Beneath the Alpha's Moon

TERESA’S P.O.V.

Lucian was grinning like a two-year-old about to pull off the prank of the century. His hands rested on his massive oak desk, but his fingers twitched with excitement. I leaned against the office doorframe, watching him with an amused smirk as our children Mai and Ollie, raced around the room, shrieking and giggling as if they were in a playground.

"You’re going to burst if you keep holding it in," I teased, crossing my arms over my chest.

"I’m not holding anything in," he replied, the corner of his lips twitching as though he were fighting a losing battle against his grin.

"Lucian Blackwood," I said, stepping closer and lowering my voice conspiratorially. "If you smile any wider, you’ll scare Rylan right back out of this office."

He tilted his head in my direction, the grin refusing to budge. "Let him be scared. He deserves it for calling me an ’old man’ last week, all because I asked for his opinion on how to propose."

I snorted. "And your revenge is to blindside him with the fact that you can see again?"

Lucian’s grin widened further—if that was even possible. "Exactly."

Before I could continue teasing him, a soft knock came at the door. Lucian’s grin turned triumphant. "Come in, Rylan!" he called out.

The door creaked open, and Rylan stepped inside, looking like he’d just crawled out of a battle. His hair was disheveled, he was wearing a tie and it was undone. The faint shadows under his eyes made him look like he hadn’t slept in days.

"What’s the emergency?" he asked, collapsing onto the nearest couch like a man who’d just run a marathon.