7: FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS
1339 Words
TENNA.
She left before I could respond.
Lyssa immediately went for the garment bag. “Okay, let’s see what we’re working with.”
She unzipped it to reveal three dresses. All of them beautiful. All of them designer. All of them more expensive than anything I’d ever owned.
“I can’t wear these,” I said.
“Why not?”
“Because I’ll ruin them. Or spill something on them. Or—”
“Tenna.” Lyssa pulled out a deep green dress that would probably make my hair look amazing. “You’re Luna now. You’re allowed to have nice things. You’re allowed to WANT nice things.”
I stared at the dress. At the room. At the life I’d somehow stumbled into.
“I don’t know how to do this,” I admitted quietly.
“None of us do at first.” Lyssa hung the dress back up. “But you’ll learn. And I’ll help you. And my brothers—when they’re not being emotionally constipated disasters—they’ll help too.”
I laughed despite myself. “Emotionally constipated disasters?”
“Accurate though.” She checked her phone. “It’s five now. You should probably shower and change. Dinner’s in two hours and—”
A knock interrupted her again.
“What now?” Lyssa called.
The door opened and Torhana stepped inside.
His eyes immediately found me, scanning like he was checking for injuries. “You okay?”
“Fine,” I said, confused. “Why?”
“Your anxiety is bleeding through the bond.” He moved closer, and I could see the tension in his shoulders. “It’s making my wolf restless.”
Oh. Right. The bond. The thing that connected us on levels I didn’t fully understand yet.
“Sorry,” I said. “I’m just—this is a lot.”
“I know.” He stopped in front of me, close enough that I had to tilt my head back to meet his eyes. “But you’re not alone. You feel overwhelmed, you tell us. You need something, you ask. Understood?”
It should have annoyed me. The commanding tone. The expectation of obedience.
Instead, it made me feel… safe.
Traitor emotions joining my traitor body.
“Understood,” I whispered.
His hand came up to cup my face, thumb brushing my cheekbone. “Good girl.”
Heat flooded through me so fast I actually swayed.
“Okay, that’s my cue to leave.” Lyssa headed for the door. “Tenna, I’ll see you at dinner. Try not to destroy any furniture before then.”
“Lyssa!”
She just laughed and disappeared.
Leaving me alone with Torhana in my new bedroom.
In front of that massive bed.
This was fine. Everything was fine.
“I should shower,” I blurted. “And change. Margaret brought dresses and—”
“Tenna.”
I stopped babbling.
Torhana’s silver eyes were dark, intense. “If you don’t want me here, tell me to leave. I will.”
Did I want him to leave?
No.
God help me, no.
“Stay,” I whispered.
His eyes flashed wolf-bright. “Dangerous word, little mate.”
“I know.”
“I have very little control around you.” His voice dropped to that dark rumble. “And it’s taking everything I have not to throw you on that bed and make you scream my name.”
My breath caught. My thighs clenched. Every nerve ending in my body screamed YES.
But I’d set boundaries. I’d demanded time. And I needed to stick to that, even when my body was begging me to give in.
“I need to shower,” I said again, my voice shakier this time.
“Then shower.” He stepped back, giving me space. “I’ll wait.”
“You don’t have to—”
“I’m waiting,” he said firmly. “Because walking away from you right now is physically impossible, and I’d rather sit in that chair and suffer than leave you alone when you’re anxious.”
Something in my chest cracked open.
He wasn’t trying to seduce me. He was trying to comfort me.
In his own possessive, alpha way.
“Okay,” I said quietly. “Okay. I’ll… I’ll be quick.”
I grabbed the garment bag and fled to the bathroom before I could do something stupid.
Like climb him like a tree.
The bathroom was, as predicted, obscene. Marble everything. A shower with multiple heads. A tub that could fit four people. Heated floors.
I’d died. I’d definitely died and this was some weird afterlife.
I stripped and stepped into the shower, letting the hot water wash away the stress and travel grime. But even here, I could feel Torhana through the bond. His presence. His patience. His barely leashed need.
It made my skin feel too tight. Made me ache in places I shouldn’t be aching.
I washed quickly and stepped out, wrapping myself in a towel that probably cost more than my monthly rent used to.
The dresses Margaret brought were all beautiful, but I grabbed the green one Lyssa had pulled out. It was simpler than the others—fitted but not too tight, showing my curves without screaming “stripper turned Luna.”
I pulled it on and stared at myself in the mirror.
I looked… different. The dress fit perfectly, hugging my waist and hips. My damp red hair fell in waves around my shoulders. My skin was flushed from the hot shower.
I looked like I could belong here.
Almost.
I opened the bathroom door.
Torhana was sitting in the chair by the window, exactly where he said he’d be. But the moment he saw me, he stood.
And the look in his eyes made my knees weak.
“f**k,” he breathed.
“Is it okay? Margaret brought three but I thought this one—”
“You’re perfect.”
The word hung in the air between us.
“Torhana—”
He crossed the room in three strides and pulled me against him. Not kissing, not groping. Just holding me, his face buried in my damp hair.
“You smell like you now,” he murmured. “Not the club. Not Miami. You.”
I should have pushed him away. Maintained boundaries. Stuck to my rules.
Instead, I wrapped my arms around his waist and held on.
“I’m scared,” I admitted into his chest.
“I know.”
“What if I f**k this up?”
“You won’t.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.” He pulled back enough to look at me. “Because you’re ours. And we don’t choose weak mates.”
“The Moon Goddess chose—”
“No.” His voice was firm. “The Goddess paired us. But we’re choosing to fight for you. Choosing to keep you. That’s the difference.”
Warmth spread through my chest.
“We should go to dinner,” I said quietly.
“We should.”
Neither of us moved.
“Torhana?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you. For staying.”
His arms tightened. “Always.”
A knock on the door broke the moment.
“If you two are done being disgustingly cute,” Lyssa’s voice called through the wood, “it’s time for dinner. And the others are getting impatient.”
Torhana sighed and released me. “Saved by my baby sister.”
“I heard that!” Lyssa yelled.
Despite everything, I smiled.
Torhana offered me his arm. “Ready, Luna?”
Luna.
I was going to have to get used to that.
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” I said, taking his arm.
We walked out together.
And I tried not to think about how this was just the beginning.
Tomorrow, I’d meet the pack.
Tomorrow, the real tests would start.
But tonight?
Tonight I had Lyssa, three overprotective alpha mates, and apparently really good food.
I could survive tonight.
Probably.
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