he

the beast, but that makes what transpired even more disturbing. Was

an alpha wolf. He had a pointed nose and slightly thicker eyebrows compared to an average man. His mouth is neither too little nor too large, and his jaw is

ot that I want to deal with guests this morning, but I should run some errands while I'm feeling somewhat well.

gives a groggy shake of hi

answer quietly an

oking startled to find me with my hair and makeup done, wearin

rrands," I can't let him know that the bathroom's

ould be nice of you to spe

-ranking people that ate with Gideon every day in the dining room, but now

ast, eat breakfast. How recent

though I wer

don't answer, he becomes irate a

ight,"

ook. I'm not going to wait around for him. I s

them a glance. For all I care, they can be used as furniture. It's not as painful as the numerous times I attempted to b

olves from other packs, the petitioners who come to talk with the leader, and the regulars that live at the packhouse with Gideon all the time. The regu

t, I'll buy coffee. I take a seat at one of the four chai

ing after dropping out of school at that point. In private, I believe they ought to be allowed to continue until they turn eighteen, just like all other pack members. Howev

orning, Luna," setting a c

nk y

ng away. I detest wondering if she was forced to be kind to me by another member of the pa

sponded to my unwanted presence. He approaches me directly and takes a seat next to me. I would have asked him if he was going

e. After only a minute of silent eating, Lavi

d morning,"

e both of us here. Still, he looks to her for tenderness. He and I haven't had sex in

life

ing, "Luna, it is so wonderf

an wants to be my partner and despises me. To be honest, she might already have my mate; nevertheless, th

e will be terrible if I'm not. It never sta

good two days," wearing a phony smile like

ingers, barely catching myself before yanking the hand away. In

third anniversary in two months," she re

beat me up at last year's party for 'flirting' with guys I knew

, sweetheart," I remark cynically, "but the Lun

want to skip the party to s

" said the Beast. "Gideon's wolf will take over, and if we go somewhere private, I can onl

t to sexual signals, even from an undesired partner. I give him a blank stare in return, savoring the fleeting moment of tenderness in his dark chocolate

hought of something else, anything else, emanating from him toward me makes me want to cry. I glance out the window once

fumble through life alone as he spends a lot of time with her and their group of older pals. It would be much better if I could simply spend time wi

s face close up. "The party can still be held, Lavinia."

ly! Luna, will you be arranging with us today?" She

offee might be poisoned, and I want to hurl it in her direction. I ca

y become icy as she o

eved we hadn't had sexual contact in a year and could almost immediately detect his dog's scent emanating from

h wolfsbane. Nothing is impenetrable. What happens if his wolf impregnat

even more. If that were the case, would

up q

hardly touch

and head out. Lavinia, happy to see me go, smirks at me as he lets ou

nia gives me a hilarious gape, and Gideon looks perplexed. I

to a plant in the hallway, oblivious to my bodyguards observi