Chapter 9 #4
“Absolutely.” Luna and Evelyn followed Avery outside just in time to watch a stream of laughing women approach. The volunteers were all in their twenties or thirties, but that was the only similarity. They came in every shape and size, and a wide variety of ethnicities.
Natalie reached Luna and motioned her on ahead. “Lead the way, alpha female.”
Luna’s heart fluttered as she heard the title. She was the village alpha’s mate. She was the alpha female. The parade made their way to the clubhouse, but one of the guards stepped in front of the door as Luna climbed onto the railed porch.
“Open the door,” she ordered. “I have business inside.”
“The alpha council is in session and they are never to be disturbed.”
“Is that so?” She glared at him. “Well, contact my mate and ask him if I’m allowed to escort my guests inside.”
The guard looked worried as he accessed the telepathic link Alex shared with all the alphas. “I’m sorry, ma’am. I meant no disrespect.” He pulled open the door and motioned her inside.
The cacophony magically faded away as Luna led her ‘guests’ into the clubhouse.
The door separating the meeting room from the rest of the clubhouse was open, so Luna walked right in.
The women crowded in behind her and spilled out into the larger room.
Alex watched her curiously but waited for her to explain.
“You seem to be having a hard time deciding what you want to do,” Luna called out to the table of alphas. They all watched her silently; most looked confused. “Natalie wants to work with you, but you don’t seem to understand her offer.”
Natalie moved up beside Luna. “Your alpha female is wise. I clearly failed to paint a vivid enough picture of what an alliance would mean, so we decided to show you.” She spread her arms, indicating the females overflowing the room.
“Nineteen of these lovely females are yours as soon as you sign the contract and more will arrive on a regular basis. Three months from now you could have this many or more running around your village. Wouldn’t that be fun? ”
“I vote yes,” someone shouted and Luna laughed.
“Here they go,” Natalie said softly then looked at Luna and whispered, “You’re a genius.”
More yes votes followed and within minutes the stalemate was broken. The council meeting dismissed and the alphas began interacting with the women.
Avery and Evelyn walked up to where Natalie and Luna stood. “That was awesome,” Evelyn said. “No one could argue because they were too busy drooling.”
They all laughed. Then Natalie shook her head. “I owe you big time,” she told Luna then gave her a hug. “It seems obvious now, but I had no idea how to get through to them.”
“The visual aids were a brilliant idea,” Alex told Natalie as he joined them a few minutes later. “What made you think of it?”
She laughed. “I can’t take the credit. It was Luna’s idea.”
“Really?”
Luna glared at him. “Don’t sound so surprised.”
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her deeply. “You’ve earned a rich reward, mate,” he whispered for her ears alone. “I was ready to kill them all until my alpha female solved the problem. The pack alphas are always difficult, but the past three days have been torture.”
Luna grinned at him, thrilled by his praise. “Glad I could help, and I’ve made some interesting discoveries of my own.”
“You can tell me all about it when we get home.” He motioned toward the crowd milling about inside the clubhouse.
“I’ve had it with all of these people, or at least the males.
” He looked at Natalie and asked, “Do I need to wait until you pull out the females? Drake is still here. He’ll make sure no one steps out of line. ”
“Go on,” Natalie encouraged. “If things start getting rowdy, I’ll order everyone back to the ship. Enjoy your evening.”
“Thank you,” he said and ushered Luna from the room.
Nate spotted Alex and Luna as they prepared to depart, so they walked home together.
“You said you’d made discoveries?” Alex prompted as they walked hand in hand.
“When we get home,” she reminded then asked, “Can we stop by the lab? I need my datasheet. This conversation also requires visual aids.”
The lab was more or less on their way home, so the detour didn’t take long. Luna grabbed her datasheet and tucked it under her arm. They reached their cabin a few minutes later and Nate scanned open the door.
“All right, you’ve made me really curious,” Alex said as she strolled into the living room. All three sat on the sofa, Luna in the middle. “What’s this all about?”
“I can try to remember everything Shannon told me, but it makes more sense to let her say it for herself.” Luna placed the datasheet on the low table in front of them and activated the recording.
Shannon’s image filled the display, and Luna watched her males react as Shannon told her tale.
Nate watched with compassionate interest, while Alex looked annoyed.
She needed to approach this carefully or it could blow up in her face.
“I found her perspective interesting, didn’t you? ” she asked as the recording ended.
“You want to stick with the omega formula?” Alex guessed, clearly resistant to the idea.
“What I would really like—with your permission of course—is to offer each female willing to go through transformation a choice of how that process affects her.”
Alex laughed, but tension still hardened his features. “You’ve been spending too much time with Natalie. You sound like a fucking diplomat.”
“I can make either formula work,” Luna told him. “But I would really love to continue on with the omega formula.”
“Will either result in bonded mates and make females capable of producing offspring?” Nate asked after a tense pause.
Hoping for an ally, Luna smiled at him. “Yes, and the risks to the female are similar.” She looked at Alex and paused for a breath.
“I know you were hoping I’d go back to the original formula, but I think females will adjust faster and be happier if they have a little more control over what happens to them. ”
He looked at her then away. “I’m village alpha, love. Control is everything to me.”
She sighed, thinking the battle was lost.
“However, there is nothing more important than creating bonded mates and making my own mate happy.” He waited until she looked at him to continue, “As it was before, females had to allow the male to claim her. This isn’t that different.
If you believe the omega formula will result in happier unions, then you have my support. ”
Luna threw her arms around his neck and rewarded him with a passionate kiss. “Your mate is very happy.”
“Shannon’s mates sure didn’t seem to mind that she controlled the bond,” Nate pointed out as Luna pulled away from Alex.
“There is one other thing I should probably tell you,” Luna cringed as she admitted, “I mentioned Shadow City to Natalie. I didn’t realize she was unaware.”
“It’s not a problem,” Alex assured her. “I’ve been focused on our village since Natalie arrived, but I planned to bring it up before she headed back to Earth.”
“Oh, thank God. I wasn’t sure if I’d screwed up or not.”
“Nope.” He pulled her onto his lap, then lifted her into his arms as he pushed to his feet. “You, my love, are a rockstar and I promised you a reward.”
“Do I get to participate?” Nate asked hopefully as he followed close behind them.
“Of course.” Alex carried her into the bedroom and set her down beside the bed. “We’re going to strip our mate naked and spread her out across the bed. Then we’ll lick every inch of her delectable body.”
“I love this plan,” Nate laughed.
“Me too.” Anticipation shivered through Luna and love unfurled within her heart.
“Once she’s come at least four times,” Alex continued, his tone low and rumbly, “then we’ll fuck her together just the way she likes.”
The End