The Alpha’s Bald Luna

Brunch with strangers

~ KELANI ~

As planned, the ‘experiment’ officially began today. Alpha Mardeo - no, Mardeo - gave me a few containers of some unknown substances to ingest and document how they made me feel. He called it an allergy test. Even though the containers were labeled, I couldn’t recognize any of the names on them so I had no idea what I was taking. But somehow I found myself trusting that Mardeo would not harm me.

“How do you feel?” he queried a few minutes after I sipped from the first container.

“Like a lab rat.”

He laughed. “If it makes you feel better, you can call yourself a professional tester. Just pay attention to how you’re feeling and write them here.”

Some of the substances were bitter, some were sour, some were tasteless. Like the poison in my pocket.

I had spent every minute since I walked into this lab wondering how I was going to get two drops of the poison into Mardeo’s food. Oh, how wrong he had been about my self preservation skills.

I was willing to kill him to preserve myself. It doesn’t get better than that, does it? I had no reason to doubt Princess Orlanda’s words. Between Mardeo and I, someone would have to die and it wasn’t going to be me. Sorry, Mardeo.

The only problem was there was no food or water in sight. Did I just walk up to him with the bottle of poison and ask him to trust me and drink from it?

Just when I was beginning to panic and ready to ask a stupidly suspicious question like, “When would you have lunch?”, Mardeo invited me to lunch.

I was elated. Surely, I would find a way to slip the poison into his food there. But I guess I gave away too much excitement because now, he was looking at me suspiciously.

“You don’t have to lie to me. You actually need to be as strong as you can for this experiment so if you’re not feeding well-“

“I’m well fed, Mardeo. I have lots of problems but that’s not one. Trust me.” I assured him.

He gave me a curt nod and gestured to the clutter on the table in front of me. “Done with those?”

“Yes. Hopefully, I don’t begin to grow horns.” I joked as I handed the paper back to him. I had filled it as honestly as possible like any smart person would.

After skimming through the paper, he returned the containers to their shelves and we left the laboratory for the lunch venue.

It was a beautiful house that looked like the owner wanted to prove their artistry to whoever saw it. Arched doorways. An intricately patterned roof. Window frames decorated with floral motifs. A grassy yard separated by cobbled paths. The house looked both simple and grand.

There were two people already sitting at the long dining table when we walked in. No crowd, perfect. They were an older woman and a young man. Both werewolves. They were laughing about something but immediately turned to look in our direction - must be that commanding presence of Mardeo.

“Alpha.” the man said as he stood to greet Mardeo. They shook hands.

“Lady Ambery!” Mardeo exclaimed as he shared a brief side hug with the woman, “What did we do to deserve this?”

She chuckled and she patted his back. “Maybe you don’t deserve it. Maybe I just have more food than I can eat.”

They all laughed while I stood with an awkward smile plastered on my face. Luckily, Mardeo introduced me.

“Warren, Lady Ambery, meet Kelani. We are working together on a project at the lab.”

I was so grateful to him for the respectful introduction. No mention of the words; belted or lab rat. Which were exactly what I was.

“Kelani, meet Warren. He’s my Beta and right hand. Lady Ambery is the chief librarian of Shanakoi and a good friend.”

We all muttered things about how it was nice to meet each other and lunch began. It was a buffet with a variety of food which were foreign to me. But tasty.

I was seated beside Mardeo and directly facing Lady Ambery who was sitting beside Warren at the opposite side of the table. On the way here, Mardeo had given me some information about our host and when he mentioned that she was a widow, I expected an older looking woman but Lady Ambery was a very lovely she-wolf.

The dining table was proof that these people had never heard the phrase “Don’t talk while eating” a day in their lives. There was banter and debates and more banter. It reminded me painfully of lunch at the pack house with my parents and other ranked pack members. The good old times.

When I arrived at this strange kingdom of elementals, I didn’t think I’d find myself in a gathering of werewolves again so soon. But here I was.

They seemed kind. They cracked jokes. They served good food. I could get used to this.

But I couldn’t.

The bottle of poison was somewhere in my pockets. It was small but the purpose of its content made it so achingly heavy. I felt its presence with every move I made. I needed to get the deed done soon. Which was why I had been watching Mardeo like a hawk.

I noticed he drank a lot of water as he ate. Personally, I prefer to finish my meal then take large gulps after. But he sipped after every two spoonfuls, like he needed the water to wash every trace of the food out of his mouth. It would definitely be better to put the poison in his cup of water. But how?

“Today would have been Trenton’s 60th birthday,” Lady Ambery said solemnly when the table got a miraculous quiet time, “That’s why I decided to have this little party.”

“Good Lord Trenton. Heard a lot about his kindness.” Warren said earnestly.

“Indeed he was a kind man,” her eyes seemed distant, like she was in a different world, “He treated everyone well. My lover, my husband, my lord. He fought for our love even when the king vehemently opposed his best friend marrying a werewolf.”

Did she say King Aries was best friends with her husband? There was definitely a lot I didn’t know about this kingdom yet and I was curious about it all. I listened to Lady Ambery continue to adulate her late husband and wondered if she was being honest or just trying not to speak ill of the dead. Her husband was a Shana and for all I knew, they were simply not good people.

“…he looked at me like I hung the moon.” she gushed.

Has anyone in my life ever looked at me like that? Definitely my parents - when I was born. Before my sickness began to manifest. Before they realized I wasn’t the perfect child they had prayed long nights for.

The other person who should look at me like that is my mate. But now that I have lost my hair, I would have to let go of that fantasy. I would be grateful if he is even willing to look at me at all.

“He was a good man,” Mardeo consoled, “It’s a wonder why the Goddess takes the good ones early.”

“If that’s true, then we’ll be here forever, Mardeo. You and I.” his Beta laughed.

“Speak for yourself.” Mardeo retorted but the corners of his lips were going in opposite directions.

“I can speak for you, man. I know you better than even your father does.” Warren replied.

“Low blow. Don’t make me puncture your heart with this fork.” he threatened jokingly, pointing a fork at Warren.

“Do it. Then I can finally meet the Moon Goddess and taste what’s between her legs.”

I snuck a look at all the faces at the table. Lady Ambery looked like she was the food she was chewing had suddenly turned to salt. Mardeo closed his eyes and took a deep breath like a father tired of complaining about his toddler. Warren was very amusedly watching our expressions.

Lady Ambery emptied her glass of water. “At least, respect our new friend at the table, Warren.”

“Surely, you can act normal for a few hours.” Mardeo chided.

I wanted to ask them not to worry. I was used to hearing vulgarities and most were even directed at me.

But soon, the topic changed and the table was a bubble again. My eyes regularly darted to Mardeo, partly because I was still figuring out how exactly to get the poison into his water and partly because the man was just dang handsome.

They were talking about Lady Ambery’s garden now. I loved plants and flowers. This was a conversation I could contribute to but I didn’t trust myself to talk without biting my tongue out of nervousness. So I let them talk. Mainly Mardeo and Lady Ambery.

“Wow! I could have sworn those eucalyptus were dead and forgotten when I saw them last month.” Mardeo exclaimed.

“Sure! It took just trimming and watering. Found it in one of the gardening books. May Koi bless people who document their experiences.”

“Let me see the eucalyptuses.” Mardeo requested as he rose from his seat. Warren did the same until they were all standing, while I sat like a clueless boy, tearing away at my meal. Neither of them seemed to even remember I was there.

“Since I don’t care much about seeing resurrected plants, I’m afraid I’d take my leave now. Thank you, Lady Ambery. This bachelor is grateful for a hearty meal.” Warren said with a bow.

Lady Ambery flashed her beautiful teeth. “Bachelorhood is a choice, Warren.”

“And I’d be choosing it for a while longer.” he grinned.

Warren said his goodbyes and then walked gallantly out of the house. Lady Ambery led the way as she went to show Mardeo her eucalyptuses in the back garden.

Behind them, the door shut with a sound of finality. I got the message loud and clear. I was alone. This was my chance. I reached under my tunic for the bottle of poison.