Chapter 8

Edric's POV:

Our pack members start arriving one after the other, all of them in wolf form. Most live on the mountain property, and running is just easier than driving. Besides, no wolf I know will pass up the opportunity to shift and let their wolf run free. Well, except for the one by my side.

The wolves that live in the town in the shadow of the mountain will be the last to arrive; they usually drive part of the way and shift when they’re away from human eyes. About ninety percent of the town’s population are werewolves and the humans are blissfully unaware of this fact.

Maya’s nervous, her body coiled like a too tight spring, ready to let go and run off at any moment. As our pack members disappear into the woods to shift back to human form, she moves closer to me. Without even thinking about it, I put my arm around her, and to my surprise, she leans into me, resting her head against my shoulder.

The feeling of bliss I experience when she lets me take care of her, even in this small way, almost breaks my heart with sheer joy.  Once most of the tables are occupied, I take Maya’s hand and lead her to the head table where my father, sister, and Luca already wait. It’s customary for the Alpha to take his seat last.

All the people jump to their feet, staring at Maya, and I hear the whispers that ripple through the pack. I don’t care, but she does. Her hand tightens around mine, crushing my fingers, but I ignore it – if she’s this nervous just walking to our table, she’s gonna explode with it in about another minute.

I stop in front of our table. My dad gives me a sly smile and a wink. I can’t help but grin back – there aren’t many wolves that have to wait years to find their missing half, and very few would understand the sheer ecstasy I feel after all this time.

Turning Maya with me, I look out over the gathered wolves. They immediately stop talking, looking at me expectantly – this is only my second month as the Alpha, but no one lacks respect for me. My family has proven themselves as a capable and honourable line of Alphas without the need to abuse the shit out of our pack members. “I have to introduce you to the pack,” I whisper in her ear, and I can almost feel her whole body scream no.

“Welcome back everyone.” I nervously look out over the expanse of the crowd before me. It’s not the crowd of wolves that are making me anxious though, it’s Maya’s reaction I fear.

A hundred tables, give or take twelve people at each table. Managing a pack this size can be a logistical nightmare, but I won’t have it any other way – even though I don’t know everyone by name, I love all of them.  I can feel their hopeful eyes on me, and finally I just have to say the words. I turn to Maya, smiling at her, “This is your Luna and my mate, Maya.”

“Finally,” someone yells, and the pack erupts in a loud cheer.

They won’t care that she’s a rogue, a lot of them came to our pack as rogues, but they may care that she was born to humans. That’s a bit too weird, even for our ragtag pack of wolves. “See?” I say. “No big deal.”

She smiles up at me, actually giving me a true to Goddess smile, and my heart almost gallops out of my chest. “What’s a Luna?” she asks softly.

Ah. I have forgotten, again, that she has no idea how our society works. “I’ll tell you later. For today, just nod and smile.”

I bring Maya around the table, sitting next to Luca who is on my left, and Maya on my right, as is the custom. Jolie scowls at me, giving Maya a tight, unfriendly smile. I can’t for the life of me figure out why my twin sister can’t stand my mate, she barely knows her. Mind you, I barely know her, but that’s neither here nor there – your mate is your mate. I frown at Jolie and she immediately mind-links me, “You didn’t reject her then?”

“I told you I won’t.”

“But, Edric…”

“Jolie, what is your problem? You don’t even know her….Why can’t you just be happy for me?”

“She’ll only bring you heartache, that’s why.”

“You don’t have to like it, but you will respect my decision.”

I break our link. I love Jolie, as twins our connection is so strong, but I won’t, I can’t, tolerate insolence, not even from my own sister, it will very rapidly weaken my authority as Alpha. “Since my son doesn’t have the good manners to introduce you, I guess it’s up to me,” I hear my father say. “I’m Joshua.”

From the corner of my eye, I see my mate stick out her tiny hand to shake my dad’s. “Maya,” she says, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Nice to meet you. We have been waiting for you for a long time. Our pack’s been without a Luna for nearly a year now.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Maya gives me a sympathetic look. She understands enough to put two and two together.

My mother took her own life for unknown reasons. It almost destroyed my dad, and Jolie hasn’t been quite the same since. Maybe that’s why she is so afraid of Maya. I make a mental note to ask my sister about it later.

Two wolves carrying heavy trays of food approach our table. Maya almost jumps up to help them, but I quickly grab her hand and shake my head at her. A Luna helping Omegas will confuse the pack. There’s no slavery in our pack, but true Omegas can’t help themselves – they’re born to serve. It makes them happy. It’s not something any of us can understand, but to them it makes perfect sense.

I glance at Maya, who smiles so beatifically at the Omega serving her that I can practically hear him fall in love. She thanks him with so much warmth that his eyes fill with tears. I find the Omega’s reaction a bit odd. In other packs I’ve visited over the years, I’d see that reaction when I treated an Omega with kindness and respect, but in our pack it’s nothing strange….Then why is this Omega reacting like no one’s ever given him a sideways glance, let alone a thank you?

Just one more weird thing in a sea of weird that I can add to my list, I guess.

As we eat, I keep stealing nervous glances at Maya, but she’s handling herself well for a wolf that’s not used to pack life, though the tension doesn’t leave her face, and by the way she’s gripping her utensils I can just tell that she’s uncomfortable. She would rather be anywhere but here.

Like the night before, she barely eats anything, and when she pushes her plate away, I’m ready. “Let’s go for a walk,” I offer.

Jolie shoots me another of her ugly looks, Luca grins and claps me on the shoulder, and my father just nods his approval. “Don’t you need to stay?” Maya asks.

“No,” my father answers for me. “As long as he’s back for the ceremony tonight.”

“What ceremony?”

“Our yearly offering to the Moon Goddess,” Jolie answers, an ugly smile on her face. “You should like it – it’s a blood offering.”

Maya says nothing for a while, just stares at my sister, her face passive. “Should be interesting,” she remarks dryly.

I can see Jolie and I are going to come to blows very soon. I hope to Goddess that she gets used to the idea that I have a mate now, or things will get very ugly. “It’s not a blood sacrifice,” I say when I’m sure Jolie can’t hear us anymore. “It’s not even an offering. We’re just accepting new members into the pack.”

“I didn’t think anything of it. Jolie doesn’t like me,” she says it with a quiet kind of certainty that’s really quite astounding.

I never thought, not even for a second, that my mate and sister wouldn’t get along. When I imagined it, they were always best friends. “I want to show you something,” I say. “But the only way I can is if you shift. Will you do that?”

She looks at me with big, accusatory eyes. “Are you trying to trick me into shifting?”

“Astute observation, but no, I’m not. It’s the only way we’ll get there fast enough. Please?”

Biting into her lip, she stares at me, her remarkable eyes dark and full of questions, but finally she nods, and my wolf practically jumps out of our skin with joy. “Not here…not this close to others.”

“No,” I agree. “Not here.”