(Undedited)

== Simon’s POV ==

I could feel her body against mine, her skin, her breasts, her cheek, her breath, even her heartbeat, slightly faster than usual. She was back hugging me for a little while, me holding onto her arms. I must say, I felt a little aroused by the proximity but despite my wolf’s want to make her fully mine, I kept it easily under wraps. My beast tamed by the fact that the most precious thing in my life needed time and softness, not a wild wolf taking her without her consent.

Slowly, I detached her from me, keeping her wrists in my hold, I turned around. She looked a little surprised, mostly because I could see her breasts through the water and she wanted to hide them with her hands, and at the same time, she didn’t struggle too much. Her heart started to beat faster, out of a little bit of fear, and hopefully excitement.

I didn’t pull her closer, only raised one of her wrists to my lips. I kissed the palm of her hand, then the inside of her wrist, slowly climbing up to the crook of her elbow. I could feel her shiver under the slow caress, while we pulled closer to each other so I could go up to her shoulder, pulling her onto my lap to softly kiss her neck. A little moan came out of her mouth as soft as a cloud. I was now totally aroused but I didn’t want it to go any further. I ended up slowly on her lips. She let me pass, playing with my tongue and holding onto the back of my head, pressing herself, bare beautiful breasts included onto my chest. My hands softly rubbed her back, just enjoying the feeling of her against me, our lips locked in the softest of pleasures.

One of her hands slid down onto my chest, until she reached my abs, scared of her going down too far, I quickly grabbed her hand. “Let’s not push our luck” I whispered against her lips. She pulled back, cheeks red and eyes bright and nodded. “I’m just a little scared that….” She bit her bottom lip before going forward but I raised my eyebrows, inviting her to talk.

“I feel like…after a while, you might want to look elsewhere if I…if you don’t…you know…” she tried to explain, as red as Santa. I chuckled, pulling her in for a kiss. “I will never go look elsewhere, and I can wait…even if I need to get my release sometimes, I can handle myself.”

I kissed her cheek. “You really don’t need to worry”

She nodded again.

“Now, should I wash your hair?” I asked with a cheeky smile. She smiled back, turning around to let me help her.

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== Enna’s POV ==

After this very intimate moment, I had almost forgotten everything about Cassandra and Collins. Someone had brought us some food in our room and we ate, laughing as Simon recalled memories of his youth. We were in a little bubbles, freed of our worried for a little while. We ended up laying on the bed next to each other. He played absentmindedly with a strand of my hair while I looked at the shadows of the late afternoon play on the ceiling. The silence made my mind wander, I was thinking about what Collins had said, about his old maid and his stepmom looking like me.

“What make you frown so much?” asked Simon. He wasn’t playing with my hair anymore, he was laying on his elbow, his face hovering near mine, a frown now plastered upon it as well. I smile, raising my hand to his face so he would relax.

“I was just thinking about Collins and what he said. I really want to make light of what happened and hopefully free the other shifters from the prison.”

“Hopefully, they will stop attacking my pack and trying to take my mate from me” answered Simon, taking one of my hand in one of his.

“That too, but I can’t be thinking about myself only here. I might be the only one who knows what happened to these people who just suddenly disappeared from the face of Earth.”

“I will help you in all of your battles, Enna, but you have to promise me two thing?”

I looked at him, not answering as a waited for him to keep going.

“One, don’t get captured or killed in the process and two, when this bastard comes out of his rabbit-hole, let me have the pleasure to kill him as I see fit.”

His tone had been hard as steel on the last condition, his jaw had been set, his eyes darkened by hate and revenge. I set up, taking his face between my fingers.

“I don’t plan on dying or leaving you anytime soon, but don’t lose yourself in hate and vengeance, he’s not worth losing who you are just to torture me as much as he did.”

“I can’t kill him?” he asked, an innocent expression on his face.

“I don’t care if he lives or die, as long as he doesn’t keep on torturing people” I answered, “as long as you stay my sweet Simon” I added with a peck on his lips.

“You know, I’m supposed to be an Alpha, not your sweetheart” he chuckled.

“Can’t you be both?” I added with a little laugh, but he didn’t have time to answer. Someone knocked on the door. It was time.

___

== Enna’s POV ==

I hadn’t been outside in Simon’s pack much, I didn’t even meet most of them, so it was my first time really going around pack grounds. We were in a black SUV, the old maid’s house was on the far edge of the pack lands. She had accepted to meet with us, but didn’t want to go all the way to the pack house, so we went to her. A move that was quite unsettling for our security, both from Collins and our pack. Our wolves would rather have us locked up in the pack house until it was time to leave, a secure place, which they ended up knowing inside out, it was easier to keep an eye on everything. Collins’ pack, however, were unsettled because of the old maid herself. Apparently, being from a wolf family but never shifting was frowned upon, and the fact that she took care of the Alpha’s family didn’t earn her much respect. She was old, cranky and seemingly quite scary.

Her house was small and lonely. A little path, totally unkempt lead to it. It looked old, painted in white with little chips of paint coming off on corners and on the bottom of the house. A little fence ran all around the small propriety, enclosing it in a small square, leaving very little space for a garden. The porch was littered with dead leaves and clay pots for absent flowers. The front door, painted white as well, bore a stained glass design of an old rose. It looked sad and dirty, Simon squeezed the hand he hold, while my other hand gripped his forearm, effectively hiding me half behind his huge frame.

Collins knocked. It took a little moment before we heard noises inside, first, it was a movement, behind the orange curtains of the front room on the left of the door that moved, and then we heard the slow walk of the elderly woman to reach the door. It opened ever so slowly, revealing the old lady, in a long flower dress layered on top of a turtle neck white sweater. Her hair was thin and sparse, held together in a clumsy low bun.

“You were supposed to come today?” asked her slow dry voice, her faded blue eyes inspecting Collins’ face.

“Yes, I called you again a couple of hours ago, to make sure you knew” explained slowly Collins. You could tell in his voice that he cared for the elderly woman. She nodded and gestured to them to follow inside. “Leave your gorillas outside” she said, her back to us, walking slowly, her shoulders hunched forward, towards the kitchen.

She gestured again for us to take seats in the sitting room next to her kitchen as she placed a pot of water on the stove to make tea.

“I don’t receive many visits” she said with her slow voice, “but I can always offer everyone some tea.”

Collins stood up to help her with the cups and took the hot pot of water when it finished boiling. The elderly woman took a seat on the single chair, Collins, Simon and I, sat on two couches. Simon didn’t leave my side for a second, his hand still holding mine.

“Oh my!” she exclaimed, looking up at me for the first time, “Julia! I didn’t know would come to visit!”

I looked at Collins, confused. He mouthed “my mom” before turning his attention to the old maid again. “She’s not Julia, Miss Panthe, She’s too young.” The old maid looked from me to Collins and from Collins to me a few time before mumbling “is this some kind of sorcery?”

Collins acted like nothing had happened. “What did you mean by “coming to visit”, I thought Julia was dead.”

The old lady looked at him for a moment before sighing. “Your dad told me never to say anything about it, but he can come and kill me now. I only drink tea and hear my entire body crack all day, not much of a life, eh? Julia didn’t die, she left one day. She was very sad, she asked me to take care of you, but she really had to go…” She sipped on her tea while Collins had become even paler, if it was even possible.

“Go where?” he asked between his teeth like he couldn’t quite control himself.

“She just needed to leave my dear” she kept explaining, “Your father was her mate but he was also a bit…” she gestured to her head to say “crazy”.

“What do you mean?” asked Collins, a bit more composed now.

“Well, that Julia girl, she wasn’t a wolf, this is why she didn’t become the Luna. I told him, you know, I told him that if the goddess chose someone else, then the goddess must have known what she was doing. He didn’t listen, he kept her in a cage. I saw her once, such a sad bird she was. He said it was for her, he didn’t want her to be kidnapped by other, married by force to another Alpha, but he wanted her pups. He became obsessed with it. He kept on saying that they could have the most powerful children on the planet. He tried, but it didn’t work.”

“Why?” Collins as the elderly asked was half coughing, half sipping. Once she had regained her breath, she answered.

“The lass was barren as the desert. No child was conceived. He went mad, and forgot to lock her up. She flew away and I never heard of her again” she finished her story.

“My mom is alive?” asked Collins in a ushered tone, like he couldn’t believe it.

“Don’t be daft, boy, the Luna died a long time ago” she answered but he didn’t pay attention to her. Of course, he meant the lady who had raised him, and I was under the impression that I might have known her.

“Collins, if she’s my mom, she’s not…” I didn’t really finish my sentence as I heard a small growl next to me. First, I saw that I had almost destroyed Simon’s hand squeezing it so tight during the story. Secondly, I saw Collins trembling in the other couch.

“What else…what else did my father hide from me?” he asked, his voice rumbling with anger.

“He wanted to find that girl really bad, so he faked his death and left. As far as I know, your father is alive” she stated in a matter-of-factly voice which seemed almost heartless.

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OMG so many revelations ! WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT?!