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Before:
They came in the middle of the night while everyone was fast asleep in their beds. There was never even a whisper of betrayal, not a hint of conspiracy.
Rhiannon didn't understand why this was happening. All she felt was pain and sorrow, a terrible mourning for all that was lost that night. She would never see her beloved again, or her family, her friends. She knew that one slash of the wolfs claws had killed her, but she had one more task before she could give in.
She ran faster and faster, not even noticing as the cold ground cut into her bare feet. She didn't feel the gashes in her side, or the blood dripping into the dirt. Rhiannon was focused; she had just one goal, and then she could let go.
It didn't matter. Nothing else mattered except the small wiggling bundle in her arms. As she ran, she quickly glanced down at her six-month-old daughter. Mackenzie was one of her pride and joys.
Rhiannon and her mate had tried for so long to have a child that they had almost given up, but then it happened.
The whole pack celebrated for days with food and drink, dancing and singing.
The Alpha had an heir! TWINS! It was shouted from the rooftops. Even Rhiannon’s father had come to congratulate them.
She remembered the visit as she tried to think through the events leading up to this night.
Christopher was spinning her around on the dance floor, so full of joy their feet barely touched the ground. Rhiannon gazed at her mate’s handsome face and all she could feel was love. So much love it was consuming.
As they stared into each other’s eyes, a loud cheer went up around them. Louder even than the revelry currently surrounding them.
Christopher brought her to a sudden stop as he looked at something over her shoulder and she felt him go stiff in her arms. Needing to know what had put that look of surprise on his face, she quickly turned toward the noise.
It was her father. Andre Beaumont, Alpha of the Blood Moon wolf pack, located in Northern Louisiana. Her mate, Christopher Blake, was Alpha of the Silver Lake wolf pack in Tennessee. Andre being here was an anomaly, seeing as he hadn’t visited since before she mated Chris and became the pack Luna.
They did not have a conventional father daughter relationship. Rhiannon did not call him “dad” or “father”, he was simply Andre.
He actually tried to convince her to reject Chris when they first realized they were fated mates. Rejecting a fated mate is unheard of and to do so would have been excruciatingly painful for them both. It also meant, neither would ever have a true mate.
However, the moment Rhiannon saw Christopher, she knew she would love him with her whole heart. She defied Andre and left home, left her birth pack. And for the last ten years, she has been blissfully happy.
Having Andre show up here, on a day of celebration, made her very nervous. To this day neither man could stand the other. But to Rhiannon’s surprise, Andre walked over to her with his arms out as if he were going to embrace her.
Andre did not hug. In fact, she couldn’t remember a single time in her whole life that he had hugged her or either of her twin sisters. Their house had been cold growing up. The only love they were shown was from each other. Her mother was a timid thing, always quiet and quick to jump to do her father’s bidding, never paying attention to her children unless they did something wrong. Then, it was only to scold or punish them.
Andre believed affection made a person weak. Despite their parents’ lack of care, Rhiannon and her sisters still managed to turn out great. All three of them were happily mated to their fated mates, who thankfully all wanted to be a part of Christophers pack so they could stay together.
So as Andre's arms enveloped Rhiannon in a tight hug, all she could do was stand there confused.
"My dear daughter, are you not going to hug me back?" Questioned Andre. Instinctively her arms came up to wrap around his torso.
"What are you doing here? We haven't spoken in years and now you just show up?" She glanced up at his face, looking for any hint of what he was thinking, but he gave nothing away. "What do you want?"
Sighing, he released her from the hug, but kept her at arm’s length. He looked at her as if he were trying to study one of the rare paintings in his home, like he was searching for something. It made her feel exposed and vulnerable.
Again, he sighed, "I just wanted to see you and give you congratulations. Is that so wrong? It has been a long time and I would like to catch up. Perhaps bury the hatchet between me and your mate."
The way he said mate with such disdain, Rhiannon knew he was lying. Andre was a manipulator; he only ever did something if it would benefit him. Whatever he wanted would not be good for this pack. He was definitely here for something other than congratulating them. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t know the real reason until he wanted them to.
She would not trust him. Thankfully, she knew Chris wouldn’t be fooled either.
The night was surprisingly uneventful after that first encounter. Andre acted like he was having a great time. He even asked a few of the females to dance, which Rhiannon had never seen him do. It all seemed innocent enough, but she was still uneasy.
He stayed for two days.
Chris showed Andre around the pack lands and introduced him to everyone. Andre even spent time visiting with her sisters, Rylee and Rebecca, and meeting their mates for the first time. It seemed like he really was just here for a visit. He didn’t ask for anything or make any demands, as he was known to do.
Then two days later, they said their goodbyes, and Andre left. It had them all slightly puzzled. Maybe, just maybe, he truly wanted to try to get along.
