All Chapters of The Alpha’s Chubby Mind-Reading Luna: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

•Clare•I found Luke and Mimi in the kitchen, the two of them tangled up in some easy morning routine that made something ache quietly in my chest, the kind of simple domestic comfort I still hadn't quite figured out how to build with anyone myself."Can I talk to you two for a second?" I asked, dropping into the chair across from them without waiting for an actual answer.Mimi glanced up from her coffee, immediately alert the way she always got when something serious was coming. "What's wrong?""Nothing's wrong, exactly." I drummed my fingers against the table, trying to figure out the best way to say what I'd come here to say without sounding completely insane. "I just wanted to tell you both, especially you, Mimi, since you've gotten close to her. I don't think you should trust that human."Luke's eyebrows shot up. "Faye?""Yes, Faye." I kept my voice low, aware of exactly how many sets of ears existed in this pack house at any given moment. "Something about her doesn't sit right w

•Faye•I was in the garden behind the pack house, pulling absently at a loose thread on my sleeve and trying to enjoy five minutes of quiet before whatever the day had planned for me next, when I felt someone approaching and looked up to find Clare standing a few feet away, hands shoved in her pockets, looking distinctly uncomfortable."Can I sit?" she asked.That alone surprised me enough that I just nodded, watching her lower herself onto the bench beside me, close but not quite close, like she was still working out exactly how much distance felt appropriate."I owe you an apology," she said finally, not looking at me, staring instead at some fixed point across the garden."For what?""For deciding I didn't trust you before I ever actually gave you a real chance." She exhaled, something like frustration crossing her face, though it seemed aimed more at herself than at me. "I've been watching you since the day you arrived, cataloguing every piece of your story that didn't add up neat

•Shaun•I left Faye in the garden reluctantly, the warmth of that conversation still sitting pleasant in my chest, and made my way toward the council chamber where Luke had already gathered everyone I needed for what was shaping up to be a considerably less pleasant conversation than the one I'd just left behind.Tobias was waiting when I walked in, a stack of papers spread across the table, his expression grim enough that I felt my earlier calm start evaporating before I'd even taken my seat."What happened?" I asked, dropping into my chair at the head of the table."We got confirmation on the Rainbow Moon connection." Tobias slid a folder across the table toward me. "They're sending a delegation to the mating ceremony. Three representatives, officially here to observe and pay respects the way every pack does during the ceremony season.""And unofficially?""Unofficially, one of the three names on that delegation list matches a description our rogue gave up during a follow-up interro

•Shaun•"Absolutely not," I said, staring at the three warriors currently blocking the doorway to my own office like they had any right to be standing there."Pack tradition, Alpha." Garrick, somehow already back on his feet after the border attack, looked entirely too pleased with himself for a man who'd been bleeding out on a stretcher less than a week ago. "Every Alpha goes through the Trial before his Luna ceremony. Your father did it. His father before him.""I don't remember my father mentioning any Trial.""Because it's traditionally kept a secret from the Alpha until it's actually happening to him." Luke appeared behind the three warriors, arms crossed, grinning in a way that told me he'd absolutely known about this and absolutely let me walk into it unprepared on purpose. "Keeps it fair. Can't prepare for something you don't know is coming.""You're my Beta. You're supposed to warn me about ambushes.""This isn't an ambush. This is tradition." He stepped aside, gesturing towa

•Faye•For a while, neither of us said anything. I stayed tucked against Shaun’s side, listening to the steady beat of his heart while his thumb moved gently over the back of my hand. There was something comforting about the silence between us, something that made me feel as though I didn’t have to fill every moment with words to keep him interested in me. He wasn’t asking questions or trying to make me laugh. He was simply there, holding my hand as if he had nowhere else he would rather be.It was almost ridiculous how much that meant to me.I had spent so much of my life learning to associate closeness with danger that I sometimes struggled to understand what to do when someone offered it without demanding anything in return. Even now, with Shaun sitting beside me, I could feel two different parts of myself fighting for control. One wanted to move closer, to discover what it felt like to be loved without fear. The other wanted to keep a safe distance, just in case happiness turned o