Chapter Sixty

Roan

The sense of sadness hovering over the pack loomed far longer than Roan wanted, but he understood. The heartache of losing someone you love lingered for a while and bit you when you least expected it.

They’d spent the entire night under the stars until Roan dragged Sullen to the bedroom and they’d let out their frustration on each other. It’d been a blur over the next several days while getting ready for the party to introduce Sullen as their new Luna.

Not to mention dealing with the job duties, and spreading the work around equally.

Roan felt the pressure of fulfilling everyone’s expectations, and the constant reminder that his own brother and Beta undermined him. His wolf was butthurt about it, and he was skeptical to trust anyone in the pack. It made it hard for Roan to interact with some of the wolves.

Sullen hadn’t let him feel too bad about it. Every time he began to get down, Sullen would feel it, and do whatever she could to make him feel better.

It was the best part of finding his mate. The feeling of never being alone. Someone always felt how you felt, and understood.

Roan glanced around the gym where they were decorating for the party that night. The pack had outdone themselves with flowers on every table, and streamers. It was more than he ever asked for.

Sullen wrapped her arms around Roan from behind and rested her cheek against his shoulder blade. “Mom won’t come out of her room.”

And there was the drama of Sullen’s mother holed up in the house and

refusing to face her problems.

Roan wrapped his arms around Sullen’s and chuckled. “What else is new?”

Sullen walked around to face him. “I’m worried. Your dad said she’s hardly eaten, and she won’t talk to him or Dad. I think Dad should leave. Make it better, or one of them just reject the other and get it over with."

Roan sighed heavily. He was in the middle of a rock and a hard place. On one hand, his dad’s happiness was at stake, and on the other, Mrs. Andrews's mate was back from what she thought was the dead.

“I don’t know,” Roan said. “He is her mate, Sullen. They lived together, loved one another, had a child together, and I’m sure they’re both struggling.”

“I want you to talk to my dad,” Sullen said. “Man to man.”

Roan lifted both brows.

“Now,” she said, giving him the side eye.

He chuckled and reached out to grab her waist. “And who do you think you are? Telling the alpha what to do.”

“I’m the Luna,” she whispered. “And I have the power to make your bed cold, or hot.”

“Oooo. Are we threatening already? We skipped a few years.”

She smiled playfully. “Thank you for talking to him. He’s outside helping clear the yard for parking tonight. See you later.”

Roan reluctantly walked outside to find her father raking leaves and discarding them into trash bags. He was sweating, and working hard, and Roan felt his chest tighten. “Hey. Do you have a second to chat?”

He swiped his forehead with the back of his hand. “Yeah, is Sullen okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, she’s fine.” He followed Roan over a few yards away from the other wolves. “I want to talk to you about Mrs. Andrews.”

He ruffled his salt-n-pepper hair. “She won’t talk to me.”

Roan nodded. “Yeah, Sullen is worried about her. We have the party tonight, and I’m afraid she won’t come. Something needs to happen. You two can’t keep living within reaching distance of one another if you’re not going to be together. I didn’t tell Sullen, but when I went on my perimeter run the other day, I heard your wolf crying for her.”

He bowed his head and took off the work gloves he’d been wearing. “I know. She won’t talk to me; I’m afraid to barge in. That isn’t my house.”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll get my dad out of the house, and you demand to talk to her.”

“Okay,” he said skeptically.

Roan started toward his father’s house and turned back to look at him. “You coming?”

“Now?”

“Right now. We need to fix this.”

Roan noticed the hesitation, but he followed him to his father’s house. On the way there Roan mind linked with his father and asked him to meet him in the conference room. Roan stopped mid-way between the houses. “I’m meeting him in the conference room. You go see Mrs. Andrews, and demand she talk to you. The window in their room opens easily, even if it’s locked. Ya know, just in case she doesn't answer the door."

He rubbed the back of his neck but did as Roan asked.

Roan’s dad made it five minutes later, out of breath because he’d run when Roan didn’t answer his mind link.

“What is going on?”

“You need to step up, Dad.”

He stopped in the middle of the room. “Excuse me? You may be the alpha, but I’m your father.”

“I’m talking about Mrs. Andrews. I sent Sullen’s father over to see her.”

His eyes narrowed to slits. “So you’re rooting for them?”

“No. Sullen is worried about her mother, and frankly, I am too. A decision needs to be made. I think Mr. Andrews needs to leave, or someone needs to reject the other. He’s making this worse. Or if you’re not going to fight for her, you need to break it off. Someone needs to do something, and I’m hoping Mrs. Andrews makes a decision now.”

He folded his arms over his chest.

“And I want to know what you knew about Ridge. Did you know he held all that animosity toward me?”

His dad sighed deeply. “Yes, and no. I didn’t know until after he left. I thought he left to get rid of the feeling. I found a journal that had tons of entries about you, and how he wanted to be alpha. I didn’t think anything of it.”

So it had brewed for years. “How could you?” Roan mumbled. “No one expects their kid to turn into a psychopath.”

His dad stepped over and pulled Roan in for a hug. “I want you to know that I’m proud of you for taking care of the pack. For being the alpha everyone loves.”

“Thank you, Dad.” Roan clapped his hands. “Now, I need to get back to the gym to ensure things are going smoothly. Can you give them some time to hash it out before you go back?”

“Maybe. You know I love her son. She’s not your mother, but I love her.”

“I understand,” Roan said. “I’ll see you tonight at the party. Please try to pull Mrs. Andrews from her room. Sullen is nervous, and she needs her mother.”

“I’ll try my best, son. You tell Sullen to smile big, and be happy either way, because tonight is about her, and not her mother. Tonight we officially get the Luna we've all been waiting for."