Page 16 of Luna Trials
“That’s not true. I–”
“Listen to me. I know it’s been hard without your parents here, but you remind me so much of your father sometimes. Always fighting and wanting to change things, to bend the world to your way of thinking. He had everything and he lost it all because he couldn’t appreciate the simple joys in life.”
It was hard for him to talk about his son. We rarely ever went there. Despite the rumors, he didn’t blame my mother for encouraging the challenge. But we never spoke of her much. Which was fine by me. That wasn’t love. When you put conditions on your affection, you don’t deserve a place in my memory. Plus, she’d abandoned me by choice. No phone calls. No post cards. No love lost on my part. I took after my paternal side anyway.
“I’m not my father.”
“No. You’re not.” Papa wiped a hand across his eyes. “You’re more like me. Stubborn and ornery.”
“Whose fault is that?” I teased.
“Mine I guess.” He smiled. “But I know you’re a romantic and you get that from me too. Even if you hide behind the wall you’ve built that says you need to be alone.”
This was getting way too deep for me. “Mating Seasonis more than finding love. Alphas and Lunas serve a purpose. I have no desire to lead a pack.”
“You don’t like this pack.” He arched an eyebrow, cutting me off as my mouth opened to argue, “And I know you’ve got ideas on how to change it. Maybe you could put those to use somewhere else.”
“I can’t do that.” I shook my head. “Not if it means leaving you behind.”
My papa winked. “Well maybe I’ll come with you to your new pack. See if they need a trapper. I want you to try and do this. I could die a happy wolf if I knew you had a fraction of what me and your gram had.”
Way to guilt trip me into this.
But it was the first time he said he’d actually leave with me. It gave me hope that once I finished my end of the bargain with Alpha Derek, there wouldn’t be as much of a fight to get him out of here.
“Okay. I’ll go in with an open mind just for you. As long as you promise to keep your phonecharged so I can get in touch with you while I’m gone.”
His eyes widened as he looked over his shoulder. “Umm…”
“You don’t have any clue where it is.” I dragged my hands down my face. “Alright. Where did you last see it?”
6
Aspen
“Was there something wrong with the clothes?” Stef smirked as she stood on the sidewalk of the only gas station in our Podunk little town.
I set down my gram’s trunk that Papa loaned me and dropped my duffle bag on top of it. “They didn’t fit.”
I stared straight ahead as a tumble weed blew down the two-lane road, not wanting to cause a scene in front of her dad who was loading suitcases into the van. Those couldn’t all be hers. If they were, I’d seriously under packed.
She snickered, about to say some snarky comeback I’m sure, when Alpha Derek’s sunset yellow Pontiac Firebird roared into the parking lot. He and Trenton were always working on one of their hotrods and vehicles that piled up in their yard. I’d never seen this beast before though. It must have been the new flavor of the month.
“I got you clothes,” Stef mumbled under her breath.
A smile teased the corner of my lips at the thinly veiled warning. She didn’t scare me. I had the power here. One word and I could bring her down, tell the Alpha that his Beta’s precious daughter hadn’t followed orders.
Except I wasn’t a snitch.
But I could. If I wanted to.
Anyway, it wasn’t the smartest idea to paint yet another target on my back when we were going somewhere with other packs. I had to play nice for at least a little while. Better the devil you know.
“I thought you were going to dress up.” Trenton looked me over before sliding his reflective sunglasses onto his eyes.
Why is everyone obsessed with what I’m wearing?
I glanced down at my oversized gray knit sweater and the black leggings I wore tucked into my nicest pair of tennis shoes. “I packed a bunch of different things.”