Fate’s Design

Yes, Luna

Kelsey POV

When I woke up, it took me a minute to get my bearings in the strange room. I was simultaneously relieved and disappointed that the Beta had gotten me a room of my own set up. The idea of sharing a room and a bed with Mason did have a certain appeal. But I couldn’t let myself think about that now.

I got dressed and walked out of the room, still a little groggy, but my stomach was complaining, so I couldn’t stay in bed any longer. I was about to start towards the stairs when an omega who looked 17 or 18 approached.

“Luna?” She asked in a cheery, hopeful voice. I groaned. Morning people were the worst.

“Just Kelsey is fine. And you are?”

She giggled. “I’m Alexandria. My friends call me Dria. Alpha Mason is in a meeting, but he asked me to make sure you got breakfast and to let you know he’ll come find you as soon as he’s free. Are you hungry?”

I looked the girl up and down. Why on earth was she talking so fast? And why was she so cheery this early? Ugh. But yes, yes I was. ‘Don’t bite the hand that feeds you’ and all that. “Thanks Alexandria. I could definitely go for some coffee and eggs.” I said, deliberately not using the nickname she said her friends used. We were not, not did I foresee us be coming, friends.

The girl beamed. “Right this way.” She said, bouncing off towards the stairs. She led me to the main floor, to a dining room that was bustling with activity.

“Luna, welcome!” Another omega, a middle aged man, greeted.

“Please, just Kelsey.” I said. He chuckled.

“You and Mason are peas in a pod. He’s not too fond of titles, either.” He commented. “The Alphas, Beta, and Gamma are in a meeting, but I expect they’ll be down shortly. In the meantime, everyone else is already started. If you’d like something you don’t see on the table, please let me know and I’ll see what I can do. I didn’t know what you liked, so I put out a few different options this morning. We’ll have a proper welcome for you later. I’m Don, by the way.” He told me.

I took an empty seat away from the others and put a couple strips of bacon and an omelette on my plate. I looked around the table and saw a few thermoses and pitchers with various drink options. Don wasn’t kidding about the variety this morning. I put some plain black coffee in my mug. I was gonna need the caffeine to deal with today for sure.

“Black, huh?” A voice said from behind me. I wrinkled my nose. Great. Just what I needed.

“Buzz off, Seth. It’s too early.” I said.

He walked up and took the seat next to me, piling his own plate high. “There’s a whole feast here. We should find a Luna more often.” He commented teasingly as he took a bite of bagel with cheese, egg, and sausage.

“What do you want?” I asked, not at all trusting his tone.

“Other than Don’s amazing, from scratch bagels?” He said. I was so not in the mood for some i***t playing coy.

“Yeah, other than that.” I said flatly.

“Listen, Sunshine, I don’t know what your deal is, but you don’t have to take it out on me. I haven’t done anything to you, so chill out.” He said back in an even tone. I have to admit, I was a little surprised. It was less hostile than I expected, but still very straightforward. I could appreciate straightforward, but it was still way too early for this.

“Fine. Whatever.” I grumbled.

“To answer your question, I just wanted to talk. You’re important to Mason and Mason’s important to me. So I want to get to know you and I want us to get along, as impossible as that might look right now.” He said plainly.

“Huh. I gotta say, that’s not what I expected after last night.”

“Yeah, well… can you really blame me?”

I chuckled. “No, I’d be just as bad if our roles were reversed. I’m not exactly the kind of girl a guy would be thrilled about having as a mate for his best friend.” I responded. I knew I wasn’t much of a catch. It was what it was, and I saw no point in pretending otherwise.

“And why is that, anyway?”

“Why is what?”

“Why do you push people away and why don’t you care about the mate bond?”

I laughed. I tended to do that when I was surprised. I couldn’t help it. “Dang, man, you don’t mince words, do you?”

Seth smirked. “Why waste time or words on miscommunication? I’d rather say what I mean to say and save everyone the trouble.” He said with a shrug.

“I can respect that.”

“So?” Seth prompted.

“So?” I repeated, feigning ignorance.

“You gonna answer the question?”

“Nope.” I said casually, returning to my breakfast.

Seth sighed. “Look. Whatever your issue is, Mason deserves a mate who takes this seriously. If you can’t do that, then the decent thing to do is reject him and let him move on with his life.”

“Isn’t that up to him to decide?” I replied.

“Has anyone told you you’re a stubborn, frustrating woman?” He asked, exasperated.

“Yep. All the time,” I answered, grinning. It drove people crazy when I didn’t roll over for their opinions.

Before Seth could respond, Mason, Adrian, and a third guy I assumed was the Gamma walked in looking like they’d had a less-than-pleasant meeting. Despite whatever they had been dealing with, Mason lit up when he saw me. I wanted to roll my eyes at that goofy grin, but for some reason, I couldn’t.

“Hey, beautiful. Did you sleep well?” Mason asked.

“Yeah, I guess.” I answered, as casually as I could.

“Big ray of sunshine, this one.” Seth said sarcastically with a smirk, pointing his thumb at me. I glared at him. “And not a morning person, apparently.” He continued, completely unphased by my look.

“Shut up, Seth.” I said, sticking my tongue out at him.

“Yes, Luna.” He responded quickly. Damnit. I hadn’t meant to do that. The guys all gave Seth a questioning look, and Seth looked both confused and mildly offended.

“Did you just…?” Beta Adrian said.

“How is that even possible? You haven’t even been made a member of the pack, let alone Luna yet. How did you just use a Luna command on Seth?” Mason asked. Thankfully, they were too surprised to be upset that I had used my power to silence Seth for a bit.

“I guess the mate bond must be strong enough to confer Luna power.” I lied, trying to sound as surprised as they were. Mason didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t say anything. I smiled sweetly at him. He definitely knew something was up, but at least he was letting it go. The others seemed to buy the excuse, at least for now.

“Well, I’m glad to see you taking your role here seriously.” Mason deadpanned. Oooh, he was infuriating. As if I wasn’t all here for it…. My traitorous wolf purred a little in my mind.

‘You shut up, too, T.’ I told her.

‘Kels, just accept it. Our mate is hot.’ Tanya replied.

Mason’s gaze finally left me to focus on the lavish spread behind me. “Wow, Don went all out this morning. I guess this is his way of saying, ‘Welcome to Harvest Moon.’