CHAPTER EIGHT

RILEY

Dull rays from the sun greet my lids, but I refuse to open them.

I refuse to wake up.

From the faint chirping of birds and the cool breeze, I figure it is morning. But I am still in Jude’s arms, so I will not wake up. Until now, I have not realized how I crave to be held. And Jude’s large build complimenting my small frame gives all this the protective feature.

Oh how I love to be held by him.

Stefani would go scarlet if she hears about this. That girl is a romantist, if there is a word like that, and lives for all thing romantic.

Jude steers, pulling me closer. I smile and go deeper into hi….

“Who?” His husky morning voice enquires.

And I go still.

Getting no reply, Jude immediately withdraws his hands from around me, sits up and yanks the covers away from us both.

I turn to him in shock. Then watch as his hard and alert eyes immediately go soft.

“Oh. It’s you.” Realization us evident in his voice.

“Hi.” I say shyly, remembering last night.

“That was you last night?”

The pride I feel now almost become more than abstract

“Yes.” I blush.

“Oh”

Oh?

Oh?!

I may not be that smart as I shuffled from learning things from Cassy’s Ma, then to Stefani’s Ma, but I am more sensitive than I look. But for now, my comment will be reserved.

Well, maybe not that.

Maybe I have this nagging feeling telling me a lot of negative things. Negative things which I don’t want to hear.

I have had a lot of negative in my life.

A lot.

So now, I have decided to ignore all negativity and focus on the only positive thing in my life right now.

Jude.

“So you slept here?” the questioning continues.

“You asked me to come to bed.”

“That damn liquor.”

“You were quite drunk last night.”

“You realized.”

“Yes. Is everything fine with the Pack?”

“No.”

Okay, I had asked out of worry, and a little courtesy, but I didn’t expect him to be that direct in his response.

“Would like to share?”

Realize my stutter has dropped? Yeah, I’m beginning to get familiar with this dark haired blue eyed Alpha.

“Not really.” He looks away, and begins to fiddle with the ring on his index finger.

Ouch.

“Oh, okay.”

“You know what, I’ll tell you. You are the Luna anyways, so you should resume your duties as one, instead of going into hiding and lazing around.”

You told me to go away! I almost scream.

“Okay.” This comes out instead.

“The women wing called my attention to something yesterday. Something that needs to be urgently attended to. But I’m not going to have this bed talk with you as I have somewhere important to be at.” He gets out of bed while saying these.

“The women wing? What is wrong?” I scrunch my eye in worry.

“Well, once I took you as my mate, I granted them a leader. So this is no longer my problem but yours. There was supposed to be a meeting between me and them tonight, but I’ll leave it in your hands.” He grabs his coat after putting on his boots, then matches to the door. “Take care of the problem.”

And like that, he is gone.

Comprehension eludes me.

So by becoming the Luna, I automatically become the leader over the Women wing? Leader over women that have lived decades before I was born?

I am barely a woman.

But Jude told me to take care of it. He has put his trust in me.

I must not fail.

I stand and head to the kitchen to go look for the suitable attire from the stack Theresa had given me.

I am a soft-spoken and shy person, but I have to dress the way I want to be addressed. Definitely not anything that would depict the real me.

So I search for a black high-necked flowing dress. I would make me feel like royalty. It would command respect and would give an aura of confidence and esteem.

Which, of the two, I had none of.

I just know I have to be dressed in my best and be of my best behavior as I know nothing of how a Luna walks, sits, talks, and these women have been with Lunas before me.

Will Jude’s Ma be there too?

I lay the dress on a stool and admire it like an armor.

Because as much as I know…

This is war.