Alpha Moreau. Alpha Moreau. He said Alpha Moreau.

His words just kept ringing in my head as I sat in the car on the way to the Blackwood estate. The hottie that I had just bumped into knew that my brother was an alpha, which could mean only one thing- he was a shifter as well. Was he part of my brother's pack? But before thought further about it, my brother drove past the front gate of the pack's grounds and I saw the packhouse appear ahead of us.

Wow, it was absolutely magnificent.

When Lucien told me about it, I did not imagine that it would be a three-storey mansion with a beautiful Georgian facade. It blew my mind to think that this was where both my brother and I were born and where we had lived as a happy family before tragedy struck.

The main building was in the north of the parkland on a small promontory which was surrounded on three sides by the waters of Loch Lomond; yet, there were also additional buildings spread around the pack grounds. The Blackwood estate had forty three suites which housed various pack members. It also accommodated the pack's infirmary and the training grounds for the pack warriors, as my brother called them.

The entire estate was breath-taking, especially now in the springtime. The trees and the grounds were a beautiful green colour, with the bushes in the gardens covered in colourful blossoms. The sun was shining brightly by now, making for a picture-perfect view together with the clear blue sky. As we stopped in front of the mansion, I saw the reflection of the trees in the placid, glassy water of the lake. The water was so still that it felt like the lake was holding its breath.

We had barely got out of the car when I saw a beautiful young woman sprint towards us from the mansion's staircase and pounce on my brother. She wrapped her arms around his neck and peppered his face with kisses. The love that you could feel by just being around them melted my heart. Yeah, Anna and Lucien were an adorable couple!

"I missed you so much, Luc," Anna said to him and I felt a pang of guilt for being the reason why they had been apart. As she pulled herself away from his face, I finally had a better look at her. My sister-in-law looked like an angel, with her pale complexion and rosy cheeks. Anna was a natural beauty with her long, toffee brown hair and dark brown eyes that you could get lost in. And to make her even cuter — as if that was even possible — her face was covered in tiny charming freckles.

"I missed you too, my Luna. This is -" but before he could finish, she let go of him and threw herself around my neck.

"I can't believe that you are finally here! I have been waiting to meet you forever!" She was squealing with happiness and I wondered when was the last time that someone had been this excited to meet it. In fact, she seemed so overjoyed by my arrival that she was squeezing me tight enough to push all the air out of my lungs.

"My love, if you keep on hugging her like that, you are going to kill my sister before you even get a chance to talk to her."

Anna must have realised what she was doing because she let go of me as quickly as she had embraced me to begin with, and then looked down at the ground, embarrassed.

"I'm so sorry, Aurelie. It's just that Lucien had told me so much about you that I feel like I have known you forever. He had always been looking forward to the day that he would find you and bring you back here. I'm just so happy that he finally succeeded. I can't wait to get to know you!"

"Anna, it's okay- don't be embarrassed. We are family after all, so I am also very happy that we finally get to meet and to know each other! And call my Riley, please- Aurelie has always felt very formal!" I smiled at her. "Are you okay, by the way? You look a little pale."

My words caught my brother's attention and I could see his face darken with worry. "What's wrong, baby?"

"Oh, nothing- just feeling under the weather this morning. Probably it's the lack of sleep. Let me show Riley to her room and I will go to get some rest."

I had known Anna for all of two minutes and I already could tell that we would be great friends, so it did not surprise me to find myself worrying about her well-being as well. I just wanted to wrap my arms around her and help her feel better. Luckily, my brother was a true gentleman because he swept her off her feet and into his arms, carrying her back into the mansion bridal style.

"You, my Luna, are going straight to bed! I will show Riley her room and will get Connor to show her around." Thankfully, Connor was a name I recognised, as my brother had already told me all about his Beta. As if he heard his name because the moment we walked into the mansion, Connor magically appeared in front of us.

Seriously, are shifters all hot? Women would compete to move to this area if they only knew what awaited them.

Yeap, those were my thoughts at seeing yet another handsome man appear in front of me. Connor was a gorgeous tall guy with beautiful chocolate skin that matched perfectly his chocolate eyes. He had a similar dominating presence like my brother, but you could see it in his body language that he waited for the Alpha's command.

"Well, well, well, the missing Alpha returns! And he brings more trouble! As if we needed more mischievous Moreaus around here." His voice was teasing, and he gave me a bright smile, as if to reassure me he was just messing around. He then grabbed my hand and brought it to his lips, leaving a gentle kiss on the back of it. "Though I must admit that the face of mischief is getting much prettier now. I might even be tempted to the dark side like this. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Moreau."

I heard Lucien growl next to me, but it sounded more like a gentle warning than an actual threat to Connor. "Stop trying to charm my sister, you idiot! Trust me, she can kick your arse before you even blink- I have seen her in action."

"Beautiful and dangerous. Be still my heart!" Connor exclaimed dramatically and winked at me, which made me laugh out loud. He was a jokester, and I loved it as it reminded me of my boys back at work- tough but with a sense of humour. Then he looked at Lucien and tried to put his most adoring look to work. "Don't be jealous, Alpha- you know my heart belongs to you!" Oh, Lucien didn't know what was coming his way, with Connor and me around to tease him.

"Prick!" I heard my brother puff, annoyed. "The Luna is not feeling well, so I will take care of her. Seeing as you're such a smart-arse charmer, you will show my sister to her room. And then you will bring all of her things from the car before you show her around and introduce her to everyone — I know how much you love socialising, Beta." Connor's grimacing face made me realise my brother knew exactly how to get revenge on his second-in-command. "I want to have a pack meeting tonight to formally present her to the pack, so please arrange that too before we have the council meeting this afternoon."

Conor and I were ready with getting me settled in my room in no time, which was then followed by a tour around the mansion.

"So, I take it you are not a people's person, if this is your punishment?" I asked, trying to break the ice.

Connor laughed, even though my question was actually genuine. "Sorry, I am not laughing at you. It's a bit of an inside joke with your brother. Alphas and Betas don't really have the option of not being people's persons but I try to avoid doing regular tours of the pack when I can. I have a few old ladies who seem to have a crush on me and always try to get me to have tea with them. Plus, you always end up with someone who wants you to help them with getting their cat down off the tree, solving who stole their juice out of the fridge, and so forth. Some pack members seem to think that their Alpha and Beta are here to solve all of their life problems. I feel like a kindergarten teacher at times."

"Ha, I know exactly how you feel." Just thinking about my last assignment with Adam was enough to know exactly what Connor meant.

"Luckily for us, our Luna has the patience of an angel, so she often steps in to help Luc and me in dealing with these cases. Unfortunately, she's been unwell lately, so I've had to go back to this glamorous part of the job."

My worry for Anna resurfaced again. She looked pale and tired earlier. Lucien had mentioned that she couldn't sleep well and was craving ice-cream, and now Connor shared that she had been unwell recently. What could possibly be bothering her?... Hold on a second! Could it be?

"Oh, my god." I started jumping up and down, startling Connor, but I couldn't contain my excitement at the possibility.

"What? What happened?" Connor looked at me.

Crap. I couldn't say anything to him and definitely not before I was even sure. "Oh, nothing, sorry. I just had this image of you having afternoon tea with the old ladies and I got so excited at the idea of seeing that. It would be such an adorable sight." I was teasing him intentionally, as I knew it would distract him.

"I knew you were in trouble! Come on then, let's see the old ladies- if I am going down, you better go down with me." Damn it, talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

I had to admit that the tour of the pack was amazing and all the pack members were extremely welcoming. A few of them eyed me suspiciously, but I supposed they could sense I was not quite like them. The tea with the old ladies was also a blast, especially when they decided they should set me and Connor up. "Just because you are not mates doesn't mean you can't have some fun together, if you know what I mean!" one of them whispered in my ear, winking and nudging me. These ladies really were dangerous- I could see why Connor was afraid of them.

A few hours later, I was back in my room as Connor had to prepare for the council and pack meetings later on. I was curious about the council meeting, so he explained that it was our pack's turn to host the meeting with the representatives from each pack that was part of the regional shifter council. I planned to wait for them to arrive as I was dying to see all the animals, but I must have fallen asleep, as next thing I knew there was a commotion outside of the mansion. I could hear bear growls, wolf howls, even the flapping of dragon wings.

I felt this urge to go to the window, knowing deep down inside that if I didn't look outside, I would miss out on something extraordinary. I could feel goosebumps erupt all over my skin from excitement, as if my whole body knew that this was going to be a special moment. My heart was beating faster with every step I took towards the window. I looked outside and there they were, probably ready to leave, as they were all already in their animal forms while my brother and Connor stood next to them.

The scene before my eyes felt surreal. On the lawn in front of the mansion stood a big brown bear, a red fox that was bigger than the usual foxes, a beautiful grey wolf and a majestic red dragon. I was in awe of how beautiful they all were, but what struck me the most was the wolf and the dragon that stood next to each other. I had always been fascinated by animals, but wolves and dragons held a special place in my heart.

I saw them both suddenly turn around and look straight towards my room, as if they knew I was lurking in the shadows, observing their every move. Fortunately, I was hidden behind the curtains. Yet I still held my breath, scared that if I let it go, they might notice me. But as I continued to observe it, a wave of shock spread across my body as I realised the two looked exactly like the ones in the painting that I had at home. Unable to control myself because of this realisation, I let out a loud gasp in my room. I closed my eyes hoping they wouldn't see or hear me with their super shifter senses, and when I opened them, they were all gone.

I slowly made my way to my bed, and I threw myself on top of it.

What did this all mean?