His Possession or His Princess

Fifty-Five | Rose

Cal

Guilt floods through me that I had to bring up Rose’s dead mate.

I led her to a sitting room inside the house that was alone, and I left to go get us some tea. While I’m in there I mind link to Amy and say: Amy?

Luna Cali? I can hear the happiness in her voice to call me that.

I respond: There’s a little girl who is playing kickball right now. Her name is Alya and she is dark skinned, curly haired, five year old. I’m with her mother right now. Could you please watch over the child?

On it.

I smile knowing that the child is taken care of and I walk back to the room where I left Rose. When I enter the room I say, “The previous Luna, Amy, is watching over Alya so you don’t have to worry.”

She smiles and mutters, “Thank you.”

I set the tray down and on the coffee table and I sit on the other side of it and say, “I’m really sorry.”

She waves her hand dismissing my apology and says, “It’s fine, it’s part of life and I have to adjust. It’s just… it’s only been a few months and I’m still trying to learn how to adjust on my own.”

I nod in understanding and she pulls out her phone and passes it to me and says, “That was my mate, Marcus.”

I smile looking at the photo of the two of them with their kids. I say, “Well, he really fit that tall, dark, and handsome look, didn’t he?”

She laughs, “Yes, he did. He was an amazing basketball player and honestly was on his way to going pro… it was hard the long hours he had to put into trying to be the best so that he would get picked up by a professional team so he could play in the NBA. But he was talented, he could’ve done it. We got pregnant with Alya shortly after meeting and honestly, I was scared he would leave because humans typically don’t feel the mate bond very strongly and I thought he wouldn’t stay around and have the responsibilities of a parent. He was fantastic. We made it work.”

She smiles as she talks, and I can’t help but smile as I listen to her love story. She continues on, “He got diagnosed at the same time we found out I was pregnant with our son, Chris. We were optimistic at first. Every day we were more and more relieved that he was still around so that he can spend time with our family. As the years passed, he began to decline and treatments just weren’t working anymore. He died right before Chris’ third birthday.”

I grab her hand and say, “I’m so sorry, Rose, if there’s anything you need whether it’s you or the kids please let me know.”

She sniffles and nods, “It’s just hard. My parents passed a long time ago and his parents… well they’re human and although we visit when we can it’s not like we can move in with them. Especially as the kids get older and there’s a good chance, they’re wolves.”

I nod in understanding, “It makes sense. But I’m here now, and I want to help you as much as I can.”

She smiles and asks, “Can I hug you?”

I laugh and stand up with her so we can hug.

Titus

The party seems to be winding down and I haven’t seen Cali since she walked off with that little girl and her mom. I look around everywhere as I walk around and I see my mom as well as Cali’s parents sitting with the girl.

I walk over to them with a smile on my face and I ask, “What’s going on here?”

The girl looks up with me with her dark brown eyes and says, “Alpha!”

She nods her head down out of respect and I chuckle and say, “Hello! What’s your name?”

She smiles, “I’m Alya.”

My mom says, “We were just keeping Alya company as her mom has a conversation with Luna Cali.”

I nod in understanding and ask, “Can I keep you company too?”

She nods happily and I sit beside her, but right after I do I can smell Calliope’s scent as she and the mother walk towards us. The mother rushes to her child and looks at all of us with a panicked expression and she says, “I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to inconvenience you, Alpha, um Lu-Mrs. Amy,” Her eyes flicker to each one of us and when her eyes land on Cali’s parents she says, “Oh, you’re the new people. You’re the Luna’s parents- I’m so sorry.”

I hear Cali’s voice and it’s calm and soothing as she says, “Rose, settle, please. You didn’t inconvenience anyone.”

Rose’s eyes flicker to Cali’s and she slowly nods as she breathes out. Cali kneels down towards Alya and asks, “Did you have fun tonight, Alya?”

She gives Cali a big grin as she nods and says, “It was great! Thank you, Luna!”

Cali smiles and stands up and looks at Rose and says, “I’m going to come by and see you tomorrow. Is that okay?”

Rose nods with a tight-lipped smile and then she grabs Alya’s hand and says, “Come on, hon, it’s way past your bedtime.”

The two of them walk away and I turn towards Cali and she has her arms crossed and she is frowning a little. My mom asks her, “Is everything alright, dear?”

She nods and says, “I just want to help her, however I can.”

I reach out and take her hand and say, “How about we head to bed, love? It’s late and we can talk about whatever you want to do and we’ll make it happen.”

She nods and says goodnight to our parents and we leave to our room.

Seeing her so upset about a pack member is very reassuring that she will make a great Luna. But I hate seeing her upset.