What Once Was Mine

Chapter 1

*Troy*

My name’s Troy Blaney. I’m the Gamma, or third in command, for the Full Moon Pack. It's been four years since the Great War, and it's been about a year since our pack changed forever when our Alpha, Landon, met his second chance mate, Luna Malinda.

To say they had a rough start would be the understatement of the century. Landon and Mal have faced obstacle after obstacle, but as they say, love conquered all. As one of Landon's best friends, it was amazing to witness him fall in love and find his happiness.

Hey, what can I tell ya? I’m a sucker for a good love story. But it gets better! Come to find out that our Luna was destined to be Queen. We have not had a queen in hundreds of years up to that point. So now we are the Royal Full Moon Pack. Fancy, right? Ha, well, don't expect us to use titles here.

We only refer to Landon as King or Malinda as Queen when we try to get a rise out of them. Other than that, we are pretty normal around here.

Okay, maybe not normal… you see, our Luna is a f*****g kickass warrior. It’s insane how strong she is, and I genuinely believe she’s not afraid of anything. Mal is the only Luna I know that is in a wheelchair, and let me tell you right now, you would have no f*****g clue Malinda has a disability at all. She can kick some serious ass.

I’m beyond grateful to our Luna. If it weren't for specific events that occurred to our Luna, I might have never met my second chance mate, Trinity. She’s my sun, moon, and stars. We go together like peanut butter and jelly. I'm enjoying sitting here staring at her and all her amazing curves as she's bent over to pick up another gift to hand to her best friend, Cammy.

We're at a baby shower for my brothers and their mate. Yeah, you heard me correctly. My triplet brothers Tony, Tom, and Tim are all blessed to share one mate, Cammy. Damn, that girl is a trooper for putting up with their shenanigans, and heaven help her because she’s pregnant with triplet pups.

It really has turned into a great day. Not going to lie, I was a little wary at first because guys are generally not invited to these things, but we are all laughing and having a blast. I watch as the little ones run around, and all the ladies are gushing over the cute clothes. Oh well, at least there's good food and great company.

I notice when Malinda's head royal guard, Ben, enters the room with a very serious look on his face. He nods his head in greeting and heads right over to Landon. Ben shakes Landon's hand and passes him what looks to be a letter. The exchange between them is intense, and I watch as Landon's entire energy shifts as he reads. He passes the letter back to Ben, and he has the same reaction to whatever is written inside. What in the hell could be going down?

Landon looks pissed off but quickly builds a wall to hide his emotions from his pack. I see him sit back in his chair and glance over in the direction of his mate. He watches as she bounces their newborn daughter Summer on her lap. Then, as if sensing him, she looks up from her conversation, making eye contact with him. I can see the questions in her eyes.

Landon smiles at her, then glances over at me. "Hey… Troy, Trinity," he calls us over with a wave of his hand. I head over to his table and grab my mate on the way over.

"What's going on, babe?" I just shrug my shoulders and pull her along. "Slow down Troy… these heels are killing me."

"What's up Alpha?"

"I’ve a job for you. Pack your bags; you're going to Silver Moon." Ummm… Did I hear him correctly? That’s on the east coast of the country.

"Alpha, what could have happened to warrant a team to go out that way?" Trinity asks, her voice laced with concern.

Landon slides the letter over to me, and I’m absolutely floored by what I’m reading.

Dear Alpha Landon,

We have an issue here at Silver Moon. Since you are related to our Beta family, we thought we should inform you sooner rather than later. As you know, Sean went to Ireland to study abroad. While he was there, he wanted to do some research on his family's old pack. Unfortunately, we have been informed by the school he’s studying with that he went missing.

The next day there was a mysterious package delivered to the Beta family. The package exploded, and Rebecca, their daughter, took most of the blast. She’s currently in a coma, and we hope that her wolf will heal her when she turns 18 in a few days.

Please let me know if you can help us out in any way. We would be very grateful.

Sincerely,

Alpha Aaron - Silver Moon Pack

I pass the letter over to Trinity, I hear a small gasp as she slowly covers her mouth in shock. My head is swimming with what could’ve happened. Sean and I are close. I talked to him just a few weeks ago. f**k, and poor Becca! I only have two questions, what and how the f**k did it happen?

I catch Malinda looking over at us, concern written all over her face. I can tell that Landon has not shared this info with her yet. Both of their eyes are unfocused, and you can tell that they are mind-linking.

Let's be honest, it's probably one of the coolest things about being a werewolf. We can communicate telepathically. It’s very handy when wanting to have a private conversation or communicate while in wolf form… Ha, it's better than sexting! See, cool, right?

"Holy crap," Trinity mumbles. I nod my head in agreement.

I can see Mal eyeing all of us up. Apparently, Landon did not spill the beans. You can tell she’s trying to cut short the conversation she’s having. Ugh, Mal knows something is going on, and Landon is in deep s**t because he’s keeping her out of the loop. I see Landon's eyes and realize she’s chewing his ass out through their link. His face scrunches up in disgust… Ha, Malinda is ripping him a new one.

Alphas are very protective of their mates, and if the opportunity arises, they will keep them in the dark to protect them. They don't do it to be assholes; it's just in their nature to make sure their mate is safe. Your mate is the one perfect person that is created for you by our moon goddess.

Ninety percent of werewolves value our mates more than our own lives. But as males, we just tend to come across looking like 'captain caveman.' The only downfall is that relationships don't quite work that way. Communication is key, am I right, ladies?

"Alpha, I’m so sorry," Trinity says with a small tear in her eye. Landon is related to the Beta family. His mom and Renee, the Beta's wife, are cousins and were pretty close before Landon's parents were killed.

Landon gives Trin a kind smile of appreciation.

Now, my beautiful mate is a badass she-wolf with a heart of gold. She reaches for my hand under the table and gives it a tight squeeze. You can see her heart is breaking for our Alpha.

"Landon, what about Sean? They said he disappeared. This just seems all too coincidental, doesn't it?" Ben says as he steals a bite of cake off my plate.

"Dude," I scolded him with mock disgust.

Landon starts to say something when we hear, "Daddy? Daddy, where are you?" Knowing who that adorable voice belongs to, we all wave her over.

"Daddy, can Trevor and I go to the park?" Eloise asks as she skips over and dives onto Landon's lap.

He pulls her up, giving her a big hug,

"Who is going with you guys?" She smiles up at her dad, then reaches over and sneaks a cookie off Landon's plate.

"Oh, it's just me and Trevor."

Well, that gets all the guys' attention. You see, little Eloise is the adopted daughter of our Alpha and Luna, but as far as we are all concerned, she’s, their daughter. An let me tell you, she’s the coolest eight-year-old too. With her red hair and blue eyes, it’s genuinely odd how much she looks like Landon and Malinda. And this kid Trevor just always seems to be attached to her damn hip. The aunts think it’s adorable, but all her uncles... yeah, not so much.

"Alpha, we are going to take them." I look up to see Michael Richards and his mate Mika. They are Trevor's parents. They are making their way over from the dessert table.

"Mika, would you mind taking the kids? I need to talk to Michael for a bit. We are going to have to visit Silver Moon. There was an incident there, and we need to assist." Michael looks between Landon and me with interest and mouths a 'thank you' from behind Mika.

"Of course, Alpha Landon, please let me know if you need anything. My brother is the Alpha of Evergreen Woods. They are only two hours north of Silver Moon. If you need boots on the ground, I can give him a ring." That's right; I totally forgot that Mika was of Alpha blood. She’s one of our top female warriors, so it makes sense.

"Are you sure we need Michael's help? I think he could help the triplets with the rest of the party," I say as he stares daggers at me. I love getting under his skin. It's so freaking easy. Landon just rolls his eyes at us.

"Let's head up to my office and figure out a game plan." Landon kisses Ellie goodbye, and I run back to the buffet line to fill my plate back up because only the goddess knows how long we will be in this meeting for.

I turned around and noticed that Ben and Michael had the same idea. Landon turns around when he realizes we did not follow him to the door. "Get me one too, please," he says with a laugh. Trinity just rolls her eyes at us but caves and grabs a plate.

I just look at her with a sly smirk on my face. "What??? Ugh, I'm hungry, jackass."