The Orphaned Luna

Chapter 4

"I believe the young lady said no," came a deep voice after Callum had been ripped off me.

I scurried to straighten my clothing before sitting up to see three very handsome guys in front of me. One right in front of Callum with his hand on his chest to keep him from moving back towards me and the other two standing on each of my sides.

I don't know the two next me, but the one that pulled Callum off me seems familiar. As I studied his face, I heard Callum yell at the guy, "Stop being a c**k block dude and mind your own business!"

Callum tried to push past him, but the guy stopped him again. "She is my business" he replied in a dangerous tone.

Hearing that, Callum turned his attention to him. "And who the f**k are you to her?" he spat out. Turning his attention to me now, "This the guy you'd rather f**k than me?"

The guy laughed, which only pissed Callum off more. "Not that it's any of your business, but I'm her cousin."

"She's an orphan. She has no family. So I'll tell you again to mind your own fu**en business," Callum spat out. Hearing him say he was my cousin. I stood and began to walk closer to him.

Like he could feel my presence getting closer, he turned around and smiled at me. "Hello, Zadie." My eyes went wide when I realized it really was my cousin, Donovan. Holy s**t! How? I didn't think I had any family left since I was left in the human foster system after my parents were killed.

"Donovan? Is that really you?" He didn't even have to answer my question. Somehow, I just knew. And Akira knew. It was like a sense of familiarity washed over us. I instantly ran to him and wrapped my arms around his neck while his arms went around my back, picking me up off the ground and spinning me around, much like we used to do when we were kids.

Flashes of our time together as kids flooded my mind and all my memories came back as he held me in his arms.

With laughter and tears in my eyes, he placed me back on the ground. I couldn't take my eyes off him, like I didn't really believe he was there in front of me. "How are you here right now?"

"Let's go get some coffee, and I'll fill you in on everything" he said while turning back towards the boardwalk with his hand on my lower back, leading me in that direction. "Zadie! Where the f**k do you think you're going?" I hear Callum yell out as he tries to reach for my hand.

Stopping and turning back to face Callum to push him away from me, Donovan replies for me. "Dates over, man. Take the hint. I'll make sure she gets home. And if you ever touch her again, I'll kill you."

Placing both hands up in surrender and backing away, Callum began to collect all the stuff he had brought to the beach as Donovan, his two friends and I walked towards the parking lot where I saw a blacked out SUV parked next to Callum's Jeep.

As we got closer, Donovan walked to the other side, while one of the guys opened the back door to allow me to climb in. Donovan slid in from the other side to sit next to me, while the other two sat in the front.

As we began to drive away, Donovan started to speak. "I went to your foster house looking for you. Your friend Skyler told me where you'd be, once I told her who I was to you." That makes sense. Skyler and I always wondered what it would be like if we had family out there that wanted us.

At eighteen, though, I had lost hope that would ever actually happen. "After all this time, how did you find me? I thought something had happened to you and Aunt Maggie since I was left in the human foster system."

"Honestly, it's a long story, but you deserve to know the truth." With a sigh, he began, "Twelve years ago, when your family went on vacation and never came home, I was told your family left the pack and moved to the West Coast. It wasn't until Mother died that I learned the truth from her journals. When you and your family were in the car accident, they called my mother to see if she'd take you in. Mother, having no concern for anyone other than herself, told the authorities that she didn't have the means to care for you. So that left you in the human foster system with no other family."

I remember Aunt Maggie. She was hardly around, leaving Donovan with my parents for months at a time to gallivant around with whatever guy she was dating at the time. But I still can't believe she wouldn't take me in to be with my own kind.

"Mom died a month ago. When I started to clean up the house, I found her journals. That's when I learned she lied to me, the former Alpha and the entire pack about what happened to you and your family. When I found your birth certificate and realized your eighteenth birthday was coming up, I had to fast track finding you. It took me a little while to track you down, but as soon as I found out where you were, I headed out to come get you. To bring you home."

Sitting there, stunned at what Donovan had just said, I realized we pulled up to the coffee shop. The two guys in the front got out to go get some drinks while Donovan and I stayed in the SUV, to keep our conversation going.

Looking at the two guys coming back to the car, Donovan says, "That's Gamma Zeke, and our head warrior Reggie. You can speak freely in front of them."

"Why such heavy man power to come get me?" I asked, a little confused. "Since you've been gone, and your Dad basically raised me, I took over as Beta when I turned eighteen, three years ago. Since your Father was a Beta, you have Beta blood, but not only that, your Mother was a witch, so you are very special. You may have some powers you are about to come in to with your first shift, so I wanted to be safe."

"Powers? What sort of powers?"

"I'm not sure. Mother's journals didn't have anything about it in them. Your wolf may know. Has she come to you yet?" he asked me while taking a sip of his coffee.

"She has. Only to introduce herself and to tell me to hang on when Callum was trying to....you know. Like she knew you were close."

"She could sense our wolves," he told me. "I'm sure you haven't been around many, if any, wolves, so she knew we were coming for you when she could sense us. Smart girl," he said with a smile on his lips.

As the SUV started to move again, I could see we were headed back to the foster house. "So what now?" I asked him. "Well, the next full moon is in three weeks. You need to move in with me by then. You'll have your own room on the Beta floor. I'll leave it up to you as to when you make the move, but it needs to be before the next full moon."

As we stopped out front of the house, I sat there for a minute taking everything in. "Here, take this," Donovan said while handing me a cell phone. "My number is already programed in, so you can reach me anytime. Call or text me when you have made a decision as to when you are going to move in, and I'll make the arrangements to pick you up."

With that, I took the phone and got out of the SUV.