Page 59 of My Shy Alpha

My throat tightens. “I’m so sorry. My mom changed when my dad died too. But she died of heartbreak only a month later.”

Noah drops his forehead against mine. Grief flows from both sides of our bond.

“That sounds horrifyingly painful to go through, one after another,” Noah says.

I nod, cupping his face to hold him to me.

Noah cups my cheek back, toying with my bottom lip with his thumb. “I think my mom would’ve died too, but instead, she just became someone else. My dad wouldn’t recognize his mate.”

Noah’s darkening voice tingles my spine. I sit up, and we break apart, facing each other in our underwear as if we’ve known each other our whole lives.

“Like... her personality changed?”

“Her personality, her attitude towards life, her care for others... It’s all gone. She just kept her hatred.”

I shrink. “That makes her sound cruel.”

He shrugs. His nonchalant attitude strikes me as a bad sign. A cover-up.

I feel like she hurt Noah. Badly.

“I don’t think I’ve met another Luna like her. Or another Omega, for that matter.” Noah kisses me, but as he slips off the bed, my heart still pounds. He grabs a fresh set of clothes, shooting me a soft smile from his dresser. “Hey, it’s okay. Let me talk her down today. Then we can meet her together next weekend.”

As Noah heads for the shower, I grip his duvet to my chest. A flash of hot anger stirs my wolf into action, pulling me from Noah’s warm bed to shake off my sweating palms.

There’s no way I’m letting Noah take any abuse in my stead. If she’s cruel to him in front of me, I’ll give her a piece of my mind.

But let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. I’m going to try to make the best impression I can.

With a fire in my gut, I whip up a quick breakfast by the time Noah meets me in his kitchen, the longest strand of his wet hair outlining his cheekbone. His eyes widen as I slide a plate of eggs and grilled veggies toward him.

“This is for before you head out for the day.”

“I-I don’t expect you to wait on me.”

“It’s breakfast for both of us. But also as thanks, for such a good night’s sleep - and then some.”

With my wink, Noah flushes a deep red, sitting at the kitchen island with a subtle smile. I notice him eyeing the vegetables warily, but he quickly shovels them into his mouth once he has a taste.

I add more of everything to his plate. “Let’s invite your mom to lunch today.”

Noah’s fork freezes in the air, mid-bite.

“We can invite Rainn too - take some tension off the situation by making it a whole family thing. And if your mom hates me, she hates me. I’m still your mate. She’ll have to accept it on her own. I’m not letting you face this alone, either. Don’t underestimate your feisty Omega.”

Noah’s eyes are laced with fear, but my words turn his expression into mush. “Okay. I’ll link them both.”

22

By the time we’re sitting across from Rainn and the Greenfield Pack Luna for lunch in the Forest Café, my stomach knots hard enough to evaporate my appetite.

Lilian’s golden-brown skin glistens beneath the cafe’s gentle lighting, but her angular eyes are just as set and hardened as Noah’s, if not more. Her graying hair winds into a tight bun behind her head, youth still gracing her full lips and lean cheeks. I’ve tried to keep my eyes off the white scar streaking the left side of her forehead, slipping past the right side of her nose and just beneath her eye, but it’s difficult to make eye contact without my gaze catching on it. Guilt permeates my lungs when she notices me staring, but Lilian carries on as if it’s expected, not sparing me a second glance.

Introductions went okay, but not even Rainn’s lighthearted chatter can take my mind off Lilian’s set jaw. I’m getting the sense she’s talking to Noah privately through mindlink, which means I feel like the odd one out. Embarrassment and hurt simmer in my gut. I know Noah feels awful about it; his stormy eyes shoot me pained glances every minute or less.

But I want to learn from Lilian about becoming Luna, and get on her good side while I’m at it.

As the waiter takes Lilian’s order, Rainn cups her hand over my ear. “Mom likes it when people ask specific questions. She’d never admit it, but she’s a bit shy without a little boost.”

---