me, hugging me gently. I’m a little embarrassed, too. It’s not too often that I get compliments because everyone always notices my faults first; that I was a mute half-wolf, and now, that I’m wolfless.

Having someone accept me without judgement lifts my heart and spirits. I wish more people were as kind and accepting as the Luna.

“Spin, I want to see how the bottom twirls.”

I laugh at her request, but I spin, watching the bottom flare out beautifully.

“Mother.”

I stumble, one foot catching on the other, and topple sideways. Before I can hit the floor, though, Lucas is at my side, catching me and keeping me from falling. I quickly steady myself as more heat floods my cheeks.

Actually, the embarrassment burns through my entire body.

“Th-thank you,” I whisper when he quickly jerks his hands back. He grunts noncommittally before his mother touches his arm and steals his attention.

“Don’t you think Harper looks gorgeous in this dress?” My eyes widen at her question, and I wish the ground would swallow me up. How embarrassing… but I peek at Lucas, holding my breath when he glances at me again.

I brace myself for his answer, but he merely grunts again, “I’m going to find father,” pats his mother’s hand, and walks away. I watch as he moves through the living room to the stairs at the other end of the room and disappears up them.

“Oh, that boy,” the Luna grumbles, shaking her head. “Don’t let him hurt your feelings, Harper. He’s always like that. Cold on the outside and hot on the inside, and he didn’t mean any harm.”

I smile, but it’s awkward and forced because I don’t quite believe it. After all, I’ve never seen the hot side of Lucas.

Lucas’s POV

Before I completely lose sight of the living room, I can’t stop myself from looking back at Harper. My mother was right, she looks amazing in that dress. It’s gorgeous on her, and I have to shake myself out of the thoughts.

She’s Sierra’s sister. My fiancé’s sister.

“Harper is different from other girls we know,” my wolf rumbles, poking into my head. “She doesn’t try to seduce us like them.”

“You’re right, but that doesn’t mean I should be thinking about her. We have a mate,” I growl, the frustrated feeling climbing within my chest. I rub at the aching feeling, hoping it’ll go away soon. It’s bothersome and distracting.

“Maybe we have the wrong mate,” my wolf says, stopping me in my tracks. “What if the Moon Goddess made a mistake by pairing us with Sierra? She is the opposite of what we need in a Luna, much less a mate.”

I don’t want to doubt the Goddess, since we’re taught from a young age that she is the mother of all werewolves. We are to love and worship her as our Goddess, not doubt her.

Mates are a gift, and it would be disrespectful to reject such a precious gift.

“She was also at the hotel that night,” he adds.

“She couldn’t be our mate. Sierra is our mate, and you know it,” I tell him. “Besides Harper said the room she went to was 301. Our room was 807.”

He growls in annoyance and retreats to the back of my mind as I enter my father’s office. He looks up from the paper he’s reading and smiles. However, his smile slips when he notices my mood.

I didn’t come here to get distracted by Harper. I have bigger problems to deal with.

“I believe there’s a mole in the pack,” I tell him, and he immediately stiffens. “There have been multiple instances where warriors and I have been attacked while on patrol.”

“When?” He asks, sets his paper aside, and motions for me to sit down.

“Over the last few weeks, and these patrols weren’t our usual areas or times,” I explain, “I purposefully changed schedules and routes, but rogues still found us.”

He hums and nods, “Who knew the routes?”

“Just me, Mason, the Gamma, and the warriors,” I answer. It’s been driving me out of my mind as I’m trying to figure out who is leaking information. The only thing I can think of is that the information comes from inside.

A mole.

“The rogue king’s subordinates somehow got ahold of someone in our pack, or they might have slipped a spy in,” my father says.

A spy.

“Like the new healer,” he mentions. “You should keep an eye on her.”

“I don’t believe it’s Harper,” I tell him. “She hasn’t been here long, and this has been happening for weeks.”

“You’re aware that her mother was a witch, are you not?” He questions. I nod. Everyone knows, thanks to Sierra’s big mouth. “She used witchcraft freely to heal, forge bonds, fake deaths, change face… she was powerful, so who’s to say her daughter isn’t as well?”

Forge bonds? Could people truly do that?

Would the bond be real if a witch forged it? The thought has my mind reeling. I didn’t realize a singular witch could do so much. I thought their powers were limited more than that.

“It’s hard to tell who Harper could have been working with during the year that she was away, and it’s hard to know if her healing talent could be a threat or danger,” my father adds, spinning my mind in another direction completely.

I watched her heal several of my warriors today, mostly using regular methods, but one of my men was bleeding out, and now he’s fine.

That doesn’t seem like something an enemy would do.

“Talk with your Beta and Gamma, and we’ll have another meeting to discuss plans more in depth,” my father says, standing. He grips my shoulder and squeezes, “Don’t get discouraged. We can fight through this.”

Nodding, I thank him and make my way out. There’s so much going on that I need to rally and make sure my guys are on the same page as me before we move forward.

“Lucas! Baby,” Sierra calls, wrapping her arms around me.

A warm force floods through our bond, igniting and sending a wave of love into me.

“Our mate,” my wolf growls. “I was wrong. Sierra is our true mate, and I love our mate.”