~Gemma~ I hugged Irina tightly. “Seriously, Gems.” Irina patted my back in soothing circles. “I have to go. My uber driver is going to get annoyed and leave.” “I don’t care!” I sniffed. She sighed. “Listen, my love. If things get too heavy here, you can always join me in Florida. Enjoy the beach and some sun.” “Florida? You moved there permanently?” I pulled back. “When did this happen?” “I wanted a change of scenery. I rented a condo in Miami. So come stay with me!” She patted her belly, smiling. “We would love to have you.” I dropped to my knees, pressing my forehead against her stomach. “Hey, my precious. You hang in there, huh? I’ll see you soon.” I kissed her slightly rounded pouch. “Cutest thing ever! Later, we will discuss our co-parenting schedule.” I chuckled. “You got the ring?” Irina asked. I held up my pinky finger. “Armed and dangerous!” The ring helped take the edge off. Unfortunately, the cat was out of the bag. Nothing could put the cat back in the fucking bag

~Alpha Devlin~ ‘Alpha Devlin, please report to your office.’ Tyson contacted me via mindlink. ‘What’s up? I’m waiting on Gemma and Sammie to return.’ I responded. ‘Yeah. About that…We’ll talk when you get here.’ Fuck! I walked into my office. Tyson leaned against my desk wearing a grim expression. “What is is?” I had no patience for his drawn out games. “There is an alpha and 4 candidates for the Luna Trials waiting for you in the conference room.” He scowled at me. I groaned. “Goddammit! I never canceled the invitations!” I cursed. “No shit. Gemma will have your balls for this, dude. Seriously. Maybe you should do her a favor and hand them over. Save her the trouble.” “This isn’t fucking funny, Ty! Will you explain it to her? Let her know I am obligated at this point to follow through with the trials?” “Hell fucking no! I like my man junk right where it is. This problem definitely does not sound like Beta duty. This sounds like a mate who fucked up and needs to own up to hi

~Gemma~ It was Thursday, or day three of the Luna Trials. I’d be lying if I said shit was easy. I could hardly stand to be at the packhouse. I guess I really had no gripes with the candidates. After all, they were fucking invited. It was their mental musings, inner dialogs and feelings that wore at my damn nerves. I stayed away as much as I could without Alpha Devlin riding my case and generally acting like a whiny punk-ass. Today, I was expected to attend dinner. Great! I picked out an appropriate outfit. It was early September, still warm but the chill in the evening air reminded you Fall lurked around the corner. I loved Fall anyway. I picked out a skirt and a simple black top to go with it, bring down the dressy factor to casual. With the influx of visitors, Alpha Devlin had little time to spend hovering over me. Probably my only fucking perk of the whole ordeal. A knock at my door saved me from my wandering mind. I opened it. “Fuck, Gemma! Did you even check before opening th

~Gemma~ I had been careless. I realized that. I allowed Alpha Devlin to use his alpha tone on me with success. Epic personal failure! I owned up to that shit. I pretended to sleep as I heard them argue. “She had some fucking valid points, Dev!” Tyson muttered. “I know. Fuck! What am I going to do? I can’t keep her asleep forever.” Alpha Devlin grumbled. I sat up, done with their games. “You got that right!” Tyson rushed me. I waived a hand and he fell to the ground. K.O.! Alpha Devlin glared at me. “Sleep!” I chuckled. “So damn cute! Yeah. That won’t be working again.” I waived a hand at him. I sent a mental command for him to sleep, swift, furious. I added a touch of dark to the command for his stubborn ass. He went down immediately. Fuck! They were going to wake P-I-S-S-E-D. I had little time! Hours at most! I dove under my bed and grabbed Fat Kitty. I put him into his carrier. I grabbed a large bag and tossed shit in. I made sure to grab food and water for my precious.

~Gemma~ “Well, alpha. I’m assuming it’s natural due to the peculiarity of it. I met a wolf with white hair once. And I don’t mean that pastel, Elsa from Frozen weird look. I’m talking Crayola white.” “Am I supposed to know what any of that means?” His brow rose, an air of superiority dancing around him. Surprise, surprise. Another alpha but there’s nothing new. Was it an inborn characteristic flaw for them? Their damning arrogance? “Not up-to-date on your Disney movies, alpha? What a shame. I’m a fan of the classics myself.” His warring emotions danced over my skin. “Am I frustrating you? I promise I won’t be offended if you take your leave.” I took a sip of my fruity, alcoholic beverage and reclined further into my lounger. “If my company is unwelcome, perhaps I will take the boy and go.” He lounged on the other chair, looking comfortable and confident. And his patience with me unraveled by the minute. No doubt the handsome alpha usually commanded more attention from the opposi