A Luna Scorned

Chapter 5

“That was much longer than an hour.” A tall, muscular blonde haired man stood by my truck.

“You must be Riley.”

“And you’re going to get us in trouble if we don’t leave here soon.” His voice was firm, but I could tell that he wasn’t completely serious. He seemed to be a lot more relaxed than Liam.

“Let me say goodbye to my family and I will be right out.”

“Some clothes might help as well.” I was still in my birthday suit. I hadn’t thought that I was completely nude in front of my new Beta. I blushed and headed inside. My mother had placed my clothes by the front door, thankfully. I slipped back into my jeans, tee and boots and wandered the house looking for my family. I gave them all big hugs and we said our goodbyes.

“I swear Ky, if he mistreats you, I will sever the pack alliance myself. He will regret the day he was born.” Luke tightly wrapped his arms around me.

“Luke, I can’t breathe!” He loosened his grip on me. “Thanks brother. I know you will look out for me. I can handle this. I’ve had great role models to teach me.” I gestured towards my parents.

“Ky, you are always welcome here. your father and I love you very much. If you ever need to come home, just come. Your room will always be ready for you.” My mother was crying. My father pulled her close.

“I love you guys too. I’ll call often.” I heard a cough from behind me. Riley. How long had he been there?

“I’m coming.” I replied. I gave my family one last hug and headed out the door.

“Wait for me!” I heard as I was getting into my truck. A loud thud rang out as Jensen tossed his bags into the back of my truck.

“Jensen? I thought you were leaving with the pack?”

“No way I would miss what might be my last road trip with my best friend!”

“But what about Sandie?”

“I explained things to her. She understands. I’ll see her tonight. Who’s this thug?” He gestured towards Riley.

“This is Riley. He’s our chaperone.” I giggled.

“Shotgun!” Jensen forced his way into the passenger seat. Riley tossed his head back and gazed towards the sky as he let out a long sigh. He wasn’t going to enjoy this road trip as much as Jensen and I would.

“Let's hit the road!” He slapped my dash.

“Not so fast. We need proper snacks for a road trip.”

“It’s only two hours!” Riley whined from the back seat.

“Yeah, two hours without snacks is like a death sentence. To the gas station!” Jensen declared. I was glad he was coming with me. At least he would get my mind off things and I could enjoy the ride. Plus, I didn’t want to think about Liam and Rachel, alone in that car together. I honked and waved goodbye to my family and the pack as I drove out of the compound.

“You’re seriously stopping for snacks? I thought for sure you were joking. It’s like a two hour trip! Two and a half, max! You just ate lunch not too long ago. You cannot survive a two hour trip without snacks?” Riley whined. Jensen shot me a playful smirk.

“NO WAY!” Road Trips are so much better with snacks!”

“You’re stalling.” He shot back at me.

“No! Well, yes, yes I am. I’m not lying though. Road trips are so much better with snacks.”

“Why are you stalling? Are you not excited to see your new home? To meet your new pack?

“Why would I be?” He glared at me, dumbfounded.

‘Because that is where your new mate is. You are to be the new Luna.”

“Yeah, about that. How sure are you that I will be taking the role of Luna? Has Liam actually told anyone that?”

“You know about her?”

“If by her, you mean Rachel, yes I do. Has Liam mentioned any plans of me taking the role of Luna? All I know is I am mated to a man who is in love with another woman, who is already acting at the packs Luna. A Luna who will not want to lose her position, or her man. A Luna who is probably already planning my demise. As far as I am concerned, I am being sent there to be a mistress. I will not be a mistress. So no, I am not excited to be going.”

“Luna Winters…”

“Yeah, please don’t call me that. I prefer everyone to call me Kyrie. If you manage to become a friend, you can call me Ky. Plus, I don’t want to be addressed as Luna until I know that is what the future really holds for me.”

“Sorry, Kyrie.” He let out a long sigh and looked at his hands in his lap.

“So...snacks? Jensen broke the silence. I nodded and reached for the door handle of my truck.

“Wait, Kyrie. I am sorry about Rachel. But, they have been together a long time. Eleven years to be exact. It’s not a relationship that can just dissolve overnight.”

“I don’t expect it to.” I replied.

“I know Liam can be hard to read. He hasn’t yet told me any plans for you or Rachel. To be honest, I think he is still trying to decide the best way to handle the situation. Just be patient with him. He will make the best decision for the pack. You are his chosen mate, the mate who will make him stronger, who will make our pack stronger. He will choose you. Have faith. It will work out.”

“Wow Riley. You’re trying to earn brownie points already?” I wanted to change the subject. I was hoping what Riley was saying was the truth, but deep down inside I had a restless feeling. A feeling that everything would work out, but not for me. For me, this was going to end badly.

“How many friend points does he have?” Jensen laughed.

“I’ll give that one two points. Reach fifty and you will officially be promoted to a friend.” Riley laughed for the first time since I met him. “So, you do laugh! I thought you were just full of misery.”

“No. I apologize for my poor attitude. I didn’t want to be left behind to wrangle the new Luna alone. That should be Liam's job. It does anger me that he left you to go with Rachel. I am not really fond of her. She isn’t anything special. She’s just a random female from the pack. Her parents aren’t anything special, nor is she. They met at school and she used her charm and boobs to seduce Liam. The girl’s got skill though. She has most of the pack wrapped around her finger. This won’t be an easy transition for you but I will help where I can. You are the rightful Luna, and although I will always support my Alpha and best friend, I will support you.”

“Dude’s really trying to earn those points.” Jensen joked.

“Come on, it’s time for snacks. Riley, are you coming or staying? Your first round of snacks will be on me.”

“First round? How many stops are we going to make? Is this going to take all day?”

“It just might. Come on. We’ll get there when we get there.” I hopped out of the truck and waited for the boys.

“You better come, man. She’s going to buy you snacks no matter what. So you can either come and pick out what you’ll eat, or you’ll have to eat what she picks for you.” Liam reluctantly climbed out of the truck and followed Jensen and I into the convenience store.

“There’s no way you ate that entire bag of green apple licorice.” Riley’s eyes were as wide as moons as I bit into the last of the licorice. We had made a pretty good haul at the gas station. Several bags of chips had already been consumed, as well as the licorice. The jerky and some of the chocolate candies were all but gone. We washed everything down with sodas and slushies.

“I did.” I laughed. “It’s my favorite. I absolutely cannot control myself with my licorice. Hey Jay, break out the doritos and m&m’s.”

“Yes ma’am.” Jensen opened up a large, red bag of chips and a family size bag of m&m’s. He placed a chip in his mouth and followed it up with a handful of m&m’s.

“Did you seriously just eat doritos and m&m’s together?” Riley looked rather disgusted.

“It is called a slammer.” I answered for Jensen as he processed the large ball of food in his mouth. “Jensen and I invented it on one of our road trips. It’s actually really good. Here, try it.” I passed back the bag of chips to Riley.

“No thanks.” He waved his arms in disgust.

“Oh, come on. Just try it!” He sighed and reluctantly reached into the bag of chips. Jensen handed him the m&m’s. He reached in and produced a single m&m.

“No way man! You gotta get more than that!” He reached back and this time came up with a small handful. He placed both in his mouth. Jensen and I watched intently as he assessed the combination of food we had convinced him to eat. His face contorted oddly and I shot Jensen a look of confusion. There's no way he didn’t like it. It was the best combination snack in the history of combination snacks.

“So? What's the verdict?” Jensen inquired. Riley swallowed and paused for a moment. I was so anxious for an answer.

“It's actually pretty good. Pass the chips and m&m’s back here!” He snatched the back of chips from the front console as Jensen and I laughed. This might actually be a good trip after all.

“So Riley, what is your pack like?”

“It’s a great pack. Liam has worked hard to make sure that everyone is treated fair. We don’t have slaves or servents. We have employees. Most of the women in the pack work for Liam directly in the pack house.” He shoved more chips and candies into his mouth.

“How does your pack make money? Does everyone have jobs in town?”

“No. I guess Liam’s grandparents made a fortune off some investments or inventions or something like that. I’m not sure exactly. But his parents continued investing the money and they own a media company in town. It’s a pretty big gig.”

“Does much of the pack work there?”

No, actually. His parents don’t even go in. They run everything from home. Occasionally Liam’s dad will go in for meetings or just to make an appearance, but it pretty much runs itself. He has a human who runs the show down there for him. But that is where the money from the pack comes from. A lot of the men have human jobs though.”

“How big is your pack?”

“We’re fairly good sized. I’d say at least triple the size of yours. I think last time I checked there were close to four hundred members.”

“Four hundred members? Seriously?”

“Yep. And we’re not even the biggest in the area.”

“Wow.”

“Can I ask you a personal question?”

“Shoot.”

“How old are you?”

“Me?” He laughed. “I’m twenty Six. Liam is too. We grew up together. My father was his father’s Beta. That’s usually how that works. Our families grow up in the same home, eat most every meal together and spend most of their time together, so naturally, the children hang out together too. What about you?”

“Twenty- two.”

“Just a pup, huh?” He joked.

“Someone thinks they’re a comedian.”

“Don’t worry Kyrie. You’re going to love it there. You’ll fit right in. From what I see, you already have better manners than Rachel, so no doubt everyone will love you in no time. I’ve already started to like you.” He playfully kicked the back of my seat.

“I guess that’s quite the accomplishment. It seems like you don’t really like anyone.”

“Why do you say that?” He suddenly got serious.

“First impressions.”

Riley let out a cute laugh. “Oh that. Well, I was just left by my pack, to drive with the new Luna, who I had been told was very feisty and was not going to be in a pleasant mood. I was tired, and just wanted to go home. I apologize for coming off as rude.”

“Apology accepted.”

“Great! We’re here.”