The Dead Luna

That morning, when Sebastian King left, I was grinning from ear to ear.

I didn’t want to fall for him, but he was making it next to impossible not to. The way he looked at me with those golden eyes...

Worst of all?

He wasn’t even trying.

His presence was enough to mess with my heart.

Carrying the grocery bags, I was walking towards the main gate of the packhouse when an Omega informed me that Alpha Blake wanted me in his office.

Jai hadn’t contacted me yet, so I guess he was mad at me. Just because I spent the night with the Lycan King, he thought he should know it. When he was the one who hid the fact that Raya was his mate.

Sebastian was away for two days visiting some neighboring packs, and I had already started missing him.

"I’ll be there in a while after placing them in my room," I gestured to my bags with my eyes, but she shook her head.

"He wants you now. It’s urgent," she said, avoiding my gaze.

With a frown, I walked to the Alpha’s office. What could be the urgency?

I pushed open the door with my shoulder and tried to shift the weight of the bags to my other arm.

"You wanted to see me, Alpha. I was told it was urgent," I casually dropped the bags on the floor and turned to find Alpha Blake seated with Luna Raya and Kiara.

Both ladies had that smug look plastered on their faces.

My lips curved into a smirk.

Oh. So this was the urgency. The baby girl complained to Daddy because I snatched away her lollipop this morning. Aww!

"Yes, Alpha?"

Alpha Blake cleared his throat, "Kiara just told me that she asked you to go for patrol duty, and you didn’t follow her orders."

I stared at her deadpan, "So don’t I deserve an off after my safe return, Kiara? Don’t I deserve to sleep?"

Kiara leaned back in her chair, the skin between her brows pinched a little, "Off? Sleep? As a warrior, you need to be on duty twenty-four-seven!" She got to her feet, "What will you do if we are under attack?" she asked me with a red face.

For some reason, this was flaring her up, and I needed to take advantage of it.

"Tell me, Phoenix. What will you do if we are attacked?" she repeated her question.

"I’ll party!" I started twirling my hair strand around my index finger.

Three people present in the room had a bewildered look on their faces.

"So, you see, Alpha?" Kiara turned to Alpha Blake, "This is what happens when you take in random rogues who are wolfless and useless."

Alpha Blake raised his hand to stop her, but this time, I didn’t let him.

"Why? Can’t I party when my pack is under attack? Because last time you were passed out when the rogues attacked us."

Silence!

Kiara’s mouth was wide open in shock. Never in her wildest dreams would she have thought that someone might remind her of her shortcomings.

"You’re not my Alpha," she hissed through clenched teeth, "Only Alpha Blake has the right to question me about my conduct."

"If the pack is under attack, then every member of the pack has the right to question you, Kiara. You are getting paid from our tax money. Justify it or leave the post," I said casually and popped in a chewing gum in raspberry flavor.

It was Jai’s favorite.

Kiara’s jaw was practically on the floor. She was looking at me as if I had just slapped her with a fish.

"How dare you?" she muttered, "Alpha Blake! Luna Raya! Won’t you say something?"

Luna Raya opened her mouth to speak, but I could not hold it and burst out laughing.

"Why would Luna Raya say anything?" I eyed Luna, who was already watching me, "Last time, she promised we were friends. I’m sure she’d never let anyone treat me unfairly. Right, Luna?"

I didn’t miss the way Luna Raya’s smile wobbled. She knew what I was doing here. My intelligent Luna didn’t miss the threat hidden under my words.

Good!

I still hadn’t told anyone the truth that she was the reason I’d gone missing in the first place.

"Sh... she is right," Luna Raya giggled, "After all, we accepted her with open arms, so now she is one of us. Right, Blake?"

Alpha Blake pulled her to him to kiss her lips while I looked at Kiara, who had fire in her eyes. I raised a brow and gave her a playful wink.

Turning on my heels, I picked up the grocery bags and left the office. I was sure that if this had happened in front of Sebastian, he would have wrung Kiara’s neck.

"Kiara, baby! You should thank your stars."

***

I found Jai standing outside my room.

"Hey!" A genuine smile spread across my face, "Jai!"

He took the bags from me and helped me place them on the coffee table, "I came to give you a new phone," He extended it to me, "It’s already charged, and it has got your old SIM in it."

"Thanks, you’re a sweetheart," I flipped my phone and found a missed call from an unknown number. Its contact details weren’t saved in my phone, "Someone tried to call."

Jai seemed a little uncomfortable, "Can we have dinner somewhere outside? A pizza or a burger?"

I nodded, without moving my eyes away from the phone screen, "Sure. I’m dying to eat a loaded cheeseburger. By the way, whose number is it? Any idea?"

I raised my eyes from the phone and found him giving me an odd look.

"What?"

He started chewing his lower lip, "I ... I think it’s King Sebastian..."

"What?" I was stunned.

Why would Sebastian keep a phone? Just like werewolves, Lycans could also mindlink with each other.

"I didn’t know he had a phone," I placed the phone on the bed and straightened to meet Jai’s eyes.

"He just asked his Beta to buy it for him," he informed silently, "Maybe..." he paused and took a long sigh, "Maybe he wanted to talk to you. This was the only way."

Without warning, my heartbeat accelerated. Jai pressed his lips into a thin line, "Your heart rate jumped when you heard his name."

This time, thankfully, there was no anger in his tone.