Chapter 113

Nan’s POV

My new bond with girls was not the only change.

My powers had increased. Before it was simply more vibrancy in the things around me. The ability to stop flowers from wilting if my emotions were strong enough.

Imperceptible things.

As always, it began with Lionel.

“Ugh.” Lionel groans.

I turn to face him. Letting the magazine fall beside me. I look him over.

He is slumped behind me. His tall form leaning heavily on the couch cushions. A marionette with its strings lax.

He smiles at me. “Hey.” His voice is weaker.

More winded. It’s not like him. I look closer.

His mocha eyes are loving despite the dark circles around them. “Did you sleep?” I ask.

“Not as much as I would have liked too.” Lionel admits.

“Why not?” I respond. “We went to bed early enough last night.”

Lionel and I had decided to stay in our separate rooms until our mating. The trials we are undergoing have been kept secret. It was not quite proper for an unmated couple to share the master bedroom.

I had considered that a stupid rule. Lionel and I are engaged. Everyone already knew that.

But Lionel had raised some good points. That the very least we could do until our mating was try to salvage some sense of propriety. To practice being Luna.

Neither of us liked being apart. But we agreed it was for the best. For now.

“Vera got a little sick last night. I spent most of the night up with her.” He says.

I sit up straighter. “Lionel! Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“It wasn’t anything serious. There was no sense in us both losing sleep. Besides, she was fine this morning.”

Love and appreciation for this man warms my chest. I cannot bring myself to be upset about it. I know I would have likely made the same decision.

“I’m sorry you did not sleep well.” I say.

He shrugs. “At least she’s older now. When she was a newborn pup, I nearly never slept through the night.”

The love I feel for him is pulsing and hot in around my lungs. An unfortunately familiar sensation by this point. A hint of my powers beginning to awake.

I try not to pay it much mind.

“My brave alpha,” I coo. “Saving me from a night of sleeplessness.”

He rolls his eyes. “Does your brave alpha get a kiss for his sacrifice?” He asks playfully.

I lean up. I place a tender kiss to his mouth. We both gasp as the bond surges.

It’s almost like the warmth in my chest is leaking out. Trying to escape. Yet I know I would see nothing if I stopped to look.

The sluggishness in Lionel’s end of the bond abruptly disappears. There is an alertness to him now that was not present before. He pulls back.

“What was that?” He says wondrously. “It’s like I got a shot of expresso directly to my veins.”

I stay silent.

Stopping flowers from wilting and giving someone a boost of energy were not that far off from each other when I thought about it. Wasn’t I doing the same thing with the flowers? Just on a smaller scale.

“Nan?” Lionels’s voice jars me out of my thoughts.

There is an unasked question in his voice. One I am unsure about answering. Or that I could properly explain.

“It’s not that I don’t want to tell you.” I start. “I just want to wait a little longer…until I’m sure this is what I think it is…”

“Okay.” Lionel says calmly.

That was not the end of it.

The children and I were in the backyard. Just at the edge of a river that cut through the land nearby. The girls had wanted to play in their wolf forms for a while.

It was nearing dark when they finally shift back to their human forms.

“Vera! Patti!” I called out.

“It’s time to go home. It’s getting late. Let’s go.”

Patti skipped over to my side. A dark, happy flush to her cheeks. “Okay!”

Vera was not so lucky. I could see in her sloppy movements that she had overexerted herself. She stumbled and fell.

“Ow!” Vera shrieked. I was by her side in seconds.

“Let me see, sweet girl.” I told her.

Vera whimpered but did as I asked. I winced at the sight. Her knee was scrapped pretty badly.

Little beads of crimson oozed from the torn skin. “Mom…it hurts.” Vera hiccupped.

I gathered her in my arms. “I know sweet girl.”

She hid her face on my chest. I rubbed her back soothingly. Patti hovered impatiently ahead of us.

It was a small injury. Nothing really. But I hated seeing my daughter in pain.

That warm tugging in my chest grew. No longer leaking. Now it was pushing out of me.

I let it. A twinge of curiosity guiding my actions. Why was my powers so insistent now?

The warmth trailed down to the tips of my fingers. The tips of my fingers tingled. There was an almost instinctive feeling taking me over.

‘Touch,’ something in the back of my mind whispered. ‘Touch the skin.’

I put my hand over her skinned knee. It was as though my hand was now the focal point of my powers. Seconds later I was greeted with an astonishing sight.

I watched with shocked eyes as the torn skin before me knitted back together. It was as though the fall never happened. Tiny little beads of blood was the only evidence otherwise.

I knew then I would need to tell Lionel. I ran out of time. As usual, life got in the way.

“Scarlett,” Lionel greeted his cousin. “I did not expect to see you here.”

Said cousin had appeared at the mansion without any warning. Her mate in tow behind her. A sheepish look on her elegant features.

There is a genuine pleasure in his tone that surprises me. One I do not hear in conjunction with any of his relatives as of late. It makes me pay closer attention.

I feel cautious about the entire thing. Experience has taught me to be weary. None of Lionel’s relatives have been good experiences for me.

But I trust Lionel’s judgement. There had to be a good reason that Lionel likes her. So I decide to be as friendly as possible.

I do not find myself regretting it. I actually like the woman! There is a humor and good-naturedness that I have found lacking in almost every other rich person I’ve met.

I could imagine myself becoming good friends with her.

“Really?” I laugh. “I had no idea!”

Scarlett smiles mischievously. “I can’t make this up. Lionel was such a crybaby.”

I was only too grateful that Lionel and Scarlett’s mate had walked away to discuss ‘men’s business.’ Both of us knew it was code for the male version of gossiping. It gave Scarlett time to tell me stories of Lionel’s childhood.

“I can’t imagine that. Lionel’s always so…stoic.” I remark.

She chuckles. “That’s the alpha training. Our oh so wise elders believe that showing a smile or two will destroy the entire dynasty.”

There is a contempt I did not expect in her voice.

Scarlett notices the expression in my face.

“We’re not all blind to the hypocritical rhetoric.” She says kindly.

I feel a spark of bravery after out talk.

“Can I ask what you really think of me?” I question quietly.

“I like you, Nan.” Scarlett says. “My objections about you being Luna have nothing to do with you personally.”

“Then…” I trail off.

“As I said…being Luna is an incredibly difficult position. It’s one that requires an in depth understanding of not only pack politics…but one of absolute authority.” All previous humor has fled her face.

“Your pack must respect you for you to be Luna. The Luna’s word is law after the alpha’s. But with your position….”

She does need to finish for me to understand. ‘With literally everyone being against me,’ I think, ‘no one will take my word seriously.’

It does not remove the sting of rejection. Yet a part of me relaxes at her words. Glad to know that at least one person does not hate me.

Scarlett and I smile at each other in understanding.

It is at that moment that her amber eyes roll into the back of her head. Her entire body jerks and freezes for a moment. As though she has been shocked with electricity.

Then she falls out of the chair…unconscious.