I just need to keep busy this week, I can’t afford to be this distracted. Bennet can play guide and keep an eye on her, especially with all the rumors flying around right now. Something is coming and I think Claude might be behind it. I can’t show weakness or have a weakness like a human mate right now. I need to get a handle on the threats and neutralize what I can before I can even consider talking to Kennedy about this mate situation.
My wolf and I have gone rounds about what to do. He won’t take a chosen luna, so that’s off the table and I don’t disagree. I know we would be stronger having our fated mate, but I still don’t know how that works with a human. I should probably just come clean to Josh and maybe Robin and they can help me research this. But, if I tell Robin, she will find a way to keep Kennedy here and more than likely tell my sister and my mother. Then the choice would never be mine or hers to make. I can’t have that. Not yet. It’s safer for Kennedy if no one knows she’s my mate. Jeremiah can protect them both and if I send warriors to help it won’t be strange since he’s mated to my sister.
Ignoring the constant taunts from my wolf and my beta, I have been able to stay away from Kennedy all week and finally caught a break in the rumors of disgruntled pack members. Claude’s f*ckery is behind the biggest upstart and his land is close so Josh and I have been able to run out there and come home each night.
The first day we were out there, we were given the run around and stalled for over an hour until I finally Alpha commanded his packhouse omegas to tell me where he was. I hate causing pain to omegas who are innocent, but there wasn’t any other option. All they knew was that he was ‘out of territory.’ And they had no idea of when he was to return. We took the time to walk the pack freely and I set another command to keep Claude in the dark about our visit and I should be told of his return immediately. Many of the pack members are suffering under his leadership still. I let Robin know what we needed so we could take care of them personally. This is probably his doing too. Mistreating them the same way he was when he was alpha, but this time he’s blaming it on me.
Josh and I plan to return in a couple days, after we sent Jeremiah, Rayna and Kennedy off with their warriors and ours. It’s too bad the universe and the Goddess seem to think that all my plans are a joke for them to mess with.
Of course, I got a mindlink as we were heading down to say goodbye to my sister. We had to leave, Claude has returned and is going to be imprisoned for treason, we finally had enough proof. I just needed the man himself. I let Bennet and Danny know and maybe this was for the best. I have been steering clear of her, there’s no reason to change that now. But, I had to see her once, make sure she didn’t put up a fight about the extra warriors I assigned to them.
I’m close enough to hear voices, but not what they are saying.
“Danny, mind your hands.” I growl out as I watch him hold her tightly.
“Jealous Alpha?” He taunts. “I bet she would even hug you if you came down here and asked nicely.” My heart leaps and my stomach drops at the idea of her being in my arms. That dance seems like forever ago and wasn’t nearly long enough.
“F*cker. Watch it.” Danny is lucky to be alive after his antics this week. I have had to stay away from him almost as much as Kennedy. My wolf preens at the thought of her wrapping her silky arms around my neck, but knows we need to get to Claude first, he’s more than just a? minor inconvenience now.
“She seems to be alright with the extra detail, that might be because Jeremiah and Rayna are fine with it. Are you going to explain what’s going on, or should we just start guessing?” Bennet breaks into our, almost, argument.
“Claude isn’t in custody yet. I don’t trust him and his reach is pretty far. I want them to get to Silver Crescent safely. End of story.” I take a breath, trying to calm myself of the pain at the thought of her being so far away. Then a growl rips through me uncontrollably.
I’m glad we are far enough that Kennedy didn’t hear me. I had to blink a few times to get my vision to clear. What the hell was that? Instinctively, I look at Kennedy again and Danny has his arms wrapped around her waist from behind and he’s whispering something in her ear that makes her smile brightly and then roll her eyes as he kisses her on the cheek. My whole body is vibrating with jealousy. They can probably feel it through our link.
“End of story, my ass, bossman.” Danny snickers in my head. Well if anyone was going to call me out publicly it was going to be him. I say nothing, just watch them get in the SUV’s and drive away. I feel like a piece of my soul is being torn away. “What do you need us to do so we can talk about why your Luna is being allowed to drive away?”
He knows, they all know, but they are waiting for me to confirm. I say nothing as a way of emptiness washes over me and then is replaced by rage. Rage I can work with. “Let’s go get Claude.”
Kennedy
As much as I want it, nothing else happens between Alpha Ryker and I again. In fact, I only caught glimpses of him coming and going from the pack house during the week and I didn’t see him at all the last two days we had before heading back to Silver Crescent. I know he’s busy running a combined set of packs with probably thousands of pack members, but his room is right next door to mine and I can smell his cologne in the hallway and even on the balcony, so I know he’s still here. He’s just out of reach.
Realistically we should have come across each other at least once or twice, but I feel like he’s avoiding me. And then I want to smack myself, because why should I even care? I have never wanted a second round with any of the guys I have been with. I even kept Ben at a distance, even though I’ve been with him a few times. I don’t know why this is different, but it is. As much as he riles me up, something about him settles me, although I’ll never admit that out loud. I haven’t had a nightmare all week. I haven’t woken up screaming and terrified since we have been here. Jeremiah asked me how I was doing one morning over breakfast, since I hadn’t called for him, or any of the guys, he assumed I wasn’t being honest about it. I told him it was Greta’s fault and that I needed someone like her in our pack to train me to exhaustion everyday. Not a total lie, she’s kicking my ass. He left it at that, but I know he and Rayna are watching me more closely too.
All my thoughts of Ryker went out the window when I got to play with the pups again the third day we were here. This time Rayna, my guys, Bennet and Danny joined in too. The game was so much more fun with all of us. It seems like Todd and the boys learned their lesson, because Emily was schooling all of us. I think she actually got better in just the time that we have been here. These big guys are really good with the kids. They would challenge and taunt the teenagers, while letting the littles walk all over them. Rayna showed me around the pack hospital where she would help out, everyone seems to love her here. They are really going to? miss her.
I also got to wander around the pack this week, I was never alone though after they ‘lost’ me the first day and Jer’s suspicions of my lack of need for him get bigger every day. Ben and Bennet seem to think that I needed a dual escort everywhere. I tried really hard to not let that offend me. I am a guest and really shouldn’t be left on my own, but I know that neither would do the same if I had a wolf.
Even though someone was with me pretty much all of the time, every now and then I would feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, like I could feel eyes on me. Someone was watching me, following me. I could feel it, but anytime I looked around, there wasn’t anything unusual to see. These guys were making me paranoid and the twitchy feeling is pissing me off.
Bennet’s a great host and guide, he seems to know everyone. I found probably my favorite ice cream shop, which I made them go back to every day since I was introduced to the handmade goodness. I have never had desserts like cookies and ice cream that made me want to cry because it was so delicious.
There was a tiny shop that had handmade jewelry, bags and other small knick knacks. The owner was quirky in a hippie sort of way and made me laugh with all the stories about how she came up with her ideas and designs, many of them x-rated, much to Ben and Bennet’s embarrassment. She became my second favorite person here, next to Emily.
Bennet bought me a wolf statue he caught me staring at. It caught my attention each time we walked through the shop. I was drawn to it for some reason and the shop owner said it was good luck, giving me a long story about the moon and its position at the time of carving the wood. It was an ornately carved wood statue that had so much detail it was almost life-like and stained midnight black with little silver details that made the fur look like it was shimmering as I moved it in different directions. Its defining feature was the faceted red glass for eyes. The way they caught the light made it look like the statue was looking right at you, following every move. It was a menacing look, but also comforting or maybe protective.
Speaking of protective, I think Ben came along to make sure I was never alone with one of the Dark Moon guys and he grumbled about Bennet buying me a gift the whole walk back to the packhouse. I may need to have a real talk with him.
Our final morning is bittersweet. I have really enjoyed a majority of my time here. Greta and the kids have been a wonderfully surprising distraction. The rumors clearly didn’t get everything right. Bennet and Danny meet us at the SUV’s as we finish packing up. Rayna hugs them both, mumbling something about her brother being a workaholic.
“You know how he is. He and Josh have to get Edward’s pack set up. No one thought it was going to be a big deal, but there are lots of other pack members with demands and everytime they take care of something, or more likely someone, some other sh*t hits the fan.” Bennet says to her and then looks at me for some reason.
I ask Danny. “Is Greta here or did she travel with your alpha? I’d really like to say goodbye and thank her for putting up with me. I know she got stuck with me for training and I appreciate her patience.”
“Trust me, she enjoyed having you here. We all did. She is working with the alpha, but she’ll be with us for the mating ceremony, no worries.” He hugs me for far longer than necessary and clearly enjoyed it based on his low, gruff giggle.
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.