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“Te amo,” he repeats, wetting his lips with his tongue as he glances over at me with unmistakable desire. “Just as my pack will welcome you with open arms,mi vida.”
Everything has moved so quickly today that I haven’t really stopped to think about how anxious I am to meet everyone and get to know my new pack.Ourpack. It’s probably a good thing- if all of this wasn’t sprung on me, I’d probably overthink it until Imade myself sick- but now that he’s brought it up, all that jittery, nervous energy comes rushing forward in full force.
“Maybe you should meet with them on your own first,” I murmur, flexing my grip on the steering wheel. “I mean it’s a lot to drop on them at once…”
“They already know about you, Lo,” Javi states. “They know you’re their Luna, and they’re thrilled to meet you.”
My throat bobs with a hard swallow.
He reaches over the center console, wrapping his hand around my thigh and giving it a little squeeze. “Trust me, babe. You’ll be fine.”
“And this is Darren and Saskia,” Cheyenne says, gesturing to a middle-aged couple as we approach.
“Nice to meet you,” I say, giving them a polite nod.
Chey has been ushering me around this large conference room on the first floor of the motel for the past twenty minutes, taking it upon herself to personally introduce me to everyone. I take back all my previous judgments about her- Cheyenne is the freakingbest. The more I get to know her, the more I understand why she and Javi are so close. She’s easy to talk to, and she’s no bullshit; she just tells it like it is.
I have her to thank for finally getting it through my thick skull that Javi wasn’t on board with his mother’s scheme and was instead actively working against her. After bonding over howmuch we both care for him along our trek to the cabin, I concluded that Cheyenne isn’t a threat like I thought she was. She loves Javi, but it’s purely platonic, just as his feelings are for her. And if I still had any doubts about her at that point, the way she supported my decision to turn around and go back to the motel for Javi only solidified that my original judgment of his best friend was way off base.
“We’re so excited that Alpha found his mate,” Saskia replies, reaching out to take my hand in both of hers when I extend it for a shake. She gives it a squeeze instead, staring into my eyes. “And we’re so pleased to meet you, Luna.”
Well that title’s going to take some getting used to.
I give her a smile, retracting my hand to shake her mate’s. He echoes her sentiments, and then Cheyenne whisks me away to meet the next pair of pack members.
When we first arrived back here, Javi gathered everyone into this conference room and delivered the news they’d all been hoping for- that their pack will remain intact with the two of us at the helm, and we’ll be putting down roots here to join the alliance. The looks of relief and excitement on everyone’s faces aren’t something I’ll soon forget, and after Javi fielded all their questions and filled them in on the finer details, the tension in the room completely dissipated, replaced with a joyful sense of triumph.
Everyone I’ve met thus far has been kind and welcoming, but when Chey brings me to a couple of guys for another introduction and I look up to see that they’re the ones who detained me in Javi’s motel room, I freeze on the spot.
“Luna…” Seth greets hesitantly, showing his neck in submission and shuffling his feet against the tattered linoleum floor tiles. “I’m real sorry about before, I didn’t know. I was just following orders.”
I arch a brow, folding my arms over my chest. “And was trying to get a peek under my shirt part of yourorders?” I ask bitterly.
Seth cringes, hanging his head. “Fuck, Alpha’s gonna kill me, isn’t he?” he mutters under his breath, his face turning a shade of crimson.
Oddly enough, some part of me actually feels bad for the guy now, even though he was a total creep before. He wasn’t in on Delilah’s insane murder plot any more than the rest of them were.
I blow out a breath, squaring my shoulders and lifting my chin confidently, completely owning my new position of power. “He doesn’t know, and as long as we don’t have any more trouble from you, he doesn’t have to.”
Seth’s eyes widen in surprise. “Of course, Luna,” he gulps, nodding quickly. “I swear that you have my full support, and I wouldn’t dream of doing anything to offend you or hurt you or…”
“What he’s trying to say is that he’ll be kissing your ass from now on to make it up to you,” the guy beside him cuts in with a chuckle. I shift my gaze his way and he straightens his posture, sticking out a hand. “I’m Joel, and for what it’s worth, I’m sorry about earlier, too. I’ll also be making a point to try to make it up to you.”
I take his hand in mine, giving it a firm shake as I hold eye contact with him. “As long as you’re loyal to the pack and helpmake this transition as smooth as possible, it’s all water under the bridge,” I say. “I’m not interested in looking back. Only forward.”
Joel smiles sheepishly, tipping his head in gratitude.
“So is that everyone?” I ask, turning back to Cheyenne to find her pinning Seth with a glare.
She whips her head around to face me, her expression shifting to a warm smile. “Yep, that’s our whole merry band of gypsies,” she jokes, slinging an arm around my shoulders and steering me away from Seth and Joel. “Now I’d better get you back to your mate, he’s been glaring daggers at me since I stole you away.”
I bark out a laugh, but it dies in my throat when I lift my head to see Javi standing on the other side of the room, staring at me so intensely that the little hairs on the back of my neck prickle with awareness. The bond in my chest strains, tugging me in his direction, and my feet seem to move on their own accord until I’m standing right in front of him, staring up into those dark, gold-flecked eyes.
“So did you get to meet everybody?” he asks, his hands landing on my hips to pull me in closer.
I nod, my teeth sinking into my lower lip.
He rakes his gaze down my body, a low growl of approval rumbling in his chest. “Ready to go relax, then?”
