Page 6 of The Broken Aztec Princesses

“Oh.” I turned and walked into the dining room, unable to look at him again, my face burning with embarrassment. I sat between Cory and Dad again and took baby Lucas from Dad’s arms.

“Are you okay?” Dad asked, and I gave him a strained smile.

“I’m good.”

Cory pushed a small plate with flan toward me, and I sighed as I tasted the sweet custard. I dipped my finger into the caramel sauce on top and gave Lucas a taste. I laughed when he triedto put my whole hand in his mouth. Dr. Campbell caught my eyes from one of the tables in the dining room and smiled encouragingly at me. I returned a strained one of my own. I was trying, and I hoped to hell she was right.

Chapter Three

Bellarose

“Hugh! I need you to fucking help. We’re only a few weeks from starting harvest, and I’m up to my eyeballs in paperwork. Can you please take something off my plate?” I berated the man in front of me.

“Sorry, Luna. That was never part of my duties,” the insufferable beta answered from where he was sitting in front of my desk.

“And dealing with you and running the vineyard wasn’t part of mine, but here we are. Everyone is doing things that aren’t part of their duties. Everyone except you.”

“I don’t do paperwork, Luna.”

“Then what do you do?” I said, only just stopping myself from shrieking in his face.

“I train.”

“What else?” I said, breaking the pen in my hand.

“I’m the Beta,” Hugh answered, unbothered by my anger. If the little twat only knew what I was capable of doing to him if I ever lost my shit, he wouldn’t keep pushing my buttons.

“And you need to be more. So either pick up some other responsibility that helps the pack or—”

“Or what? You’re going to banish me? How does that help your issue exactly?” he interrupted with a smug smirk that I wanted to slap off his face. I took a calming breath and smiled, leaning back on my chair.

“I’m not banishing you, Hugh. I’ll just be demoting you.”

“You can’t do that!” he yelled, standing up from his desk. If Hugh liked anything more than fucking a woman, it was the title and power that came with being a Beta. Without it, he was nothing, and he and I both knew it.

“I can do whatever I want. The council is making me Alpha soon and until then, I’m still the Luna. Which means in the absence of my Alpha mate, I rule the pack. So, report to the fields tomorrow morning. If you’re not there, I’ll start looking for your replacement,” I assured him, leaning forward so he could see how much I meant every word.

“Just like you’ve been able to find new members?” he challenged.

“Maybe it’ll take a while but I’ve been surviving without a beta this long, I can keep doing it.” I shrugged.

Hugh gritted his teeth and stomped away, and I sat back in my chair and let out a puff of air. That conversation had been a long time coming, but he had one point. If Hugh didn’t show up tomorrow to work in the fields, I was going to have a hard time finding a replacement, and it was going to be shit for morale.

I stood and went to pick up Adam. We had dinner, went through our bedtime routine and then I headed to my room.

I was never able return to the room I shared with Brandon, so I was sleeping in one of the Alpha rooms a few doors down fromit, leaving my old bedroom untouched. It was a little smaller than the master bedroom, but served its purpose. I never used it except to shower and sleep.

I plugged my phone in and scrolled through Instagram for a while.

I pulled out the blade and watched myself plunge it back into the body before me. I let go of the handle and felt the tears fall from my chin, wetting my shirt as I crawled over to cradle my mate’s head in my lap, watching the life leave his eyes. A sudden sharp pain rippled through my abdomen.

I was hyperventilating when I awoke from the nightmare. The sobs wrenched from my lips, and my hands went to my stomach.

‘Breathe, Bells. It was just a dream,’Cory’s voice was soothing and full of emotion.

‘My pup,’I sobbed.

‘I know, Bells. I know. It’s over now. It was a dream.’

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