Chapter 26
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Lina
I had just left the kids with Sarah and Serena when Cole grunted something about needing to be alone and walked away.
His shoulders were hunched, his gait unsteady, his whole body radiating a grief so profound it hurt just to look at him.
I wanted to say something. Wanted to offer comfort or reassurance or anything that might ease his pain.
But what could I possibly say? His son had been taken.
His one-night stand had used their baby as a weapon. No words could fix that.
Noah took a step after him, his expression torn between worry for his friend and duty to me.
“Go,” I told him. “He needs someone right now.”
Noah shook his head, his jaw tight. “I can’t leave you unprotected.”
“I have guards. I’m surrounded by wolves who would die before letting anyone touch me.” I put a hand on his arm. “Cole needs you more than I do right now.”
He still hesitated, conflict clear in his green eyes.
I sighed. There was no winning this argument. Knox had probably threatened to skin Noah alive if anything happened to me, and my brother-in-law was taking that threat very seriously.
“Fine,” I said. “Then I need coffee. Take me to the shop.”
Noah’s brow furrowed. “The shop?”
“Winter’s Books and Brews. My shop. I haven’t been there since...” I trailed off. Since before the coma. Since before everything fell apart.
He considered it for a moment, then nodded. “Okay. But we’re taking the guards.”
“Obviously.”
The walk through Ravenshollow took longer than expected. Noah kept stopping to scan the tree line, his body tense and ready for an attack that never came. The guards flanked us in a loose formation, their presence both reassuring and exhausting.
When we finally reached the shop, I stood on the sidewalk for a moment and just looked at it.
This wasn’t the original Winter’s Books and Brews.
That one was in Pine Valley, the building my parents had owned, the place where I had grown up surrounded by books and coffee and love.
This shop was Knox’s gift to me. He had recreated everything so I could feel near home even when I wasn’t in Pine Valley.
The interior was identical, every shelf and display and cozy reading nook replicated with painstaking detail. But the building itself was different.
Still, it was mine. Or close enough.
We walked inside and the smell hit me first. Coffee and old paper and something sweet baking in the back.
The scent triggered a flash of memory from my old days at the original shop.
Mornings spent helping my Mika and Vivi shelving books before opening.
The way the light came through those different windows.
“Luna!”
The barista behind the counter, a young woman with bright pink hair and multiple ear piercings, practically bounced with excitement. I glanced at her name tag. Emily.
“Hi, Emily,” I said, grateful beyond words for that little piece of plastic. “It’s good to see you.”
“We’ve been so worried about you! Mika said you were recovering but we didn’t know when you’d be back and I’m just so glad you’re okay!”
More employees emerged from the back. A tall guy with glasses. A woman with curly gray hair. A teenager who couldn’t be older than nineteen. All of them wearing name tags. All of them looking at me with genuine relief and affection.
I said hello to each of them, using their names, pretending I totally knew who they were. It felt strange, but what else could I do? They had been working for me for months, keeping this place running while my life spiraled into chaos.
I was in the middle of thanking Peter, the tall guy with glasses, for holding down the fort while I was gone and Mika was injured when I spotted a familiar face sitting at one of the corner tables.
Jasmine Thorne waved at me, a warm smile on her face. She was alone, a cup of coffee in front of her, a book open on the table.
I waved back, then turned to Noah. He was looking at the door, his posture rigid.
“Go,” I told him.
He made a frustrated sound. “Lina...”
“I’m in my own shop. Surrounded by my own employees. There are guards outside. And Jasmine is literally right there.” I pointed at the Moonfang luna. “I am safe. I am so safe I could not possibly be any safer. Now go check on Cole before I physically push you out the door.”
Noah hesitated, his eyes darting between me and Jasmine and the entrance. Then he grunted.
“You stay in this shop,” he said firmly. “You do not leave without texting me first. I will run back the moment you want to go anywhere. Understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
He glared at me. “I’m serious, Lina.”
“So am I.” I made a shooing motion with my hands. “Go. Be with your friend. I’ll be fine.”
He still looked uncertain, but he nodded and headed for the door. At the threshold, he paused and looked back at me one more time.
“Everything is fine!” I insisted. “Go!”
He went.
I watched him disappear down the street, then turned to grab the coffee Emily had already prepared for me. My usual order, apparently. I had no idea what it was, but it smelled amazing.
I walked over to Jasmine’s table and she gestured for me to sit.
“Luna Lina,” she said with a smile. “Or should I just call you Lina?”
“Just Lina is fine.” I slid into the seat across from her. “Please tell me you’re not here as a guard too. I might scream.”
She laughed, the sound bright and genuine. “No, I’m here because I needed to get away from the testosterone for a few hours. Ryder is lovely, but when he gets into planning mode with your mate, it’s all strategy this and patrol routes that and I start to lose my mind.”
“I know exactly what you mean.”
“Plus, I wanted to see your shop. Ryder told me about it. Said it was charming.” She looked around appreciatively. “He was right. It’s wonderful.”
“Thank you.” I took a sip of my coffee. Vanilla latte with an extra shot. Apparently past me had good taste. “It’s strange being here. I remember pieces of it, but not everything. There are gaps.”
Jasmine’s expression softened with understanding. “Knox mentioned you were dealing with memory loss. I’m sorry. That must be incredibly difficult.”
“It is. But it’s getting better. Every day, a little more comes back.”
We sat in comfortable silence for a moment, both of us sipping our drinks. Outside, I could see two of my guards standing at attention near the entrance. Inside, the shop hummed with quiet activity. Customers browsing. Employees chatting. The espresso machine hissing and gurgling.
Normal. Safe. Peaceful.
If I insisted on it enough, maybe it would become true.
“Can I ask you something?” Jasmine said.
“Of course.”
“What’s it like? Being a human luna?”
I considered the question. “Honestly? I don’t remember enough to compare it to anything else. But from what I’ve gathered, it’s…complicated. There are people who don’t think I belong. Who think Knox should have chosen a wolf.”
“Let me guess. One of those people is currently trying to destroy your life.”
I laughed, though there wasn’t much humor in it. “You could say that.”
“Tell me about her. About Mary. If you’re comfortable sharing.”
So I did.
I told Jasmine everything I knew, everything I had been told, everything I had managed to piece together.
About Mary’s obsession with my mate. About how she had threatened my pups, had sent burning blankets and knives in doors.
About the attack on my shop. About Mika getting stabbed.
About Isabella trying to inject me with sedatives while I lay unconscious in a hospital bed.
About waking up and not knowing who I was, who my children were, who the man crying at my bedside was.
By the time I finished, my coffee was cold and my throat was tight with suppressed emotion.
Jasmine reached across the table and squeezed my hand.
“I understand,” she said quietly. “More than you know.”
“You do?”
She nodded, her green eyes distant with memory. “Mira Bennett didn’t just appear in your life out of nowhere. Before she came here, before she started targeting you, she was in my pack. She was one of my tormentors.”
I sat up straighter, my attention sharpening.
“Mira and my mother-in-law schemed together for years to make me leave Ryder,” Jasmine continued. “They wanted me gone. Wanted me out of his life so someone more ‘suitable’ could take my place. Someone like Mira.”
“That’s horrible.”
“It was.” A sad smile crossed her face. “I’ve been in love with Ryder since we were young. I’m his sister’s best friend. We grew up together, knew each other our whole lives. When we finally got together, I thought that was it. I thought we would be happy forever.”
“What happened?”
“His mother happened. Mira happened. They made my life miserable. Convinced me that I wasn’t good enough, that I was holding him back, that he would be better off without me.” Her voice dropped. “I was pregnant when I ran.”
My heart clenched. “Jasmine...”
“I stayed away for years. Raised my son alone. Told myself it was better this way, that Ryder would move on and find someone worthy of him.” She shook her head.
“Then circumstances forced me to return to the pack. And he was there. Still single. Still waiting. Still in love with me after all that time.”
Tears pricked at my eyes. “How did you work through it?”
“It wasn’t easy. There was a lot of pain. A lot of anger. A lot of discovering old wounds and owning our mistakes. But eventually, we found our way back to each other.” Her jaw tightened. “Despite Mira’s continued threats and attacks. She never stopped trying to tear us apart.”
“And now she’s here,” I said quietly. “Doing the same thing to me.” I shook my head, frustration and confusion mixing together. “I don’t even know what I did to get her to target me. I’d never met her before any of this started.”
Jasmine’s expression hardened. “Well, if she’s friends with Mary, she wouldn’t need much convincing to start a mission to ruin someone’s life. She’s that bitch.”
Despite everything, I almost laughed.