Ryker
This whole day has been a roller coaster of emotions. Add to that not sleeping and my wolf worrying about whatever made Kennedy so afraid that she screamed herself and half the packhouse awake last night.
I can only pace my room so long hoping to hear any of their conversations. Clearly, this is all normal and everyone just goes about their business like nothing happened.
I hear Rayna and Kennedy getting ready in her room when I go down to meet with Alpha James and Luna Beth this morning. It lessened some of the tension in my chest to hear them laughing together. At least she likes my sister.
“Maybe that will soften her up for us.” My wolf sounds lovesick and wistful.
“We can only hope.” I roll my eyes, because I have a feeling Kennedy has fairly strong, expressive emotions and she probably would not put ‘soft’ and I in the same sentence.
There isn’t much for us to do since Beth won’t let Jeremiah near the girls, which apparently extends to all the guys except Jason and Bennet. Josh can sense me about to crawl out of my skin. I rarely have down time and could be doing so many things while we wait around for guests to be welcomed in and final touches being done.
“If you don’t stop pacing you are going to owe Luna Beth a new floor.” Danny chuckles and the rest of the guys laugh from their spots around the island.
“Shouldn’t it be me who’s nervous?” Jeremiah asks.
“I’m not nervous, I don’t like not having anything to do.” I squeeze the bridge of my nose.
Five minutes later Alpha James walks in the back door. “It’s time boys, let’s get this party started.”? off Thank the Goddess. We walk out to our seats and get settled. Danny and Josh have not taken their eyes of me. I can see them out of my peripherals. Danny’s smirk makes me want to smack him and Josh’s stoic face gives nothing away if you don’t know him. But, I can see the muscle in his jaw tick. He’s ready for something to happen. That makes me more nervous than anything.
I am fully prepared to see my sister walking towards her mate. I may be biased, but my sister is always beautiful. Today was no exception. But, I stopped breathing as I watched Kennedy walk forward with Beth and James. I only resumed the process of taking in oxygen when Josh elbowed me to turn my focus where it should be, on my sister walking toward her mate. Both my sister and Kennedy had pastel dresses that were long and flowy, with thin straps barely holding the things up. They looked like they would be better suited for summer than fall, but with the way wolves’ body heat runs, my sister probably doesn’t feel it. I’m surprised to see Kennedy doesn’t look the least bit uncomfortable though. Where my sister’s dress is a soft pale green, her favorite color, Kennedy’s is an ice blue that matches her eyes. She looks strong and confident like any female warrior, her head is held high and for the briefest moment I feel something like pride watching her stand with her family and accepting my sister. But the feeling is short lived as she watches my sister join their pack. A flash of anger and jealousy crosses her face as Rayna and Jeremiah join? their hands. 1?I feel my own anger and jealousy rise watching her reaction. Her breathing is quick and shallow, like she’s holding in tears. It happens again shortly after and this time it is laced with sadness when Jeremiah marks Rayna. Does Kennedy wish it was her in Rayna’s place? Is she that good of an actress to pretend to be friends with my sister? Another surge of irritation hits as Bennet comforts her and her breathing slows and shoulders visibly relax. Is she just quick to lean into any wolf that shows her attention? Will she go after Bennet too? She’s clearly close with Ben. I wonder who else she has her sights on?
My whole body is vibrating, swirling with anger, hurt, sadness, lust, wanting, jealousy. It’s enough to drive anyone insane. If I wasn’t here for Rayna, and in the front damn row, I would just get up and leave and never look back. But I can’t do that to my sister. I can at least hope that now that they have marked each other, maybe Kennedy’s sadness is her coming to terms with Jeremiah finding his true mate and she will not cause them any trouble.
I was hoping to talk to her after dinner tonight, but I don’t think me or my wolf could handle it. We have so many questions, but our emotions are too high and I don’t think we would be able to ask them in a way that would actually get us answers. So I let Bennet stick to her the way he has been since she arrived in our pack, and I stay just out of her sight. Danny has also kept close to her, but he thankfully caught on to my mood and hasn’t tried to bait me into approaching or talking to her. Josh seems to think I need a babysitter and hasn’t left my side all night. I do relax a little as I watch Kennedy say goodnight to everyone and then head upstairs with only Bennet in tow.
“Let me know if anything happens. I still don’t understand what had her screaming last night.” I link Bennet, who has been harboring a low level of annoyance with me all day. It makes sense, he’s loyal to his Luna and his Luna is currently pissed at me and the world at large.
“Yep.” Is all I get at first. “You going to keep avoiding her, or are you going to grow a set and actually talk to your mate sometime this century?”
“First of all, f*ck you! Who do you think you are talking to? You may be my friend, but I am still your Alpha.”
“Then act like it. She is miserable and doing an amazing f*cking job of hiding it. It would probably help if her mate was the one comforting her, not her gamma.”
“I saw you comfort her. Keep your damn hands to yourself. I can’t help it if she has to get past the fact that Jeremiah is mated to someone else and she has to move on. She’s done a great job pretending to not be in love with him though. I give her acting skills an A+.”
“You deserve all her wrath if that’s what you think is going on. Dumbass. What’s the plan, in case she decides to talk to me and asks? You going to just steal her away from her friends and family, or are you going to give her an hour to pack up and say goodbye?”
“Watch the tone. I was hoping to talk to her in private tomorrow. Claude is still a threat and I don’t think he’s the only one. She’s too fragile to be left alone, but I don’t know if it would be safer to leave her here or take her home. We’ll talk in the morning. I will find a way to get her alone.” We are just going to skip over the absolute disrespect he threw at me. As long as he’s doing his job I can put up with her attitude clearly rubbing off on him. Her mood is going to affect his, but I didn’t think the effect would be this strong so soon and from someone without a wolf.
“Yeah, good luck with that.” He scoffs. What the hell is happening? We have been friends forever, but he has never talked back to me when it’s serious.
I didn’t stick around the party for long after she left. I tried to dance and talk with my sister, but all she wanted to do was talk about Kennedy and that topic was not open for discussion, which obviously made her mad at me too. Naturally, she’s excited to gain Kennedy as a sister in more ways than through Jeremiah. The last thing I wanted to do was be in or cause a fight on the day of her Luna ceremony so I said my goodnights and went up to my room where I could at least calm my wolf by being in proximity to Kennedy.
When I got to the top of the stairs I found Bennet sitting in a chair just outside her door playing a game on his phone. He was still in his suit from the ceremony. He hasn’t left her side for a minute. And I kind of feel bad about putting him in this position, but it is his job to protect her at all costs.
Ryker
“Hey, man. I’m sorry. This mate thing has me f*cked in the head. Is she okay?”
He shrugs. “I just hope I’m not this stupid about my mate when she finally shows up. I do not have time for the bullsh*t you and your wolf are up to. Especially right now, since I am on twenty four seven Luna duty for the foreseeable future since she thinks you are an asshole.”
“She said that?”
“Not in words, but I figure it’s a common thought amongst us and she’s pretty smart so she’s probably on board with the idea based on the way you keep treating her.’
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.