Page 103 of Luna: Posy 2

"Better safe than—"

"Yeah, yeah." I waved on hand. "Go ahead. I'm going to grab some drinks and snacks. I'll meet you back here."

He nodded and trotted off, and Zayne and Zayden walked with me up to the alpha house and trailed after me into the kitchen. Opening the fridge, I pulled out a pitcher of lemonade, then searched around until I found a tray and two glasses.

Hmm. What do we have that would be good with lemonade?

Rooting around in the cupboard, I found some shortbread cookies and grabbed them, then scooped up two bananas from the fruit bowl on the counter. Arranging everything on the tray, I went to pick it up, but Zayne beat me to it.

"Thank you." I smiled.

"I've never heard of a prisoner being interrogated over lemonade and cookies before," Zayden smirked and shook his head.

"Well, it's really for me, but it would be bad manners not to offer him some." I shrugged. "And the king said I can't interrogate him, so I'm calling it an interview."

"The king said you can't? Then what are we doing if you're not allowed to—"

"Notthatkind of can't," I tried to explain. "He meant it as in, I'm notcapableof interrogating someone."

"Oh." They both chuckled.

Zayne carried the tray as he and Zayden walked me to the little outdoor area we'd set up.

"Need anything else, luna?"

"No, I think I'm set." Sprawled on the chaise lounge, I had my feet up with the tray on the little table by my elbow.

They snickered at me.

"What?" I whined. "I might as well be comfortable, right?"

"You're something else, Luna Posy," they chorused and grinned down at me.

"What was he like before everything went downhill?" I asked.

"He was a good alpha," Zayne said with a sad look in his eyes. "Stern, but fair. Strict, but not mean."

"Did he change suddenly or gradually?"

"At the time, we were all like, 'Oh, alpha's having a bad day' and brushed it off," Zayden said, his eyes narrowing as he thought. "Then every day started to be a bad day. It didn'tseemsudden, but I think it must have been."

I thanked them, and they went looking for Beatrix. Not two minutes later, Em and Ty pulled up in Ash's SUV. They got out, and Ty opened the passenger side back door and held it as a man half-crawled, half-rolled out. I knew Leo Halder was the same age as Luke and King Julian, but his hunched shoulders, lined face, and gray-tinted skin made him seem like an old man.

Once the trio reached me, Leo went to sit down and lost his balance. Ty and Em each grabbed an arm and held him steady.

"Easy," Ty murmured as he helped Leo sit.

Then the betas stepped back to flank his chair, silently standing guard. As Em crossed his beefy arms, Ty took out his phone and fiddled with it for a second. When he looked over at me and nodded, I knew he was ready to start recording.

They'd tried to explain the process to me - how Ty would use an online meeting program so the people gathered in the living room could hear and see everything - but I'd tuned most of it out. Technology wasn't something I understood very much about. I only learned how to send texts on my phone two days ago.

"Hello," I said quietly. "I'm Posy Briggs, luna of Five Fangs."

Leo Halder raised his head and blinked his nearly black eyes at me several times, his surprise clear as day.

"Leo," he rasped at last.

"Your throat sounds dry. Would you like some lemonade?"

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