Sins of Time (Book 4 of Desert Series)

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Sin

Life is unpredictable if my time as a human and werewolf has taught me anything. Even after all the curveballs, it had thrown my way, I always kept my head above water and managed to thrive in any situation. But this Chiquita will be the first to admit that I was lost and miserable being separated from Allie during her postpartum depression treatment. The two of us were used to steamrolling our way through anything and everything that stood in our paths, but things were different this time. Everyone knew it would take time for Allie to heal, but I don’t think that any of us expected it would last for a whole year—and it’s been challenging. Not even two months after Allie left, I gave birth to our daughter, Briana, aka Brie. I still get emotional when I think about Allie missing out on those early moments, but I knew this wasn’t about me and blamed the hormones. As long as my best friend returned to us, happy and healthy, I would go through hell and back with zero hesitation.

Once Allie was cleared to have visitors, Leah and I decided to make a visitation schedule so Allie could see everyone equally and figured it would motivate her to work even harder to come home. Dorian and the kids were obviously first on that list, and we decided it was easiest to go in order by rank. We included Jed and the others, along with some Omegas at home who also wanted to visit her. Leah and I tried to accommodate as many pack members as possible, but unfortunately, we couldn’t let everyone know where she was.

After a year of treatment and using some rare magic—courtesy of our new friends, Rylee and Lexie—Allie was finally coming home. As soon as Brandon heard the excellent news from Dorian, he quickly spread the word to the pack, and everyone wanted a party to welcome her home. But it turned out that she would be home faster than we realized, so we settled on having a surprise greeting instead. Since it was all last minute, Leah, Sam, Lacie, and I prepared it all and made sure that we, at least, had a banner hanging out on the front of the packhouse. To say that Allie was shocked when she arrived home would be an understatement, considering she isn’t all that fond of surprises. But this one, I think, was very much welcomed.

“SURPRISE! WELCOME HOME, LUNA!” the pack screamed in unison. Allie grabbed her chest from the near-heart attack, but her eyes filled with tears.

“b***h, don’t cry!” I shouted before crashing into Allie, giving her one of my signature bear hugs.

“Screw you, skank,” Allie replied and hugged me back while crying into my shoulder, which eventually made me cry too.

“Don’t hog her, slut!” Leah hollered, interrupting our sob fest.

“Yeah, hoe!” Sam and Lacie also chimed in, causing Allie to burst into a fit of laughter, and we all ended up sharing a big group hug. Mikey and Brandon eventually had their turns, along with the other pack members, who were just as excited to have Allie back. Now that Allie and Mercury were in sync again, so were our wolves as The Desert Trio. Allie was much calmer and back to her happy self before all the drama with Heather started three years ago.

“Speech! Speech! Speech!” Pack members were cheering left and right as Allie made her way to the center of the roundabout after greeting everyone. It was nice to see that everyone still adored our Luna as much as they did before her absence, if not more.

“I have missed all of you so much, every single one of you. I know that not everyone could come to visit me while I was away, but I knew and felt that your hearts were with me. I’m sorry I couldn’t be the Luna everyone needed me to be, but I promise I will do my best to become the Luna you deserve. Thank you all for trusting me and for the wonderful surprise welcoming me home. I truly love every one of you, even if I don’t show it as often as I should. It is my honor to take back my place as Luna of the Desert Moon pack. That is if you all will have me.”

“LUNA!” Everyone howled together as a pack and bowed down to signal our submission to her. I raised my head slightly to see tears in Allie’s eyes as she sobbed and acknowledged everyone. She gave the order to rise, and the pack beamed at her before resuming their daily work. We planned to celebrate her return in full later in the week, but until then, it was business as usual.

“Where are my kids?” Allie asked.

“Ben and Eleanor took them to see Amber and Ronnie. It’s Cassius’ birthday this weekend, remember?” I told her.

“Oh, that’s right. Dammit, I was hoping to spend time with my pups.”

“Don’t worry, we can spend all the time in the world with our pups when they come back,” Dorian told Allie, approaching her from behind. “I think we should spend some time alone now that you’re home,” he growled in her ear as Allie smiled and held onto his arms.

“Don’t you have to go to work, Dorian?” I asked him. Allie snickered at my question.

“Today is my day off,” Dorian insisted.

“Yeah, right. It’s been your day off ever since Allie went away. She’s back now, so you go to work and let the poor girl breathe!”

“Sin, I haven’t had s*x with my wife for a whole year!”

“Bullshit, mister! I know for a fact that you guys had quickies during visits without the kids!”

“Those don’t count!” Dorian whined.

“Dorian, go to the office. I know you’ve been neglecting work because of me. I’m honestly a little tired after our adventure today, and we can make up for the lost time when you get home.” Allie cracked out the whip, and Dorian grumbled in disapproval but agreed, nonetheless. After he and Mikey left for the office, I locked arms with Allie and dragged her into the house.

“Nick, will you put her bag away in her room, please?” Leah asked her guard.

“Sure thing, Beta. Welcome home, Luna!” he said once more before picking up her bag and taking it upstairs as instructed. The rest of the girls followed us into the dining room, where Mrs. Johnson and Katie already had tea and freshly made shortbread cookies waiting for us.

“Luna, it’s so good to have you back!” Mrs. Johnson greeted her before giving her a motherly hug.

“I missed you, Mrs. Johnson,” Allie replied, hugging her back.

“Luna, welcome home!” Katie said and hugged her also.

“Thank you, Katie.” Allie looked around and smiled. “I’m guessing the shortbread cookies are from you, Katie?”

“Sure are. New and improved. Give them a try!” Katie said excitedly. Allie picked one up and took a bite, moaning instantly. A huge smile appeared on Katie’s face because, except for Allie, we all knew her baking skills had become top-notch over the past year.

“These are so good, Katie! Your other ones were good too, but these are … Oh my god!” Allie moaned while taking another bite.

“Oh, I’m so glad you like them!” Katie squealed and gave Mrs. Johnson a high-five.

“I love them! You have to make these all the time. The kids would love these!”

“Oh, girl, our pups love them and have become their daily snack. The amount of butter we have to keep in stock now is crazy!” I told her and dragged her away from the island to sit at the table. Without missing a beat, Katie and Mrs. Johnson brought over the tea and some more cookies as we sat down.

“Seriously, Katie, you need to sell these!” Allie gushed while taking another one off the plate.

“I’m so glad you said that! Because I’m going to!” Katie squealed. All of us just smiled since we had already heard the good news.

“You are?” Allie asked and looked at her in surprise.

“Simba and I are opening a bakery delivery service!” Katie clapped and jumped for joy.

“THAT’S GREAT! I’m so excited for you guys! What are you going to call it?”

“We’re going to call it ‘Lion King’s Baked Goods.’ Since his name is Simba and my wolf’s name is Nala, it’s only fitting.”

“Nice!” Allie exclaimed and gave her a high-five. “Can’t wait to order some of the yummy treats you’ll be making!”

“Oh, Luna, you’ve pretty much already tried everything. The Andes chocolate cake is on the menu, these shortbread cookies, and, oh! Even my double chocolate chip muffins will be available too.”

“Katie, you’re about to give many humans diabetes with your baked goods. I’m so proud and happy for you guys. Let me know when you’re officially open for business. I’ll be your first customer.”

“Luna, you don’t have to do that.”

“Katie, your baking skills are some of the best in this house now, if not the best. No offense to Mrs. Johnson.”

“None taken, dearies!” Mrs. Johnson shouted from the kitchen, making all of us smile.

“I would be more than happy to support you, Simba, and the twins. This is exciting for your guys.”

“Allie, you do realize that if they get good business, Simba will be too busy making deliveries to be your guard, right?” After Leah dropped this unexpected bomb on her, Allie’s face was full of surprise, and Katie froze in her spot. Realizing that her facial expression may have caused this reaction from Katie, Allie quickly recovered as she smiled and nodded at us.

“Well then, I guess it’s time I find a new guard.” All of our mouths dropped in total shock.

“Luna?” Katie asked, clearly as stunned as everyone else.

“I know I’ve always said that I would never replace Simba, but I can’t be selfish when it comes to him anymore. The fact of the matter is, I kept him as my guard not just because he’s great at it but because he is one of my best friends. But after what happened last year with the whole Heather situation and Simba almost dying because of it, I realize it’s time to let him retire from guard duties so he can be here at the packhouse as a pack warrior. Plus, you’ll need Simba’s full support with this new endeavor. So, I’ll talk to Dorian when he gets home later, and we will start the search for a new guard. But for now, let’s have Leroy and Simba switch. This way, Simba can gradually reduce his responsibilities, and Leroy can get used to being the point.”

“Thank you so much, Luna!” Katie cried out and hugged her again.

“It’s my pleasure, Katie. Now, I suggest you make more of these cookies for dessert because I will definitely want some more. Perhaps with a little confectioner sugar on top?” Allie suggested.

“Of course! I’ll get right on that!” Katie was all too happy to comply with Allie’s suggestion and ran off to the kitchen.

“Did she just skip?” Sam asked, trying not to laugh.

“Katie has always been a skipper when she gets super excited,” Leah replied. “Allie, that was seriously really nice of you to do. I can’t imagine having to let Nick or Sly go. And I almost had to.”

“For real. The thought of losing Paxton or Joel is enough to break my heart,” I said in agreement. Our guards were some of our closest friends and confidants; they’d been there for us since we arrived at this pack.

“Simba’s done more for me than anyone could have ever asked. He almost gave his life to protect me, and that’s something I can never ask him to do again. It’s actually why I had Dorian make him Katrina’s godfather. He saved her life, so I owe him more than just mine; I owe him hers.” As everyone smiled and nodded, we noticed Leah’s eyes suddenly clouded over.

“Ummm … That was Dingo. He said a young woman at the gate is looking for you, Allie.”

“Me? I just got home. Who would be looking for me?” Allie asked.

“Hold on.” Leah’s eyes clouded over again. “Dingo said she claims to be your cousin.”

“COUSIN!?” We all turned our attention to Allie.

“Oh s**t. Oh s**t! Uhhh … Sam, link anyone in wolf form roaming the pack grounds to shift back and put clothes on. Tell them no one is allowed to shift until given approval by me!” Allie shouted.

“b***h, what is going on?” I asked her.

“My cousin is human!” Sam immediately linked all pack members, and once it was confirmed that no wolves were running around, Allie permitted Leah to tell Dingo to let her cousin come in.

“Wait, any chance this is the same cousin who hit on the boss at the charity event last year?” Sam asked with one eyebrow lifted.

“More than likely,” Allie replied.

“She what!?” Lacie asked in disgust.

“Long story short, that charity event we attended last year wasn’t all that great and was run by my maternal side of the family. Assuming it’s my cousin, Nari, aka Sarah, outside, her husband was the event coordinator for the whole thing, but the company in charge belongs to my maternal grandfather. Nari and I had some choice words with each other, and my identity came out, or rather, I blurted out whom I was in front of everyone, embarrassing my maternal grandparents and smearing their names in the process. Nari ended up apologizing for hitting on Dorian and talking smack to me, and her mom was actually on my side when she heard what had happened. I, however, shunned them and told them that I didn’t accept them as family,” Allie explained.

“So, this cousin of yours. She’s from your maternal grandparents' side?” I asked, making sure I understood, to which Allie nodded. “Oh, hell no!” I stood up from my chair, immediately making my way to the packhouse entryway, and heard a car about to pull up outside the front door. This b***h thinks she can just waltz in here and try to start s**t with my girl. I don’t f*****g think so.