Chapter 52
NADIA.
Iwoke up with a feeling of sparks running through the sides of my body, and I flipped my eyes open to see my mate staring at me.
His fingers were skimming through my skin, touching every part of my body, from the crook of my neck to the valley of my breasts to my navel, and everywhere he could reach.
“Good morning, beautiful.” As he reached for my cheek. He licked his bottom lip while brushing his thumb against the corner of my mouth.
“Good morning, handsome,” I greeted him back.
He leaned closer and captured my lips, giving me a kiss. “What are your plans for today?” He asked after as we lay hugging each other.
“Hmmm… I will ask Jenny if we can drive around after breakfast. I don’t have training until the afternoon.”
“Don’t you want my help with driving?” A smirk crossed his face, and I just couldn’t help but roll my eyes at him.
“No. You basically harassed me while I was trying to learn.”
“Harassed you? You were tempting me, my love. I was just a man who can’t say no to his female.”
I chuckled and coiled my arms around his neck, my gaze memorizing his prominent jawline and his perfect sculptured nose. “And you, Mister Alpha. What are your plans for today?”
“Aeon will drop by before lunchtime, and after that, I will…”
“Wait!” I stopped him from talking. “Aeon? As in Alpha Aeon? Katarina’s Aeon?”
He chuckled and nodded his head.
“What does he need from you?”
“We’ll just look over the possibility of renewing the alliance. He’s not yet the Alpha of his pack, but he’s been doing everything for the past years and I would rather discuss things with him than with his father.”
“Hmmm… Is he going to visit Katarina too, since he’s already here?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Maybe you can ask him. Katarina needs to meet him.”
“Nadia, there are things I can’t just walk over with. I can ask him about Katarina if that bothers you.”
“How about Alpha Jacob? Will you not be renewing an alliance with him? Jenny told me there’s bad blood between the two Alphas.”
“There is. But it’s between them, they need to settle it. As for our alliance with Jacob, the fucker wants me to get back on my feet before he conducts business with us, but he has always provided help and back-up if needed. So we don’t need any contract to bind us.”
RILEY.
“Go pay the fucker a visit. It’s been a year. I’m sure he has calmed down already.
“Man, I’ve tried. Jacob won’t budge. Did you know that my car can’t even approach the forest road on the way to his territory? He has men scouting those areas, and they would stop me right away. So there’s no fucking way I would be able to reach him.”
“But are you over her?”
“What do you mean? Clair?”
I just nodded my head.
“Way over. I’m not in love with her. I just needed her to appease my father?”
“Can you fucking explain to me why you tried to take Clair from Jacob then? He’s your friend!”
“It wouldn’t be a problem if the fucker told me or everyone else she was his fated mate!
At two galas, we were there together. He knew I had my eyes on Clair, but he didn’t say a fucking word!
All is fair in love and war unless the female happens to be your fated mate. So what did I honestly do wrong?”
“Your father did. You knew that!”
He let out a sigh as he stood up from his seat and walked over to the window, looking at the forest line outside. “You can’t choose your father, unfortunately.”
I snorted a laugh before I added, “I’m fucking aware of that.”
“But I keep saying this, and I will keep saying it. I was not aware of the abduction. I went to the Claiming, just to intercept Clair. Because that’s the fucking privilege of the Claiming.”
“And what if somebody comes at the Claiming and tries to intercept Katarina from you?”
“I’ll give them a good fight.”
“You want her.”
“I don’t know.”
“But why her?”
“Same thing with Clair. I need a Luna or I will be stuck in my father’s shadow for the rest of my life.
After this Clair fiasco, he hasn’t warmed up to me, blaming me for not marking Clair on the spot after I defeated Beta Gavin.
But I would never, ever fucking force-mark anyone!
I threatened her, but I would never do that. ”
I cleared my throat because I was fucking guilty of the same thing. I threatened to mark Andrea in front of Caspian, but I never had any intention of doing it.
“I’ve been running our pack for the last three years while my father took all the glory. I was getting tired of this. I’m so fucking close to challenging him for the Alpha position, but I still want to respect him as my father. But once I have a Luna, he will step down.”
“But you still didn’t answer my question. So why choose Katarina? You picked her and yet you didn’t even have the audacity to visit or get to know her.”
“It’s purely business. I don’t want to put any emotions between us. I was given a list of single Alpha Females and nobody caught my eyes.”
“Except her.”
“No. Not even her. The only reason I chose her was that she’s Darvin’s sister.”
“And? What if she’s Darvin’s sister?”
“The agreement is between Darvin and I. That’s why I don’t want any emotional attachment.” A smug smirk was plastered on his face before he pointed a finger at me. “And you will never know anything about that.”
“Fuck you.”
He laughed before shaking his head. “I’m fucked up already. So, how is it with your mate? And do you still think of Andrea?”
My forehead creased at the mention of Andrea. “Let’s not mention her. She’s totally out of the picture, and my focus is my Luna.”
“You’re smitten.”
“Do you have a problem with that?”
“No. Of course not. So tell me, is sex more explosive with her than with Andrea? “
“Shut up! I didn’t have sex with other females. I’m not a walking hormone, like you and Jacob.”
“I still don’t believe you. But do you like her?”
“I do. She’s perfect.” I answered but he seemed not too keen to believe it. Like me, before Nadia came, I had no idea on how strong the pull of the mate bond was.
“Anyway, I have a phone meeting with Jacob later. Any word for him?” I added.
“Nothing. I don’t want to ruin his day.” He chuckled before he slipped the document into a folder and placed it under his arm. “I hope one day he’ll allow me to speak with him. But for now, it’s better this way.”
“You know, Jacob. He will never bow down to anyone. And I don’t think he will. We’re talking about Clair.” I told him as we walked side by side towards the door.
“I get it.” He said, and we remained in silence as we walked down the corridor on our way to the front of the packhouse, when a faint chattering started to erupt in the air.
“It must be your Luna.”
“It is. She talks a lot.” I couldn’t help the smile from tugging on my lips.
“The exact opposite of you.”
I didn’t have time to reply as we came face-to-face with Nadia and Jenny.
Both of them stopped in their tracks as we did.
Their faces showed two different emotions.
Nadia’s face curved into a friendly smile, while Jenny’s face became stoic, devoid of any emotions, and it was her who broke the silence.
“Alpha, Luna, I will go ahead. I will see you later.” She then tilted her head and looked at my Luna. “It was a fun morning, Luna. See you at lunch.” She smiled warmly at her before turning around, not giving me or Aeon a second glance.
I cleared my throat, and it caught both Nadia and Aeon’s attention, whose gazes were following Jenny as she stepped out of the front door.
“Nadia, come here.” I motioned for her to come toward me.
She smiled and beamed at me before she walked beside me. I coiled an arm around her waist and pulled her into my side.
My eyes focused on her lovely face as I spoke. “Nadia, this is Alpha Aeon. Young Alpha of the Blood Moon Pack.”
I then shifted my gaze to Aeon. “And this is my lovely mate, Nadia. Future Luna of my pack.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Luna Nadia.” Aeon extended a hand.
“Same here, Alpha Aeon.” My Luna smiled at him, giving him her hand, and Aeon took it, placing a soft kiss on her knuckles, which had me rolling my eyes at him.
“Relax. It’s a gentleman’s way.” He chuckled as he let go of Nadia’s hand.
“And that female.” He pointed in the direction Jenny took. “She looked familiar. It seems she doesn’t like me?”
“That’s Jenny. My Gamma Female, and is a very lovely person.” Nadia said, but she was biting her bottom lip.
“And happens to be a former Black Shadow pack warrior,” I added.
“I see. So she knows me.”
“Very well. She’s a close friend of Luna Clair.”
“No wonder her stare was burning me. Like it was pushing me to hell.”
“I’m sure she has her reason.” Nadia smiled before changing the subject. “So, Alpha Aeon, will you be staying for lunch?”
“No. Your mate didn’t invite me at all. And besides, I have other business to attend to. So even if he did, I would not be able to stay.”
“Does that business have anything to do with Katarina?”
Aeon was taken aback by her question, and I couldn’t help the smile gracing my lips. Nadia has come a long way. I didn’t feel any nervousness in her while she asked the question. Or maybe she knew that I would always have her back.
“Umh…” Aeon swallowed, and I internally chuckled. Nadia had rendered the fucker speechless. “No. Unfortunately. Some other day, perhaps.”
“Oh, such a shame! Katarina is looking forward to the day she will meet you. Don’t you think she deserves to meet her fiancé?”
Aeon’s ears started to turn a shade of red, and I couldn’t help the chuckle escaping my throat.
“I will pay her a visit soon,” Aeon replied.
“Sounds good. I’m sure she will appreciate meeting you first before your engagement party.”
“Engagement party?” I asked Aeon.
He raised his hand to his neck and rubbed it. He was trying to mask his own emotions so that if he was annoyed with Nadia’s interference, I would never know.
“The Claiming was canceled this month, but we will push through with the engagement party six weeks from now. You’re both invited. The invitation will be sent in a couple of weeks.”
“Please visit her before sending out the invitations,” Nadia said calmly before leaning her head on my shoulder, and my hold on her tightened.
“I will.” Aeon smiled and slipped his hand into his pockets. “I should get going. It was nice to meet you and be under your scrutiny, Luna Nadia. I hope I passed your assessment.”
Nadia chuckled softly. “You shouldn’t be bothered by me, but by Katarina. My friend deserves to know who she will be bonded to for life.”
“Got that.” He nodded before tapping my shoulder. “I’ll see you around, man.”
I just nodded and watched him turn around and make his way out of the packhouse, while we remained in our spot, just holding each other.
“So, do you like him?” I asked Nadia when Aeon was no longer around.
“I don’t know. He seemed to be a well-mannered man. But Jenny doesn’t like him, obviously.”
“The whole Black Shadow Pack doesn’t like him.”
“Well, they have a reason. Anyway, how was your meeting with him? Care to share?”
“Of course.” I turned our bodies around and guided us back to my office. “He’ll be sending the final draft for the agreement, and the alliance will be official again in a couple of days.”
“Maybe it’s the reason Alpha Jacob wasn’t signing a formal alliance with you because you’re still in contact with Alpha Aeon.”
“No. Jacob is not like that. His enemies are his, unless we have common ground to loathe someone. And we’ve all been brothers since we were young. We’ve just grown apart over the years because of responsibilities.”
“So if Alpha Aeon is to Alpha Jacob, yours is Alpha Caspian?”
I pulled her head to my lips and kissed the crown of her head gently. “Maybe. But hopefully, time will heal all wounds.”
“I love you, Riley.” She turned around and faced me, her hands holding my forearms as she beamed at me, a loving smile curling on her lips.
“All the other Alphas I met through you are utterly handsome, but they can never compare to you. I don’t know why, but even when you’re frowning or pissed off, I still find you attractive, panty-wet attractive. ”
I rested my forehead against her, a smug smirk tugging at my mouth. “Because I am really panty-wet attractive.”
I let out a deep breath and closed my eyes. “And I love you too, Nadia. You make everything beautiful.”