A bit like Genesis, perhaps?
As if to reinforce the thought, Xander turned toward him. “You never told me your sister was so hot. How is she unbonded at her age? She must’ve rejected more packs than Destiny Duvalle by now.”
Greyson shrugged. “I don’t know much about her personal life. We rarely talk.”
“How do you feel about her being here?” Hunter asked, his rage softening.
Despite his physical prowess, Hunter was the quietest and most intuitive member of the pack. He knew immediately when something was off about his packmates, and there was no bullshitting him—it was the main reason Xander had yet to fully self-destruct. Hunter could always sense when their pack leader was getting close to doing something really stupid. Which had to be why he was so pissed about last night. He probably blamed himself for not seeing it coming.
Greyson shrugged again, joining Xander outside the boxing ring. He finished lacing the prince’s gloves, then pushed him toward the ring. This was not about to turn into a therapy session, at least not for him. They needed to focus on Xander.
Besides, howdidhe feel about seeing Genesis? He’d thought he’d gotten used to her absence. He hadn’t even thought hemissed her, but he’d been wrong. Now that he’d seen her, he realized he’d missed his sister a great deal. Having his two best friends at his side had helped him fill the void, but it had never truly gone away.
“I’m not sure,” Greyson answered finally. “I used to try so hard to keep in touch with her, but it was like she couldn’t be bothered. She stopped coming around when I was in secondary school, and I hardly ever saw her anymore. Now she’s just here all of a sudden and I don’t know what to do with that.”
“Maybe it’s a Christmas miracle,” Xander suggested, climbing into the ring. “Peace on earth, goodwill toward estranged relatives, and all that.”
“Do you know why she stopped coming around?” Hunter asked, his hazel eyes fixed on Greyson in that intense way of his. The guy would be a top-notch MI6 interrogator.
Greyson thought about it, surprised that he’d never considered her reasoning before. Now that he did, her distance didn’t seem so illogical. It wasn’t like his home was really Genesis’s home. She’d been at boarding school as early as he could remember, since before he was born, actually. Given their nearly six-year age difference, that meant she’d barely been out of preschool when she was sent away. Why had that never struck him as odd before?
“Her mother passed away quite suddenly, and I think our fathers didn’t know what to do with her, so they sent her to boarding school,” Greyson said, feeling a pang of sympathy for five-year-old Genesis, grieving her mother and sent to live among strangers. “After they mated with my mother and I came along, I think maybe our home didn’t feel much like hers anymore.”
Greyson’s mother had wanted him to be educated in the UK, so the family had relocated from the United States to England when he started nursery school. That’s when Genesis had startedspending more and more of the summer and winter holidays at school or with friends. He’d always thought it was some preteen rebelliousness or that Gen had been too cool to spend her breaks with her annoying kid brother.
“She’s notthatmuch older than us,” Xander said. “So, it couldn’t have been long after her mother died that they claimed yours, right?”
His parents had a whirlwind love story Greyson had heard a million times. His mother had been a volunteer for a grief support group. She met a pack of beautiful, broken men and felt an instant connection. His fathers always said she brought them back to life. But how must it have been for Genesis, who had to watch them move on from her mother so quickly?
“I think it was a matter of months,” Greyson said, embarrassed by the admission.
He really should’ve considered Genesis’s feelings sooner. She must’ve resented his mother and maybe even him. In retrospect, he was surprised by how nice she’d always been to him.
“Yikes.” Xander grimaced.
“Start warming up,” Hunter commanded, then turned his attention back to Greyson. “And you—don’t waste your Christmas miracle.”
Greyson nodded stiffly. Hunter rarely bothered to talk but he was seldom wrong when he did. Greyson would be remiss not to heed his advice.
“Fine, but I do hope that St. Nicholas can spare another miracle or two, because it’s going to take an act of god for Xander not to cock-up the Christmas festival,” he said, taking control of the conversation. “Don’t punch him in the head too much, I have a list of names and details he needs to memorize before the fun begins tomorrow.”
“No promises,” Hunter muttered, beckoning Xander to the center of the ring with a dangerous glint in his eye.
“I hate you both,” Xander grumbled.
Greyson laughed and opened the festival brief on his phone so he could begin feeding Xander information. Maybe his packmates were right and this was a Christmas miracle. It could be his second chance at a relationship with his sister. Maybe it was a good omen, and things were about to turn around for him and his pack.
Maybeeverythingwas about to change.
Chapter five
Destiny
Destiny hardly paid attention for the rest of the tour. Her thoughts kept wandering back to handsome, charming Greyson Valentine and equally handsome, infinitely less charming Prince Alexander. Despite her undeniable attraction to Greyson, Destiny was annoyed to be thinking of either of them. She needed to be thinking about how to get out of staying an extra night in Avondale.
Every window they passed showed a winter wonderland, which was only enhanced by the holly and twinkle lights that were appearing all over the castle. Fat snowflakes were falling steadily, coating the landscape in white. Destiny wondered if the snow would impact the opening event of the Christmas festival, which the princess said consisted of the simultaneous lighting of five acres of trees. Teams of Avondalian citizens contributed to charity to enter the contest. Their donations bought them a tree, a chance to win a cash prize and, most importantly, braggingrights. Apparently, the royal family judged the competition—inspecting more than a thousand trees every year.
“Are you ready to head back to your room to rest until the performance, or did you want to do some more sightseeing?” Sasha appeared at Destiny’s side, smiling brightly.
