A Devotion to Purity (The True Luna Series Book 2)

Chapter 8

“Everything else is fine otherwise?” Larry asks Talia over Facetime. His face softens like always every time he’s talking to his sister. He misses her so much; they don’t see each other often.

“Yes,” Talia says, pouting when she answers him. “I just don’t think that dad is being fair. What’s wrong with me visiting New York this summer? I miss you and you never visit.”

“Hey, sweetheart,” says Seth, joining the conversation without shame when he’s not invited to. “You’re getting prettier by the minute. How’s that you’re not my fated mate again? Moon Goddess is so cruel, you know that? Because you belong to me, love.”

Talia blushes and giggles while Larry sighs. “And you still need to ask why dad doesn’t let you visit? If you can’t figure that out by yourself, let me give you the answer in one word: Seth.”

“Ouch!” Seth protests. “That hurts.”

“That’s true, though,” Steele says, joining the family conversation that he is also not invited. “Hello, sweet Talia. How are you today? Gosh, you are ravishing, aren’t you?”

Talia blushes and giggles some more, making Larry sighs again. “That’s reason number two. You are not mated with these two scumbags; they’re just going to break your heart.”

“Number one,” Steele argues. “I’m not a scumbag, Seth, yeah. Number two, of course Talia can visit for the summer. We’ll have a good time.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Larry mutters. “I swear to Goddess, Talia. I just can’t.”

“Dude,” Seth says. “We’ll be in our best behavior. I’m not always a man whore.”

“You are,” Steele disagrees. “You’re always a man w***e. I am however, only a man w***e from time to time. Talia is safe with me.”

Larry wants to argue but stops when he sees a woman walks towards them with a beautiful smile on her beautiful face. “Stop it, children,” she says, while shaking her head. “The Alpha King will be here any seconds now. He’s not here to listen to you bicker like you’re still five.”

All of them smile at the woman, Steele’s mother. Steele and Seth walk towards her to kiss and hug her while Larry stays behind to finish his conversation with his little sister.

“Who’s that Larry?” Steele’s mother, Daphne Wilder, asks.

“It’s my sister, Ms. Wilder,” Larry answers.

“Oh,” Daphne says. “Sweet Talia, please tell her I say hi, will you?”

Larry nods. “Will do,” he says, does just that, and ends the call. He walks towards Daphne to kiss and hug her like the other two.

Daphne sighs. “You boys,” she says. “I can’t believe not even one of you has found your fated mate. What’s wrong with you all?”

“Too busy working,” Larry answers, pointing towards Steele.

“Too pretty for a man,” Steele says, pointing towards Seth.

“Too scary, period,” Seth says, pointing towards Larry.

They all laugh, a man walks towards them. A smile is decorating her handsome face. “Everybody’s having a good time?” he asks.

They smile back at him, coming to him one by one to hug the man. “Hello, uncle Jeremy,” Steele says. “All is well?”

“All is always well with me, my boy,” he says. “When has it ever not? You talk like we don’t see each other every weekend.”

“Touché,” Steele answers, grinning. He and his men come every weekend because they need to let their wolves run free. They can’t do that in New York City.

Jeremy Wilder is Daphne’s little brother, a warrior for the Northernland. The Alpha King Harvey assigned him to guard his own sister, Daphne, and her children. When Steele was born, he was sent to live with his mother and uncle in a gated community in the Upstate New York. There are not a lot of houses (although mansions are more like it) in that gated community, the owners of the houses are all werewolves from the Northernland Kingdom. Seth and Larry were also raised there.

Jeremy Wilder lost his fated mate at a very young age. They were both eighteen when a drunk truck driver hit his fated mate, killing her on impact. Since then Jeremy was no longer interested in mating with anyone. He refused to choose a mate, agreeing to take the responsibility of helping his sister raising her children instead. From time to time, he would disappear to appease his s****l tension with the help of a woman or two he found in a bar or a place like that. He’s very secretive about it, though.

“The King is here,” Jeremy says. “Get ready, people.”

Steele and his men nod, solemnly walking towards the main gate, waiting for the Alpha King’s convoy to arrive. When the royal car pulls over, they stand at attention. The Alpha King Harvey North of the Northernland Kingdom gets out of the car alone, his entourage are all inside the second and third cars behind him. Gamma Drake gets out of the car number two and waits for the King to move. When the Alpha King walks towards the gentlemen, his Gamma follows behind.

The King pays his attention first to Jeremy, both men hug and change pleasantries. The Alpha King then looks at Seth and Larry. “Boys,” he says. “Long time no see, all good?”

Seth and Larry bow in respect before nodding. “Very well, Alpha King,” Seth answers. “Thank you for asking, long time indeed, Sir.”

“We hope you’re good as well, Alpha King,” Larry says.

The Alpha King laughs. “I am, thank you,” he says before paying his attention to his son. His smile is different now, more genuine, more loving. He comes closer and hugs him for a long time, doesn’t seem like he wants to let him go.

Steele hugs him back. “Father,” he says. “I hope you’re well.”

The Alpha King waves his concern off, he even slaps his son’s back in a playful manner. “Of course, I’m well,” he says. “What are you talking about, stupid kid.”

Steele smiles but doesn’t say anything. His father is lying, he’s not well. He hasn’t been well since the death of his son, Steele’s brother, six years ago. He wants revenge. Hell, Steele too wants revenge, but they still can’t figure out how.

“Let’s go inside and see your mother,” the Alpha King says.

Steele nods. “Let’s go, father,” he says.

Daphne Wilder runs towards her lover when she sees him coming into the foyer. She ambushes him with hugs and the Alpha King catches her before swinging her around. They both laugh like teenagers. The gentlemen look away, embarrassed.

“My love,” the Alpha King says. “Still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

Daphne laughs her sweet laugh. “And you, my King,” she gushes. “Still the most handsome man I’ve ever seen.”

True, on both accounts, Steele has to admit. Both his parents are perfect specimens. His father is handsome while his mother is gorgeous. It’s unfortunate that she’s not his Luna Queen. She’s only his mistress even though they both are fated mates.

The King takes Daphne into their room, and the other men can finally exhale.

“Are they doing it?” Larry whispers.

“No, asshole,” Steele answer, giving him the stink eye. “He hasn’t seen my sister yet and they’ve got all night. Although, perhaps they might do a quickie.”

“They might, Alpha Prince,” says Gamma Drake, chuckling. “The King misses your mother so much. The last time he was here was almost six months ago.” He then comes closer to greet the whole group, paying more attention to Larry, the future Gamma.

“Hello, Gamma Drake,” Larry greets him. He lowers his head a little, showing respect. “How are things at the kingdom?”

“Things are good, son,” Gamma Drake answers. “Nothing incredibly interesting. Are you ready for tomorrow?”

Steele and his men nod. Gamma Drake is talking about the fight they have to perform in front of the King. From time to time they need to show the King their capabilities. They’re going to lead a vast kingdom, they can’t slack. New York City must not weaken them.

“Seth is happy that the fight is going to be tomorrow,” Larry says, teasing his friend.

“Oh,” Gamma Drake says, c*****g an eyebrow. “And why is that? A warrior must be ready to fight at any time.”

“He spent his night entertaining a lady,” Larry answers with a smirk. “Now he’s beat.”

“Not true,” Seth counters. “Yes, I was entertaining a lady all night, but I’m not beat. I can still fight against a hundred werewolves and win.”

“Wow, a hundred werewolves, huh,” Steele says, shaking his head. “Put your money where your mouth is, why don’t you?”

“Gladly,” Seth says.

Jeremy and Gamma Drake laugh. “Come on,” Jeremy says. “Let’s go out so our wolves can run, they need it. Let the Alpha King has his moment with his family.”

They nod and follow him towards the woods behind the gated community. Steele sighs, he’s not joining them, opting to see his sister instead.

His sister, Isabel, is lying on her bed when he comes into her room. She’s not sleeping, she’s just resting. Steele gives her a smile and motions towards her nurse to leave the room. The nurse nods and lowers her head before walking away.

Isabel is twenty-seven, his twin. Like Steele, she was also sent to the Upstate New York to live with their mother and uncle. Damon was the only one who stayed at the kingdom, living the life of a future king until his demise. Isabel is a runt; she has always been sickly and weak since birth. Sometimes, she’s too weak to even sit on her bed. She’s that fragile it’s a wonder she’s still alive. When Damon died, people kept the news from her for months until Steele decided to tell her. She was beside herself upon hearing it, couldn’t believe that the Moon Goddess took him instead of her. After that, she got even weaker. Like it could happen, to get even weaker.

“Hi, my love,” Steele greets her, kissing her crown with such tenderness. He made sure that he’s clean before seeing her. She’s prone to get sick from even the tiniest of germs. “How are you?”

Isabel tries to laugh. “Oh, my darling brother,” she says. “What you see is what you get with me.”

Steele turns around, doesn’t want Isabel to see a tear that threatens to escape. He can’t do that; he can’t cry in front of her. “Well,” he says instead. “You’re looking good if you ask me.”

Isabel tries to laugh again but doesn’t argue with his brother. “Has father arrived, yet?” she asks instead, already losing her energy. Simply talking taking up a lot of energy from her.

Steele hates how she suffers so much. “Yes,” he answers, trying to fill her with as much answer as possible so that she doesn’t have to ask. “He’s with mom now. You know them, those two can’t keep their hands off each other.”

Isabel tries to laugh again, Steele wished she didn’t. “Don’t I know it,” she says. “Please tell him to do a wash before he sees me.”

Steele laughs. “Sorry, sis,” he says, then winks. “I don’t think I can do that, I don’t wanna die yet. Mom will tell him, though, you know how protective she is of you.”

Ups, bad joke. Steele curses himself for making that joke. Isabel has been questioning Moon Goddess for letting her live and her brother die. She doesn’t think it’s fair, Damon was so strong and powerful, so full of life. And Damon loved her too. Isabel was his only weakness aside from his big ego.

Alpha Prince Damon North always thought that he could do anything, that he could conquer the world. He was afraid of nothing and was not happy that the Northernland Kingdom while big was still considered number two if compared to the Wolferaine Kingdom. That might be why he was inside Wolferaine during their civil war. He used the opportunity to kill the King of the Wolferaine, to show the world his supreme. But instead, he got killed. Well, it was just a theory, Steele couldn’t really attest to that. The truth of why Damon was there in the first place was still a mystery.

However, no matter how busy he was, Damon always made a point to visit Isabel. Since they lived far away in two different states, he could only visit once or twice a month. Most of his visits were unregistered. They were just Damon being stubborn and undermining the kingdom’s protocols. He knew that he would be reprimanded if the king found out but he didn’t care. He loved Isabel too much. She was his everything. He was angry at his dad, the King, for making Isabel live far away from him. And the King knew it.

After more than four months of not seeing him, Isabel started to realize that something was wrong. At first, they were able to lie to her, until Steele decided that they should just tell her the truth and brace for any possibilities that came with. Isabel was inconsolable, and got even sickly by the minute. Sometimes, Steele felt like his mom and dad blame him for that.

There’s a sound coming from the hallway, their parents are walking into Isabel’s room now.

“Baby,” the Alpha King says. His eyes widen in horror when he sees Isabel try to sit on the bed to welcome him. “No,” he shouts, jumping in a speed of lightning towards her. Hugging her tight. Steele winces, too tight. The Alpha King is so powerful, he might break her bones.

“What are you doing, baby,” the Alpha King asks, his body is shaking with fear and anger. “Do not try to move.”

“Father,” Steele says, as gentle as he could. “You might need to slowly let her go. You’re squeezing her, it won’t be good for her bones.”

“Oh, Moon Goddess,” the Alpha King groans, letting her go like she would break any seconds now. “My baby, my love. I’m sorry, sweetheart. Did I hurt you?”

Isabel doesn’t answer, she can’t answer. She can only cry. Her heart breaks into pieces. All her dad wants is just to love her, and he can’t even do that. She’s too fragile to accept his love. The Moon Goddess is too cruel, why can’t she just kill her now and get it over with. Put her, put all of these people that she loves so much out of their misery.

Their mom comes to hug Isabel from the other side, Steele has to move to give her way. “She’s fine, my love,” she says, trying to soothe the Alpha King.

The Alpha King turns away, trying hard not to show his family that he’s crying. He’s not successful. This is too much, Steele can’t handle it, too much. Their mother is lying, Isabel is not fine. She was sickly and after Damon passed, she was beyond help.

He needs to get out of there. He can’t handle it anymore he feels like breaking things. Steele grabs a vase full of wilted flowers on the night stand. What the f**k, how come the nurse didn’t bother changing them. “Let me bring these out,” he says, finding an excuse to leave the room. “They’re dying. I’ll get new ones.”

“No,” his mother shouts. Her voice is urgent. “Leave the flowers, don’t touch them.”

“Geez, mom.” Steele says, stunned. He raises both his hands in a mock surrender. His parents are crazy when it comes to Isabel. “Okay, hold your horses.” With that, he leaves.

Fuck, Damon! Steele cursed. What the f**k were you doing getting involved in another kingdom’s affair. Now look at you, i***t! You’re dead! You’re f*****g dead! And as a result, our sister that you claimed you love so much is getting even more sick. You’re to blame for this, Damon! Not me, I was just the messenger. You were the one who got yourself killed because you’re such a smug asshole!

I guess I have no other choice now, huh, dear brother? I have to avenge your death. One way or another. That Alpha King from the Wolferaine Kingdom must die. One way or another.

***