The New Luna
twelve
*FOREST*
Rosea and I use the little time we have to plan her background story.
We decide to keep it as simple as possible.
In case someone tracks her back to Jordan, it shouldn’t make her look like a complete liar.
She comes from old money, has family in Europe, and that’s all anyone needs to know about her private life.
With everything else, concerning her education in particular, we will stick to the truth.
We will also keep her name but call her by the short form, Rose.
Rosea herself doesn’t seem too bothered by it, claiming that people aren’t as interested in others as I believe they would be.
“Oh, and we will tell everyone that we met in this restaurant over lunch,” she tells me.
“Bumped into each other, basically,” I say. “It was fate.”
“Obviously.”
She smiles slightly. “Is it time?”
“It is.” I straighten my shoulders and take a deep breath. I have got this. Darien, are you with me here?
I have never been more on board with something, he says, his eyes glinting slightly.
When I act weird or forget to play my role, call me out for it.
He frowns. Will you listen? Because, usually, you pretty much ignore my opinion.
I am sorry, I sigh. You are right. But I promise I will listen. Rosea is risking her life for me, and I will make sure not to disappoint her. We need her help, but she needs ours as well.
He nods. Don’t worry. When you feel anxious, think about what our parents said last night. How they said it and what they did, and then cling to the anger you feel.
That’s actually not the worst strategy. But there is no time to continue chatting with my wolf, so I get up, grab Rosea’s suitcase and reach out my hand to her.
She takes it confidently, letting me lead her out of the mall.
I remember what she said about taking charge, and I decide to test it on Martin, now.
True to his word, he is waiting for us at the parking lot already, running towards me the moment he sees me. “Alpha,” he exclaims. “I was so worried. You left without me. I should have been there to…“ he pauses, his eyes moving from me to Rosea and then to our hands.
Rosea smiles at him. “So, this is your beta, Forest? Martin, was it?”
I nod. “Allow me to introduce both of you to each other. Martin is going to be my beta,” I tell her before putting my arm around her shoulder.
I try to cling to the empowering feeling she gave me today, simply by listening to me and by valuing my opinion, then I beam at Martin. “This is Rose, my mate.”
Martin’s mouth drops open. He obviously needs a moment to recover; then, however, his eyes light up, and he jumps forward to smack my shoulder excitedly. “I am so happy for you, Alpha Forest. Such amazing news! So, that’s why you were out so long.”
“I literally bumped into her today,” I say with a smile.
Rosea reaches out her hand towards Martin. “I am happy that you are the first person I meet,” she says in her usual calm, dignified voice. “Forest already told me how capable you are.”
It’s the way she says it. The composed elegance she displays. It works. Martin is in awe immediately, and her words have the effect of having stroked his ego a little.
“The future luna,” he says, still smiling. I am a little touched that he shows so much joy for me. “Your parents will be so happy.”
Absolutely. I can barely contain my amusement. “I am sure they will be elated.”
“I am sorry to spring this on you,” Rosea says to me. “I am sure it would be easier for you if I didn’t come with you immediately.”
“No way,” I exclaim. “My mate is not going to leave my side. It’s no issue at all for you to come along with us immediately. Right, Martin?”
“Not at all,” he agrees. “A luna is the heart of the pack. Everyone will go crazy with the news.”
I am not sure if they will go crazy, but they certainly will be surprised.
To my pack, I am just a huge failure. I know they probably don’t believe I’d be able to bring home a mate, and especially not someone with as much dignity and beauty as Rosea.
She will not fit their expectations, but not in a bad way; they will be shocked instead.
It’s exactly why I asked Rosea to be pretty much herself, instead of taking on the role of a bubbly or sweet luna.
That role was already played by Lissa, and even thinking about it makes me want to throw up.
How could I have been so blind as not to notice that she was literally manipulating me?
I bet Jordan and all the other assholes laughed their asses off knowing she was secretly looking down on me.
To not fall back into the pit of my dark thoughts, I use the ride back home to tell Rosea details about my pack: about how it’s structured and organized, the pack members, its size and all the details that might be of interest to her.
It seems to have been the right idea because Rosea listens, the look on her face focused.
“I would love to have a list of all pack members and their positions,” she tells me.
“Do you think that’s doable? I want to learn as much about them as possible. ”
“Of course,” I smile.
Martin casts us a curious look through the rearview mirror, and Rosea uses the moment to take my hand.
I squeeze it, smiling at her. Fortunately, I don’t find it difficult to do.
She is intelligent and pleasant to talk to.
I don’t feel uncomfortable around her, which is odd, considering I barely know her.
I felt uncomfortable as fuck around Lissa, something my wolf easily picked up on, yet I kept making excuses.
But it’s time to change that. I want to prove to my pack that I am not incompetent, and I want to learn how to become a good leader to them. I don’t know how to achieve that, I just know I don’t want to become my father. A man who kills a member of his pack just for being his son’s mate.
Even if I will never have the support of my pack, even if I will continue to be a loser and fail at everything, I know I will never want to become my father. I’d rather leave my rank and life behind, and live a simple life somewhere else or die, than turn into someone he approves of.
Rosea doesn’t even show a hint of nerves when we arrive at the pack. She is all calm and composed, like when she woke up, and we had our first interaction.
Martin looks much more worried than she. “The pack will be very welcoming to you, Luna,” he mutters.
“Don’t worry,” Rosea reassures him. “I am not nervous. I am sure they are great people.”
He stares at her and then at me, making me shrug and smile at the same time. “What can I say, Martin? My luna has nerves of steel.” I turn to her. “I really need to take you along to the negotiations with the alphas.”
She nods. “You want them to kneel for me, don’t you?”
She says it with such a straight face that I can only snort, while Martin laughs openly. “If you manage to do that, I will call you my queen.”
Rosea raises a finger and waves at me. “Don’t forget your promise, Alpha.”
“I never do,” I say, grabbing her finger and kissing it.
When Martin gets out of the car, Rosea takes the moment to lean closer towards me. “Good,” she whispers. “You are doing fantastic.”
“You too,” I whisper back.
The advice she gave me was to always go with part of the truth, and that’s what I am doing.
I do want to take her with me for negotiations.
I need her help, and I don’t mind giving her what she asks for because she is here to help me.
It’s what makes the interaction with her much easier for me.
That, and because she is incredibly quick on the uptake and can go along with every conversation.
A small part of me is starting to have fun with it.
However, I can’t stop feeling anxious when I think about how the meeting with my parents will go.
We don’t have time to think about this, though, because just as predicted, we arrive right at prime time.
The area in front of the pack house is buzzing, and the moment the pack members spot the woman in my car, they stop and watch curiously.
Time for the show.
If I can’t pull this off, I won’t be able to do anything.
Getting out of the car, I make a show of hurrying around it before Martin can open the door for Rosea. “Sorry, Alpha,” he blurts out. “I was just trying to—"
“Be polite, I know,” I reassure him. “But I want to be the first one to welcome my future luna to the pack.”
I make sure to speak loud enough for the people close by to hear us, and soon whispers are filling the air. I tune them out and open the door, taking Rosea’s hand and helping her out of the car.
“Welcome to the pack, Rose,” I say.
Rosea shows me a warm smile before looking around.
She is exactly like I expected her to be.
Now that we are in front of everyone’s eyes, her aura is even stronger; her stance is dignified and elegant.
She stands tall next to me, very unusual for female shifters and an obvious sign that she comes from an alpha bloodline.
“I know you haven’t seen much yet, but I hope you like it,” I say.
“It’s a very beautiful place,” she says. “You told me it would be green, and you were right. It’s a place full of nature. It’s wonderful.”
I put an arm around her, pulling her closer.
Rosea immediately plays along, wrapping her arm around my waist and kissing my cheek.
Then she pretends to only now notice the people around us, letting go of her hug and instead taking my hand.
“I apologize,” she says to the pack. “I hope I didn’t make anyone uncomfortable. ”
Some of the pack members immediately scoot closer. “Luna,” one woman mutters.
“You are Alpha Forest’s mate!” a warrior exclaims.
“Allow me to introduce her,” I say. “This is Rose. We literally bumped into each other today, and obviously, I immediately kidnapped her.”
Rosea chuckles softly. “You did. Although you were kind enough to treat me to lunch first, like a real gentleman.”
“Anything, for my luna,” I say in what I hope is a smooth tone.
Meanwhile, Martin has unloaded the car, and two of our male servants hurry towards us. “Where should I take the luggage, Alpha?”
“To my place, please,” I tell them.
Rosea smiles at them. “Thank you for your help. That’s very kind.”
Eye to eye with her, the two men blush slightly. Not that I can blame them. She is quite the appearance. Then they hurry off, while I can hear a little more commotion coming from the packhouse. My eye catches my parents. So, there they are!
I can feel Rosea’s grip around my hand tightening, squeezing it slightly.
Here it goes. The show begins.
I can do it.
I have to do it.
Don’t hesitate now, Darien warns me, and before I can reply, he shows me a montage of what we heard and experienced yesterday. It’s not like I needed any more resolve, but it’s certainly good that he reminded me of my anger.
“Here you are!” I make a show to wave at my parents. “Come, Mom, Dad. You need to meet my mate,” I laugh. “And here you were worried I’d never find her.”
Rosea entwines our fingers. “It’s my fault,” she chuckles. “I was traveling too much. Had I known my handsome mate was so close, I would have come here sooner.”
The pack might not like me much, but me having found my mate is major news.
Finding our mates is a huge thing, even more so if it concerns the alpha family.
There are voices all around us, a lot of people congratulating me.
Meanwhile, my parents have come closer; the look of shock on their faces is priceless.
I wonder what they are thinking. They surely wonder what the fuck I am doing here, and who this woman is. Maybe they believe she is a fraud, maybe they think I am trying to pull something over them, or maybe they might even believe that they killed the wrong girl.
It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that they know they have a huge problem now.
And with the pack surrounding us and being witness to the scene, they can only play along. Mom comes closer and reaches out her arms. “What a lovely surprise,” she says.
However, her lips tremble slightly when she hugs Rosea. Dad reaches out his hand towards her. “Welcome to the pack, Rose,” he pauses. “I am Harry.”
Mom awkwardly hugs her. “I am Donna.”
“Thank you for the warm welcome,” Rosea says smoothly, taking my hand again.
“And… and how did you meet?” Mom asks, still completely in shock.
I wonder what the other pack members are thinking about her reaction.
Any other mother would be head over heels at the fact that their son has found his mate, especially if it’s an alpha heir.
I can only reign with a luna at my side, after all.
For my pack, this means stability and strength.
And it’s obvious at first glance that Rosea knows how to carry herself.
She appears confident—but not arrogant, strong and calm.
She is the ideal luna.
Mom should be over the moon, but she isn’t, and it’s pretty obvious. I notice Martin frowning slightly, and some of the warriors close by look confused, too.
Not a good look on her, Darien sneers.
Seeing my parents so obviously lost and losing a bit of face in front of the pack pushes me further.
I put an arm around Rosea again, pulling her close, in what I hope looks like a possessive gesture.
Rosea leans her head against my shoulder, her hand on my free arm.
“The goddess sent this gift right into my arms,” I say.
“I literally stumbled into you,” she says. “Good thing you managed to catch my glass before I could drop it.”
“You didn’t stumble, you fell into my arms, gracefully,” I tease.
Rosea chuckles. To my surprise, it sounds real, as if she truly just found me funny.
I decide, though, that that’s enough. We made a good show, and it’s time to retreat and make sure we can talk about our next steps. Martin, help us get some privacy.
Of course, Alpha!
Martin turns to the crowd and waves at them. “Alright, everyone, that’s it. Let’s show our best side and allow the future luna to settle in properly.”
I am impressed. Despite his rather quiet manner, he manages to disperse the crowd and have them return to dinner, or to whatever else they wanted to do.
“Sorry, Mom, Dad,” I say, sounding firm, even to my own ears.
But I really don’t want to talk to them more than necessary.
Backstabbing traitors who killed my mate and despised me so much that they wanted to completely humiliate and break me.
“I want to make sure that Rose can settle in properly and unpack her things. We’ll see you tomorrow at breakfast.”