The Sun and The Moon

Chapter 4

Gavin

The setting sun sets off a mesmerizing haze over the land around the pack house and I just wish Tempt was here with us to see. Aaron touches my shoulder with another cold beer and I gladly take it. My mother has really crossed the f*****g line this time. Don’t get me wrong, I love the woman but she is like a bull dog when she scents blood in the air. I stupidly got shitfaced at Alpha U one night and I started missing Tempt so badly and she wouldn’t answer her phone, so I called my mother. In a drunken whine fit of epic proportions I told my mother how I truly felt about Tempest. Just her f*****g name sets me on fire but I’ve learned to be damn careful about letting anything show. If she knew how I really felt about her she’d never let me hold her again. Not like she does now. I can wrap my arms around her and cuddle her up in my bed and kiss her sweet forehead. I can do all this because I’m her “brother”. Truthfully, I was her brother back before her puberty made me realize there was a woman under all those hoodies, hats, and sweats she drowned her body in. Mostly my hoodies, hats, and sweats, I growl in satisfaction before I can stop myself.

Aaron c***s a quizzical brow at me then chuckles when I offer no explanation.

“That good?” He asks with a smug smirk and I grin right back at him.

“I’m thinking of the most beautiful girl in the world.” I tell him with a purr and he chuckles.

“If you say your mother, respectfully I’ll vomit Gab.” Aaron says with a smirk and dodges my fist I try to send crashing into his jaw. Asshole knows it’s not my mother with all the noises I’m making. He laughs loudly and plops right back down next to me.

“Asshole.” I grumble, a little perturbed Aaron burst my Tempest bubble.

“Why were you yelling at your mother earlier?” He asks as he takes a long pull from his beer. I can tell by the heavy way his face rests that something other than my mother is on his mind.

“You and alpha cluster arguing again?”

Cluster was my barely respectful name I had given our alpha, Aaron’s father. Cluster was short for cluster f**k because alpha James was a walking talking cluster f**k. Anything the alpha touched turned to s**t and it wasn’t magic or curses, the man was just an i***t. He’s once f****d up patrol rotation so badly we almost had fifty rogues giving us lap dances in broad daylight. The alpha now parades women all through the packhouse where Aaron’s mother, the Luna, once was the true alpha of this pack. Definitely not Captain Cluster. And drumroll please but my brain saved the worst for last. The great and mighty alpha cluster also managed to gamble the entire f*****g territory right out from under about three thousand pack members.

I truly thought Aaron would kill him that night. This had never been Cluster’s pack. This was the home pack of Aaron’s mother, the alpha blooded Luna. The man gambled away his dead mate and their son's legacy. Worthless f*****g bastard and Aaron agrees wholeheartedly. Yes, he loves his father but he has no respect for him. Luckily for the pack, the Luna had left her son a small fortune just for him and Aaron used that money to bail the pack out. Technically, right now Aaron was alpha and I was beta but we had to complete courses and graduate to take the positions. Cluster was on borrowed time and he knew it. For years Aaron’s been uncovering the underhanded depts his father had sunk to without his mother.

When I notice Aaron still hasn’t answered me, I know he’s avoiding answering the question. It can’t be good if he’s not just saying it.

“I don’t really know.” Aaron says coldly. When it involves Captain Cluster neither Aaron and I have the stomach to laugh. I motion for him to continue but he drags a tired hand through his dark hair.

“He’s up to something because he wanted to know if you and I wanted to go back early.” Now that has my attention. James never wanted us to leave early because our time spent at home was always split between Tempest and fixing whatever Aaron’s father had f****d in our absence.

“Any ideas on what? We’ve got a few more days to try and figure it out.” I lean in on reflex and lower my voice but Aaron shakes his head.

“Ok, well that’s not good.” I groan and Aaron just drags his hand through his hair again. If we had to continue putting out Cluster’s fires we would both be bald.

Kicking my heels up on the railing of the outside balcony, I try letting my mind go back to my sweet Tempest.

“On a side note we still need to interview for our gamma position. I think we should check out that Melville kid.” Aaron says softly and I nod. The kid’s name was a bit of a mouthful but he was a pretty good empath and if Aaron ever found his mate that boy would be her guard. It was something we had to consider seriously for the future. I hope like hell Tempest would finally shift and we would be fated. I wouldn’t need a delta to help her, I would protect my baby!

I could hear Aaron talking about that gamma but I was already miles away. Just the idea of being able to walk up to my Tempest and growl MINE at her had my d**k trying to make frenemies with my zipper. One wrong zipper friction rub away from having to explain to a man I grew up with why I just randomly shot my load in his presence. f**k me I needed to stop thinking about Tempest before Aaron’s nose picked up the lust that was just hanging around near in the air.

“Help.” A small familiar voice whimpered from our living room.

“Tempt!” Aaron jumped up when we both heard the heartbreak in her voice. I bumped Aaron aside with my large shoulders and walked quickly past him. When I saw her my heart sank. It wasn’t about what she was wearing but more about how she stood. Someone had broken my baby, and they would suffer. Even if it was my own f*****g mother. Her shoulders slumped and there was no mistaking her scent drenched in fear and anxiety. Under that was the fresh scent of tears and many of them.

“What happened?” Aaron asked almost desperately as he pulled her into his body. I was almost scared to touch her because she had shrunken down into herself. It looked like she was trying to hide from the world in mine and Aaron’s clothes. My heart crashed around painfully inside my ribs as I sandwiched her between mine and Aaron’s chests.

“They're selling me.” So broken was the sound of her rich high voice. I took her away from Aaron with a growl and sat down with her on the couch. Aaron sat beside us and we both curled around our heartbroken friend.

“What do you mean?” Aaron asked her softly and she shrugged.

Something’s obviously happened to our sister! Aaron growled menacingly through our link.

Someone’s f*****g dead! I growl back and he knows I mean it. I’m pretty even most days and even for an alpha so is Aaron but if you f**k with our Tempest you’ve asked for hell, loud and clearly. As her friends, brothers, and whatever the f**k I am, Aaron and I will take care of it. We had been taking care of it since right after she came here. No one was allowed to mess with our girl!