Chapter 8

I paused outside the hallway containing offices. In passing, I heard it also housed a smaller library and a showroom. I had never been invited into her office or the Alphas.

I’d debated trying to sneak in, but this place was usually crawling with warriors or Omegas going in and out of the area.

The Alpha seemed to hole himself up in his office. There was no pattern as to when he would show up or how long he would be there. I gave up trying to figure out his schedule for more worthy pursuits.

“Come in.” She sounded annoyed as I stood in the doorway of her office. I folded my hands over my dress and walked in, standing behind the chair.

“I’m working on moving my office to the extension. I need something brighter and more modern this is just so…” she trailed off with a shudder, motioning to the office around her. The darker woods and stone did make the space seem small.

“However, I can’t trust those to renovate it accurately,” she sighed. “Three paint jobs, and they can’t get the perfect shade of mint green.”

I shook my head as if I sympathized with her and the workers' incompetence, even though I knew it was probably her fault for picking the wrong shade.

She threw the bouquet on her desk, and my gaze followed. She didn’t notice as she poured some clear liquid into a glass and then glanced back at me, filling another one. She stalked forward, handing me a glass before downing hers and refilling it. She sat down again, staring at the liquid with a sour look on her face.

“Surrounded by men and their big personalities.” She leaned back, scrubbing a hand over her face. Ah, there was the monologue I was looking for.

I sniffed at the liquid and took a timid sip, grimacing as it burned.

“Sit.” I did as I was told, the glass clutched between my hands.

“I was so elated to have been blessed by not one but three boys. The Moon Goddess favors me,” The Luna started.

I tilted my head forward, forcing my gaze to be curious and cool. She was favored by no one, especially not our Goddess.

“Having such strong-willed boys and my mate such a strong man,” she explained. I bit my lip. “But they don’t understand that my opinion is just as important as theirs.” She took a long sip.

“Maybe even more than theirs,” she scoffed. But that’s the price I pay for being blessed,” she repeated, seeming lost in her thoughts.

“Did something happen?” I ventured.

“Another body part found,” she scoffed, as it was an inconvenience to her. “They don’t know who, but the blame is placed on us even though we are not the only pack upstream.”

I grimaced. “It washed up from the river?” I asked. I clutched the armrest as I sipped the burning liquid. It heated my cheeks, and I hoped I looked panicked.

“It seems so. The best course of action I thought would be to go look for the body or bodies, see where they originated.”

No.

That actually wasn't a bad idea, but the river was deep and rapid at times; you couldn’t just walk along the stream hoping to find a dead body. I was grateful the others didn't listen to her or she might actually come up with something plausible.

“We don’t have any idea who it belongs to anyway,” she continued.

I did.

Christopher, the advisor that came to the triplet's last birthday. He congratulated Alpha Raymond on the removal of the filth that was my pack. Looking back, I don’t think that he knew who I was, but it didn’t matter.

He deserved it, and I needed the practice.

The killing was easy, dragging his body to the river was hard, and covering my tracks in the light snow that fell was the hardest part of all.

But again, it was a learning experience, and I was better for it.

I didn’t hear anything else, Luna Addison said as she rambled on about her special boys and how smart she was.

“What do you think?” she asked.

I was genuinely surprised by her question. “A-about what?” I asked.

“This whole thing, coincidence or not? This is the third body found in or around our pack.”

“That is a good question. I hadn’t thought about it.” I chewed my lip. “But what possible motive would there be? Everyone knows that this pack is untouchable.” I tried to avoid saying the pack name whenever possible, the part that they had stolen from my pack.

“That they do.” A satisfied smile crossed her face. “There really isn’t a motive unless someone was planning to take over.”

No, Addison, there were definitely other motives.

“But why would they go after people from other packs then?” I mused.

“Hm.” She looked at me. “You’re right; that wouldn’t make sense. Maybe it's a paid assassin.”

I feigned a look of shock. “Do those exist?”

“Hm, for those of means, you were too young to get into pack politics when—” She waved her hand as if the death of everyone I knew and loved was something minuscule. “But yes, Simone, there are assassins and far worse things out there.”

I shuddered. “How will we know?” I whispered, looking at my glass.

“I have no idea, and they don’t want to figure it out,” she sighed. “Surrounded by strong men, but if they just listened to reason,” she repeated.

I nodded.

“They just want to go after everyone. bloodshed, you know, men.” I averted my gaze. “Well, I guess you don’t.” She picked up on my cue. “But you are lucky. You have to admit that. You get to be with one of my boys and give Blood River a potential heir, plus you get treated as part of the family so.” She waved a hand, eying me with something that looked like disgust.

Family? I was closer to a servant, well, minus the grueling labor, which I was slightly grateful for. It could be worse; it always could be worse. But I’ve lived through the worst of it.

“I am grateful for that,” I said, “but I am nervous too, you know.”

“Have one or all of my sons fuck you?” Her eyes met mine, and the shock that ripped across my face wasn’t faked. “You are blessed to be standing.” Rage filled her eyes that seemed so misplaced.

I had no idea how we got here, how somehow I was being berated for not wanting to take all of her son’s dicks at once. The thought made me shudder; that would never happen.

Not one of them would touch me, order or not.

“Never forget that,” she went on. “There are so many young girls in this pack who would kill to be where you are.”

I didn’t doubt that. I had little interaction with the pack members; the packhouse was separate from where the rest of the members lived, guarded, and secluded. More like a castle than a building supposed to be for all.

The packhouse at Blood Moon, my home, was the center of activity. People were always in and out of it, and most of the spaces there were open to all. It was such a stark contrast to here, and it only added to my loneliness.

“I don’t doubt that,” I said a part of what I was thinking; it was the truth at least, but I needed to reign this conversation in. “Did you want a girl?” I blurted out, trying to turn the conversation back to her. If there was something that Luna Addison was good at, it was talking about herself.

She looked at me, but her gaze didn’t soften.

“No,” she responded immediately. “Well, maybe I would have liked a mix, but boys are a blessing.”

“They are,” I agreed.

“And whoever they are mated to will be like my daughters. I only hope the Moon Goddess blesses them with mates as good as they are.”

“I’m sure that will happen,” I said. I was getting too damn good at lying. “Their mates will be lucky to learn from you.” I dipped my head.

“Yes.” She swirled the liquid in her glass, moving her attention from me to it. “They will be.”

I leaned back, clutching the glass, hoping she would go on.

“If they ever find them, I was hoping it would be in this pack, but.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Hopefully, at the annual conference, I need someone, just one person, to help me out with all of this testosterone.” She smiled at me, actually smiled, and I returned it, trying to sip my drink.

“The conference?” I asked.

“Yes, Simone.” She sounded exasperated. “There is a yearly conference for the Alphas in our region.”

“Oh yes.” I folded my hands around the glass. I knew that conference, something my dad went to. “This year, I’m sure,” I told her, putting on a smile that held a hint of sadness.

“Yes.” She turned back to me, looking me over. I made myself small.

“How long will it take for your new office to finish?” I asked and took the last sip of the liquid.

“It was supposed to be done ages ago, but I’m hoping for the end of this month.”

“It would be closer,” I noted.

Their offices were in a separate wing of the massive house completely. It didn’t even make sense when they lived in the old packhouse.

Their seclusion was part of the reason I never dared venture here. I didn't have an excuse to be in this area; it was too much of a risk.

“Is it true that there is a showroom here?” I asked. “I don’t even know what that means.”

She looked at me but, thankfully, didn’t seem to take notice of my curiosity.

“Yes, male things. Raymond’s father was obsessed with human wars.” She nodded, and I did the same.

“Do you want me to put those in water?” I gestured to the flowers. I knew that this conversation was slipping from me. She seemed bored, and I couldn’t divert the conversation.

“Sure.” She stood up and poured herself another drink while I went about searching her office for something that might work as a vase.

“Is there a bathroom?”I asked.

She motioned to a door next to a bookshelf full of mismatched binders. I went in and filled the vase; the bathroom didn’t look like it was recently used.

“There you go.” I put the flowers on her desk and stepped back, admiring my work.

“Thanks.” She looked at them for a moment. “They actually do brighten up the place,” she noted, immediately clamping down on her lip as if the small compliment was too much.

I smiled widely at her. “I’ll bring you some fresh ones in a few days, just so that you’ll have them before your new office is done.”

She seemed to nod, and it was enough. I stood behind the chair, not sure if I should sit or not but knowing I had to be excused.

“You may leave,” she said, waving me off.

"Thank you for the company, Luna.” I bowed my head.

Well, that was better than I expected. Not entirely useless, I did get a full inside look at her office, and I committed it to memory. I knew where everything was, where her safe was most likely located, and where the documents I might need were kept on an open shelf. It was something for now.

I almost collided with something with my head down, and I took a step back as The Alpha stood over me. “What are you doing here?” he demanded.

I made my mouth hang open. “I, the Luna, she invited me. I brought her some flowers, and I was going to bring more when they—”

“I don’t care,” he cut me off and brushed past me.

Running into him here worked better than expected. I had a reason to be here, an excuse at least, I hadn’t been able to procure for years.