Seriously, creepy much?

I didn't even need to turn around to know who it was.

"Did you really stalk me and wait outside all night while I had sex with that guy, Lucien?" I wasn't sure if I was more shocked or angry, but I knew my hands were itching to punch him right now. He had no right not to do this, especially not after all the years that had passed.

"You think it was easy for me to listen to my little sister screwing a stranger like that? I'm a damn wolf, Aurelie- I heard everything that happened inside."

"What do you mean that you heard everything? Do you have listening devices with you? For your own safety, the answer better be negative, because I will not hesitate to beat the crap out of you if you turn out to be a perverted pig. I've had enough of dealing with those and I won't accept my own brother to be one of them too."

"Awww, you called me your brother. See, we are getting somewhere." He nudged me with a smile.

Was he for real? I pinched the bridge of my nose and closed my eyes as I took a deep breath to keep it cool.

"Is this your only take from everything I said? What the hell is wrong with you? You show up in my life after twenty-four years, you tell me things that I am still not convinced are real, you wait outside while I have sex with a guy I picked up in a bar, and then you tell me that somehow you heard everything we did- which part of all of this sounds like a normal person to you?"

Incredible. Maybe he really was an animal, seeing as I had to explain the basics of normal behaviour.

I did not realise that I got so fired up about it all that I was practically up in his face, waving my finger like an outraged school teacher who was scolding the class prankster.

Yet Lucien was looking at me with a huge grin on his face like it was all extremely amusing to him, which was making me see red even more. If I was a cartoon character right now, volcanic bursts of flame were going to be coming out of my head.

"You truly are a Moreau — passionate and not taking shit from anyone, even an alpha. Just like her — our mum. Although, I have to admit that I remember little about her. But at least I had the pack to tell me stories."

Oh God, I just couldn't listen to all of that right now. I was standing in the middle of the street, wearing last night's clothes, and my make-up was all smudged. If my smeared lipstick didn't give away what I was up to, my tousled look was like a big neon saying "well-fucked". Definitely not the state to be in when you are told how much you resemble the mother that you never met. So I turned on my heels and started walking away.

Before I could get very far, he ran after me and grabbed my wrist, pulling me to a halt.

"Hey, hey, Aurelie, I'm sorry! I don't mean to joke around about all of this, as I know everything is still new and confusing to you. You discovered a lot of things at the same time. Can we please grab a coffee so that I can explain everything to you and tell you about our family? Please?" He looked at me with his pleading blue eyes and that feeling of familiarity that I felt the first time I saw him at Adam's event was making it so hard to say no. The more I looked into his eyes, the more it felt like I was closer to home.

"Fine. One coffee! But it is six am on Sunday, so our only option is the Nespresso machine at my place."

It took us thirty very awkward minutes to walk back to my place, but I was happy when we got home because at least I was going to have a nice coffee in my hands for the rest of this conversation.

"So, where would you like me to start?" He asked as I was getting our drinks ready.

The deep, rich smell from our coffees quickly filled up the kitchen, and I was finally feeling more awake. I joined Lucien at my kitchen table and passed him his espresso. I promised to give him one coffee time to talk, but I might have omitted the fact that only espresso counted as coffee in my house.

I hope he is ready to talk fast.

"You wanted to talk, so it's your story to tell..."

"Fine." He leaned back in his chair. "Well, let me first clarify that I have no listening devices on me and, frankly, I am a bit offended that you would have such a low opinion of your brother. As I said, I am a wolf shifter and one perk of that is that we have enhanced hearing, meaning that we hear things that a normal human would never hear. Including your whole little sex escapade, even with all the walls between us. Trust me, it's not something that I ever want to go through again."

My face turned bright red. God, why did I suddenly feel mortified? I mean, the guy had been my brother for like two minutes and he was judging me on what I'd done. My only way out of this was to change the topic.

"Tell me about being a wolf shifter." That was going to keep him busy enough to forget about the sexy stranger and me.

"Well, it's pretty simple- we can shift to our wolves and then back to humans as we wish. We are not like the werewolves in the movies that only shift with the full moon. Sure, our kind is linked to the moon and the Moon Goddess, but we can shift as we please. We also have heightened senses and super speed, and we are very territorial, loyal, fierce and often impulsive."

Wow, that sounded pretty cool. Still pretty made up, but cool nonetheless.

"As much as we are part animal though, in some ways our world is way more advanced- in the wolf packs, women and men are considered equals and female wolf shifters are always treated with as much respect and consideration as the male wolves. Not to mention that our mates are sacred to us."

Their mates?

"Erm... that's a bit weird. Why would you consider your friends sacred? Don't get me wrong ⁠— I love my friends, but you lot seem to take this to the extreme." I truly was puzzled by their way of thinking.

"Not that kind of mates, Aurelie. I mean our soulmates- that perfect wolf shifter that the Moon Goddess had handpicked for you to be your other half until the end of your life."

"I am sorry- did you just say that you get a soulmate for life? And you don't even have a say in who it is? That's ridiculous. What if you don't like them while you are dating?" I was outraged- what kind of Moon Goddess would force you to spend your life with a person of her choice?

"Let go of your human beliefs, Aurelie! Our world works differently. For wolf-shifters, it is the Moon Goddess that picks your mate, but for other shifters, like bears, dragons, feline shifters- you name it- it is the Sun Goddess that decides on your mate." I was so shocked by what he had just said that I had to interrupt.

"Did you just say that there are other types of shifters, even dragons? I mean, dragons don't exist in real life."

"Of course, they do — there are many shifters out there and yes, dragons too. But your mate is always someone from your kind, though he or she might be from another pack. One thing is sure- neither goddess ever makes a mistake. You are destined to be with this person since your birth. My mate Anna is the most beautiful and caring person I have ever met, and I love her more than life itself. I could never be on this planet without her. She is my Luna, my soul, my heart — my everything."

Oh god, I thought that wolves were meant to be fierce and tough, and it turned out that my brother was just one giant, romantic softie. It was kind of sickening how in love he seemed to be, like a besotted puppy. I could never understand this- in life, you had only yourself to trust because everyone else might betray you. Hell, even your family might not be honest with you, as I'd discovered myself now. But when it came to love, things were even worse — to give someone the ability to crush your heart with one word or one action was something that I wasn't planning on ever doing.

"How can you be sure that Ana is truly your mate? I doubt you have Tinder for shifters run by goddesses." He laughed heartily, which made me smile.

"Not quite. After the first time that you touch your mate, tattoo-like writing slowly emerges on your body in the hours that follow. The text is what you will hear your mate say, even if not necessarily directed at you. Like that, you will recognise him or her. That's also why we don't actually date when we get together with our mates- you already know that this shifter is the chosen one for you. So you mark and mate each other, and then you get on with your new life together as mates."

That sounded a bit more convincing than the Tinder algorithm, but it also didn't feel like it was possible at all. As if some deity- if we pretended they existed- would ever know who the best person for you would be.

I couldn't believe I was actually wasting time thinking about this and yet, here I was, wondering what the hell the marking and mating involved. But somehow I sensed that this was not a question that I wanted to ask my brother.

"You keep on talking about being the alpha- what do you mean by that? Like being the alpha dog?"

"Ouch, Aurelie-" he said with a wince.

"Riley ⁠ — everyone calls me that."

"Riley. Way to hurt a wolf's feelings. Never, never compare a wolf shifter to a dog. We are kind of sensitive about it. Feline shifters are also not big fans of being called pussies."

My brother was grinning like a Cheshire cat now. Men.

"Anyway, back to your question. Alphas are the leaders of their packs. They usually have alpha blood and in wolf packs, the alpha position is usually inherited. Sometimes, a wolf can also become the alpha by challenging the current alpha and winning. The luna is the mate of the alpha and she is just as powerful as her mate. Together they make the alpha pair and the entire pack listens and looks up to them. But women can be alphas too."

Wait, did that mean I was of alpha blood as well? Well, maybe I wasn't, seeing as I had lost my wolf. But if I still had it, would it have meant that I would have been able to become the alpha as well? Not that I would have ever wanted to steal my brother's place but I liked this idea that women could be alphas too.

"Our mother was the alpha of our pack- the Blackwood pack, which is based in the Loch Lomond area in Scotland. It's beautiful there and the pack, as well as plenty of other shifters, have been living there for centuries ⁠ — it makes it way easier for us to live freely in nature and shift as we please without getting noticed, especially the dragons and the wolves."

As I listened to him speak, I had these images in my head of all sorts of shifter animals running freely there. I always thought that Scotland was a magical place, but now I knew that there must have always been a piece of my heritage deep down inside of me.

"Our mum was beautiful and passionate. She was as fierce as she was fair. Just like you in so many ways. All the pack members loved her because she was a fearless leader, who helped the pack thrive and prosper. She was also a visionary- she believed in different kinds of shifters working together, that we would be stronger as one and that we could give our kinds a better future like that. But that didn't sit well with many alphas from the area and beyond. Packs of the same kind often fight anyway, but it is even more rare to see different kinds coming together. I believe this is one reason why our parents were killed."