Nate POV
I had made it back to the Red Stone pack a few hours ago. I didn’t stop, I just wanted to get back and get on with business. Not only was Evelyn Reuben’s mate, but she still was the legal Luna of the Red Stone pack and her safety, along with the children, were my top most priority now.
It was very rare for both Reuben and I to be away from the pack at conflicting times, let alone actually together for the entire period. Our men were the best but they had taken their foot off the pedal so to speak whilst we have been away.
I was starting to realise Evelyn had female warriors for good reason, they seem to push their male counterparts more. Something I will speak to with Reuben when he has less on his mind.
I had called for a security review this afternoon as well as a spot training session to assess the men, to make sure there were no weaknesses…there wasn’t.
I was currently sitting at Reuben’s desk approving pack orders and checking emails when Michelle pops in with a hot drink for me. Michelle was my eyes and ears, she often informed me of Vicky’s behaviour against the pack in the past. I had tried in numerous occasions to inform Reuben but Vicky was clever to not leave him alone. I regret not trying harder but knowing Reuben he would have lashed out at me back then, the complete opposite of him now.
It’s as if Evelyn has some kind of light shining on his soul, making it brighter rather than Vicky who made it darker. I don’t know, do I really believe in those kind of things? All I know is I’m glad Evelyn is his fated mate and not Vicky.
Her disappearance didn’t mean she had forgotten, she would have a plot brewing…something sinister she was working on but what? The rogue attack failed which meant she was licking her wounds somewhere.
After Michelle caught me up on the pack gossip, something Candice used to be perfectly assigned to, I carried on with my emails. Keen to get them finished before resting for the evening.
“Beta?” One of the men on the gates pushes on my mind-link. Something wasn’t right, why would the gate be contacting me at this time of the day… we didn’t have any more deliveries expected.
“Yes?”
“Beta, you need to come…we’ve got a problem.”
“What kind of problem?”
“There’s a visitor at the gate demanding entry….”
Reuben pov
The mating ceremony was a big hit. Noah seems to be well received by the alphas and lunas of the packs, most likely because he liaised with them as more than a beta in the past.
It was like a wedding ceremony, Candice even had the nerve to ask that mobile phones were switched off for the duration of the commitment vows, marking and Evelyn making Candice a pack member. It was long, too long but with both Evelyn and Noah preoccupied, Elspeth sat on my lap and Rex next to me.
It was interesting watching Cassandra change packs after completing the marking process with Noah. I didn’t mark Evelyn after our wedding or even make her a pack member. Had I of known then what I know now, I would have marked her in a heartbeat and made her the official Luna in all sense of the word. Made her mine.
There’s a moment shared between the two females once Cassandra is a pack member, that I think Noah misses. They seem to mind-link with one another, Evelyn no doubt still apologising for something that was out of her control.
Thankfully the dinner was a buffet, not a sit down three course meal. I was getting a lot of strange eye glances from the guests…guests who didn’t know Evelyn and I had reconciled. I was doing my best to keep my growl at bay and it was actually the twins that kept me calm. Rex, sensing my growing irritation, places his hand on my arm and Elspeth stroked the back of my neck as she snuggled up to me at dinner. I didn’t deserve them, they were too good for me, too pure. They were all Evelyn, her miniatures. But the fact that they had started to welcome me into their lives, I wouldn’t let anything destroy this… I couldn’t.
Once the evening buffet was finished, dancing was encouraged on the dance floor, which became Elspeth’s new obsession for the evening.
“She’s wanting you to dance…” Pierce says as he walks over to me, still eating a bowl of dessert. He went into the kitchen after they cleared away the food and flirted with one of the waitresses so shamelessly just to get another bowl of the dessert.
“I don’t know she seems quite happy twirling herself into dizziness.”
“Trust me, that little angel wants a daddy daughter dance…are you going to oblige her or shall I see if Noah is free?”
Twat!
I wanted to wipe that smirk off his face as he takes another mouthful of the cherry trifle dessert. I want to shove that spoon where the sun doesn’t shine.
I watch Elspeth as she spins again, so fast her legs struggle to stay balanced when she stops abruptly. What wouldn’t I do for this perfect little girl? Surely a dance is nothing and is something within my power to provide.
I walk up to her, the only adult on the dance floor for the time being, and bow down to her. “May I have this dance my lady?”
I feign a polite regal tone of voice before placing my hand out for her to take.
Her large green eyes look up at me as she does the cutest of things…she is too short and me being so tall, my bending down still makes a bit of distance between our heights. She stands on my feet, very slowly as if worried she was going to hurt me.
The change in position doesn’t do a lot in height but it completely pangs at my heart. She grips her arms around my thighs worried she was going to fall off. I start to move my feet. Picking them up it creates a slow dance rhythm, she remains calm as if she has done this plenty of times whereas I’m a bit of a nervous wreck.
Dancing with my daughter, is something I never thought the moon goddess would have planned for me. Evelyn was trying to evade me, I’d danced with one female in my life…now I needed to dance with the other.
Watching her from outside, I thank the moon goddess yet also curse her in the same breath, I really need to be able to mind-link with her. The constant eye roaming from some of these males is causing possessiveness to form in both my wolf form and skin form, and I’m struggling to fight against the gravitational pull.
A cigarette helps to keep me grounded. I’m outside smoking, keeping an eye on the children inside. As was Pierce and some of my own men.
Damn, Candice asked for mobiles to be switched off and it’s only when I see a guest on a phone that I remember I need to check on mine. Pulling it out from my pocket and switching it on, I take a drag of my cigarette as I feel notification after notification vibrate out. What on earth?
Missed calls from Nate has a hot unbreathable panic stick in the back of my throat. I can’t swallow it down. He hasn’t left voicemails, he knows not to in case my phone was ever
intercepted but the text message that lights up my phone has me growling with irritation. He’s gone against protocol in sending that.
I don’t know why you aren’t answering your phone but you need to come straight back to the pack, it’s URGENT!!!
I drop the cigarette to the floor, snuffing it out with my foot, as that panic feeling that had formed in the back of my throat is turning into a usually foreign feeling of fear. It’s not often I felt fear, well not before Evelyn returned into my life. I know feel fear daily for her safety especially after that fucking warehouse incident on Pierce’s pack.
“There you are?” Evelyn’s eyes light up as I walk towards her, my footsteps holding a heavy feel as the noise sounds through the dance floor even with loud music.
“What’s wrong?” Her face shifts instantly to concern. I want to tell her something is wrong, something has happened but I don’t want her to worry, coming with me. for her to insist on
“I need to head off back to the pack. I’ll leave some of my men…”
“No take them…” Her eyebrows furrow, her hand touching my face which instantly melts my icy exterior I was using to cover the truth…fear. She was right, they were well guarded here.
“I can come…”
“No, stay here…” I’m aware of eyes on us as I place my lips on hers and pull her close to me. Claiming those soft luscious lips as mine. Gasps circulate throughout the room.
“Reuben…” She growls at me.
“Stay here!” I give off a command before spinning on my heels and signalling for my men to follow.
