Maya was crying quietly all the way down until the Lycan kingdom and Reid didn’tknow what to do.

She did not show it to him and neither did she sob or weep, buther eyes were red and puffy and she was wiping them with her palms every fewseconds as she turned away to stare at the window.He never wanted a mate in the first place, never looked for one.

And when hesaw how finding a mate changed his best friend Gideon, he decided to stay awayfrom wolf mingling events and stick to the she-wolves he already knew,considering them safe options.

Luckily, there were quite a few who were alwaysready to keep him company.It was supposed to be for the best.

He wasn’t a family man anyway.

Maybe afunny unclematerial.

But this was it.

He was a Beta and needed his focus on his work at alltimes.Yet when he first sensed this amazing scent of almonds and something floral thatevoked everything feral and primal inside of him within seconds, all his rules andself-taught mantras went to hell.

He struggled for a few minutes in his car, tryingto talk himself out of going there and finding his mate.

But gave in rather quicklyunder the pressure from his wolf, Nox, who was eager to meet their mate.He had to see her too; had to know who she was.And when he saw her with another man who tried to hurt her, all his instinctsflared up.

It was a done deal.

That woman was his and he wouldn’t let anyonetouch her, let alone hurt her.He disobeyed his king’s orders for the first time ever and left Riannon behindwithout anysupport.

Before that, they planned for him to stick around with her as arepresentative of the Lycans on the pretense of helping her with their new lawproject.

That would allow him to be there to protect her if needed as it was

required from their positions.

She was already his Luna regardless of beingmarked and married to some annoying werewolf Alpha.And now his Luna was on her own.It was her silent order, of course, to take her best friend out of this place.

Forsome reason, she considered that more important than their initial plan and hedecided to trust her instincts as Maya’s safety suddenly became of primeimportance to him too.But he knew that he would pay for this.

Because Gideon trusted him what hetreasured the most and he failed his Alpha and his king.“It’s going to be okay,” he decided to try and break the ice but his mate snappedher head in his direction and glared at him with the intention to kill.

As if he wasat fault before her.

Which he wasn’t.She wanted to hurt him on purpose and he let it slide.

He could sense that hismate was using her snarky attitude to hide how worried she had been inside.

Andhe could understand that.

He liked Riannon a lot, but she was new in his life.

Ifhe had to leave Gideon in the sea full of sharks, he wouldn’t be happy too.

Hecouldn’t be happy now either.

The guilt was washing over him in waves.

But ithad already been done and he had to trust Riannon with this one.

Hopefully, sheknew what she was doing.“Reid,” he stated calmly.“Reid, let me tell you a little story,” she spoke in a voice one would speak to achild that wasn’t bright.

“Once there lived three girls and they were the best offriends.

A lot of sh*t happened, some dead parents, dead siblings, boyfriendsbeing as*holes, terrible life choices, but the three of them stuck together.

Thenone of them died too, living the other two.

And they swore to stay by each other’sside no matter what! Guess who these girls are, Reid?”“You and Ria,” he answered plainly, allowing her to let out the steam on him.

“Correct! What a clever boy you are!” she praised him,”I...

I left her there! Youhave no idea what is going on there and what it means to me! She...”“She is sticking up for you, Maya,” he interrupted her speech and she looked athim with wide eyes, “Just like you promised.

It was her choice, not yours or mine.You were in a far worse situation there according to her.

And I had to take herlead.

Knowing Riannon, she can take care of herself.

And she will not stay therefor a long time, trust me.”Maya bit her lip almost to the point of bleeding and turned away to the window tohide thetears forming in her eyes again.

She had to do something about this stupid liquidsecretion.

She knew that he was right.

Riannon did what she would have done ifshe could.

It did not make her feel better though.They parked the car in front of what looked like a modern palace.

However, Mayawasn’t in the mood to admire it.

And all Reid wanted was to get her inside of hisroom as soon as possible.

Before he met...“Reid!” his king’s voice sounded behind him and he turned to face his Alpha.Gideon stared at him in disbelief and then slowly shifted his eyes to Maya.

Heballed his fists, trying to hold back his rage.He was already angry when he found out from Savvy that Riannon left the packand the kingdom.

But he got calmer knowing that his Beta was with her.

And nowthere he was.

With some girl and not his Luna! “Where is Riannon?” Gideon growled.“At her old pack,” his Beta replied honestly, not trying to hide the truth, “There hasbeen a situation and she had to stay as a result.

And this is...”“I don’t care what new wh*re you picked up and where,” the lycan king was onthe edge with his rage.magic

“She is my MATE!” Reid snarled at him, his protective instincts taking over, “I hadto get her out of there!”It didn’t help Gideon calm down at all.“I am sorry,” his friend continued, stepping closer, “It was her decision and in theheat of the moment it seemed like the right one.”The punch was so hard that it broke Reid’s nose and knocked him off his feet.

Hestayed on the ground, covering his face with one hand, trying to stop the blooduntil regeneration kicked in and knowing that he deserved that.

He stayed downout of respect to his king whose trust he broke today.“How is leaving my woman behind was the right decision?!” Gideon tried to holdback his fury.

If he didn’t, he didn’t know how this would end for Reid.“You are her mate!” Maya whispered and for the first time since she got here helooked at her properly, “You are Ria’s mate! But...

how?”“The Moon Goddess works in mysterious ways,” he grunted, slowly realizing thatthis girl wasn’t just somebody.

They already met.

He noticed her red cried outeyes and her messy hair.

She did not look like herself but he recognised her now.She also did not look like Reid’s usual type.

Which was funny since she was hismate.“I am Maya,” she tried to explain and his whole body tightened at her words, “Iam...”“Her sister,” Gideon nodded, letting her know that Riannon told him everything,“You...

You are very dear to my mate.”“I know,” her lips trembled, “She just...

I am the one to blame, not Reid.

Shecame there because of me and she had to stay there.

He wouldn’t let her go.

AndRoxy...”

She filled him in quickly on everything that happened.

Gideon clenched his fists.It was unbearable.

But in the short time that they knew each other, the very firstthing that he learned about her was that if she made a decision, she would stickto it no matter what.

And also he“What do we do now?” the girl in front of him asked as she gave a hand to hermate, who was still on the ground.

Reid took it with some kind of hope in his eyesand Gideon realized that he already got a hard time with her.

Not that it excusedhim.However, he did not want to lie to himself either.

He would have made the samechoice in his place.“We continue with the plan,” the kind said.

“The plan?” Maya gasped, “I haven’theard a thing about a plan!”“Let your mate fill you in then,” Gideon spared one glance at Reid and realizedthat it was too soon.

Anger was still boiling in his heart and Mars demandedblood.

But it wouldn’t be the blood of their Beta that he would offer to his wolf.

“Iexpect you in my office first thing in the morning,” the kind muttered and left theBeta couple alone.He went straight to their room, which still had her scent inside even though theomegas already changed the sheets like they always did.They were discussing the possibility of her going back to her pack and what shewould be doing what she had to.

So, he had to stick to those thoughts.

Riannonknew what she was doing when she stayed, and he had to trust her with that.However, he had to listen to her voice.

He needed it on a physical level.So, he picked up his phone and called her, waiting to be connected with his eyesclosed by his palm.

Being separated from her again felt even worse than beforenow.“Ria!” he started speaking the moment the call was answered.

“Excuse me, who is this?” the male voice on the other end of the line seemedconfused.

He recognised her husband at once.“This is King Gideon Stormhold,” he held himself back from growling, “I need tospeak to Riannon.

Now.”“Your Majesty,” the Alpha sounded apologetic, “I am sorry.

This is a bitinconvenient right now.

It’s too late and she is sleeping.

We just reunited after thedays of not seeing one another and were too hungry for each other if you knowwhat I mean.

She was too exhausted by the time we were done with each other.It would be cruel to wake her up now.

She needs her rest.

We are trying for apup, you see..”