She wraps her arm around my shoulder and leads me in, not giving anyone else attention. I can feel the stares and I don’t know how much of what she said was heard by them, but it was enough to know that I was involved with his death.
We head to the formal dining room where the head seat has been left empty, but a single red rose is placed where his plate would have been. My dad, Brett and Kyle are all here waiting by the far wall. Alpha Reggie, Luna Anne, Xander, Oscar, Mina, Nickolas, Gentry, Elena and Osiston are all standing behind their respective chairs. She sits me in the seat next to hers wordlessly, takes her seat to the right of the Alpha’s chair, then everyone else files in and sits.
The one major difference is that my dad, Brett and Kyle take their boys and move them up the table into their former places. Opting to sit towards the middle of the table where the boys used to be. Mateo doesn’t let go of Jena’s hand and sits her next to him as he takes his place next to the twins across from me and Ava. Sam does the same with Sierra, sitting next to Jena. And even Oliver moves Lil up with him, sitting between her and I. They have been talking in low voices and animatedly, well as animated as my broody Gamma can get, since they got back. I wonder what they found?
Just as everyone gets settled, food platters are placed and Ava takes a deep breath to speak, thundering footsteps proceed from the front door after it is banged open. All of us jump to our feet ready for a fight, and then a blonde tornado flies into the room.
“I am so sorry for being late.” She moves around towards the twins. “I didn’t realize how early you would be having dinner tonight, thank you so much for waiting for me.” Lil scoffs and Kaley glares at her as she moves towards the empty seat at the head of the table. The only empty seat at the table.
The growl that comes from Ava as Kaley reaches for the chair is one I have never heard her use before and Kaley stops in her tracks, looking terrified.
“We weren’t waiting for you Kaley…” Dakota starts.
“This dinner is for family and close friends of our father.” Cam finishes, gesturing around the fully occupied table. “Everyone who should be here has a seat already. You can see yourself out.”
“But, I want to be here to support you. It’s what a good Luna would do.” She simpers and reaches for Cameron’s arm. He pulls away before she can touch him.
“Any Lunas that should be here are already present.” He and Dakota shot me a sideways glance that was so quick I might have imagined it. “Good evening.” “But… I…”
“Your Alphas asked you to leave. Do you need your Betas to show you out? Or can you follow simple instructions and find the front door on your own?” Jena growls darkly at her. With her head turned like that I can see the mark at the base of her neck that was so not there before we went on our plant assignments today. My brother has the biggest sh*t eating grin on his face at her comment and I can’t help but smile at his happiness. Even being mated to a Beta, her Alpha aura is strong.
We all just stare at her until she gets the hint or just can’t think of any other excuse to stay. No one moves until we hear the front door close behind her.
The rest of dinner was bittersweet. Ava started by saying a few words about Lucas as an Alpha, a mate and a father. She hinted at things he went through and what brought him to this point. She even thanked me for helping make his journey back the Moon Goddess as painless as possible. Many tears were shed until Alpha Reggie started to fill his plate and tell us when he first met Lucas which involved them getting stuck in a human town, naked, because they couldn’t shift back and trying not to get caught by human police. We all laughed hard and then followed suit and ate and drank and heard and told our favorite stories about him. The night got lighter and happier as we talked about him. We all called it a night around ten since his celebration was going to start at dawn. All of the pack warriors were working until midnight and then Elite and Royal pack warriors were going to take over patrols so they could attend the celebration.
I hug Mina, Oscar and Xander who have been staying in their room. None of them are going to risk Mina getting hurt if an attack comes while they are here. She is carrying the future of the Royal pack and if Mike and the Rogue King and this witch are coming after me because I have Royal powers, what would they do to her putting another layer between them and the throne?
Brett wraps an arm around Ava after she hugs everyone and leads her to the elevator to go to the Alpha floor. From what she said they have been packing and plan on moving her out after the celebration tomorrow. I’m not sure where she plans on going, but I think I understand. That was her place with Lucas. I don’t know if I could live where I made a home with my mate after they passed either.
I stop Elena and Gentry and tell them what we found. “We don’t have to do anything with it until after the celebration tomorrow. I just wanted you both to know what we discovered and get your input on how to either use it to our advantage or destroy it.”
“What made you think to try and change the spell to something productive?” Gentry asks. She is still a little gray looking but she sounds strong and determined.
“That was actually Lil, she’s our resident pitbull, always on guard duty.”
“Hey now, I’m not sure if you are trying to insult me or compliment me, but I have seen what magic does to Midge and I wasn’t sure if there was something we could use the current spell for without draining her of energy right before a fight.” She shrugs like it’s nothing.
“You have a good mind. Much like the Gamma here, you seem to understand the way magic works.” Elena says, appraising my friend. “Let us do some digging and we will let you know.”
Gentry grabs my wrist firm, but gentle. “Stick close together tomorrow. The full transfer will render the Alphas weak for the briefest amount of time. Maintain contact with them during the whole transfer.” Gentry looks right at me. “They will need your added strength.” I close my eyes and breathe deep. It’s like the universe is conspiring to put me in their constant orbit now that I don’t want to be near them all the time. Like she’s reading my mind, she says, “Trust your Goddess, she has a plan and I know that you have had the worst of things to deal with, but you are better for everything that you have dealt with.” I just nod, no matter how frustrated that simple thought makes me.
