The Phoenix Wolf and his Luna

Death and Vodka

Fallon's POV

Looking into the eyes of my brother, my wolf was both hurt and excited to see him again. Franklin had gotten larger, broader, his muscles stretched across his tall frame. Mom’s family's auburn hair looked blood red in the daylight, his deep green eyes were those of my mother, and the tanned skin of our family was all our father, with his dark skin. The opposite of our mother, who had pale skin, auburn hair and sea-green eyes.

“What are you doing here, Fallon?” Frankie growled out.

I rolled my eyes, “I’m here to see your Alpha. I was hired.”

“You’re the third?” He was surprised.

My wolf grumbled in annoyance through my chest. I wasn’t going to be anyone’s sidepiece. I didn’t want to be anyone’s anything except for a friend. I had no interest in anyone, except Noe. That crush would never fade, it seemed. Rejection did something to wolves and for her, her wolf just stayed away. They would shift long enough to not go crazy, and on full moons, but besides that, Noe was as human as the kid she was raising.

“No, I’m not the third. Look, if your Alpha didn’t tell you, then I’m bound by client privilege. Can you just link him and tell him that I’m here? The sooner I get there, the better and then I can go home.”

Frankie’s eyes glazed over.

I had to admit I did miss mind linking with the pack. At least my family. Since we were rogues, we didn’t have an Alpha and therefore no one to swear our lives to. There was a bond, but it wasn’t anything like the pack bond, the blood bond. Hell, Frankie, Freya and I were triplets. We had our own bond, but it was severed the second they cut me out of their lives.

“He’s expecting you. I’m supposed to escort you to the packhouse.” Frankie got in my truck and guided me. It wasn’t something I could forget, despite my trying. I could find the packhouse with my eyes closed, I could still find my parents’ house. If I knew Freya and if her mate was in the pack, she lived a few doors away. As we pulled up to the driveway to the packhouse, I noticed exactly how much had changed. Instead of the black mansion that had always terrified me growing up, it had been completely redone to look like a modern 4-story hotel.

I noticed Serenity trying and very obviously not holding onto a little boy with blonde hair while keeping another infant strapped to her chest. Alpha James, who I assumed was the man standing tall with his shoulders back in a silvery gray suit, looked down at the little boy before the boy looked up at his parents and stood tall next to his father.

I got out of the truck, rearranging my skirt. I hated these things, but professionalism was key. Last night, I looked up Titan’s pack. They were on their way to taking up most of the smaller packs in the state, and there were not any large packs. California, Texas, Montana and Alaska had the largest packs in the country. Their Alpha, Cillian Donahue, had been in charge of the pack for 10 years. Killing his father for control. His father, Talon Waters, was a tyrant, hastily killing fox dens across the state. Why foxes specifically, no one knew, but there were a few rumors that he killed packs in Europe. He just took out many more dens.

Alpha James shook my hand and led me into his office, settling the little boy in a small chair next to his. Alpha training, though now he wouldn’t be. Alpha Cillian’s heir would be. He gave me access to the pack records, land, the businesses and even had lunch set up for me. I set to work. I worked until Alpha James knocked on the door, inviting me for dinner. I really had no interest in staying in the pack longer than I needed to. I would do the work I needed and then leave. I would rather spend the rest of my life alone in my apartment, than see the faces of the people that threw me out.

As I was gathering my things to leave, I felt a shiver run through my spine, as someone came into the office. I stopped moving as I felt the wolf of my sperm donor watching me. I knew his face would be in the same scowl I had grown up with. No matter what I did, I wasn’t good enough for him. I was, sadly, the first born, so I should have been the one who took over his position as head warrior, or Delta, but our Gods had other ideas for my life. 8 years of being rogue, being in love with my best friend, the couple that took me in were close to death. At least I had a cushy job, and if I kept doing it well enough, I would be able to get my own house instead of the apartment I had since college.

“Fallon.” He growled.

“Devin.” He was no longer my father. I didn’t have to show him respect, he lost that right when he left my things on the front porch.

“You haven’t found a pack? You’ve spent all this time being nothing but a filthy rogue?”

Shocking! I couldn’t even be a rogue right. You would think that even after all this time he would at least congratulate me on being alive! I was, after all, a rogue. Granted, I lived in a town that was technically still apart of the pack, but that wasn’t the same as being in my pack. My family.

I huffed in response. There was no point in arguing with him. I had spent so much of my childhood trying to be good enough for him. It’s part of the reason I became a lawyer trying to prove it. I had always hated violence, but Devin always pushed me to train. I would spend hours running around the pack building my stamina. He had turned the basement into my personal gym. Devin was ashamed that I was his first born and didn’t want me to embarrass him at the training grounds. When we turned 16, he enrolled me in the training of the senior warriors. On the day of our 18th birthday, I was able to spar with Serenity’s brother, Canon. Until I smelled her and received the wonderful scar that was still prominent on my face.

“Why are you here? You were banished.”

“I’m working for Alpha James.” I stood in front of him. I wasn’t tall for a she-wolf, but I wasn’t tiny like my mom or my sister. I was average, but I still remembered my training. I wasn’t afraid of him, and I refused to back down.

Dad turned on his heel and left the office. I rushed out of the packhouse to my truck, sending a text to Alpha James that I would be back in the morning. I sped home, really not wanting to spend any more time there than was absolutely necessary. As I got out, my phone rang with a number I had both called and received so many times over the last month. I stared at it, not wanting to hear the news I knew was coming.

“Ignoring it won’t change the result, Malen’kiy volk (little wolf).” Vlad leaned against the door, eyes red.

The phone continued to ring, I finally answered. The voice was warbled as the news broke through. Thankfully, my wolf used her own hearing. I sank to my knees; Vlad wrapped his arms around me to keep me from crashing. She was gone. Gwen was dead, and once she died, we had all known Harvey wouldn’t be far from her. My body was racked with sobs, Vlad silently crying behind me. This was our family. It hurt us just as if it was our blood. They had taken us in, given us a home, a future when we didn’t have anything or anyone else. A job to make money, a truck we could use to make it to school. Now we had to take care of Raelynn, the diner.

Vlad let me cry until I had fallen asleep in his arms. When I woke up, I was in bed, in a pair of sweats and a tank top. Rolling over, Vlad was sleeping in the bed next to me, not the first time I had shared my bed with him. We had never hooked up, but on our lonely nights we at least needed another person next to us.

“It was all taken care of. Before you came home. The pack is getting the bodies today, and the burning is tonight.” Vlad whispered, in his thick accent, as he pulled me to his chest.

No matter how many times I looked at him, I was still amazed at his appearance. He had bright blue eyes, usually a clean-shaven face and a sharp nose and jaw line. Deep dimples that could make any girl drop her panties at just the sight. He was a lean muscular man, due to spending his days in the hot kitchen and most nights running around the town. He had volunteered to protect the town from supernaturals. He was one himself. What exactly he was no one was sure.

He moved around to his apartment to cook breakfast since my fridge only consisted of a 2-year-old ranch and beer. I hated beer but Vlad liked it, so I kept it around. We ate in silence; we didn’t bother opening the diner today, a tradition of wolves. We would go to their house and clean their things up. I sent a text to Alpha James explaining the situation, and he, of course, understood. As he was the Alpha, and they were still pack members.

I felt so wrong being in their home boxing things up. It was heart breaking knowing that their entire lives could fit in a room full of boxes. Raelynn hadn’t come out of her room the entire day. Vlad kept leaving food in front of her door, and when we checked the plate would be empty. At least she was eating.

Alpha James had sent a few pack house workers to help us load the things into a truck and we would be donating a lot of things back to the pack. As much as we didn’t like the pack, we had no use for their things. Vlad decided he would take one of the rooms in the house and stay with Raelynn and be close to the diner. He knew it better than I did anyway, and I wasn’t sure how long I would be working with Alpha James on the sale, and I didn’t want it to slip through the cracks.

“Are you sure you want to stay in the apartment, Fallon? There is another room.” Vlad asked for the millionth time, dropping me off at the apartment.

I shook my head. I couldn’t sleep in their room, even if I had moved my things into the house. It was theirs.

I made my way upstairs to my room. Noe was sitting on the couch holding out a bottle of vodka, my favorite. The tears were softly streaming down her face as she poured another drink for herself. I got myself a drink by sitting next to my best friend. It had been much too long since we had spent time together, and I hated that it was because the only parents we knew had died.

We drank silently together until both our bottles were empty. I was looking at Noe the way I always had. She had shiny baby soft skin that I wanted to run my hands over. She was beautiful and I wanted her. I leaned in closer, kissing the lips I had dreamed about so many times before. They were perfectly warm and everything I could have dreamed of. My wolf was conflicted between wanting to wait for our mate or being with someone who had loved us for so long. When she didn’t pull away, I brushed my tongue against her lips, loving her taste.

“Fallon.” She whispered against my lips.

I could feel her pulling away. As much as I wanted it to be, I wouldn’t force it. She was my best friend.

I leaned back against the couch, running my hands across my face. I couldn’t look at her. Now she knew how I had felt about her this entire time. I got up and went to my room, face planted on the bed. Still worth it.