All Chapters of The Alpha’s Chubby Mind-Reading Luna: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

•Faye•“Perhaps I’ve temporarily lost my mind.”“Then I hope nobody finds it until tomorrow.”I laughed harder, and he held me through it, looking entirely too pleased with himself.When my laughter finally settled, I lifted my head and studied him. “What if I start running again?”His expression changed immediately, the teasing giving way to something much gentler.“Then I’ll give you space.”“What if I get scared?”“Then we’ll stop.”“What if you get tired of waiting for me?”Shaun’s smile disappeared completely.He lifted his hand to my cheek, turning my face toward his so I couldn’t hide from the answer.“Faye, look at me.”I did.“I want you. I want to kiss you, hold you, wake up beside you, and spend the rest of my life discovering all the little things that make you happy. I’m not going to pretend that I don’t want those things, because I do.” His thumb moved slowly over my cheek. “But I don’t want you to give me anything because you’re afraid I’ll leave if you don’t. I want yo

•Shaun•The darkness lasted only seconds, but it felt considerably longer, every instinct in me surging into motion before I could even fully process what was happening, one arm sweeping out to pull Faye hard against my chest, my wolf roaring up to the surface, ready to tear apart whatever threat had just plunged my entire territory into sudden black.Torches flared back to life almost as fast as they'd died, warriors already moving into defensive formation around the courtyard, and in the scramble of restored light and shouting voices, I scanned every face for the source of the attack, body coiled and ready.Nothing. No breach at the gate. No blood. Just confused, startled wolves and visiting dignitaries blinking against the sudden return of torchlight, and Luke already barking orders, warriors fanning out to check the perimeter."Report," I snapped, not releasing my grip on Faye."Nothing, Alpha." One of the gate guards jogged up, breathless. "No breach. The torches just went out al

•The Shaman•They thought the face was enough.I watched the Alpha's mate go pale across the courtyard, watched her small, trembling hand clutch at her mate's arm like he could actually protect her from what was coming, and felt something close to amusement curl through me, old and patient, the way it always did when prey finally understood exactly how thoroughly they'd already lost.She'd reached into my mind. Clever girl. Her birth mother had been clever too, in her own way, clever enough to run far enough and hide well enough that it had taken the Queen Mother twenty-four patient years to finally close the distance again. I wondered, idly, whether the daughter possessed even half her mother's instinct for survival, or whether two years spent running from a manufactured crime had worn that instinct down to something brittle and exhausted instead.Either way, it hardly mattered now.She knows, I sent, quiet, through the particular channel that connected me to Vikky somewhere beyond t

•Shaun•The smell of blood hit me before I cleared the eastern tree line, sharp and metallic, threaded through with something else underneath it, a flat, chemical wrongness that made my wolf bristle the moment it reached us.That's not Ashcroft, Thunder said. And it's not Rainbow Moon either. These wolves have been masked.Masked how?Scent suppressants. Someone doused them in something that strips their pack markers. They want us fighting blind.I didn't have time to answer. The fight spread out below the ridge in a ragged, violent tangle, my warriors holding a broken line against what looked like twenty rogues, maybe more, moving in and out of the shadows with a coordination rogues should never have had. Garrick was at the center of it, bloodied but upright, back to a boulder, fending off two wolves at once. Three of ours were already down.I hit the first rogue at full speed.He never saw me coming. My shoulder drove into his ribs hard enough to lift him off his feet, and we went d

•Shaun•The council chamber doors were still bolted from the inside when I reached them.That was the first thing that made my blood run cold. Luke would never have left them like that if he'd walked out on his own. I hit the wood with my shoulder once, twice, and on the third blow the bar snapped and the doors burst inward, and I stood there in the doorway, chest heaving, blood still running down my ribs, staring at the single shape lying on the flagstones."Luke!"I crossed the room in two strides and dropped beside him, rolling him onto his back, pressing my hand to his throat. A pulse. Slow, but steady. I breathed for what felt like the first time in ten minutes."Luke. Wake up. Look at me."His eyes fluttered, unfocused, and he dragged in a ragged breath. "Alpha?""I'm here. What happened? Where is she?"He tried to push himself upright and failed, his hand scrabbling uselessly against the stone. "The floor," he rasped. "Sigils. They lit up, I couldn't move, I couldn't even—" His