32. Madden #2
I smirk as I stare down at my whiskey tumbler. Even if one of the packs meeting her towards the end of the night runs out to grab some romance books from a bookstore somewhere, they’re not going to mean the same thing.
There’s no chance in hell any other pack is giving her a better gift.
They could shower her with diamonds, rubies, and emeralds. They could literally cover her from head to toe in a pile of luxury items, and she’d still cherish the gift we gave her. Because that’s the kind of omega Luna is.
Those sorts of material things would probably freak her out, considering how she reacted to the things Chase bought her on a normal shopping trip.
“Thank you guys for the gift,” Luna says, her fingertips brushing the worn spines of her old books. “I’m going to cherish these. I never thought I’d see them again.”
“We’re glad you like them,” Kane says.
“You have a skill, it seems,” Archer murmurs. “A skill to find something good in everything, even if it’s a hellhole.”
Her smile goes a bit tight at the corners with Archer’s reminder of where she grew up, but she shrugs, glancing down at her books.
“I mean, what else was I supposed to do? Hope can sometimes be hard when it seems like nothing is ever going to change, so sometimes all I could do was focus on the small things I did have in front of me.”
“Well, you’re going to have a lot of big things in front of you from now on,” Chase says, taking a sip of his drink .
“I—I appreciate that,” Luna says, her smile returning.
“How have you been doing?” Archer asks her. “You look like you’ve been doing well.”
I assume he felt the same thing I did when she hugged him. She does look a lot healthier. I don’t know if it’s the makeup, but it almost looks like her skin is glowing.
“Yeah, I got a new doctor here that’s been working with Charlotte and taking in her recommendations to help me with my diet and stuff,” Luna nods. “They say it’s really important since I’ve been pretty malnourished.”
“Has that been contributing to some of the hormone issues you were experiencing?” Kane asks
“Yeah, that’s what they’re thinking. The last time they tested me a couple of weeks ago, they said I was making a lot of progress, which is good!” Her tone is bright and cheery.
It makes something inside of me twist. I remember how she was when we first picked her up. How terrified. How uncertain. How unconfident.
‘That’s wonderful,” Kane says.
She preens at his words, her smile brightening up our entire section of the room.
“What else have you been up to recently?” Chase asks. “Hopefully, they’re not locking you away in some castle tower.”
“No, no towers,” she giggles. “I’ve been taking a lot of classes like Charlotte recommended a while back. Those have been so cool!”
“Which ones do you like the most so far?” I ask her.
“And which ones do you hate?” Chase jumps in.
“Well, the one I dislike the most is probably the bookkeeping class. Taxes are weird and math makes me feel a little stupid,” she says, making a face.
“Oh yeah, screw math,” Chase says. “I’ve never been good at it either. It’s why I’m the guy who schmoozes with people out of the four of us. ”
“Yeah,” Luna laughs. “But I really like the cooking classes and the art classes. The omegas in those classes have all been really nice. They’re usually older omegas that’re already bonded with kids of their own who come to the center for a break.”
“What kind of art?” Kane asks Luna.
“Oh, well, the normal kinds, I guess. Like painting and drawing, that sort of thing.”
Kane looks at Archer who leans back in his chair, a rare smile on his face.
“Looks like it’s time to finally renovate one of the rooms we never go into,” Archer says. “Tell me, Luna, would you prefer an art studio with a view of the sunrise or the sunset?”
Luna stares at him, her hands coming up to cover her mouth. She starts blinking quickly again and lets out a little laugh.
“Oh my god, you’re going to make me cry again. I can’t cry right now!”
“There is one room with a view of both,” Kane says softly.
My gaze jerks towards Kane.
“Holy shit,” Chase whispers under his breath.
There’s only one room that none of us use that has a view of both the sunrise and sunset.
Luna seems to pick up on the significance of Kane’s offer, because she turns towards him, her eyes soft.
“Is—is that room one of your parents’?” She asks softly.
Kane nods. “My mother’s. It was her dance studio. My father built it for her.”
Luna reaches out and rests her hand on top of Kane’s. “You don’t have to do that for me. I don’t even need an art studio?—”
“Yeah you do!” Chase cuts in.
Luna offers him a quick smile. “Well, an art studio can go in any room.” She turns back to Kane. “It doesn’t have to be a room with that kind of legacy.”
Kane flips his hand so he can lace his fingers with hers. “But it does. We want you to be the omega of the house. My mother would appreciate that room being used again, just like she’d appreciate someone occasionally visiting her shelf in the library.”
Luna nods, swallowing hard.
Luna always seems to tell when something carries a certain weight or significance with us. She notices the baggage we carry when, really, no one other than the others in the pack knows. She shows she cares when she has no reason to.
I think that’s one of the things I love the most about Luna…
Love .
Yeah, love.
I think I’m in love with Luna, have been for a while now.
I glance around the room, look at all the eyes on us, at all the packs that’re talking to her after us. Now isn’t the time to tell her. One day, though. And it’ll be special. Perfect. Beautiful.
Just like her.
“Alright, gentlemen,” The tall beta woman from earlier says as she comes up to our table. “Your time is up for now.”
Luna’s brows draw down and she opens her mouth as if she has something to say before she closes it and nods.
“I’ll see you all soon?” She asks, looking up at us hopefully.
“We’ll be the first ones you see when you’re done with meeting all the other packs,” Chase says.
Luna’s eyes go wide with surprise. “We can spend more time together tonight?”
“Of course we can! Don’t worry, we’ll defend you from any of the other hungry packs wanting your free time,” Chase winks.
“That—that would be great,” She laughs. “I’ll see you all soon then.”
She meets my eyes and her deep blue gaze is full of warmth.
When we’re ushered away, I can’t help but feel cold. Like something is missing. Because when we’re apart from Luna, something is.