Chapter 19

Lorenzo looked like an angel, but I couldn’t tell if that was a result of my vision slowly coming back to me. I did know with great certainty though that I finally felt safe. I took a look around, taking in my surroundings. Around me stood several other werewolves primed and ready to fight, likely warriors from the Black Moon pack. As menacing as they appeared, they all looked at me with friendly expressions which eased my nerves.

But what really calmed me down was the feeling of Lorenzo’s hands holding me close. I breathed him in, happy to fill my nose with any scent other than my kidnapper’s horrible cologne. Lorenzo smelled like a rich pine forest, something comforting and familiar instead of cheap and stale. He pulled away slightly to look at me, his eyes boring into mine conveying the silent message that he was here and not going anywhere.

Then his focus drifted away from my eyes and up to my forehead, and Lorenzo lightly reached out to poke a small bruise that was forming. I winced slightly at the dull pain which sent him immediately into alpha mode. His hands grazed over me lightly as he checked my body and clothes for any injuries, seeming to only be satisfied when he found I was unharmed.

“What did they do to you?” Lorenzo finally asked, looking deeply into my eyes again. His hands now found purchase on my waist as he knelt in front of me. Considering I was uninjured and hadn’t given any information to my attackers, I could only say so much. But Lorenzo’s sincerity made it easy to confide in him like I had when we were teenagers.

“They were looking for a list, something apparently my father possessed at one point,” I said with a shaky breath at the mention of my father. Lorenzo simply nodded, and reached out a hand to help me to my feet. He kept an arm around me in support as we made our way out of the warehouse flanked by several Black Moon warriors. I was a bit dizzy from being taken with such force, so naturally I leaned into Lorenzo’s warmth and touch. My wolf hummed, pleased at the contact.

We rode in silence, clearly a trend at this point, back to my new apartment; except this time, Lorenzo held me the whole way. It felt strangely okay given the circumstances of our past, and I was grateful that I didn’t need to talk in order to feel comforted. This time, when I arrived at my apartment, I made no attempt to run away or

say a hasty goodbye. I let Lorenzo take me up to my new place and help me get settled in. He checked around the rooms for any signs of danger or foul play, relaxing only after triple checking the entire apartment. He sat at the foot of my bed and sighed, exhausted.

“It’s going to be best for you not to go out these days,” Lorenzo said solemnly and I nodded in agreement despite how sad that made me. It was only then that I remembered he had bailed on me at dinner, but when I went to say something, it was like he read my mind.

“I’ll make tonight up to you, dinner on me sometime soon I promise,” the alpha said. I honestly didn’t have the energy to be hurt, and at this point I was heavily indebted to him. But, the least he could do was take me to a nice dinner, nevermind that he saved my life…again.

I managed a smile then settled more comfortably into my bed which Lorenzo took as his cue to leave. But as he made his way to the door, shoulders slightly tensed, I couldn’t help but call out.

“Thank you, Lorenzo,” I said. He stopped and looked back at me, hand on the doorknob.

“I’ll look into this,” he said before disappearing out the door. A bit of a rude exit, but his commitment to keeping me safe spoke for itself. I actually felt safe, but I was too wired to sleep after what had just happened.

Who had kidnapped me? What did they want with my father and why were they involved in my family? What list could they possibly be talking about? All of these things swam in my head as I got a text notification from Lorenzo. It contained a photo of my old apartment, which by the looks of it, had been turned completely upside down and almost destroyed.

Lorenzo’s message also read: “Glad you didn’t go back. Goodnight Eleanor.”

I put my phone face down trying to get away from it all. Lorenzo continued to confuse me and make me doubt my inner feelings, but I had more pressing things on my mind.

A list? My father was an organized man but he never kept lists, so why would they press me for information about him? In truth, I didn’t have much information to begin with. My father never told me what he was doing that day or where he was going. The only thing he left me, apart from a crippling amount of debt, was his will…

The thought of my fathers will nagged at me. My eyes darted across the room to my desk where I knew the file was stored. My curiosity got the best of me and I was soon being pulled across the room towards my desk so I could release my father’s will from its confines. I had only read it once before, the day they told me he had died, and I only kept it for legal reasons.

Yet as my eyes traced over the will once more, I began to notice oddly placed capital letters. Surely a formal document such as a will wouldn’t have such egregious typos littered all over it. But then I began to pay more attention to the letters and almost cursed myself aloud for taking so long to understand: the letters were a puzzle. My father and I often did word puzzles together during my childhood, and even as I grew up and he was home less because of work, he would leave me sweet notes before school but always in the form of a puzzle.

Perhaps my father was trying to tell me something that he knew only I would figure out? My curiosity was driving me entirely at this point so I grabbed a pen and paper and followed the puzzle. I took down each letter and began to unscramble them. Once the puzzle was solved, I dropped my pen and gasped. The answer read: “Leave Blue Moon.”