The Alpha’s Hidden Luna

5.

The two women stood side by side, hands and arms entwined as they looked the both of us over. Heat prickled on the back of my neck; even my wolf took notice of Fiona’s and Kate’s appraisal, his focus torn between seeking out potential threats and feeling the need to preen.

I shoved the instinct down and straightened my shoulders. Marnet, in turn, did the same, drawing his shoulders back enough to display exactly how broad his chest was, like managing a construction firm had the same effect on a body as working on the build site itself. It took a lot of effort not to roll my eyes; who the hell did this oaf think he was impressing, exactly? Me? If I were to go for another man, I could certainly do much better than that. Hell, even Bane managed to look more attractive than this posturing asshole, and all my second was doing was being as unassuming as possible. If Marnet thought he was impressing Tala, well, he was barking up the wrong tree entirely. That thought was almost laughable. Unless… My eyes darted to where my mother stood. I exhaled slowly, nostrils flaring. If that man thought, for one f*****g second—

“Darling, save it for the ceremony later,” Kate murmured, her soft voice barely penetrating the boiling rage threatening to spill over inside of my skull. She turned, bumping her shoulder against my mother’s. “Goodness.” She ducked her head closer. Fiona tipped her chin, as if they were sharing a secret. “These boys! I don’t remember Moonmate ceremonies being nearly as tense when we were girls.”

“Oh, no,” my mother agreed, bobbing her head. “Nerve-racking, perhaps, but it was all about making a good impression! The gentlemen tried to woo us with manners, none of this silly posturing business. It’s not as if we weren’t sure who was an alpha and who wasn’t.”

My wolf grumbled, unsure if he ought to be irritated or flustered to be spoken about as if we weren’t all standing on the same tarmac. Frankly, I couldn’t blame him. Even Marnet looked marginally abashed, if he was even capable of such a thing. He glanced at me and narrowed his eyes. My upper lip twitched as my wolf snarled.

Bane cleared his throat, sensing the tension about to boil over. “Mrs. Silverstreak. Mrs. Claw,” he hummed, trying to draw the women’s attention away from us as he opened a door. “I hate to interrupt, but I suspect the airport would prefer if we got off the tarmac. It’s not a terribly large one.”

The corner of my mouth twitched. Always sensible, Bane. Which was exactly why he was my beta. I nodded, breaking away from Marnet to turn my attention fully to my mother. “I’m afraid he’s right.” I casually herded my mother towards the limo. Thankfully, neither she nor Kate seemed inclined to argue, and allowed themselves to be helped in.

Tala, who continued to be as silent as could be, allowed me to help her in next. Bane followed her, leaving only myself and Marnet standing on the asphalt, staring each other down once more.

“After you,” Marnet purred, flourishing a hand as if I were his date instead of an equal. No, not even a date. Just some f*****g fling. I stiffened all over, fighting the urge to put a fist in his smug teeth and fix that expression once and for all.

“Remus?” my mother called, tipping her head. “We don’t want to be late.”

I swallowed hard and nodded. It took everything I had to step into the limo, arranging myself next to my mother before Marnet finally stepped in, closing the door behind him. The man sat directly across from me. I folded my hands in my lap, lest my fingers curl into fists without my permission.

Soon, I thought, venomous, I’ll wipe that smug look off your face for good.

Chapter 3

Luna

everal Miles from the Claw Mansion Woodward County, Oklahoma

Hey, Kitten,

See you at the usual spot.

Friday.

Same time.

I eyed the yellow note before tucking the crumpled piece of paper back into my pocket, glancing around. There was no sign of anyone but me in the area — even when I lifted my chin, sniffing at the wind, I detected no one. My wolf rolled her ears back and my shoulders slumped. From my other pocket, I checked my phone again. No messages. Marnet was now two hours late, which was unlike him. He wasn’t the most punctual of people in general, but when he said we’d meet, we met.

I couldn’t even think of enough instances he was really that late to count on one hand. And he’d texted or called each one of those times. My wolf whined softly, concern radiating off of her. She wanted to get up and pace, scent the bushes for any hint of the man we were waiting for.

Shoving my phone into the back pocket of my jeans, I resumed my pacing, trying to determine if I’d interpreted the message wrong. Marnet was my mate, and surely my wolf would have felt some kind of disturbance if something truly bad actually happened to him. While he hadn’t actually claimed me yet, and that would strengthen our bond, we still had something. Bonds were powerful, but I was pretty sure they didn’t cover getting held up at home or having car troubles or something.

What if it was just some mundane issue?

I frowned deeper, fighting the urge to grab my phone again. It had only been half a minute since I put it away. I had more self-control than that, even if I hadn’t been able to meet up with Marnet for a few weeks. He’d been increasingly busy since his father passed and he’d taken over as alpha of Lupus Claw last year. I understood that, but it was starting to feel like we’d gone well past ‘busy’ and somewhere into the ‘abject neglect’ territory.