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“The first kiss is always the most important,” Valentine had said with all the authority of a big sister. “The first kiss has to take you by surprise. The guy is just so blown away by how beautiful and sweet and perfect you are that he cannot help himself. He just kisses you, and then that’s it. You’re done.”
“Don’t be smart,” Lil had snorted. “No one should lose their minds over a single kiss. That is stupid-stupid. Andthat’s what makes life stupid-hard. Keep your wits about you.”
It was the thing they disagreed on. The only thing. It was the only thing between the two sisters that wasn’t understood. And that’s why Lilliane had left.
She didn’t think she could be in love. She didn’t think it was important, and so she was okay with being married off to a vamp for power.
Was that real?
Maybe.
Was Valentine making up stories because she didn’t know what else to think?
Absolutely.
What else could she think? Lilliane had left without a word or any sort of explanation that made sense. There was very little Val could do but stew in her misery and try to find the reason for her sister’s insanity.
There was nothing else to do because Valentine was short on options. She couldn’t chase after Lilliane because she didn’t know where her sister was. She might still be in the country, seeing as how none of the Longborn sisters were allowed to have a passport.
Valentine could’ve driven to every Longborn estate in the country, but then what was she supposed to do? Force her sister into the car and drive away? It had taken a full wolf pack with two more waiting in the background to get rid of the vampire council the first time.
Val was a lone Half-Blood.
Her resources were limited, and no one else seemed too interested in saving Lilliane from herself.
So Val moped. She moped like it was the only thing she could do, and she hoped that the more ice cream and sulking she did, the perfect rescue idea would present itself.
Val had to believe that love … real and true sisterly love … would bring her sister back.
TWO
NERO
Nero’s favorite place in the whole world was his front porch. He sat there in the wooden swing or the wicker rocking chair every morning with a cup of coffee, looking out at the woods that were his.
The forest was his to protect and defend, and every member of the Greenlee pack was also his responsibility. He took that role seriously.
In the last month, that role had been tested by the arrival of a vampire council in the next town over, and Nero and his wolves had helped another pack protect what was theirs. It made him proud, which, in turn, made his morning contemplation on the front porch that much sweeter.
The silence was blissful. Though there wasn’t actually any silence. The forest was too busy to actually be quiet.
Birds chirped, and little critters scampered around for food. There was also the sound of the flowing creek and the trees brushing together in the breeze.
It wasn’t quiet, but it might as well be for all the peace it gave him.
The sound of cracking branches made him smile. He only needed to sniff the air to know that someone was about to disrupt his peaceful morning, and he already knew who it would be.
“Morning, Reece,” he called out.
“Good morning,” the alpha of the Blackwood pack called out as he left the thick line of trees. Reece sat beside Nero in a wicker chair and sighed heavily.
“That’s a hell of a sentiment for so early in the morning. Don’t tell me the vampire council is coming back to town.”
“No, thank fuck,” Reece hissed. “I don’t think Celestine would be okay ifthatwere happening.”
“And how is the new Blackwood Alpha Mate? Is she settling into pack life all right?”
His friend grinned. “Yeah, she’s settling in. She’s already buried under a mountain of work. Every business in Blackwood has commissioned a new logo for their signs. She doesn’t know how long it’ll take her to get everyone. Years, she figures.”
