19: Future Luna

The elevator ride down feels like it takes about years and I’m standing there with Kade’s hand still on my elbow while blood from the dead wolves dries sticky on my clothes and all I can think about is that Rhys just called me his future Luna in front of witnesses.

Kade guides me to a black SUV that’s idling at the curb with another man I don’t recognize behind the wheel and I climb into the back seat with my hands shaking so badly I can barely get the seatbelt fastened.

“You okay?” Kade asks from the front passenger seat and he’s turned around to look at me with genuine concern on his face.

“He called me his future Luna,” I say finally because the words have been sitting in my throat like stones. “What does that mean?”

Kade shifts in his seat and I see him exchange a quick glance with the driver before he answers. “It means you’d be his mate officially, the Alpha’s partner.”

“He doesn’t even want that though,” I hear myself say and my voice sounds bitter. “About two hours ago he told me he just wanted to fuck me and then ship me off somewhere safe.”

Kade winces hard and runs both hands over his face. “He actually said that?”

“Word for word”

“He’s a fucking idiot.”

“Seems to be going around.”

Kade turns around in his seat to look at me properly. “Look, I’ve known Rhys for years and I’ve never seen him like this about anyone, he’s terrified of losing you which is making him say monumentally stupid things he doesn’t mean.”

“How do you know he doesn’t mean them?”

“Because if he did he wouldn’t have just announced to his entire pack that you’re his mate, he would have kept you hidden and quiet until this thing with Viktor blew over.”

I don’t have an answer for that so I go back to staring out the window and watching the buildings get bigger and fancier as we drive into the kind of neighborhood where people have gates and security systems and houses that look like something out of magazines.

When we finally turn onto a private road I see the mansion for the first time and my stomach drops because calling it a mansion feels inadequate, it’s more like a compound with high stone walls and iron gates and guards posted at regular intervals.

“This is where he lives?” The question comes out smaller than I intended.

“This is where the pack lives,” Kade corrects. “About sixty wolves full-time, more come and go for pack business.”

“Sixty people living in one house?”

“It’s not really one house, it’s more like a complex, the main house is for pack meetings but there are smaller buildings on the property where people actually live.”

The gates open as we approach and we drive up a curved driveway lined with old trees and I can see people gathered on the front steps of the main house, at least thirty of them standing in loose groups and every single one of them turns to watch as we pull up.

“They already know,” I say and it’s not a question.

“News travels fast in packs, especially when it involves the Alpha.”

The SUV stops and Kade gets out first then comes around to open my door and I climb out on legs that feel unsteady and I’m suddenly very aware that I’m still wearing my work clothes that are stiff with dried blood and I probably smell a mess as well.

Kade stays close as we walk toward the entrance but the pack members don’t move, they just stand there watching me with expressions ranging from curious to openly hostile and I have to navigate around them like I’m not even worth the effort of stepping aside.

A man who looks to be in his thirties with a jagged scar running from his temple to his jaw steps directly into Kade’s path.

He then grabs Kade’s arm and pulls him a few feet away and they’re speaking in low urgent tones but I can still hear every word.

“Viktor’s going to use her as an excuse to wipe us out.”

“That’s not her fault—”

“Isn’t it? She should have run the first time instead she’s standing here”

Someone spits on the ground near my feet and I don’t flinch, just keep my eyes forward and wait for whatever’s coming next.

The main doors burst open and a woman emerges and I know immediately that she’s a wolf because she moves with that same predatory grace that Rhys has, all confidence and controlled power.

She’s stunning in a way that makes my breath catch, tall and athletic with dark hair that falls in perfect waves down her back and ice-blue eyes that survey me from head to toe with open disdain.

She’s wearing black slacks and a silk blouse that probably costs more than my rent and she looks like she just stepped out of a photo shoot even though it’s almost midnight.

“This is what has the Alpha tied in knots? How disappointing.”

“And you are?” I ask because I’m tired and covered in blood and I’ve reached my limit for taking shit from people tonight.

Her smile is all sharp edges. “Selene Whitmore, Rhys’s fiancée.”

The word fiancée hits me like a punch to the stomach and I actually stumble back a step because that can’t be right, he would have told me, he would have mentioned at some point during all his speeches that he was already engaged to someone else.

“Selene—” Kade starts but she cuts him off with a wave of her hand.

“What?” She looks delighted now. “She didn’t know? How interesting, Rhys has been engaged to me for two years and our bonding ceremony is in six weeks.”

Two years. He’s been engaged for two fucking years.

“You’re lying,” I hear myself say even though I can see from the triumphant look on her face that she’s telling the truth.

“Am I?” Selene circles me like a predator stalking wounded prey. “You’re even more pathetic than I imagined, a human, Rhys must have lost his mind.”

I find my voice somewhere in the mess of emotions currently trying to drown me. “He didn’t mention you.”

“I’m sure he didn’t mention a lot of things,” Selene says. “Like how a human mate would make him a laughingstock, like how you’ll be dead within a month.”

“That’s enough, Selene,” Kade says and there’s a warning in his tone.

“Is it?” She turns on him. “This child waltzes in and suddenly Viktor declares war, our Alpha loses all sense, and we’re supposed to just accept her?”

A black Mercedes pulls up behind the SUV and an older man in his sixties emerges and I know immediately that he’s related to Rhys because he has the same sharp features and commanding presence except his hair is silver and his eyes are cold in a way that Rhys’s have never been.

Pack members immediately step back and show deference and the man walks past me without even a glance.

“Where is my son?” he asks Kade.

“Dealing with the situation at his penthouse, sir,” Kade answers. “He’ll be here within the hour.”

“Then we wait inside,” the man says. “I won’t have pack business discussed in the driveway like common wolves.”

He turns and walks into the mansion and everyone follows like he’s got them on invisible strings and I’m left standing there until Kade touches my elbow gently.

“That’s Elder Blackwood, Rhys’s father.”