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“Yeah, sweetheart?”
“Can you go over there and make nice with the other Alphas? See if you can figure out a way to get us to stay until the trial.”
There’s something about Ryker Wolfson. To anyone else, he’s a vicious Alpha who has a quick temper and sharp claws. But when Gem looks at him… he just turns into a puppy dog, doesn’t he?
Not like I’ll ever admit to that thought. Still. It’s true.
“Of course.” Ryker swoops in, giving Gem a quick kiss. “You can count on me.”
“I know.” She darts out her tongue, swiping it along her bottom lip. “I’ve got total faith in you.”
Ryker snorts. “These days maybe.”
Gem shoots her middle finger up at him. She does that a lot, I notice, but that’s probably because she loves the reaction she gets from her mate.
“Don’t tempt me,” he retorts, throwing open his arms. “I thought you wanted me to talk to the other Alphas?”
Gem rolls her eyes. “I do. Go.”
Chuckling under his breath, Ryker listens to her, but not before shooting her a look filled with heat and promise.
For a moment, Gem looks like she’s going to swoon. Instead, she fans herself. “God, that male is so fucking sexy.” She glances over at me, then starts, as though she’d forgotten what she was doing while ogling her own mate. “Sorry about that, Elizabeth. What was I saying?”
“About your dad—?”
“Right.. We only got in to see you because I asked my dad to put in a good word with Dash. Dash idolizes him because my dad chose to mate my mom instead of relying on the Luna giving him a fated mate. Dash did the same thing, going against fate to pick his. After we discovered the trial would be held here, Dash said we can come see you before they start this stupid trial bullshit. Be moral support, you know?”
Actually, I do. And I’m so fucking grateful that she did that for me. “Thank you, Gem. You don’t know how much that means to me.”
“I had to. Not just for you, either. Aleks is my best friend. All I wanted was him to find someone who made him as happy as Ryker makes me. He never thought he would, but I told him to have faith. Then he met you, and I got to hear my four favorite words in that sexy accent of his.” She pauses for a moment, then adds in a horrible imitation of Aleks’s voice: “‘Gem, you were right.’ Ah. Music to my ears.”
A lump lodges in my throat. I decide to look past Gem calling Aleks’s accent sexy—because, well, it is—in favor of what she just told me. “Aleks said that?”
“Many, many times,” Gem confirms. “If I didn’t know it wasn’t possible, I’d think he might love you more than I love my mate. And, trust me, that’s alot.”
I don’t know how to respond to that. The sound I make is one part laugh, one part sob, and it seems entirely appropriate for the moment.
“See? Keep your spirits up, okay? It’s going to be fine,” she says. “I promise.”
“I’m scared,” I admit. “Some kind of she-wolf I am, but, Gem… I’m terrified they’re gonna blame me for something out of my control. I just want to live my life. No Alphas controlling me. No jealous females stalking me. I just… I just want Aleks, but I’m so scared that I’m going to lose him right after Igothim.”
Gem reaches out, tapping my ring finger. “Speaking of… don’t think I didn’t notice that ring you got there. You get married and forget to invite your best friend?”
Ah, Luna. Aleks is her best friend, but she’smine, isn’t she? She has to be. Only a friend as good as Gem would listen to me confess that I’m a lousy she-wolf, brush it off, and point out the ring Aleks only just slipped on my finger.
“No. This is… a placeholder, I guess. From Aleks. If I make it out of this alive, he wants to have a real wedding. You can come to that one.”
“I’ll be your maid of honor.” She pauses. “Matron? I’m mated, does that count?” She waves her hand in front of her. “Whatever. I’m going to be there because, I promise you, nothing’s gonna happen to you. I’ll make sure of it.”
That’s an alpha female for you. She’s convinced she can take care of anything.
“Besides,” she adds, a more serious note finding its way to her tone, “it’s good to be afraid every now and then. Keeps you sharp.”
“Are you telling me thatyouget scared sometimes?”
“Oh, yeah. We all do. Way I see it, that’s our human brain’s talking. If we never got afraid, we’d go feral. None of us want that.”
I think of the sad, abandoned shack with the musty nest and the bones outside and have to admit that Gem has a point. “You’re right.”
