Page 55 of Claiming Her Alpha
He smiled, and they both continued walking.
Kendra placed her dish on the buffet table, then quickly found Lina and Mike. Mike was proudly holding Lukas in his arms, showing him off to everyone. Kendra hugged Lina before pulling Mike and Lukas into a gentle embrace.
“How are you?” Mike asked, though his eyes were on Lukas.
“Good.”
“I don’t think he’s actually listening,” Lina lovingly joked.
Instead of paying further attention to her best friend, Kendra focused on Lina. “How are you? Recovering well?”
“Slowly, but surely. I still wake up thinking he’s kicking me in the stomach, only to find him asleep in the bassinet..”
“You two are still trying to process the physical separation. I’m sure he sometimes misses how close you were to him too. Have you been getting enough sleep?”
“Yes, he’s a good sleeper. I nap when he does.”
“Well, whenever you need a hand I’m here.”
“Is our soon-to-be luna running around stealing babies again?” an amused voice asked behind her. She turned to face Avery, a wide grin on his face.
“Maybe,” Kendra teased in return.
“Do you have a moment?”
“Of course.” Kendra waved goodbye to Lina and Mike. “See ya.”
As she followed Avery away from the crowd, she noticed he seemed a little tense. He usually was a very relaxed man, so that made her uneasy.
“What is it?” she asked, unable to hide her anxiety.
“The Blood Wolves.”
Her heart dropped so fast she couldn’t breathe. Trying to keep her cool in front of Avery, she pulled herself together. “What about them?”
“I don’t feel comfortable with so many of them near my pack, even on our territory.”
She followed him onto a small path that led away from the clearing. “What do you think I should do?”
“Tell him he can’t bring that many people.”
She’d thought about doing that anyway, but with their already complicated relationship, it was tricky. With her promise to Alpha Vallerian being a secret, she couldn’t tell Avery that.
“I agree with you: I don’t feel comfortable either, but we can’t do that. He might take it as an insult, and we can’t risk that. That’s just asking for trouble.”
“May I ask something personal?”
“Why wouldn’t you?”
“Because this would go beyond our relationship as luna and beta.”
“Ah, so we are becoming less formal now,” she chuckled trying to overplay her worry.
He turned and looked down at her, brows fused. “Your wolf is… uneasy. She’s always been like that, but I thought it was because she is different, a female among males. But a few days ago…” he paused, his gaze dropping to the ground. “You let your guard down and I felt something… deep pain. It was just a glimpse but even for that short second it made my heart bleed.”
“You want to know why.”
He nodded.