Page 99 of The Broken Aztec Princesses

I tried going back to sleep, but when I couldn’t, I snuck out of the room and walked to Cade’s. Making sure no one saw me, I used my key to enter and stole one of his shirts. I changed into it when I got back into my room, and finally managed to get some sleep.

“Morning, Luna!” Lindsay greeted me the next morning.

“Morning. What are we making this morning?”

“Breakfast casseroles,” she answered, pushing a bunch of stuff for me to start cutting.

We had a mutual understanding by now, so I didn’t need to be making a fool of myself every time they asked me what I knew how to cook. A while later, I noticed Lindsay yawning and looking more tired than usual.

“Are you getting enough sleep with the midterms coming?” I asked. “Charles and I can get through a few breakfasts by ourselves if you need to study more.”

“No. Classes are fine. It’s just...”

“What?”

“Martha woke me up with food requests in the middle of the night.”

“Lindsay, tell me you didn’t get up to do her bidding?”

“It’s easier than arguing, Luna.”

“I still can’t believe she did that. Our Luna never would have done that,” Charles growled.

“Mom never did that either,” I told her.

“Martha wasn’t even our Luna,” Lindsay grumbled, making me pause.

“Wait, what?” I asked.

Brandon never said anything.

“Alpha Renly was widowed. His mate died in a car crash.”

“Martha isn’t Brandon’s mother?”

“She is. Alpha Brandon wasn’t Alpha Renly’s biological son. A few years before he died, Alpha Renly found his second chance mate. Martha already had Alpha Brandon. I don’t remember why Alpha Renly never made her his luna, but he did name Alpha Brandon his heir before he passed.”

I sat back in my seat, lost in thought. Coyo looked pensive in the back of my head, too. Before we could get too lost down the rabbit hole, though, Elim came in from outside.

“Luna, I thought we’d get the scent markers down while the sun is still down?”

“Oh, sure,” I said, then thought about it again. “Wait, why?”

“In case rogues show up. I’ll run the perimeter with you.”

“You’re too nice.”

“Just doing my job, Luna,” Elim answered, blushing.

“You guys okay to finish?” I asked Charles and Lindsay.

“Yep,” they both answered.

I shifted and followed behind Elim. We started at the eastern end of the property. I still didn’t understand why the scent stopped inside the borders. No matter which way the wind blew, it wasn’t permeating past the wall.

The sun began peeking out as we neared the end, and I started to hurry. I could see Elim becoming uncomfortable, but he was refusing to head back.

‘Eric, I need a hoodie brought to the eastern borders by the processing plant. Stat please.’

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