“And need I remind you who was closing the deals you botched and cleaning blood off your nice shirts when you decided to let your emotions take over instead of thinking rationally?” She turned her p.enetrating gaze on Rendell.
I couldn’t help my smile.
“Men,” She closed her eyes and shook her head once, “So d.amn irrational. And these Alphas, Goddess help their mates. They can be so overprotective even though we’re the ones that end up protecting them,” Grace turned her eyes to me, “My advice – just let them pretend they are in charge. They know they’re not, but it’s like when you let a kid pretend to drive while you’re pushing their stroller,” She said, not lowering her voice at all, and gave me a knowing smile that bordered on amused.
I bit down on my lip, trying to hide my laugh.
She was one powerhouse of a woman and could back it up. She was exactly the Luna I would like to be; I could be if I chose.
“I can’t exactly argue with that,” Rendell came up and pulled his wife to his chest, a motion that seemed so young, nothing like the King and Queen they usually presented themselves as.
“Neither can I,” Caspien gave me a look that seemed to bore right through me, “Let’s get going. The sooner we get this over with the better.” Caspein reached for my hand.
We stopped to drop Grace off at my parent’s apartment, and Caspien pulled Emmett aside for a conversation that seemed serious.
My mom rubbed her arm and averted her eyes from mine before pulling me into a tight hug.
“You’ll be okay,” She whispered more to herself than me.
My dad pulled us both close for a brief embrace.
“I know,” I sounded more confident than I was.
It wasn’t that I didn’t believe in Caspien. I did completely, with very fiber of my being.
He showed me time and time again that his reputation wasn’t just a myth. He showed me what an Alpha should lead like, and I knew how strong he was.
I just didn’t do well with the uncertainty, but I guess that was normal. I would put on a strong front, he didn’t need to worry about me today.
Griffen came up to drop off Nora with my parents and Grace. Nora looked annoyed but didn’t argue, “Nora said she could help with Emmett,” Griffen announced, getting her settled on the couch and making introductions.
Nora closed her eyes and took a deep breath looking at me, “Thank your parents for babysitting me, will you?” She said when Griffen was out of arms reach, “He packed me snacks,” She laughed once.
Something clawed at me, wishing that I had that when I was pregnant with Emmett, I shook my head trying to push away that longing.
“At least he’s practicing for parenthood.” I tried to laugh, taking her hand. She rolled her eyes, but they held nothing but affection.
I wanted to tell her that he would back off once the baby was born, but there would be no guarantee he wouldn’t be even more protective. “Ready?” Caspien came up and extended his arm. I swallowed but nodded and put on a smile that I knew only he would see through.
I said my goodbyes to everyone and gave Emmett a massive hug, blinking back tears I wasn’t anticipating.
Holden and Cali came to drop Loreli off, and we all headed downstairs together.
No one spoke, but the air was charging with anticipation in the elevator, but it wasn’t coming from me. All I felt was fluttering nerves, and even though Cali was standing firm next to me, I could sense the slight agitation from her. But she kept her gaze forward and her hand locked with Holdens.
I grasped Caspiens’s hand in both of mine. I could feel his tension but not a note of fear. That settled me a bit.
One last thing to get past – I felt like I have been saying that for ages now.
If I can just get past my final, past The Silent Assasin, past the conference, past Emmett’s fevers.
I wondered if there would be a time when I could just focus on the moment we were in without something looming over us threatening to rip away my happiness.
Still think we have it easy? I linked Cali
The corner of her lip twitched up, and she shook her head once.
The drive was too short, far too short.
We were pulling up to their pack in no time at all. Thankfully, I didn’t have time to process fully what was about to happen. Iris and I trusted our mate, even if we hadn’t seen a challenge before. Caspien explained it, however simply.
We show up, challenge him; the more witnesses the better, someone dies – Alpha Jasper, and then we address the pack and deal with the backlash which I hoped there wouldn’t be too much of. Apparently, Griffen and Holden already had a thorough plan for pack takeover, assimilation, whatever.
Warriors followed us in cars behind, even though they were forbidden to intervene. Others followed in wolf form close behind. We didn’t want to look like we were coming to attack them, but I didn’t know how they could see this otherwise.
They didn’t even have warriors at the gates. Caspien told me their pack numbers were dwindling, but that just seemed ignorant.
We pulled up to a packhouse that looked like something I was more familiar with. It was made of wood and fit in with the area around it, even if it wasn’t even as big as the one at Blue Ridge.
A group of people was waiting out front. Now that I wasn’t expecting.
With no one at the gates, I didn’t think they would be warned, but maybe they had patrols that I missed.
Caspien tensed next to me. He looked at Holden and Griffen, and they seemed to have a silent conversation without mindlink.
Cali looked at me, a concern flickered over her face, but she gave me an encouraging partial smile before her face settled into hard indifference.
The car rolled to a stop, and the warrior driving gave an almost imperceptible nod in the mirror to us. Caspien got out first and held his hand up for me to wait. I did as he asked. For the first time, I feared for my safety and not only his. Something seemed off. Holden gave Cali a swift kiss and followed Caspien out with Griffen. They left the door open, but I didn’t dare look at Cali, I was focused on Caspiens back, trying to read him.
“Ah, Alpha Caspien,” A tall man with dark hair sauntered towards him. I assumed it was Alpha Jasper.
“Dracos,” Caspien corrected, “I know you don’t come from a line of Alphas, so your education is lacking, but for royals, you address them by their last name as a sign of respect.”
“And what if I don’t respect you?” Alpha Jasper crossed his arms. There was something slimy about him; I immediately didn’t like. It went past my hatred for him about what he tried to do to Emmet; this guy was off.
“That’s fine,” Caspien shrugged, “I don’t need respect from others, especially from an Alpha like you,”
“Well,” Alpha Jasper smiled after a long moment, “Get on with it,” He opened his arms to his pack members behind him, “We’ve been waiting for you,”
Caspien seemed to tense, but it was hard to tell.
Even though the vote was only two days ago, there were so many people who knew of our intentions across our territory. It wouldn’t be surprising if word got around or if he had any friends or family in any of the other packs.
“I, Prince Caspien Dracos of The Crescent Moon Pack, challenge you, Jasper Finn of The Black Stone pack,”
A wide smile crossed Alpha Jaspers’s lips. It was unnerving. This Alpha that I could barely see past Caspiens broad shoulders should be on his knees, begging, pleading, at least pissing himself.
“Winner takes all?” Alpha Jasper asked.
“This is for your pack, not mine,” Caspien growled.
“That hardly seems fair,” Alpha Jasper went on, tilting his head.
Caspien shook his head, “You know how this works. This is personal. You came after my son, my heir, a child,” Some of his pack members looked at each other and shifted on their feet. I was glad it was news to them; we could use that later on. Alpha Jasper had the good sense to look taken aback; his smile faltered for a second before it widened again. It was a wicked thing, cruel and unhinged.
Cali seemed even to tense next to me, I glanced at her, and she was paler than she usually was.
“I accept your challenge,”
I knew that would happen, that he didn’t have a choice, but with those words, my heart dropped to my stomach.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.