NOTE: Since this was written before this book was out, the chapter will remain the same. Only the later chapters of other books will be more steamier. The *^* is when the scene starts so you can just scroll all the way down. 

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Chapter 26-The Evening

Sydney Carrington's POV

I gently stroked the brush onto the canvas before stepping back to admire the half completed painting of my parents. It was Brendon's idea to paint a portrait of my parents and I thought it was a really good idea. I sighed before gazing at the photo a little longingly.

It had been two days since Kyle was found out to be the culprit behind everything. Unfortunately, he had claimed that he wasn't the one planning everything.

Brendon and Rhett claimed to think he was lying but I knew better. Kyle didn't seem afraid of dying, it was as if he was waiting for something while being locked in the jail cell. I wasn't exactly a hundred percent sure thus I had not brought the issue up with anyone.

To be honest, I was a little afraid of the upcoming storm. I believed Kyle when he had said that he wasn't behind everything. He was more of a follower than a leader and also, he didn't have the brains to plan everything so perfectly detailed.

It was because of Kyle's oversight that caused him to be caught. But whatever was going to happen, I would be prepared. For the past almost five months that I've been here, I've grown up a little more.

Now, I was a little more cautious and wary of people. But that didn't mean I lost my faith in them, it just made me more cautious of who I trusted because being Luna of the European pack, it wasn't going to be easy or safe and I knew it.

It was a little ironic when I thought about it. Before, when I was Will, I had been worried if I would be able to handle being the mate to a beta. But now, I was already the Luna of the most powerful pack and I was getting on well.

While Brendon went on to investigate everything about his cousin, I would help out with the orphanage, the different communities around the pack and a little bit of Brendon's work when he was too busy.

It was quite refreshing to be needed and appreciated for once in my twenty years other than my family members of course. And it felt amazing to be quite independent on my own and treated as Brendon's equal.

Looking back, you could say I was a little ashamed for how silly and ridiculous I had been. But I was glad that I had grown up a little.

A voice cleared and I looked up to see my handsome mate watching me with a silver gleam in his eyes. I gave him a bright grin, "Hey."

Brendon wordlessly walked towards me before wrapping his arms around my waist and leaned his chin on my shoulder as he studied the uncompleted painting. "Hi." He murmured in my ear before pressing a kiss on my cheek.

A smile crossed my face at his actions and my wolf howled in happiness. I turned my head slightly to face him before smiling, "What do you think?"

"I told you before, you're really good at this, maybe one day you can paint me naked." His husky voice crooned in my ear.

My cheeks flushed and I tried not to let a laugh bubble out of my throat. "Oh god Kingston! You're such a cad!" I laughed before pushing his head away gently.

A roguish grin crossed his face before a slow smile took over as he pulled me into his embrace once again. "Honestly, you're really talented. If I didn't know you painted this right here, I would have sworn it would be found in an art gallery or something."

"You say the nicest things sometimes. Do you know that?" I questioned with a smile on my face. Brendon raised an eyebrow at that before shrugging and walked around the room looking at the other paintings I had painted that were stacked against the walls.

"You know maybe we could hang some of your paintings around the house, it's a waste to have them just lying around here." He suggested and I beamed. "Really?"

Brendon shifted a little uncomfortably as he nodded his head. "Yeah."

A grin crossed my face, I liked that Brendon could still be him self, he was still uncomfortable with showing much emotion and at times, he could be broodingly reserved. But that was him. And I love him for all his qualities. Well maybe with the exception of the vengeance seeking one.

"Okay then, how's Alpha duties?" I asked as Brendon sighed before his gaze narrowed. "Fine, but my cousin isn't saying much."

At the mention of his cousin, I stiffened before forcing myself to relax. Obviously Brendon picked up on my unease and he changed the subject. "Enough about him, I just want to bring you out today if you are free?"

I nodded my head a gave him a slow smile, "Yeah. I am."

"Good." He straightened and cleared his throat before leaving a kiss on my forehead. "I'll be bringing you out for dinner at the lake and I'll meet you downstairs in thirty minutes. Is that alright?"

"Yeah it is." I replied with a little grin and a broad smile crossed his face. "Okay, I'll see you later." He stated before leaving.

Sighing, I quickly cleared the paints before heading to the room to get ready. The entire incident with Kelsey was something that I've not truly gotten over. It blew my mind that someone like Kyle Preston could even walk on this earth. And for the past two days since he was captured, Brendon had been trying his best to pull information out of him but Kyle wasn't speaking.

And because of this, Brendon grew more frustrated and cross but still, he was determined to get more information out and along with his alpha duties, he was swamped. Thus, this was where I stepped in and with a little help from Rhett and some of the community leaders, I managed to do a little of his work for him.

And because of that, I hardly got to spend time with my siblings or Brendon because I too was busy. Honestly, I didn't even know how Brendon could do so much and have the extra time to spend it with Cara and me.

Heading to the bedroom, I slipped on a pair of jeans and a long sleeved top before grabbing a coat. It could be quite cool here in the evening especially here in the European pack.

I quickly brushed my fingers through my hair before walking down the stairs to see Brendon waiting for me with a picnic basket and a mat in his hand.

With a chaste kiss on the lips, we set off in the car and before I knew it, the mat was laid on the ground and we were sitting comfortably on it with Brendon by my side.

I thought it was pretty funny that Brendon brought us back to the lake once again. So far, bad things happened to me here. Maybe this time, things would be different.

The tranquility of the lake made me relax and I lay down on the picnic mat, enjoying the cool breeze. Beside me, I could feel Brendon studying me pensively.

"What's wrong?" I questioned as I turned to look at him. Brendon raised his eyebrows quizzically, "How did you know-"

I shot him a knowing glance, "Your face says it all. So what is it you wanted to tell me?" The seriousness of his facial expression made me sit up as I watched him warily.

"Sydney, I did some digging about your parents. Naturally, I couldn't find anything about them but curiously, while looking through the pack records, things weren't adding up. There was one whole year that was missing. Not a single thing. That very year, you would have been four years old."

My eyes widened and Brendon continued, "I looked through the family records and well, a name had been torn out among the other family names that start with the letter 'C'. I don't know what this means, but I do not think this is a coincidence."

I swallowed harshly and I blurted out, "Do you think my parents could have been murdered even after they left the pack?"

Brendon shook his head, "I'm sorry Sydney, I don't know. But something big must have happened that made them try to disappear."

I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, the possibility of my parents being murdered seemed higher as each minute passed. Brendon sighed before pulling me into his arms, "I'm sorry to ruin the day by telling you this."

I shook my head and nestled my head on his chest. "It's fine. Thank you for telling me. Maybe I should ask Sarah, she could have remembered something." I said quietly and Brendon stroked the back of my head gently comfortably.

"If you couldn't remember leaving, I doubt your sister will either. I'm pretty sure if what we're thinking is true, she might have been given the memory serum too." He answered and my shoulders slumped. "Oh." I mumbled and we lapsed into comfortable silence.

A thought occurred to me and I blurted out. "What were your parents like?" I asked curiously and I could feel Brendon tense up as his jaw clenched. He remained silent for quite a period of time that I was sure that he didn't want to talk about it until he spoke up suddenly.

"My father, he wasn't someone who had feelings, he thought that children were assets and a wife an accessory. He was harsh and of course he would ill treat my mother despite of the mating bond. And of course, he would cheat on her constantly even though my mother and I were in the same house. And of course, that's how Cara came to be." He paused and looked out onto the lake.

I frowned a little as the description of Brendon's father came to mind. How could children be an accessory? Brendon cleared his throat before continuing, "My mother on the other hand was someone I hardly remembered, she was cool and distant. I guess seeing me reminded her of my father and she hated him. I was mostly alone as a child."

My heart ached a little as Brendon paused once again. I could already imagine him as the lost lonely boy he was as a child. "I think one day my father took it too far and my mother couldn't take it before having this huge fight with him. I know she wanted him to stop mistreating her and when my father ignored her, she stabbed herself and died."

My eyes widened and I inhaled sharply at that. "Oh god." I whispered in shock and Brendon shook his head before a cynical smile appeared on his face, "What my father didn't know was that my mother had poisoned him before she killed herself. So he died that very day as well."

I was speechless, I had never known that things like that had happened to him as he grew up. I digested everything he told me before asking hesitantly, "So how did your uncle come into the picture?"

Brendon remained motionless at my question before replying emotionlessly, "Another day alright?"

I nodded, knowing that Brendon had revealed more about himself than I expected and I wasn't one to push. "What about your wolf?"

"What about it?"

I didn't know what made me possess to ask him this but I did. "Your wolf, may I see him?" I asked hesitantly and Brendon narrowed his gaze at me before studying me intently, "You want to see him?"

I nodded my head in response, "Yeah. I want to meet him." Brendon frowned and opened his mouth to argue, but I cut him off, "You don't have to worry, you don't have to give him full control if you don't want to, I just want to meet him officially after...everything."

Brendon's jaw worked for a while a he tried to come up with something to say before sighing and turned to me. "Are you sure?" I nodded, "Yeah. I'm sure." I didn't know why I was doing this, I just knew that I wanted to meet and get to know the other side of Brendon Kingston.

Brendon hesitated before standing up reluctantly and without warning, he took his shirt off and I quickly adverted my eyes. The sound of clothes hitting the ground and the crack of bones made me see the huge black wolf standing in front of me.

I watched him a little nervously. Brendon's wolf had a black coat with brown hints in it. His eyes were almost pitch black and I knew Brendon was still having somewhat of a control over the wolf.

I hesitated before reaching out gently to stroke the wolf's fur, his fur was a little coarse but softer than I expected. I could feel the wolf shudder a little as my fingers threaded through its fur.

"Hi." I murmured softly and he let out a little whine before rubbing his head against my hand. A slow smile spread across my face and I could sense my wolf trying to push me to shift so that she could spend some time with Brendon's wolf.

Brendon's wolf stepped closer to me before curling up against me. Looking into it's eyes, the grey rim around its pupils were gone and it was fully black. This meant that the wolf was in full control. A little bout of anxiousness creeped in and I hastily pushed it away.

As if sensing my emotional turmoil, the wolf let out a whine before looking up at me with regret and sorrow in its eyes. I stroked it's head softly, marvelling at the fact that this wolf in front of me, known for being harsh and merciless was in a way asking for forgiveness.

A slow smile crossed my face at that before I murmured softly, "It's okay." The wolf looked up at me with what seemed surprise and before I could react, the wolf was gone as Brendon had shifted back to his human form.

My eyes widened as I took in his impressive physique and somehow I couldn't seem to drag my eyes away from his lean muscled body. My eyes seem to drag over his scarred body, the way his arms flexed as he stood up and my eyes widened even further as I caught sight of his excited friend.

Feeling an intense stare burning through my body, I looked up to see a pair of gleaming silver eyes locked onto me. A shiver of nervous anticipation fluttered through me and I could feel myself swallow harshly as Brendon stepped closer to me.

As he neared me, all I could think of was that he was going to kiss me. I could feel my veins throb with longing and desire for him-my mate.

I inhaled sharply as his head neared mine, his lips inches away from mine. My blue eyes was locked onto his and without warning, his lips crashed against mine hungrily.

This was no soft gentle kiss, it was the passionate sort, the kind that consumed you fully. I've never really experienced it before and to feel it now, it was mind-blowing. The scent of him-chocolate and something spicy filled my senses and I pulled him closer to get more of the kiss and him.

He bit onto my lower lip lightly and I moaned softly as his tongue entered my mouth, his hands moved to my waist and stroked the soft exposed skin there where the hem of my shirt had ridden up.

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My hands grasped onto his shoulders tightly and I could feel him ground against me at that perfect angle making me gasp softly and without thinking, I arched my back and pressed myself against him. Brendon let out a soft lust-filled growl before his hands moved down to my hips before going lower to clutch onto my butt.

The kiss became more frantic and needy. Our mouths moved against each other with so much intensity that it felt like I would catch on fire anytime soon from how hot the kiss was.

Before I knew it, Brendon had unbuttoned my jeans and his right hand slid into the apex of my legs. I moaned softly as his fingers rubbed against me through my panties and his mouth moved against mine roughly. His lips moved to my neck and laid soft wet kisses on the spot where my shoulders met my neck.

Clutching onto him, I dug my fingernails into his skin when his fingers pressed against a particular spot as I let out a desperate groan as I could feel myself getting to that familiar sensation.

However, I've never felt anything like this, it was as if my nerve ends were electrified, every sensation and touch was magnified. Was this because of the mate bond? Or was it because the relationship I had with Brendon was the sort I've always dreamed off? The fiery passionate one where we could get consumed in each other but still have the same deep bond where we could confide in each other?

His fingers soon slipped under my panties before delving deep into me and I moaned against his neck as I clutched onto him tightly. "Please. Oh god." I mumbled as his fingers started moving in and out of me.

I was pretty sure my breathing was irregular as hell but when his fingers moved at a faster speed, I could feel myself at the hint of it-the big O. Brendon's ragged breathing filled my senses and the feeling of his member was pressed against my thigh.

His fingers were moving at a rapid speed and I was so close. "Please!" I begged and arched my hips to get more of the pleasure he was giving me.

And with one flick to that sensitive spot, I came. I cried out as intense waves of pleasure rushed through me and gripped onto his shoulders until the pleasure ebbed away slowly.

I could feel Brendon's steady intense stare on me as he watched me climax and the very thought of that made me shudder again and I opened my eyes to see his beautiful eyes watching me hungrily.

He slowly withdrew his fingers and licked them clean while his gaze remained on me. My eyes widened and my lips parted and I guessed he took it as an invitation as he held onto my hips and leaned forward to kiss me once again.

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I didn't know why but Brendon quickly pulled away and hurriedly zipped my jeans up before shrugging his clothes on. "What's wrong?" I asked a little dazed and Brendon glanced at me. "Someone's coming." He answered, his voice rough and husky.

No sooner had he answered me, a guard burst out of the forest and into the grassy meadow.

"Alpha! Luna!"

"What the fuck is it?" Brendon snapped and the guard swallowed nervously as sweat beaded down his face.

"Kyle Preston Alpha! He has escaped! Someone must have helped him out!"