Page 40 of Crystal Luna
“Nothing.”
“Idiot. You will find something you two can do together. Because you’re adorable.”
“First, you’re trying to give your alpha orders and now you’re calling him adorable. I’m not sure who the idiot is here.”
“Clearly not me. If you won’t do something, I’ll have your kids eat dinner with us—and Velora—every evening until you give in.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Have dinner with us?”
“Start something with Velora.”
“We’ve discussed this before. You can't deny there’s something between the two of you.”
“And then what? She’ll think that’s the only reason I welcomed her.”
“No, you asked her because she deserves a home and family. I’m pretty sure that’s not the only reason she joined us. She likes you. The moment you stepped foot on that clearing for the Moonnight, she had her eyes on you. That look was far more than just respect for her alpha.”
He’d seen how Velora had looked at him and that had been the reason why he hadn’t been able to stay away. He’d felt like a stupid teen boy again when Mia had insisted on Velora joining them for dinner.
Frustrated, he sighed and leaned back in the chair to study the ceiling. “If you saw it, so did everyone else.”
“I’m pretty sure the whole pack is hoping for something.”
“She’s half my age.” Heath knew it was a lame excuse but it was a last ditch effort to convince himself to not start something with Velora.
“You can’t keep using that excuse.”
Thankfully, Wayne dropped the subject and they continued with their routine. They tried to keep on top of all their paperwork before Wayne headed back home and left Heath to his lonesome.
By late afternoon, he desperately needed a break. Noting that the house was suspiciously quiet, he went out in search of his children that had yet to return from school. It wasn’t unusual, but he’d take any excuse to get away from his desk.
He followed cheers and laughter to a patch of grass that was shadowed by a large apple tree.
“Higher, Vel. Higher!” That voice sounded familiar.
He crept around the last house and stopped in his tracks. Velora’s massive wolf was standing under the higher branches of the tree, Curtis and his friend Daniel balancing on her shoulders, other children gathered around her feet.
“More left,” one of the girls shouted but as Velora moved the girl shook her head and laughed. “No, the other left!”
Velora did as told and moved the other way, allowing Curtis and Daniel to climb into the tree.
Heath leaned against the house and crossed his arms over his chest, watching as Velora lifted two girls into the tree’s canopy. She carefully watched the four of them until she deemed them safe. Then she laid down in the tree’s shadow and let the other kids pet and cuddle her. She was visibly enjoying her ear scratches and the childrens’ attention.
“She does better with kids.”
Heath turned around to see that Rayan had appeared next to him.
“And they love her too. I never get ear scratches.”
Heath chuckled. “I heard you were the chosen one.”
“Yeah, no fucking clue why. She still wants to figure out the half-shift, but I don’t know what to do. What was your plan?”
“I ran out of plans,” Heath admitted. “I thought if she pulled from her emotions that she experienced from your fight, she could use it to shift again. We didn’t have much luck.”
“She told me about it.” He shrugged the defeat off his shoulders and started towards the tree again. “Let me see if I can get some love too.”