Chapter 251: Chapter 250

Chapter 250 Mason Xander and Zane had gone off for a run in the woods and what | assumed was some private time between the two of them. |

hadn't been able to hear them through the link, but | could tell they were having a pretty deep discussion before they left. Maybe it should’ve bothered me more, being left out like that, but...

“It's going to take you all some time to get used to how it all works.” Gabriela said this from the kitchen doorway to me in the living room. She held up a plate of cake. “I made this. It’s carrot with cream cheese icing. Want some?”

himself up to | checked the babies, who were all playing happily in their playpen. Isaac had pulled up babble at his sisters, who were watching him with a keen intent | knew would lead to them trying it next. They were safe where they were, though, and my stomach was rumbling.

Plus, | wanted to spend some time getting to know the woman my father had married.

“Coffee?” Gabriela asked as she cut a thick slice of dake for me.

| dug my fork in and took a big bite. F uck, it was good. | nodded with my mouth full, and she slid a mug. toward me, then filled it with hot coffee.

“It's a good thing you boys urged Lanie to take some time to herself. She was getting a little stir crazy here in the Ollage. By the way my son and his Beta took off a little while ago, I’d say we all are. Do you need to run off somewhere, too?”

| shook my head as | took another bite. “Not right now. Anyway, someone has to stay and help out with those three pups. They’re too much of a handful for one person alone.”

“It was certainly easier when they couldn’t move around.” Gabriela twisted to look into the living room fondly. “They're so precious. What a gift.”

“An unexpected one,” | told her sincerely. “I never thought I’d be part of a family like this.”

Xander’s mother studied me solemnly. “I never in a million full moons would have believed I'd ever be sitting across a kitchen table feeding the son of my husband's mistress carrot cake.”

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry Orion did that to you”

Gabriela shook her head. “You don’t need to apologize for the cruelties your parents did. None of us are without flaw. | was foolish to trust him the way | did. At any rate, I’m glad to have the chance to know you, Mason. | always wanted Xander to have a brother. Zane has filled part of that need in him, but not exactly the same as you can”

“No,” | said after a second, laughing. “I don’t think | can do that.”

She smiled, but it looked a little sad. “Lanie was right, you know. There is change on the h orizon. Big things are coming. I've tried to ask the Goddess for insight, but since | am no longer the Luna, my access to her is much dimmer”

“Ah. So you did overhear us. | wasn’t sure.”

Xander’s mother nodded. “I heard.”

“Is it hard for you? Having Lanie be the Luna now, | mean. Since you were the Luna for so long...” | licked the tines of my fork, adding, “Xander wasn’t happy about having to share his Alpha status with me, but at least he didn’t lose it altogether.”

“Yes,” Gabriela said so bluntly it surprised me. “It is hard to give up my role, my status, all of it. I’m used to a certain amount of power, and of course it’s difficult to lose that, no matter how certain | am that Lanie deserves it. She’s incredibly strong, Mason.”

Something in her voice clued me in. “And you’re worried about that for some reason,”

“Lanie is a hybrid,” Gabriela said with that same bluntness. “None of us knows what that all means, and while | cannot condone what the High Council and my former husband were trying to do to the hybrids...1 can’t help but wonder if we do need to be concerned about how they are able to access their powers. She’s not just a wolf, Mason. Not a simple Luna. She's got the vampire powers, and she’s the only Luna I’ve ever heard of who has three mates.”

I scowled. “You think | shouldn't be mated to her...?”

“| didn’t say that. The fact is, no matter what | think, she is your mate. And Xander’s. And Zane’s. And it’s clear the Goddess blessed that union of you four,” Gabriela shook her head. “But it's also clear to me that with great power and strength comes a vast amount of stress not to mention responsibility”

“And you think she can’t handle it?” | accused, angry on Lanie’s behalf.

“| don’t think anything.” Gabriela snapped. “But we don’t know anything, either. Like | said, she’s very strong. Maybe that’s why she has three mates. She needs all three of you to help her. If something should happen to that bond...”

| calmed down. “It won't. Nothing can break us apart Gabriela shook her head and gave me a sad smile. “Thope you're right,: son.”

But something in the way she said it made me think she didn’t have the same confidence | did.