Ever Cynical

Chapter 10- Their Luna

Kieran POV

Their faces were priceless. If the situation hadn't required my utmost seriousness, I would have rolled over laughing. It was not often that these guys were completely speechless. Lugh stood up abruptly and began to pace. I knew why he was upset. His role as the Luna's guard meant that if anyone could sense her wolf, he should be able to, even if she was repressed.

"Alpha." He said, calling me by title, showing his stress level. "How do you know this?" He demanded. If I didn't know him so well, his tone might have pissed off my wolf. I was lucky that Ri'dubh was a pretty damn chill alpha. He snorted at my thoughts.

Lugh is right to feel the way he does, he commented reasonably. How can I be upset when his emotions are in control?

"Don't feel bad, Gamma. I can't feel her either." They whipped their heads to me. "The moon goddess showed us in a dream. Spoke to us. Her wolf has been hidden, I'm not sure if you could call it dormant or not, until she met her mate."

"So then, why have you not claimed her? Or had a talk with her about the pack?" Geoff was now on his feet, also getting worked up. We all needed the Luna, everyone in the pack. It had long been tolerable without one, but that did not mean that her presence was not missed or desired. Well, her or him. My mate could have been male, after all. I shook off the distracting thoughts.

"Becaaauuuuse. She won't shift, and therefore gain all of her senses, until the full moon in two weeks. I'm pretty sure she can at least talk to her wolf, but I don't really know where she is at mentally, so far." I said.

Lugh scoffed, more than a little irritated. It was rare to see his gray eyes so emblazoned with emotion, his dark brown hair floating in layers around his face as he continued to pace.

"Look Alpha, we need to find out. As soon as possible, I can't do my job if not." He was normally the most level-headed of the bunch, but it was clear that his stress level was through the roof with worry about his Luna as his volume increased. He was nearly shouting, his words a sharp staccato.

"Guys, I'm not sure I understand why all of you are suddenly impatient now that she is known to have a wolf. It has not even been a week since she arrived. All of you seemed content to wait when she was a human. Care to explain?" I quirked a brow. I was still the alpha, and their attitudes were not appreciated. They all needed to dial it back a notch.

Sean sighed and ran his hands through his wavy auburn undercut as his deep brown eyes met mine.

"We may be more patient because we are Immortals, but the pack has needed the Luna role filled for some time. With each year that less of us are born, the lower your chance to find a mate at all. We thought you'd have already claimed her anyways, but we understood it wasn't her world at that point. You can't just reveal all things supernatural and expect someone to accept it willy-nilly. But now... The longer we wait, the worse things are getting, Keir." He said, clearly trying to placate my growing annoyance with their attitudes.

"I get it, I do, it's just... She has only known us for a few days, and I get the sense she doesn't trust easily. If I rush her, I feel like she is going to shut down and shut us out. Call it a gut feeling." I replied. Suddenly, all of their tension drained out, and their shoulders slumped. I barely managed to hold in a giggle. They looked like those promotional balloons being slowly drained of air, and they did it in sync. I cleared my throat. "We need to make her feel safe here, all of us. She managed to diffuse my mom, so the rest should be easy." They stared at me.

"She was able to handle your mom?!" Geoff exclaimed, his golden eyes wide as he flipped his longish black hair out of his eyes. He made it sound like she was some kind of deadly communicable disease.

"Come on Geoff, she's not... that bad." I said. I didn't sound sure to my own ears.

"She's not evil, no. But her feelings are stressful as hell and it's hard to sit there and wait for her to spew all her negativity." Geoff rebuffed, crossing his arms.

"Anais encouraged her." My lips quirked, remembering Anais' careful attention to my mother. I had linked her not to be too harsh with our guest, nothing more, but I think my mom has me figured out from the appraising look she was giving us. My insistence that she sit in the Luna seat probably didn't help.

"She what? Why?!" He exclaimed. "It's like scooping your own brain out with a spoon when she expands on her theories. No insult intended Kier, but it's really hard to listen to." Lugh and Sean were nodding. I blew out a breath.

"Anyway, my point is, Anais is tough, but I feel like she is looking for a safe place. The question is, why?" As I said it, we all looked pensive. Answers could only come from the woman herself.

Anais POV

I'd gotten the wi-fi set up with antenna boosters in several rooms in the pack house. The last one was going directly into the alpha's office so he'd never have to worry about a weak signal. I could hear hushed and urgent voices as I knocked. I hoped everything was okay with the pack, they had the whole balancing of human and werewolf interactions plus their own world's politics to sort. I'd met the alpha king, and he was a pain in the ass.

Demanding and bossy were an understatement. He was also a lecher who'd tried desperately to get me into his bed, despite the fact that he has a beautiful werewolf mate. From the whispering I'd heard, it was common. I'd gotten my stuff and got out quickly. He was the reason I rarely did jobs in person, because his plan to imprison me until I gave in? Yeah no bueno. I yeeted out a secret passage I'd found as soon as I heard that s**t.

I've been through a lot, and keeping my virtue intact and my body unviolated is something very important to me. Maybe because I truly had nothing else. You could say my life, but I can't say I feel like that has much value. I'd rarely physically attempted self harm, but there have been many times I've done nothing to stop outside forces from trying, wondering if maybe this time I can finally rest after so long alone. It never worked, and I only found myself in untenable situations that usually meant turning into an unwilling hero of sorts, rescuing others and taking out bad guys. It was another facet of keeping myself hidden, and keeping myself well-trained.

"Enter." Kieran's rich, deep voice sounded from inside and I shivered, my thighs clenching involuntarily. Now he could tie me up and I'd probably like it. I shook my head as Claire giggled. Where on earth did that thought come from? How was it fair that I kept thinking about him like this when my mate was nearby. Her laughter evolved into full-on guffaws.

I'm sorry, she said, catching her breath. You'll understand after the full moon.

Mmmhmmm, I replied to her and opened the door. I loved my wolf but the jury was still out on whether she was annoying.

Four sets of eyes darted to me. Whoa, I didn't feel put on the spot or anything, jeez!

I froze for a fraction of a second before regaining my composure. Looking at what I now understood to be the Beta, Delta, and Gamma, I suddenly understood why Kieran found them funny. They were like oversize triplets and many of their expressions and mannerisms were similar. They had distinct personalities, yet they almost moved like there was one brain in charge. I almost giggled. Was Kieran's sense of humor contagious or something? My gaze swung to his and he shrugged as if knew exactly what I was thinking.

The side of my mouth quirked up as I struggled to stay composed. I cleared my throat.

"Hello, boys." They bristled. "Now, now, I'm just here to set up the final extender in here for the internet." Kieran nodded while the other men... pouted? How was I to consider them anything other than boys when they made faces like that. It took me less than five minutes to secure the antenna in an unobstrusive place next to his massive bookshelf. "Thankfully, I thought to get you guys something satellite-based, so as long as you've got power, you're golden." They all stared at me like I'd spoken Greek. Not one of the many languages I did speak, ironically. "I'll be back in ten with your computer, Kieran." It was so difficult to avoid their titles or using supernatural terminology until they talked to me about it. He nodded.

I left the room to retrieve the equipment and noticed something odd. Every pack member I met smiled at me and bowed slightly. I had noticed it before but thought it was just something they did when people first arrived. I detoured to the kitchen to grab a coffee. Werewolf or not, caffeine was a must with my body still re-establishing its circadian rhythms. Helga saw me and grinned, nodding in deference. It was more subtle than the others, but it was clear that whatever was prompting it had to do with my potential position in the pack. The only ones not doing it were the ranked members, meaning I was likely mated to a ranked member.

"Good morning, Lu-err-Anais. How can I help you?" She bustled around as if she hadn't just told me everything. She probably didn't even realize it. They all thought I was human. Of course! Claire giggled.

I knew you would figure it out ma Cherie.

Now I see why I was so drawn to him, I sighed.

Don't you dare think about rejecting him! Claire exclaimed.

I won't. It's just, now I really need to explain things to him. Alphas are not exactly known for being flexible and understanding. I'm sure since you've been with me all this time, you saw what happened during my last journey into a pack? It was her turn to sigh.

Kieran and Ri'dubh aren't like that awful wolf. She huffed.

Ri'dubh?

Kieran's wolf, the black king, Claire announced proudly.

Uh-huh. How do you know?

I've spoken to Ri'dubh of course. He's my mate, she preened. You saw him in the dream, remember? He's not like other alphas, you can trust them, ma Cherie.