Chapter 10

Zahra's POV

It’s a three‑hour drive back to Blood Moon, and I don’t have anyone else to see here, so once we finish our drinks, we call it. Alison promises food is waiting. So, there's no point waiting around here. I can't wait for some of Lacey’s cooking!

We split into three cars. The boys pile into Xander’s SUV. Lucas and Alison take Lucas's Audi estate. In theory Henry and I could squeeze in with them, but our driver is already booked to carry us on to Blood Moon, and the back seat of the Academy SUV is a lot more comfortable, we stretch out and I quickly fall asleep. I wake as we approach blood moon, the familiar scents causing nostalgia to hit like a wave. Goddess it’s good to be Home. Already I notice a few differences though, the old boundary fence has been replaced- no doubt the new one encompasses the new territory around Silver Dawn. No one has said the word merger yet, but Brant and Nicholas's sporadic updates filled in the blanks years ago. That’s a conversation for another day.

We roll to a stop outside the Alpha House. I climb out with a long stretch, and Henry mirrors me, then swings our bags from the boot just as Lucas and Xander pull in below and come up from the garage.

We file inside together and the smell hits me—roast beef, herbs, warm bread. Lacey’s working her magic.

“Zahra, we’ve a couple of hours before dinner,” Alison says, smiling. “Would you like to freshen up? Your bedroom is ready. for you”

“Mum,” Xander says, hugging her and already steering her toward the kitchen, “if she’s anything like us, she’s starving after those sad little canapés. Can we get some snacks?”

He doesn’t wait for an answer. The others follow him like ducklings.

Inside, the scent of roast beef intensifies, rich and savoury. A massive joint is roasting in the huge oven, fat crackling. Lacey stands at the sink peeling vegetables, sleeves shoved up, hair pinned any which way.

“Zahra!” she exclaims, abandoning the peeler to fold me into a hug.

“It’s so good to see you, Lacy. How have you been?”

“Wonderful now you’re here, darling girl. Look at you—so strong and grown up!” She pinches my cheeks. “Come on, let me make you a sandwich.”

“You’re still a miracle worker, I see.” She flashes me a wink.

“Lacey, my lovely Lacey, please, oh pretty please may we have sandwiches as well?” Eliot pleads, hands clasped in front of him.

“Well, since you asked so nicely—go on, be gone with you, and I’ll bring them out for you all.” She kisses my cheek and disappears into the pantry as Eliot and Oscar high five.

Zach slips his arm over my shoulder. “Za-za, there’s someone special I’d like you to meet.”

I still, then turn to him and that massive smile.

“Yacky, you’ve found your mate?!” I squeal, hands over my mouth, bouncing as he nods, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

“We all have!” Eliot yells, giddy and my heart plumets. “Well, except for these two grumpy bastards.” He slaps Max and Xander on the back and hurries outside. For some reason I suddenly feel quite a lot better.

As I turn toward the doors, I see four girls stretched out on the sun loungers, all in bikinis. Four. My heart starts to pound as Zach leads me to meet my sister-in-law. Why are there four?! But then my thoughts snap back to the present, And I am so nervous all of a sudden. Goddess, what if we don’t get along?

‘I’ll bite her and then she’ll like us.’

‘Oh sure, yes, that’ll work.’ I roll my eyes at my wolf.

‘In wolf law it will,’ she huffs back.

‘Yes, and I’m sure Zach and Zion will love it if we subdue their mate.’

“Zahra, I’d like to introduce you to Amara Duskbane, my mate.”

Amara is so pretty—big brown eyes in an oval face, high cheekbones, long chestnut hair. She’s small and petite next to Zach, but still tall and willowy, five eight, five nine maybe.

“It’s lovely to meet you, Amara,” I say, shaking her hand.

“Mara, please. And I’ve been dying to meet you too, Zahra. I’ve heard so much about you!”

Before I can ask Mara a single question, an arm lands across my shoulders.

“Zahra, this is my mate, Elodie Whitmore,” Eliot says proudly as a pretty strawberry blonde with surfer curls and ocean-blue eyes threads her fingers through his. Freckles dust her nose, her smile is gentle and kind, but I know if she is a fated Delta female, there is steel under that sunshine.

“It’s lovely to meet you, Elodie,” I say, shaking her hand.

“I’m looking forward to hearing everything about Night Howlers,” she says warmly. I like her immediately. Her calm matches Mara’s. Zanthe settles in my mind, approving.

Oscar draws me toward a girl with jet-black straight hair who stands a little to the side. She is smaller than the others, heart-shaped face, warm eyes with a steely glint that says she does not suffer fools.

“Zahra, this is my mate, Renee Ashton,” Oscar says, so proud I am pretty sure if I looked closely there would be hearts in his eyes.

“Renee, hi.” She is quiet but her smile is real, and when Oscar folds her into his arms, she fits like she was made to be there.

That just leaves the fourth girl.

I turn and see her practically hanging off Xander. I catch a flash of disgust on Max’s face before he masks it as the girl kisses Xander’s cheek. Even with three mated pairs right here, she is laying on the PDA like she is trying to prove a point. My heart pinches. What if Xander’s taken a chosen mate? Eliot said he and Max hadn’t found their fated, so who is this girl? Surely, he wouldn’t have taken a chosen so young?! I don’t really know why that thought is so painful?!

Xander steps forward to finish the introductions. “Zahra, this is my girlfriend, Helena McGlynn.”

Helena steps in to shake my hand. Her smile is forced, and the second she speaks I want to clap a hand over her mouth. “Zahra, it’s nice to meet Zach’s baby sister everyone is always talking about. You’re… different than I imagined.” Her gaze runs up and down me, a small sneer tugging at her lips.

Behind me, I sense Henry go rigid. And I have to ball my hands into fists to keep myself from punching this bitch.

We all take seats. I feel awkward now. Mara, Elodie, and Renee seem lovely and I want a proper conversation with each of them. Mating marks curve proudly along their necks, and when the guys move, I see the marks I missed before peeking under shirt collars too. It makes me smile.