Chapter 20: Chapter 20

SCARLET

Days pass with Ethan busy warning the pack and researching the best ways to protect themselves from witches. This is bigger than I ever imagined. I have yet to figure out what a coven would want from me.

Isa comes up to accompany me down to the pack house for breakfast, in an attempt to distract me from everything going on. When I enter the dining hall, I see that it’s set up like a buffet. Omegas go back and forth from the kitchen refilling the large trays of bacon, sausage, and scrambled eggs.

They walk around the room, filling everyone’s drinks and cleaning up empty dishes. I scan the crowds of people gathered around several long tables. I don’t see Ethan, nor either of his brothers.

Ethan didn’t come home last night, and I missed having him beside me. After so many nights of feeling his warm body pressed against mine as I slept, I’ve grown accustomed to it. I’ve noticed a shift in us, in me.

I can’t help but be drawn to him, but it’s more than that. I get butterflies when he’s around, and I constantly find myself thinking about him. Even after everything that happened when we first met, I find myself feeling safe and comfortable around him.

There’s an understanding between us now that we both were trying to protect our community. I’ve forgiven him. And every day, it feels like we are becoming a team.

Our dynamic is fun. It feels like we have been together for years, yet I still feel the nervousness and excitement that comes with a new relationship.

“Isa!” a young male wolf calls out from his seat at one of the nearby tables as he waves a hand above his head. Isa smiles widely at him and grabs my arm, dragging me over to him. She plops down in the seat next to him, and I do the same beside her.

“Hey, baby bro! How’s it going?” Isa asks him with a light punch to his bicep. He quickly swats her hand away.

“It’s going. Who do you have with you today?”

“Oh! Scarlet! This is my brother, Tyler. Tyler, meet Scarlet,” Isa says as she gestures between the two of us.

“Wait… how many of you are there?” I question, dumbfounded.

Isa and Tyler share a look with humor before they both turn back to me. “Just the five of us. Ethan, Alex, and Xander are from Alpha Seth’s first wife, Luna Lenore. She was his fated mate. About six months after she died, he took a chosen mate and had the two of us.”

My lips form an O shape as I nod. I never realized all that. The only Kane siblings I ever heard anything about were the three eldest. I didn’t even know that Isa and Tyler existed.

“So, you’re the illustrious Scarlet. The whole pack has been talking about you, wondering when they would finally see you. Some even rumored that you didn’t exist,” Tyler laughs as he pushes back so that the front legs of his chair leave the ground.

“Well… I can assure you I exist,” I joke. Isa and Tyler chuckle, and I scan the room again before placing a hand on Isa’s arm to get her attention. “I’m going to get some food.”

“Whoa. Hold on,” Isa answers as she stops me from rising from my seat. Then she looks over her shoulder. “Omega!” she calls to a young she-wolf who looks to be about fourteen.

Her mousy brown hair is pulled into a loose ponytail, and she wears a simple dress with a dirty apron over it. Her hazel eyes widen when she walks over and sees me.

She drops into a small curtsy in front of me. “Luna,” she greets before turning to Ethan’s sister. “Miss Isa, what can I do for you?”

“The luna and I would like something to eat,” Isa states.

“Oh! Of course! What would you like for breakfast, Luna?” she inquires, turning to me first.

“Umm… I don’t mind getting it myself…”

“Oh no, Luna! I’d be happy to get it for you!” the girl insists.

I definitely don’t feel like they should be calling me Luna yet, but I can’t help but admit I like the sound of it.

“Er… okay. Thank you, uh… What’s your name, hon?”

The girl’s eyes widen again in surprise. You would think that no one has ever asked her that before. “My name’s Lilly, Miss.”

“Well, thank you, Lilly. Would you mind getting me some bacon, fruit, scrambled eggs, and toast?”

“Absolutely! And what would you like to drink?”

“Do you have apple juice?”

“We sure do! I’ll have that right out for you!” she chirps happily before turning to take Isa’s order as well. When she walks away, I turn to Isa.

“I thought that they couldn’t announce that I’m going to be the luna?” I mutter softly to her.

“They can’t. No one is supposed to know yet, but that doesn’t stop people from talking. Ethan has only told his closest companions, though it doesn’t take a genius to figure out who you are to him. Everyone knows he brought you to the infirmary and that you’ve been living in his penthouse.” I nod. This is news to me.

***

As soon as I’m done eating, Lilly comes over to collect my empty dishes. “Lilly, what happens to all of the extra food?”

She looks around as the other omegas begin to clean up the dining hall. “Well, after the omegas eat, whatever is left gets thrown away.”

I press my lips together in dissatisfaction. “Would it be possible to wrap up the leftovers to go?”

She tilts her head at me in a questioning look. “I suppose so.”

“Great! After the omegas have eaten, can you wrap the rest up for me?”

“Oh! Umm… sure! Of course, Luna! Whatever you want!”

“Thank you so much, Lilly!”

She curtsies quickly before hurrying into the kitchen to give her new orders. I look over at Isa, and she’s giving me a quizzical look. “What’s that all about?”

“I’m still helping out at the shelter in the Scourge. There is never enough food there, so I thought, why let good food go to waste?” I reply with a shrug. Isa lets out a little laugh as she shakes her head and leans back in her chair. “What?”

“Nothing. Just you. You have to be like the most compassionate person I have ever met.”

I cock an eyebrow at her. “I’m taking that as a compliment.”

“Good. You should. My brother needs someone like you in his life.”