"Stop," I snarl at my brother when he ruffles my hair again. "You suck."

"You didn't suck at training. I think that's what's really important here."

I hide my smile. I really didn't suck. I'm exhausted, yeah, but I went against Conner for a long time before he pinned me. Last week's exhibition was awesome. It was even better when I got to hold Ili as she slept during the bouts. After Caroline died it took a long time to work my way back into shape, but everything seems like it's finally going my way for once.

"Bailey was wondering if Iliana was coming tonight?" Conner says with forced casualness. "She didn't really give a response to the invite. Maybe she has a date?"

Every atom in my body fires up. "Yeah she does. I'm picking her up early," I say with the same idiotic tone. Forced nonchalance, because I saw the looks some of the pack gave Ili and me last week. I've tried to keep everything on the DL for the rest of the week. Just a few casual walks between friends.

Conner doesn't bother to hide his smile. "Good. See you later, Brax."

"Bye, Con."

I feel like skipping down the lane like my five-year-old sister, Thea, flinging glitter and rainbows and other sparkly bullshit. My wolf is panting and pacing, a low whine building in his throat. Abruptly he sits and starts to scratch at his fur in agitation. He needs to be well-groomed to impress Ili. I try to smack him back down. He's not meeting Ili's wolf tonight, but his nervous eagerness won't be stopped.

What if she won't come with me? What if she walks away like she does every morning when I pick her up for school? My anxiety rises more and more until I'm home. I rip off my t-shirt as soon as I'm inside. Practically leaping out of my skin, I raid the "gift closet" in Papa's office. It's where Dad and Papa stash presents for Soltice gifts and birthdays and anniversaries. They buy whatever catches their attention at the time, then put it in the closet and forget about it. Sometimes, Mom cleans it out and thanks them for their forgetful thoughtfulness. She thinks it's adorable. I think it's borderline hoarding, but right now I'm thankful.

I toss all the earrings. Ili doesn't like wearing them. I find a pair of dangly, blue stones and set them aside for Velia and keep searching. I'm starting to get a little nervous about striking out when I find it. When I picture Ili wearing it my dick responds. It's perfect.

I put everything back and feel my wolf relax, proud that he found his female something pretty. The itchy, uncomfortable feeling of anxiety dies down as I head upstairs to shower and dress.

---

Furiously I wipe my tears away. My she-wolf snarls, flashing fang, as she paces back and forth in my head. Taking a deep, calming breath, I smooth my dress down my thighs and try to block the sound of Georgina bragging to Mom about Sean taking her to the party tonight.

I've heard that humans can't hear as well as wolves can. Maybe, if I'm ever close to Luna Bailey, I can ask her. Good hearing is vital to a wolf's survival, but not being able to hear through the walls of my bedroom to the kitchen would be a blessing.

I moved my bedroom downstairs a year ago so that I could have more privacy. Why can't Georgina go to her room upstairs and chat about her boyfriend there?

"Iliana?" Phoebe knocks on the door. "Can I see your dress?" she calls out.

"Sure, munchkin," I call back. Quickly I straighten my hair and run my finger under my eyes to make sure Phoebe can't tell I was crying.

I swing open my door just in time to hear Georgina say, "Mom, the purple dress is to die for. Sean and I are finally back on track and he won't be able to resist me in this dress."

"It's a little short-"

I muffle Mom's voice by tugging Phoebe inside my room and shutting the door. My stomach pitches and roils as my she-wolf paces back and forth angrily.

"You look so pretty!" Phoebe squeals.

I smile, but don't answer at first, worried that my voice will crack and give me away. I planned my light grey dress carefully. It's a matte satin with a blocky cut to hide my bony frame. Under the satin is a thick lining. It's supposed to be worn in the winter, but it works perfectly for me.

Phoebe looks adorable in her teal and white striped dress with butterflies on the flouncy skirt. "You're like a princess," I reply after a minute. "Twirl for me?" Giggling, Phoebe twirls until I have to catch her before she topples over.

"Mom is going to do my hair. Then we can go, OK?"

"Sounds good, bebe." I'll take the time to fix my makeup.

After an hour the house is quiet. I sit on my bed and fidget, wondering why we haven't left yet. If I were slightly more insecure I would think my family left without me, but every once in a while I can hear footsteps up and down the stairs.

A small knock on the door heralds Phoebe's return. She peeks in with her hair in a complicated twist of braids and buns. I smile at her, feeling much more composed than earlier when she shoots me right in my chest.

"Sean is late," she announces in a stage whisper.

I barely hide my wince. I shove my hands in the pockets of my dress skirt and concentrate on how sweet my little sister looks.

"Oh," I reply lamely.

Phoebe eases inside the house. "Mom and Dad are waiting with Georgie. She's really mad and-"

The doorbell rings and everything crashes and burns straight down the soles of my feet. My wolf whimpers. We suck. We aren't strong at all. If Sean and Georgina are dating again then I'm not sure if I can really pull off my blase claim of being MateLess. It's just too hard. I'm weak and not ready. I thought I was, but then Sean had to confront me that night and now I've been taught a harsh lesson of mates all over again.

"Ili?" Mom calls out. "Brax is here for you."

I stare at my sister blankly. My wolf is on her feet, head cocked to one side, ears perked. We hear footsteps moving down the hallway. Deliberate and heavy; if it's really Braxton Killian Grim then he's walking that way on purpose, warning me of his approach.

"Holy shit. I think I'm in the wrong house," Braxton says with astonishment. "Excuse me, Princess? Have you seen a beautiful girl around here? Not as pretty as you," he adds in a hurry. "Almost as beautiful as you?"

Phoebe giggles up at the gorgeous male who hovers in my bedroom doorway with a small box held in his hand. He doesn't look at me, keeping his attention on my little sister. Damn ovaries exploding everywhere. Damn Braxton.

"What is that?" Phoebe asks him, pointing to the box.

"Something for a beautiful female," he says. "Guess."

Phoebe eyes the box. "Is it candy?"

"No."

"Jewelry?" she says promptly. I hide my laugh. Phoebe has priorities.

"Bingo."

Jewelry? I'm startled. Braxton brought me jewelry? He's taking me to the party? What universe did I just drop into?

"Let me see it," Phoebe demands. She edges the door shut so that Braxton can't see me. I clasp my hand over my mouth to hold back the bark of laughter.

"There's two!" I hear Phoebe say.

"This one is for the Princess," Braxton says softly. I hear a rustle and Phoebe's squeal of excitement.

"Let me see Ili's, please?" Phoebe says. I hear a childish gasp, then a reverent, "it's perfect."

I swallow the sudden lump of emotion stuck in my throat. I think Braxton is scaring me.

The door swings open. Warm caramel eyes fix on me. Braxton approaches me, looking like a meal in his pressed dark grey suit and light grey tie. Oh goddess, our clothes match. Don't be ridiculous, Iliana, I scold myself. You're wearing grey. It's common and it matches everything.

Braxton stops just a couple of feet inside the door, chest expanding slowly. I stand abruptly and smooth out my skirt again. "You look nice, Ili," he blurts out.

I feel a pang of disappointment. Just nice? Oh, well. I'm no beauty queen. I knew that.

Braxton takes a step forward and trips over my desk chair. He goes down, hard, with a mumbled: "fuck!"

"Brax?!" I rush to him as he groans and rolls to his back. "Are you OK?"

"Bury me under your window," he rasps out.

I relax. He's fine. "Get up, doofus."

"Can't. I'm dying of embarrassment. That's a thing, right? I just took a digger in front of this gorgeous girl. So I'm dead. Give it a minute."

Oh, now I'm gorgeous? Maybe the grey dress was a bad call. Still, I blush fiercely at the odd compliment. "OK, sure. Hey, at least you clean up nice. Maybe no one will notice the black eye."

Groaning, he rolls smoothly to his feet in a move that makes a mockery out of his earlier clumsiness. He towers over me a moment later. I inhale and choke at the smell of perfume all over him. My she-wolf flashes fang. We don't like this scent all over our... friend.

"What?" he asks me.

"Are you wearing cologne?" I ask him.

Looking confused, he lifts his arm and sniffs. Classy. Braxton drops his arm with a huff and rolls his eyes. "Mom," he explains simply. "I didn't think she would let me go. The hug was extra-long."

Because she's so happy he's going to the party tonight, I realize. It makes tears prick my eyelashes. Braxton was wrecked for a long time after Caroline died.

"Hey, hey. You'll ruin your makeup and we'll both have black eyes," he teases me. Gently, he wipes the one tear that slips free. I freeze in consternation. It shouldn't feel this good when Braxton is close and touching me. He's just my very sexy friend.

"Got you something," he tells me. He doesn't show me the necklace, but drapes it over my neck and fastens it. My hand flies to the heavy weight on my neck. It feels expensive.

I turn to look in the mirror and gasp. It's a choker, made of exquisite clear and black stones in a platinum setting. It sparkles and shines unlike anything else I own. "It's made of fucking diamonds, Brax!" I reach up to unclasp it.

"Fake," he says gently, his fingers capturing mine before I can release the clasp. "I've missed your last few birthdays, baby, yeah?"

My hand hovers over the necklace. A pang of sorrow rushes through me. "Brax, I can't accept this." If it's a replica then it's still an expensive one. I've worn enough costume jewelry to know.

"Sure you can," he says casually. "It would mean a lot to me. Makes me feel like I'm not a complete douche for ignoring you for two years."

"I thought we agreed that I pushed you away?"

"I believe that was you talking and me nodding to pacify the little woman- oof!" he doubles over exaggeratingly when I punch him in the stomach.

"Cretin," I mutter, but I can't keep the note of happiness from my voice. My eyes stray to the mirror. The choker really is beautiful. It's also really expensive-looking and that means that... "This is from the dragon's hoard, isn't it?" I ask him quietly. We used to peek into that closet all the time. Fake diamonds my ass.

He looks slightly embarrassed. "Mom said I could have it for you. I asked."

I deflate a little, but at the same time, now I can wear it, right? It's really from Mina, not Braxton.

Braxton gently grasps the hand that is clutching at the choker and pulls it away from my neck. "Let's go, yeah, Doll?"

Reluctantly I let him pull me down the hallway, still conflicted about wearing the choker. I'm still contemplating it when we walk into the hallway where my family is gathered.

"Oh, honey, you look positively radiant!" Mom beams at me. Dad grunts in agreement, but I'm not sure he knows what I look like tonight. He's too busy glaring at Braxton.

"Have her home by twelve," Dad snaps at Braxton. "Straight home from the party. Got me?"

"Dad! It's not a date! We're friends."

"Then you can be home by twelve," Dad says as Mom hits his arm repeatedly.

"Well, bye sweetheart. We'll see you there," Mom says, practically shoving Braxton and I out the door.

"Bye!" Braxton hustles me out to his truck. As we stumble down the sidewalk I start to smile.

"Dad looked like he wanted to hurt you," I tease Braxton. "He's so ridiculous, isn't he?"

"Yup." Braxton lifts me into his truck and kisses my cheek. "Utterly ridiculous. We're not fucking."

I gape at him, astonished at how... how blunt and... just so... "Braxton!"

He mutters something as he leaps into his seat. It sounded suspiciously like 'yet,' but I ignore him to look out my window, hiding my blush.

My breath catches as I watch my family pull out of the garage in Dad's SUV. Georgina is sitting in the passenger seat. If looks could kill I would die right on the spot. My she-wolf snarls, crouching low in readiness. We aren't ready to fight our sister.

Warm fingers entwine with mine and squeeze. I look at Braxton, who smiles and winks at me. My she-wolf relaxes and I exhale. I'd much rather stare into Brax's warm caramel eyes than stare into Georgina's hate-filled blues.

---

"Yo, this is fucked up."

I take a breath and let it out slowly. "Yeah," I reply shortly. The crime scene is insane. Literally.

It's just a torso, but it tells its own horrifying tale. All of the interior organs have been removed surgically. Except for the uterus. There are signs that the female has been pregnant, but the body is too decomposed to determine how recently.

"Any results on the DNA?" I ask Trey.

"Nothing from RedMoon," he replies quietly. He never speaks until we ask him something. I would think that he's being evasive, but the pain and disillusionment in his eyes tell me all I need to know. He's fucked up, too.

Secretly, I feel a sort of kinship with the deposed Alphason of the defunct RedMoon. He and I are both royal screw-ups with our truemates. We are both alone and deserve it.

At least he had a decent reason. Lying and battling for a nutty girlfriend was as stupid as me fighting to be Georgina, but he had his sick mom to consider. He had to lie and toss Bailey, his truemate, away.

Now Bailey belongs to Conner. Wonderful females like my luna don't stay single long. How crushing is it to watch your truemate move on with some other male? I don't... I can't even think about Lili being with someone else.

I blink, forcing away the thoughts of Iliana to focus on the problem at hand. "She may have been forcibly impregnated. Or she could have already been pregnant when she was taken. No way of knowing due to the decomposition of the body."

"Could it be an older pregnancy?" Sam, one of Uncle Devel's unit, asks.

"She's young, so it's doubtful," I respond. "Most of the victims are late teens, early twenties."

"I can't believe that Dad may have been involved in this," Trey says quietly.

"The body is old enough that it could have been him, but it was moved recently," Sam says.

"Right, so the only question is were they trying to hide their crime, or continue their crimes?" I ask.

When I walk out of the morgue, Trey at my side, I get a call from Conner.

"Con?"

"Wilkinson there?"

"He is."

"Bailey's announcement is tonight. I don't want him nearby."

"I won't be," Trey answers at my side. His voice is dull.

I clear my throat, "understood, Alpha."

Conner pauses while I contemplate kicking my own ass. Why did I call my best friend, 'alpha?' Shit.

"You'll be there, Sean?" Conner asks, sounding a little stiff.

"Of course. I wouldn't miss it." I'm such an asshole. I hang up and walk to my truck, unable to look Trey in the eyes.

---

I listen to Alpha Alexander in shock, but even that surprise isn't enough to stop me from scanning the high table. Alphason Conner is smiling, big and broad as if he was never rejected in the first place.

Why did I not think about this?! Stupid Iliana. Of course, a human luna will need an alpha female. My shock fades. My she-wolf is on her feet, pacing.

Luna Bailey isn't just fabulous, she makes our alphason strong again. It's obvious from the smile on Alphason Conner's face, the power in his wolf as he peers out at the pack. Our pack is recovering from the blow of his idiotic truemate rejecting him. It's amazing news, and I can feel the swell of happiness in the crowd. No, not just happiness; joy and relief and hope. Everyone knew that they had Claimed each other, but their pup is news to most of the pack.

I listen to Alpha Alexander talk about the adjustments that need to be made. A human luna means an alpha female. A human luna can't keep the she-wolves in check, so she will need an alpha female to do the job.

A female like Georgina. I stare at my sister, at her smug smirk. She is wearing her skintight purple one-piece dress designed to scream 'look at me!' Her hair is pulled back from her face in a high ponytail as if she thinks she is about to take the field to cheer on her boyfriend at the football game. She isn't sitting next to Sean, but she is at the same table. I hope she chokes on her food.

In a way, no one is sitting next to Sean. My ex-mate has slung himself down at the high table, in-between his parents, but something about the set of his shoulders suggests that he is holding himself apart from everyone else. He makes the appropriate motions, clapping and smiling with the rest of us, but he is being careful to avoid anyone touching him. I know that behavior. I was like that for months after his rejection of me.

He also won't stop staring at me. Weirdo.

My gaze flits backs to Georgina. Georgina is shaping up to be the strongest female fighter, she's got a good chance to become the top female in the pack over the next few years.

Goddess, what a disaster. My sister has no business being a leader of anyone. She is a manipulative, power-hungry, greedy backstabber. What sort of female steals her own sister's mate? I have seen her start rumors about friends and enemies alike just to take something from someone else. She is truly a horrible female. One of the worst I have ever known and in a wolfpack, there can be a lot of bitches, pun intended.

A sudden, unnatural calm descends over me as Alpha Alexander begins to explain more about Bailey. He's gushing about her, really. A small, petty part of my heart sings in gladness at the slightly sour expression on Georgina's face while Alpha Alex extols Bailey's many virtues.

I am going to do this. I will uproot my sister and claim her spot as Alpha female. I know that Georgina has turned her sights toward Sean again. She has plans, too. She can still get what she wants. Alpha or Beta, I don't think she really cares who she mates, as long as she secures her top spot as Alpha female of this pack. The alpha female must be approved by the luna before she cements her place. The luna can't choose until Alphason Conner Challenges Alpha Alexander for alpha. Alphason Conner already won an alpha Challenge against the former RedMoon alpha. I figure I have a few years minimum before he Challenges Alpha Alex. In the meantime, Luna Bailey's pregnancy and status will protect her from Challenges.

I catch Sean's gaze again. He is looking at me intently. I go still, realizing that my wolf is circling, yipping in excitement at the idea of taking the top spot away from Georgina. He must have felt her energy. I narrow my eyes.