Chapter 15 Mona #2
I shake my head, and we walk toward the exit, but the door swings open first.
“Hey!” Cynthia appears beside a younger recruit.
With a freckled face and the energy of an alpha, but he can’t be much older than Joey—ten, maybe—he lunges forward, arms outstretched to wrap around me, lips in a comically wide grin.
Cynthia swipes the kid’s collar and delivers a swift cuff to his ear.
“Boundaries, pup.” Then her eyes meet mine, softening. “Good to see you in one piece.”
“Thank you, Cynthia. Good to be home. Are you okay? I heard Joey recovered fine?”
Her mouth opens again—something on the tip of her tongue, an array of emotions washing over her face—before she closes it and nods succinctly. “He’s fine. We’re all glad you’re home, though.”
With the kid’s collar still in her grip, she disappears among the enforcers, toward the training mat. Andrea and I step outside.
She answers my question before I have to ask. “She took your kidnapping personally. As she should have. Still, she won’t be on your bodyguard rotation again. Not anytime soon, anyway.”
“What the hell does that mean?” I ask. Before I was kidnapped, I had a handful of bodyguards following me around. Apparently, now I just have Andrea. I think I’d rather have Cynthia. She punched me in the face far less often.
“Don’t get your panties in a twist. She took herself off. Since I’m with you full time and don’t have double duty as an enforcer, it’s a better fit, anyway. You get into a lot of trouble, so it’s a win-win for me. Keeps me active.”
“I didn’t ask how much you were enjoying it. Why would she take my getting kidnapped personally? She wasn’t even there, it was in no way her fault.”
Andrea pauses, stepping in front of me. “Exactly. She wasn’t there. She shouldn’t have left your side.”
“The witches would have knocked her out, same as they did Kellen. It wasn’t her fault.”
Andrea shrugs, then keeps walking. “We’ll never know. But you were her primary, she should have prioritized you.”
“Over Joey? An injured, spelled child? Absolutely fucking not. And if that’s the policy Grayson has in place, then I’m going to rip him a new—”
“No, not over Joey. Kellen could have taken him. You were obviously the target, Joey was bait. She was the stronger alpha and higher-ranking enforcer. She let her emotions for Joey and soft spot for you color her strategy. Kellen should have grabbed the kid and ran. She should have stayed with you.”
I disagree, but Andrea is so fucking militant, I don’t think we’ll see eye to eye on this. I’ll argue with Grayson about it later, though, because the priority most definitely should have been the child.
As we make our way to the long dirt road near the heart, I look over toward the picnic table beside the gym. Orion is still there, with Eli and Kellen. It looks like they’re discussing something important, so I don’t interrupt.
“Let’s go before he tries to follow,” I say.
Andrea raises one eyebrow, shrugs, and heads toward the cafeteria, which is just across the road and down a ways.
“Hiding from your mate?”
I shake my head. “A girl can only have so many bodyguards.”
Andrea snorts but keeps walking. Her spine is so straight it’s a wonder she isn’t a robot.
She’s pretty, but not soft. Her skin has a golden tan from all the summer sun.
She has a sharp, square jawline, highlighting her long neck.
Though she carries a militant air of authority, I’d say there was something refined to Andrea’s beauty.
“Can I ask you something?”
She hums in response. Her eyes scan our surroundings, looking for trouble. There isn’t any, but I can tell I still make her a little uncomfortable, so I’m not sure why she signed up for this. Requested it, even.
I debate how to phrase my question, then go with blunt, since I think she’d appreciate that more. “Does it bother you I’m with Grayson?”
A small tug pulls at her lips, but her posture doesn’t change. “No.”
“That’s it? No?”
She peers over at me, furrows her brow, then resumes scanning the road in front of her. “Did you want me to be pining over your mate?”
“No, of course not,” I blurt. “I think… I don’t know. You feel different now.”
“What do you mean by that?” She eyes me curiously.
Before I left, I could feel the emptiness inside her. A void, but it was edged with pain and anger. The void is still there, but the well isn’t so deep. And she no longer feels so angry.
When I don’t respond, Andrea lets out a harsh laugh. “Look. I overheard what Hilde said to you in the kitchens. Wolves live a long time. I’m too old to hold a grudge. And besides, it was never really about Grayson.”
“What was it about?”
“Power. I’m attracted to power. But he’s useless to me as a partner if he’s obsessed with you, so I’m no longer interested in him, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
I try not to snicker at her logic, but it’s hard. To each their own, I guess, and as long as she isn’t pining over him, it’s better for all of us. Still, I can’t help myself—she did put me in the hospital. I think I’ve earned the right to needle her a bit.
“Still, Andrea, you as a Luna? You wanted to separate everyone by their designations and make everyone get a background check before joining the clan.”
“That’s not—" she starts, throwing her hands in the air. “That was one conversation that was taken out of context and blown way out of proportion. I didn’t mean it the way it sounds.”
It’s nice to hear her flustered, for once. “You want everyone to behave a certain way, but you can’t control people. And more than that—you don’t have any right to do so.”
She settles, stopping just outside the cafeteria. The bay doors are swung open, and I can see people poking their heads out with giant smiles, waiting impatiently for us to step inside. I brace myself for the onslaught of hugs.
“Maybe you’ll make a good Luna. Time will tell.
And maybe I’m not the easiest person to understand or get along with, but I think I have something of value to share.
” She says it stiffly, like she’s a little self-conscious.
Like maybe losing Grayson, her position, all of that together weakened her hard edge, just a little.
“You have a lot to offer, I’m sure of it.” And because she rolls her eyes after I say that, I add, “You’re really good at punching and kicking.”
She bares her teeth, stomps two steps towards the bay doors by the dining hall where a crowd of shifters congregates mid-meal over rows of picnic tables.
She announces, “Listen up! You all know the witches are to blame for our omega’s disappearance. They are still a threat, so be sure not to let Mona out of your sight when she’s out and about! Come here, Mona.”
I grit my teeth. My neck feels hot. Oh, I’m going to kill her.
“Mona is going to need everyone to hold her hand, hug her or touch her—at least once from each of you so she can feel the support of her community.”
Can she feel the scathing burn of my glare on her cheek? Does she know I’m plotting her death?
The wolves all scurry in delight. I hear exclamations of how they will all protect their omega.
“You motherfucker,” I mouth at her. Andrea just grins and laughs maniacally.
I lose her in the crowd, surrounded by too many scents to track any single one. Still, I know she’s watching me from somewhere. It feels like every wolf in the room has found an excuse to touch my arm or pull me into a hug.
Elder Cora eventually corners me, her wispy blue hair bobbing emphatically while everyone else begrudgingly yields to her seniority.
She launches into what becomes an hour-long sermon on proper Luna etiquette, insisting I attend Grayson’s next council meeting.
Her gnarled finger jabs the air as she describes the importance of them, and I nod along politely, knowing full well Grayson only tolerates them out of courtesy.
My attention drifts before she finishes her first point—her tangents have tangents—but hearing Silas’s name jolts me back to awareness, like I’ve woken from a nap.
“What was that?” I ask.
Cora dips her chin gravely. She’s still got her hand wrapped around my wrist, and her fingertips, though human, have an almost wolf-like quality to them. The tips are pointed, and her nails are thick and curled in.
“I said, now that Silas is back, we might need to start having our monthly new moon runs again.”
“You mean full moon?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “Full moon is for the entire clan. New moon is for some of the less settled wolves. The frisky ones.” Her voice drops to a suggestive murmur.
If she were wearing glasses, she’d peer over the top of them.
“The ones with extra… energy to burn off.” She holds my gaze a beat too long, one eyebrow arched meaningfully, as if I can’t read between the lines she’s made pretty clear.
“Frisky?” I laugh awkwardly.
“Mmhmm. Silas and some of the other singles always used to cause trouble, sleeping with any woman that walked. Even the mated ones. So Grayson implemented the new moon runs, a time for all the single wolves to get naked and run together, let off some steam. It helped keep the scandal to a minimum.”
“I see.” I don’t. I don’t like talking to her about this, either. That’s not what Silas is like. Not anymore, anyway.
But Cora doesn’t stop there. In fact, a few other wolves start to chime in.
An older man named Robert leans in, eyes glinting.
“Remember when Rovie caught Silas with his youngest? Poor June was sobbing, half-dressed, while Silas tried claiming they’d met at the brothel.
As if anyone would believe that. June wouldn’t be caught dead at the brothel.
She’s a sweet girl. Silas probably cornered her, I’m sure he made the whole thing up to make himself look better. ”
“Hell, I remember that,” a balding man with yellowed teeth cuts in. “Rovie caught him sneaking out her window and made him scrub his own sheets for a month. Should’ve cut his balls off instead!” The circle erupts in vicious laughter.
I shift uncomfortably. Rovie runs the laundry house.
I can’t remember who runs the brothel. It doesn’t matter, though.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned since I’ve been here, it’s that the shifters are all about free-love.
Why they’re making Silas out to be such a bad guy about it, compared to everyone else, I don’t know.
“Not as vile as when he fucked David’s mate,” Cora spits.
“David was on patrol duty. Can you believe that? Protecting all of us while Silas was between his woman’s legs.
Before that, I figured he was just wild.
” She shakes her head, her blue hair still emoting.
“Can’t believe he’s Grayson’s twin. Worthless piece of trash.
The Goddess must’ve split her gifts when those twins were born—gave Grayson everything worth having and left Silas with nothing but poison in his veins. ”
I stand abruptly.
“Still, I’m glad he’s back,” Robert sighs. They’re oblivious to the rage humming along my skin.
It’s because I’m holding it back, Beep says.
Why? I snap. Let them feel it, I think viciously.
I want to know what they think of him. I want to understand.
Well, I don’t. I don’t give a fuck what they think, these small-town jerks. I guess not everything about this place is perfect.
Does it bother any of them that Silas slept with a woman who was mated, who maybe should also be held responsible for breaking her vows? It doesn’t make Silas look good. It looks, inherently, very bad.
But he’s not that guy. Maybe he was, but he isn’t any more.
Robert continues, “Lune wasn’t the same without him. Maybe Silas’ll calm down his whorin’ ways and our clan can get back to normal now. And with our new Luna here,” Robert, the yellow-toothed man, Cora, and the others all look at me, smiling.
Maybe it’s now just dawning on them that Silas is Grayson’s pack mate. And that I’m Grayson’s fated mate. His Luna.
Which means Silas is mine. My fated mate.
All their expressions, in varying degrees of extremity and speed, begin to fall.
Horror at what they’ve said to me about my mate shows on their faces.
Apologies linger on their tongues. Before I say something I’ll regret, I spin on my heel and storm off toward the open bay doors.
Maybe it’s the look on my face, but no one stops me.
And when I step outside, still well within view of everyone inside the hall, Andrea included, I stop short.
I wonder if he’s been following me.
Because Silas is there, at the edge of the woods. Sitting on a log. Looking… lost. Fucking despondent. He’s a wolf. If he chose to, he could hear everything. And judging by the look on his face, he did.
I take a step toward him, my heart hurting, and I want to run to him, hold him, while simultaneously march back inside and tell all those wolves where they can stuff it. Why are they blaming Silas for a woman cheating on her mate? Is she not equally, if not more, responsible?
Yes, they make Silas sound like a rake. They don’t paint him in the best light. But aren’t we allowed to change, to grow, to become better people? I try to clear the look of pity off my face, but I’m too late. Silas turns and stalks off, disappearing along the treeline.
I almost go after him. I should, but Beep holds me back.
Not yet, she says.
He needs me, I argue. And just this morning you were telling me not to let my mates leave!
Yes, I know, but not like this. After what he just heard… he needs to decide what he wants, and it isn’t just about you. It’s about this place. He needs to fight for his place.
He needs me, I say again, but I can no longer scent him, so he’s likely run fast and far.
Walking back inside, I have every intention of telling off every wolf who just hurt my mate’s feelings. But everyone except Cora has conveniently scattered. And my heart fucking breaks, because I know that everyone around us heard what they said, and no one came to his defense.
How could I ever convince Silas he’s worthy of their respect if this is what he’s up against?