He might not have been her father, but Alpha Raul Blackmoon had always supported Helena.
He was her father's best friend and her mother's second chance at happiness, her second-chance mate.
"Raul let my daughter go!" Helena could hear her mother playfully scolding her mate.
The way her mother called out made Helena's heart clench, there was a time when her mother couldn't even get out of bed and now she was running up the lawn to greet her daughter.
"She's my daughter too and she's finally home!" Raul said as he pulled Helena into a tight hug.
"Helena!!!" a small voice squeals as Raul is pushed to the side by a little girl with the same gray eyes as Helena.
"Rebecca," Helena gasped as she felt her eyes watering as she knelt down to pull her half-sister into a hug.
"I missed you!" Rebecca said as he looked up at her older sister. "Romeo is no fun, he's always brooding and busy with work."
Helena heard Rae chuckle behind her.
They still needed to talk about the fact that the man she had spent the night was Romeo, her Romeo, her Alpha. The one man she had even considered being mated to and the one man she'd been avoiding for years.
"And Rae is just plain boring, I like Romeo better he lets me train and —"
"Now, now Rebecca stop harassing Helena," Helena's mother, Alyssa, scolded.
She gave her eldest daughter a soft apologetic smile as she stretched out her arms, offering her a hug.
"But, Mom, this is the only chance Rebecca will get to really talk to Helena," Rae grumbled earning her a glare from Helena.
Helena already knew where her best friend was going with this, and she didn't like it one bit.
"Oh, and why is that?" Alyssa asked, raising an eyebrow at Rae.
"Well, once Romeo finds out she's home do you really think he'll—" Rae began to whine, but Helena was quick to jab Rae's side with her elbow, making Rae grunt in pain.
'A little excessive don't you think?' Hera asked Helena as she stirred back to life.
'Where were you when I was asking about the mate bond?' Helena complained to her wolf.
'I have no answer to your question,' Hera huffed.
Annoyed at her wolf, Helena dragged Rae to the side much to the confusion of their parents.
Helena leaned against a tree and pinched the space between her eyes as she let out an exhausted breath.
"What?" Rae asked.
"I don't think it's appropriate to let Rebecca think something is going on between me and Romeo," Helena finally said.
"What's wrong with it?" Rae challenged her best friend with her hands on her hips and no plans of backing down. "We both know it's true. The moment Romeo gets here he won't let you leave his side. Even with that Alpha around Romeo will get all possessive—"
"He's my brother, Rae," Helena said with a raised voice.
"Step-brother," Rae reminded her. "You've lived your entire lives as friends, not as brother and sister."
"It's still wrong and what if he finds his mate during the Blood Moon Ball?" Helena asked Rae.
"He won't because we all know it's you, it's always been you," Rae said as she crossed her arms on her chest. "Why do you think Rebecca said he was brooding? He's been brooding because he hasn't heard from you for the past nine years!"
"We should get back," Helena said with a sigh.
"Just accept it, Helena," Rae whispered as Helena walked away.
She didn't want to draw out this conversation any further.
Romeo had a mate out there, and it wasn't her, it couldn't be her because she didn't want a mate.
"You must be exhausted, dear," Alyssa told her daughter as she hooked their arms together.
Rebecca quickly ran up to Helena and held her free hand.
"Why don't you freshen up in your room then we can have lunch, just us family," Alyssa said with a bright smile.
"It's been a while," Raul said, the sadness clear in his tone. "How long has it been?"
"I was here two years ago," Helena reminded her stepfather.
"But Romeo was not," Raul said shaking his head. "The last time we sat down for a meal all together was nine years ago. Rebecca was just a baby."
Helena frowned and nodded.
"Where is Romeo?" she dared to ask.
Of course, she knew he was still in the hotel, they'd seen him.
"His friends managed to get him to go out before his ceremony, he should be back by lunch," Alyssa said as they walked up to the house.
"I guess we don't need to wait till lunch," Rae chuckled as the sound of several cars arriving reached Helena's ears.
She wasn't ready to face him. They'd spent the night together and she slipped out, she felt a special connection to him and he probably felt it too.
"I'm exhausted, mom, dad," she said as she patted her mom's arm. "I think I'll head in."
"Oh, sure dear," Alyssa said as she released her daughter's arm.
She was almost to the door when she heard the boisterous laughter of the men as they got out of their cars.
"Alpha, you won't guess who may or may not have found his mate!" someone called out.
Helena could feel hear heart beat faster at the declaration.
This was crazy, she was crazy, she didn't know for sure if Romeo was her mate, it wasn't the Blood Moon yet.
"Helena where are you going?!" Rae shouted.
Helena could already guess that everyone's attention was now on her.
"Helena?" a deep voice that begged her to turn around asked. "Helena, is that really you?"
She didn't need to turn around and face him to know who it was. His deep voice heated up her body and sent arousal coursing through her.
Last night was more than enough to tell me how well they were together in bed.
She was drawn to him like a moth to a flame.
"Helena?" he called out again, this time pleading.
Helena took a deep breath and slowly faced Romeo.
"Romeo?" she asked as she gave him a small smile. She took a deep breath as she tried to still her beating heart. "Wow, it's been so long."
He looked stunned as if he expected her to have a different reaction. Of course, he expected something else, they spent the night together.
"Damn, you look like you just rolled out of bed," she teased. He had a just fucked look that made her panties damp.
She watched as the corner of his lip rose to a seductive smile, he could smell her arousal.
"Well I'll be damned," Neil Jacks, Romeo's best friend and future beta said as he walked up to stand next to Romeo. "If it isn't Helena Willow."
"Blackwood," Romeo quickly corrected with a low growl as he pushed his Beta away.
It was clear that he didn't want anyone smelling her arousal.
Helena rolled her eyes in response, annoyed yet flattered by his possessive behavior.
"I never took Dad's last name," Helena pointed out. "Good to see you Jacks!"
She could feel Romeo's eyes as he watched her every move. She gave Neil a peck on the cheek and when she turned to face Romeo he looked like he could kill his best friend.
"Mom said you guys were out last night," she said as she gave him a soft smile.
"And Romeo's been crazy over some chick—"
Romeo shoved his friend aside and let out another growl, "Watch what you call her."
Everyone but Helena backed away and eyed him suspiciously.
"I guess someone will be around to do the tasks of the Luna," Alyssa said with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
Everyone had been hoping that Helena would be Romeo's Luna, little did they know how close they were to having that hope fulfilled.
"No," Romeo said.
"What do you mean, no?" Rae asked with her hand on her hips.
"Helena will do the tasks, she'll stand as my Luna for the ceremony just as we'd planned," Romeo declared earning him a glare from Helena.