The Royal Legacy 1: The Rise of the Crescent Moon

JOSEPHINE

I pulled down the gravel driveway and looked up at the log cabin that once held my family. It had large windows in the front and a huge wrap-around porch with a second-story deck poking out the back.

The yard and gardens were manicured. It looked like someone had been maintaining the grounds. That made sense. Crescent Moon Pack would care for the home of their fallen former alpha the same way that humans might leave flowers on a grave site.

I turned off the car, pulled the house key out of my bag, and ran my thumb across it. The last time I’d had this key in my hand was a dozen years ago. I sighed, mustered up all my courage, and climbed the front steps.

I unlocked the door and pushed it open, sucking in a deep breath as I walked inside. Just like the outside, the inside was clean and organized. Not a speck of dust or dirt in sight.

The smell hit me like a brick wall. It smelled just like it had twelve years ago—like my family, like my parents.

I walked through the living room and lay down on the couch, wrapping myself in their scent and the memories. I quickly fell asleep.

***

I woke to the sound of howling outside. I sat straight up on the couch and looked toward the window. It was dark. How is that possible? It was barely afternoon when I lay down.

I jumped as a loud bang echoed off the front door. Then I glared at the door, my hands balled into fists at my side. No one was supposed to come out here; no one lived around here.

Then, I remembered how clean everything was, and my guess as to why that was. Maybe Crescent Moon visited here more than I’d expected. Or…maybe there was a bigger reason why my father never wanted me to come back to this house, this town.

Maybe whoever had killed my parents was back now to finish the job.

I took a hesitant step toward the door and prepared myself for a fight.

AUGUST

After my too-brief encounter with Josie in the afternoon, I spent the rest of the day sulking in my office. I had no idea what I was going to do about my mate.

She was perfect, she was my angel, but she had no idea what I was.

I could tell that she felt something, at least. Most humans who have a werewolf mate feel the tingles and the sparks, but nothing else. Josie felt more. I knew she did.

It was after dark when my beta, Ethan, mind-linked me asking where I was. A minute later, he knocked on the door.

“This better be good,” I growled at him.

Ethan and my gamma, Hayden, already knew I had found my mate. Kasey, the nurse who’d been at yesterday’s meeting, had told her mate, Hayden, immediately, and Hayden had been gossiping with Ethan about it nonstop ever since.

They also knew that meant they should stay far away from me and my sour mood.

“It is, Alpha,” said Ethan, sounding serious. “Someone is at the old Valentine place.”

I jumped out of my chair in surprise. “Excuse me?”

“The patrol saw someone’s car parked out front, and the lights are on,” he explained.

That place was off limits; everyone knew that. The Valentines’ home was to be preserved and protected as a tribute to our fallen alpha bloodline. It was one of our most absolute rules.

“I’m on my way. Tell the patrol to hold their position,” I snapped. Then I ran out of the pack house and lunged across the field, exploding into my giant black wolf, Arlo. We raced toward the edge of our land, and I shifted before I broke through the tree line.

One of the patrol wolves in front of the house shifted long enough to toss me a pair of pants. I angrily pulled them on and then pounded on the front door

I heard someone rustle inside. Just as my anger nearly compelled me to rip the door from its hinges, I was smacked in the face with the sweet smell of strawberry and vanilla.

I immediately calmed. How could my mate’s smell be here? Then, just as quickly, my mood shifted again to concern. ~Was Josie in danger?~

I yanked the door open and nearly fell to my knees. There she was, standing in the middle of the living room with her hands balled into fists at her sides. Her face was scrunched up in anger; she looked like she was ready to fight.

Then her eyes locked with mine, and she immediately relaxed. She sighed, looking like she’d been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

I couldn’t help but grin. Her face was precious.

“I guess I should have known this would happen,” she mumbled, sitting back down on the couch like she belonged there.

I shut the door behind me and mind-linked the patrol, telling them to back off. I didn’t know what was going on here, but I wasn’t letting my packmates anywhere near my mate.

“Josie…,” I questioned, but I stopped at the look on her face. It was filled with the same pain that I’d seen in her yesterday and then again earlier today. All I wanted was to take that pain away.

I couldn’t stop myself this time. Arlo compelled me forward. I dropped to my knees in front of where she was curled up on the couch, putting my hand on the leg she’d folded up underneath her small body.

I expected her to be surprised—this was an intimate gesture when from her perspective we were near strangers. But instead, she just looked down at me with a sad smile on her lips.

She picked up a picture frame that sat on the end table and clutched it close to her face, rubbing her thumb along the snapshot inside. Then she held it out for me to see.

It was the Valentine family: Alpha Johnathan, Luna Marleigh, and their two children. I had seen the picture a thousand times, but this time, when I looked at the children, my entire body froze; it was like a fog had been lifted.

I looked at the bright-green eyes on Alpha Johnathan’s toddler daughter and then up into the same green eyes of my beloved.

Josie sighed and explained, “I took the last name ‘Taylor’ when I fled and moved to North Carolina with my brother twelve years ago. That’s his wife’s name; he took her name when they got married, and I wanted to have the same last name as him again.

“But”—she sighed again, deeper this time—“I was born Josephine Valentine.” She set the picture frame down and watched my face.

I had nothing to say. I was stunned silent. But what she did next was enough to send me right over the edge. She brought her hand up and tangled it into my hair. I growled and pulled myself closer to her, still on my knees, so our foreheads nearly touched.

“I know what you are,” she whispered, her breath mixing with mine. “And I know what you are to me. I’ve been scared, but I do want you.”

“Josephine Valentine,” I breathed into the tiny amount of space between us. “I need to kiss you. Please. Please, will you let me?”