Twisting Her Fate
Chapter 14

*Present*

Long pale legs stretch out on the lounger, basking in the sun, soaking in the last rays of the day, five shirtless figures jump around in the small pool, the blue shimmery water is so disturbed and after only twenty minutes there is nearly more water out of the pool than in the pool. The five handsome men are playing such an aggressive game of volleyball, that if it wasn't for the white ball moving back and forth through the air it would look more like a brawl.

Lani lifts her sunglasses off the bridge of her nose as she peers under them, looking at the boys and then up at the sky. There is no chance of her getting a tan at dusk. It is actually one of the increasingly rare opportunities that they are back at base, so Titan has had them training from before dawn and then was generous enough to let them off half an hour before sun down.

Her thoughts wander back to a place that they should never go but seem to travel with increased frequency. The look in the steel-gray eyes, the touch of his large hand. Leilani sighs, slapping herself lightly on the cheek. If she had known it would be like this, she never would have approached him that night. Even though it was impossible not to approach him, he was a beacon guiding her to him. Fine, she never would have gone to that club, never given herself a chance to get drawn into the orbit that Connor possesses that she has never been able to leave.

Sometimes she thinks about looking him up. It would be easy enough, seeing if she could go there and f*ck him out of her system, but she knows that would never get him out of her system.

He is a poison that infected her and will stay in her system for life.

On their odd breaks, she has tried to pick up again, but no one's touch holds the same magic, no one sets her body on fire in the same way.

Leilani shrugs her shoulders, pressing all the stray thoughts into the back of her mind that is starting to get awfully crowded.

She discards her sunglasses to the side before running toward the pool, jumping and hitting the ball with force as she somersaults into the pool. Laughter erupts from the group as she slots in seamlessly. She looks out of place from an outsider's point of view, but she never feels more welcome than she does with them.

The underwater lights turn on automatically as the sun disappears for the day. The game can continue easily in the low light thanks to their vision. It is not until it is pitch black and the cold of night descends that they reluctantly exit the water.

Leilani moves around the state of the art kitchen in her royal blue bikini while Hudson helps with the chopping of vegetables, Finlay is on the vacuum, Levi is wiping surfaces, Arlo is mopping behind Finlay and Madden is showering.

Their house has a room for each but only one bathroom. It never worries them because this is their home, even though it is still on the base, it is still theirs.

Together they work like a well-oiled machine. As soon as Madden is out of the shower, Levi replaces him as Madden starts to set the table.

Leilani looks at the scene with a warm heart. The small space is completely filled with the large shirtless men being all domestic. She plates up the six large portions of food as Madden sets the table.

It has been an entire month since the last time they were home and she has missed this. Living in a hotel and eating out every day is tiresome.

Their house is still a log cabin to fit in with the rest of the buildings within the base, but inside there is no sign of the rustic externals, it is light, bright and airy, pictures of the group in different locations dot the walls, the furniture is soft timbers and warm colors, the boys just letting Leilani have free rein on that aspect but it is the place that they are the most comfortable, they can not be viewed, they don't have to put on fake faces, they don't have to have an air of authority, here they are just free to be. The six sit around the large table and chat excitedly. It is the first time that they have not had another mission pending, so the prospect of spending a bit of time at home has everyone in an excited mood.

Leilani moves her food around the plate as she listens to the chatter. This has always been her happy place, but for some reason this week she just keeps feeling like it is all going to shatter, like she has been living in an illusion and it is going to crumble and fall around her and she will be crushed to death by reality.

Levi grips her hand on top of the table.

"Are you okay?"

Leilani looks into Levi's chocolate brown eyes. She was hoping she wasn't being too obvious, she didn't want to ruin everyone's fun, but her fake smile was so easily seen through.

"I am not sure what it is, I just have a bad feeling"

Levi opens his mouth to say something when there is a knock at the door. Hudson jumps from his seat to open the door. Titan and Andrea walk in, one huge and one tiny. Leilani holds Levi's hand tightly and he gives her a reassuring squeeze as they look at the serious look on Titan's face.

Andrea looks directly at Leilani with a look of sympathy. A certain tension hangs heavily in the air.

"There is another job"

Titan breaks the pin drop silence, his brown, nearly black eyes fixed on Leilani and Leilani feels her heart rise to her throat. She can already hear the words before they are said. The other boys know exactly what is coming, but as Titan opens his mouth, it still comes as a shock.

"You will be heading to the half moon pack"

Leilani takes a deep breath in and loosens her grip on Levi, but he picks up the slack. For some reason, when she hears the words they don't hit as hard as she thought they would hit.

What happened back then was a lifetime ago. She is nothing like what she was.

Finlay pulls Leilani onto his lap and Titan takes her seat, pulling Andrea down on his lap.

"I am sorry about this guys, but since I didn't want another incident like what happened at Aquamarine, I fished for some more details, but this one actually requires us to intervene" Titan looks at Leilani.

"Are you okay?"

"Don't worry about me, tell us what we are heading into"

Titan nods, squeezing Leilani's shoulder gently in appreciation.

"So there is big trouble brewing between the half moon pack and the stormy pack. The alpha of the half moon pack, Gabriel Hutchins, is set to marry his chosen mate on his twenty-fifth birthday. He had to wait so long to allow him to maybe be able to replace his fated mate. Since he hasn't been able to replace her, he is marrying his long-term girlfriend. But the sticking point is that Gabriel was having a meeting with another alpha from the stormy pack, Alpha Storm, and Gabriel's prospective Luna crashed the meeting. It ends up that Gabriel's chosen mate is Alpha Storms fated mate"

Leilani chuckles darkly.

"Ohh love triangle. How very sweet"

"The girl wants to stay with her chosen mate, she wants to stay with Gabriel, which is causing tension"

"Who is the girl?"

"Maggie something"

"Of course it is"

Leilani rolls her eyes, because mediating a dispute between her two most hated people and another is her idea of a good time. If anything, Leilani hopes that Alpha Storm just strikes the two bullies down.

But Leilani would never turn down an assignment just because she hates the participants, she has more class than that.

"Well, I guess we are going to sort out the convoluted relationship between Alpha Hutchins and Alpha Storm?"

Leilani's claws tap on the timber table in a rhythm.

"But if I was Alpha Storm I would be laughing at my fortune of not getting saddled with that raging b*tch"

Andrea offers.

"She may have changed"

"No one can change that much"

The boys all nod in agreement, including Titan and Andrea can only concede defeat.

"Are you going to be right to do this?"

"I may take a backseat on this one so I don't say things that should not be said, but we are a team and I plan on staying with my team"

Madden walks to the cabinet and takes out a couple of large bottles of vodka, pouring eight tumblers to the brim, they clink crystal.

"Here is to delving straight back into our f*cked up pasts. I was wondering who would be so lucky and Lani, I was really not expecting it to be you."