Chapter 30: Chapter 29

Xander “Let's go out tonight.”

| raised an eyebrow at Alice and tried to keep from telling her she was insane.

“| don’t think that’s a good idea right now,” Zane said gently. He was sitting on the leather couch in my office, thumbing through a book that he clearly wasn’t reading.

Alice sat on the couch with him, curled up in the corner, pouting “But there’s nothing to do here.” She sniffed a little and looked over to me, where | sat behind my desk sorting through the new documents | had to sign regarding all of the new matings.

Even though the Elders decided all of the matings, the legal paperwork still had to be signed by the Alpha. | had stacks of papers to go through, and news from other packs to catch up on regarding their mating assignments and outcomes, and | didn’t have the time or patience to deal with an Alice who wasn’t getting what she wanted.

“I'm sure | can come up with some items you could attend to as the new lady of the manor...”

She wrinkled her nose. “Like what?”

“Well, you're going to need to become acquainted with the staff, you'll need to start thinking about the winter ball. The guards’

mates live on the premises, so you'll need to look at attending their get-togethers and learning what they do to support the guards. There’s a list somewhere of all the things my mother does every year that will fall to you now.”

My father had stepped down as Alpha as soon as | was able to take over the pack. He was still strong and able, but after the Great Wars, he was done with politics and leading. He wanted to enjoy his life with his Beta and my mother, and from the moment I’d been born, he’d been counting the days until he could hand it all over to me.

Typically, he would have waited until after Zane and | had found our mate, but since everything had changed after the Great Wars, he figured to hell with tradition, that in the interim, my mother could continue to handle Luna duties. Especially since she loved doing it so much and enjoyed connecting with our pack and planning events. | anticipated she'd still want to play a large role in helping Alice wherever and whenever she could while Alice learned the ropes over the next year, “| have...duties?” Her brow furrowed and she looked back and forth between Zane and me, confusion lining her delicate features.

“Yes. You're a Luna now.”

“| thought I’d just, like, have pups for you and that was that.”

Zane looked up from his book and chuckled. “No, love. There’s a lot more to being a Luna than providing pups. How do you-

“Don't worry, love,” | cut Zane off. “My mother will guide you through everything. | know it’s a lot to take in, but you’re smart, capable, and amazing. You'll be perfect at it.”

“What the hell? Zane glared at me.

“The last thing we need is for you to imply she’s st upid and then have to deal with her complaining that you’re being a bully. We both know how these arguments end and how we have to make it up to her to soothe her ego, and | don’t have time for that right now”

“Fair enough,” Zane replied. “Oh, s hit.”

Through our Alpha/Beta bond, | sensed his heartbeat skyrocket, and he held his breath as he looked at me, obviously trying to hide how frantic he felt.

And then it hit me.

Now that we had claimed Alice, she could hear our ur inner conversations with each other.

The dialogue we were so used to having wasn’t just ours anymore.

| closed my eyes and took a deep breath, waiting for Alice to comment, trying to figure out how we were going to dig our way out of the hole we'd just created.

But Alice remained quiet, sitting in the corner of the couch, still pouting and picking at her cuticles. A sure sign she was upset, since she always kept her hands perfectly manicured.

“Alice, love. I’m sorry. I’m just feeling a little overwhelmed...” | said through the mate band.

Silence.

F uck.

“You know how insensitive he can be when he’s hungry and when he has a little bit of work to do.” Zane said with a teasing smile, putting his book down and leaning over to rest a hand on her bare knee. She looked up at him, still scowling, then looked over at me again.

“Why are you both looking at me like that?

“Because we're apologizing.”

“For what? Does that mean we're going out tonight then?” She sat up a little straighter, flipping her blonde hair over one shoulder running her fingers through it.

“No. Xander was a bit of a jerk, so he’s trying to apologize for that..”

“| mean, | wouldn’t say he was a jerk when he told me about all of the things | have to do. But he is being kind of a meanie for not going out tonight.”

What the hell was going on with her? How could she just ignore what I’d said about her complaining? Any hint of reference to her complaining was typically a trigger for her, even when said in jest.

And then it hit me, and | froze, disbelief and shock making my head buzz and my ears ring.

She couldn't hear us through the mate bond.