CHAPTER 18

VENUS

Pulling up with four blacked-out Jeeps felt like a scene straight from an action movie. A convoy of squad cars showing up to a large forest manor could only come across as suspicious and foreboding.

I'd be worried about the inevitable looks we'd get from the locals but thankfully the temporary Saint Claire HQ was not far from the pack house and was located in the quieter areas of the town. So only Griff's sleek black Jeep ambled through the busier streets, and that wasn't exactly odd in a well-off town like this.

While we were already tasked with an abnormal amount of introductions, I thought it only fitting that Celeste make her debut at the pack house too. With some convincing, she finally agreed, although she did grumble about it on the car ride over, particularly as the pack house neared and she began second-guessing her decision.

I didn't think she'd be braiding their fur any time soon, I just thought it would be good for her to improve her skills and not only train at home, but also gain some exposure to the wolves so she could start to comprehend this was her new reality. She didn't need to love it, but she did need to be able to keep herself safe. As a numbers girl, she understood the risk she faced by being in these circles without proper training, which was probably the sole reason she gave into my incessant begging.

She and Griffin chatted among themselves on the drive over about their mutual dislike of the wolves while I did what I did best: mulled over everything.

Staring blankly out the passenger seat window, I watched the trees blur into one as Griff controlled the car with a lethal combination of precision and speed through the winding roads. The background noise of the two of them was a nice change though. I let it soothe me, a small smile gracing my lips at the thought of how well they were getting along.

At least until we pulled up to the pack house and I remembered that Kit, Billie and Carter still needed to meet River.

My worries seemed to fade away as I stepped out of the car and saw Riv standing on the porch waiting to greet us, the large wooden door open and inviting, ready to welcome the Knights.

He looked calm and collected. Affable and warm.

I walked straight to him and he opened his arms to me.

"Morning, Angel." He pulled me in, kissing the top of my head. I felt his hold momentarily tighten ever so slightly, like his wolf was taking the lead and needed the extra moment. When I looked up, he was grinning down at me. A goofy, beautiful smile.

"Morning," I breathed out. Mesmerised by him like I had always been.He glowed with a supernatural aura.

"You look beautiful," he grinned. "As always."

The corners of my mouth raised higher.

I turned slighter at the sound of numerous car doors slamming and knew that the Knights had arrived and would be taking in their surroundings.

"I have some people for you to meet," I nervously offered.

He laughed. "I can see that."

Zander stood a step beside him—acting as his backup but also as his temporary emissary with Axel away. Now that his thing with Griffin was sorted, he was much more accommodating and back to his usual, cheery self.

Thank God for that.

Turning around, Griff was leaning on his car door, not really listening to Carter who was animatedly talking to him, but instead keeping his eyes fixed on the floor, nodding every so often so it seemed like he was paying attention to his friend. I had a feeling he was instead putting his heightened hearing to good use and eavesdropping on my conversation with the Alpha. Carter noticed his lack of attention and whacked him in the chest, which earned the British bad boy a murderous look.

Kit and Billie were chatting enthusiastically to Celeste—the three of them had warmed up to each other instantly it seemed, without me even needing to foster the friendship. From what I could hear, I was guessing the girls saw my sister and immediately approached her with excitement. Cel would likely have reciprocated it, both parties equally as eager to meet the person—or persons—from the countless stories I had told.

Based on River's silence, it seemed he was also patiently taking in the scene and the Knights at his doorstep.

When I caught Kitana's attention, she was grinning at something my sister had said.

I waved them over and she immediately put on her serious, ass-kicking warrior face. My heart rate quickened.

Nervously glancing at the other two cars, the hunters were still slowly filing out.

Kit was first to reach us, her confidence never wavering as she stuck her hand out to the Alpha.

"It's nice to meet you, River." She said his name like a gentle threat. "I am glad you aren't a murdering human killer. But if you hurt Vee again, I won't hesitate to neuter you." She gave him a terrifying smile that did nothing to suggest she was joking. The pleasure she would get from being able to act on that threat made it even scarier. I just stared at her with wide eyes, which she ignored, her own not leaving the Alpha's.

"Ahh," Riv rubbed the back of his neck, "noted." He laughed nervously. "Kitana, I presume?"

He'd clearly taken a guess based on the description I'd given him—feisty little blonde. Or something along those lines.

"Yep." She held her chin high, and I noticed the smug look on Griffin's face at the attitude she was giving the wolf.

I shook my head, ready to intervene, but Riv cleared his throat.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Kitana. And if the day came that I did ever hurt Vee again, I would willingly come to you to do just that." He said the words just as seriously, although there was a friendly, trustworthy nature to his tone. He added, "I don't plan on ever letting that happen again though."

For a moment she looked surprised. Then her lips tilted up in amusement. "Good," she huffed before moving on to Zander who greeted her with a flirty "hello". Every day would be a field day for the Beta with all the new and sexy badass females that would be around the pack house going forward.

Billie was next to approach. Her deeper voice took on a friendly, lilting cadence as she addressed the Alpha. "We've heard many things about you, River. I apologise for my friend's bluntness. We just all love Vee very much. But I have a feeling you do too. I look forward to working with you and getting to know you better. And thank you for your hospitality and letting us train here." She held out her hand which River shook with a sparkling smile. "You can call me Billie."

"Lovely to meet you, Billie. I appreciate that, and look forward to having you around and getting to know you better too. Vee has had nothing but amazing things to say about you. And thank you … for being there for her." He gave her a warm, sincere smile and she nodded in response, her own smile growing at his words. I was glad my friend got to see the charming, true River that everyone else loved. Not the despicable picture I had painted in my anger and perceived betrayal. I hoped they'd all get to see the real version of him soon.

When Carter stepped up, he whistled. "Nice pad, mate." Then he gripped River's hand in a firm yet casual handshake that was more amicable than I would have expected. "Carter," he proclaimed with a lazy grin.

Riv gave him an amused smile. "Welcome, Carter. Good to have you."

Griff just nodded in River's direction as he walked past.

"Wolf," he said by way of greeting.

Riv let out a small, somewhat amused grunt. "Knight."

Then the Alpha turned to my sister who was waiting patiently by my side, watching the whole thing unfold in observing silence. There was a moment of not knowing if he'd try to go in for a hug like he used to, but he thought better of it and instead just gave her a tight-lipped, apologetic smile. "It's good to see you again, Celeste. Welcome to the pack house … officially." Despite her occasional presence in our group growing up and the many, many times she'd dropped me off, she'd never actually been inside.

She took him in for a moment and I stilled in fear as I awaited her response.

"It's good to see you too, Riv," she finally replied, shocking me to my core.

He seemed to lighten at her response too and then added, "If you ever want to talk, or scream or ask any questions about any of this," he gestured to himself and the house, "I'm here."

She nodded. "Thanks. I may eventually take you up on that."

He called his Beta forward. "You've met Zander before. If you ever need anything … I wouldn't recommend him." River laughed and Zander rolled his eyes but winked at my sister. "Myself, Skylar or Axel are your best bets," the Alpha added, breaking the tension further.

I held back a snicker at his claim, not disagreeing.

"You can come to me for a good time though, Little Stone," Zander taunted. Celeste snorted as she walked past him, completely ignoring the Beta's flirty remark.

It didn't seem to dull his spirits.

"She got hot," he blurted out with a wicked grin once she was gone.

The glare I levelled him with could have brought down a building. "Don't even think about it."

I didn't like the challenge that seemed to come from his responding deep chuckle.

The rest of the introductions went on without a hitch, the remaining warriors ranging from friendly and polite—when it came to Juliet—to intrigued or dutiful.

I thanked Riv when the others had gone inside, led by Zander to the yard out back. He had been nothing but hospitable and friendly which I was eternally grateful for.

By the time we reached the back ourselves, the remaining pack and the Knights had already introduced themselves and some were even having a friendly chat.

Zander had of course found himself in the circle of warriors that clearly cared most about their appearance and workout routine, him and Griff bantering with ease and Carter finding his place with them seamlessly. The Beta was clearly back to his usual behaviour of being loud, sarcastic and the life of the party, now that him and Griff had made some sort of weird bromance truce that I wasn't complaining about in the least but still found extremely weird.

Skylar was catching up with Celeste, who she hadn't seen in too long—Sky likely being the only person Cel would be eager to see again. My sister seemed oblivious to the fleeting looks Zander stole in her direction every so often. I wished I hadn't seen them either.

Dalton and Koda were chatting, or likely flirting, with Kit, Billie and Winter. Sage and Blaze—with Bear a constant shadow behind her—were conversing with Juliet and Rose, seemingly discussing hair based on their gestures and body language.

It took me a moment to let it all sink in.

"Well, I'll be damned," River let the words roll off his tongue. He turned to me, cupping my shoulder as he said, "You know you made this happen, right?"

His honey eyes shone.

All I could do was smile at him before turning back to the sight before us, making sure it was still there and still real.

"You're a bridge between two worlds, Vee. You're amazing." He leant down and kissed my cheek and then gave my hand a squeeze before he headed down to join them.

I took another moment to watch it all, still not quite believing my eyes.

‘The tether between the two'. That's what mum had said.

By the time training was over, Billie and Kit had gravitated towards Skylar like I knew they would. She was another fierce, powerful and bubbly woman and I had a feeling they'd get along straight away. Just like they did with Cel.

After giving everyone a day to settle in, it was about time that I caught up properly with the girls, since I didn't get a chance yesterday when they arrived. We had a lot to discuss, and I had been going crazy not having them here to confide in.

We left the guys to their own devices when it came to dinner and I brought my girl's to the diner I loved for some overdue quality time. To make things easy, I was taking them all to dinner: Kit, Billie, Celeste and Sky. It was the perfect way to keep them all in the loop while simultaneously providing an opportunity for further bonding.

The other remaining Knights, along with Carter and Griff, wanted to head back and rest up, saying they'd order something to the house—although, the two males from our usual group may have been forced into staying behind and making themselves scarce. Kitana could be hard to argue with and the boys were better off not bothering.

I didn't really want Griffin around when I confided in them about my current romantic predicament.

Saying "Hi"to Maxine and TJ on our way in, I herded the girls into the back booth that the pack and I had been using for years. We all ordered burgers, fries and shakes.

I had seriously missed the southern fried chicken burger here—Cel and I had been getting it since we were kids and nothing I had in the city quite lived up to it. Likely due to my own prejudice but hey, I was a creature of habit.

The second Maxine had left with our order, Kit stared into my eyes with all the seriousness she could muster.

"Alright, spill."

I cringed at the expectant looks they all gave me but managed to say, "Always straight to the point, Kit. I missed you."

"Missed you too, honey bun. But I am dying! It's not every day your bestie, who is dating your other lifelong bestie, leaves to go back to their hometown to see their murdering wolf-boy ex, who isn't actually a murder. And then the previously mentioned lifelong bestie—who was left behind—comes to confess his undying love for her." She said the words in a mumbled rush of excitement, impatience and frustration. I just blinked at her, trying to process it all.

"Geez," Celeste cackled. "Well, when you put it like that."

"Way to make it way more dramatic than it actually is," I groaned. "No pressure at all."

"Let's not sugarcoat it. It's a whole telenovela," Kit said, her grey-blue eyes conveying her seriousness.

"For the record, he did not confess his undying love for me," I reiterated.

"May as well have." A dark brow lifted as if to dare me to challenge her.

I ignored it and added, "and we were not dating."

"Oh please. It's all semantics," she shut down without hesitation. "You have no idea how hard it's been not knowing all of the details of what's been going on down here since Griffin made his grand romantic gesture."

Maxine came back with our shakes. When she left, Billie spoke, shaking her head. "She's honestly been driving me crazy."

I immediately knew she was referring to Kit, who did not do well with the virtue of patience. I cringed at the thought of what she'd been putting poor Billie through this last week. I hadn't meant to keep my texts about the whole situation so vague. I just knew it would be easier to recall it in person. Plus, I needed the time to mull and hope it would bring me closer to making a decision.

"I can only imagine," I laughed, squeezing Billie's hand across the table to offer her my support. Knowing Kitana, she would have been more than a handful in a situation like this, but if anyone could handle her, it was Billie.

"I am truly sorry for keeping you in the dark, Kit," I said, my mouth pulling up into a smile at my friend's dramatics.

Kit pretended to contemplate the apology for a second before straightening and replying, "Apology accepted," with that charming grin of hers.

I chuckled, shaking my head.

Billie directed her kind eyes to me. "So what's been going on? Tell us everything."

Kit took a sip of her shake before adding, "Yes. Everything."

Sky's body shook with quiet laughter beside me as she sipped from her own drink.

I explained what had occurred, going into as much detail as possible, from arriving back in Saint Claire and feeling like I was thrown back in time, to being at the picnic where River kissed me, only to be interrupted by Griffin's arrival at the pack house.

The girls were shocked but listened to it all quietly.

"I can't believe he kissed you! He's got some balls on him," Kit exclaimed. She looked to Sky before adding, "No offence. Sorry, I know he's your Alpha."

She smiled casually with her signature toothy grin, then flicked her wrist, brushing it off. "None taken."

In response to Kit's previous statement, Billie offered us her more observant and considerate opinion.

"It's not crazy for him to assume that her being back meant they were working things out, especially because she hadn't yet told him about the thing with Griff. He was excited and hopeful. You can't blame him for that."

"Exactly," I confirmed. "And I got swept up in the moment and how natural it felt but the instant it happened, regret took over. Even before we found out that Griff was here. I told River I needed to figure things out." I chewed my lip. "The timing though was insane."

"And did Griff make a move?" Kit enquired excitedly.

"Apart from flirting with her at every possible opportunity?" Celeste asked sarcastically, waving around a fry.

Kit's laugh was light-hearted. "That's normal for them."

I gave her a look.

"Don't deny it," she chided.

"He did that irritatingly sexy thing where he kissed the corner of my mouth … and then later tried to get in the bath with me," I confessed.

Celeste choked on her shake at the latter admission.

I explained the few moments we'd had, clearly not as annoyed as I pretended to be. Not that any of them were buying it. The stupid flustered smile that was likely plastered on my face didn't help my cause. Neither did the blush I desperately tried to hide. Just thinking about the fleeting moments made my heart rate spike. "But he's been surprisingly respectful so far. So has Riv since then. But both of them have essentially said they'll fight for me and I am honestly stressed."

"Girl, you're in deep shit," Kit stated.

"I know."

"What are you going to do?" Billie asked.

Skylar frowned softly, empathy clear in her expression. "Do you have any more clarity about it, Vee?"

I sighed a "No". Then proceeded to stuff my face with fries so I didn't have to expand.

"But they're both still contestants?" Kit probed.

"Yes." The reply was muffled by the food in my mouth.

Celeste gave me an unimpressed look. "Very great answers, Vee."

"I'm in distress, okay?" I pleaded. "I don't know what I'm going to do."

Kit looked contemplative, like she was thinking over something very important. "Just confirming, having both is not an option, right?"

"No."

"Thought so." As an afterthought she said, "Don't think Griff would be willing to share when it comes to you anyway."

For some stupid reason, that thought made me happy.

"How did you feel about him coming down for you?" Kit asked, dipping her food in a shit-ton of ketchup.

"Surprised."

She raised a manicured brow at me. "Good surprised or bad surprised?"

"It definitely threw a spanner in the works. I felt guilty for how I left things with him, and I didn't want to do the whole running away thing again. So my intention was to give him a few days and then call him to work through it all and make sure we could be amicable. Because that's what I assumed, that it was ended given the casual label of our … uh … relationship. Him coming down to tell me he wanted more—I never would have expected it."

I shook my head, still in a state of disbelief. "Don't get me wrong, I can't deny a part of me didn't secretly hope it would happen. I just never in a million years thought it actually would. Especially not from Griffin. And now that it has, I just don't know what to say or how to act."

I paused, chewing on my fingernail. "I had almost already made the decision in my head that the door with Griffin was closed and that meant I could work things out with River and give him a second chance. Griff coming changed everything. I wasn't prepared for it. I wasn't prepared for him to offer me more. And of course, there's still doubts about the lack of security there. But it still changes everything. It's no longer a simple matter of trying things out again with River. It's analysing who I want, and what would be a better fit, and hurting one of them, and … and it's just hard." I looked back into Kit's perfectly lined blue eyes and softly said, "It felt amazing though. Having someone come for me."

She nodded in understanding.

We'd all gone momentarily silent, lost in our various thoughts, until my sister voiced her own. "I didn't realise they were both options you were thoroughly considering."

I hadn't exactly confided in her regarding the intricacies of it over the last week. It had been chaotic at home between all the planning, Knight stuff and Griff being around.

She continued, "I kind of just assumed that Griffin was where your heart was at after everything over the last few months. But you are still considering getting back with River?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, things are already different now that I'm part of the Knights. We don't need to hide anything. He deserves a chance. That was really the only issue we ever had: the honesty. And that"s because of who we are. Everything"s out in the open now though."

Celeste turned to me. "But what about Griffin? You clearly felt something strong for him. You can't just turn that off."

"Oh, trust me, I know. And I haven't. A guy like Griffin makes his mark on you, and I'm still wearing the scars." I slumped further down into the seat in frustration. "I really don't know what to do."

Skylar comforted me. "It's okay to be stressed and confused, Vee. That's what we're here for. To be there for you."

I nudged into her side, leaning my head on her shoulder in thanks.

Billie gave Sky an appreciative look and then reached her hand towards me. "Always," she promised.

I placed my hand on top of hers, squeezing.

Then I pinched my forehead, trying to ease the headache that was on the horizon. "How do I even begin to make this decision?"

"Beats me," Kit shrugged. "But we'll help however we can."

Billie pouted sympathetically. "It's a tough one. I think you just need to keep yourself open to both of them for now. And be honest with them, which you have been. But you need to be honest with yourself too. Eventually, I think the answer will become clear."

"I really hope so," I muttered.

"For your sake, we all do," Celeste mumbled.

I sighed again and then took a large bite of my burger.