Page 146 of Luna: Posy 2

Taking his unsolicited but welcome advice, I smiled, reached down and picked her up. She automatically wrapped her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck.

"I hope you don't mind, but I love carrying you," I murmured as I kissed the underside of her jaw. "We all do. If we could, we'd carry you everywhere all the time."

I hoped she heard more than the words.

"I don't mind." She sank her fingers into my hair and scrubbed my scalp gently.

"Mmm. That feels good, baby."

"Yours is the only hair I haven't had a chance to play with. Wyatt has soft fluff I like to pet, and Ash's curls are insane and get all tangled up in my fingers. Cole's is so long and silky, and Jayden's is super thick and bouncy."

"Yeah, we all like to pet Wyatt's fluff," I chuckled as I carried her toward the living room. "And you're always welcome to play with any part of me, little flower, hair included."

"Um, don't say things like that when your mom is here," she mumbled.

"Why? Does it give my little baby naughty thoughts?" I whispered in her ear.

Squeaking, she plunked her forehead in the middle of my chest to hide her hot face.

Grinning, I walked into the living room and joined Mama on the middle couch, Posy still clinging to me like a baby monkey. She only let me go and sat on my lap properly when Jay and Ash handed out mugs of hot chocolate and plates of chocolate chip cookies.

As Wyatt and Cole argued over what movie to watch, I drew in a huge lungful of Posy's lovely scent and looked around at my little family.

No matter how bad a day is, so long as it ends like this, I'm a happy man.

28: Sammiches

Royal Price

I stood on the front porch of the alpha house and waited until my hands were steady before I knocked.

A few seconds later, Beta Tyler James opened the door.

"Oh, hey, Mr. Price. The alphas are all out on jobs, if you're here to see them, and Mrs. Price went over to Mr. and Mrs. Barlow's early this morning. It's just me and the luna."

"Ty, how many times have I asked you to call me Royal? And I'm here to visit Posy."

Thank the Goddess he doesn't know what happened or he would never let us near her,I told Alabaster, my wolf.We're also lucky that no one else is here.

Al grunted. He was angry at me and had no qualms about letting me know that. Not that I could blame him. I was angry at me, too.

I followed Tyler into the kitchen, where Posy was washing her hands at the sink. I knew the second she smelled who the visitor was because her posture went rigid and her little body started to tremble.

Even though she wasn't in the pack yet, I could sense her panic and fear and knew that Tyler, as her beta, would feel it as keenly as if it were his own. He was beside her in a flash, and she dug her face into his side, gripping fistfuls of his t-shirt as she half-hid behind him.

"Oh, hey, luna, it's okay," he tried to soothe her. "This is Royal Price, Alpha Mase's dad. Didn't you meet him at the party last night?"

She knows who I am, Ty,I linked him.

Don't take it personally. It's because the alphas aren't here. She's less confident when they're not around.

That's probably some of it, but the truth is, I stuffed up and scared her.

Tyler's whole demeanor changed in an instant. He curled his arm around Posy and pulled her even further behind his body, and a low growl rumbled from his chest.

The bond between a beta and the luna is unlike any other bond in the pack. A beta becomes a fanatic about her safety and would protect her to his death, even from her own mate. So, while the man Tyler saw me as a friend and mentor, the beta Tyler saw only a jerk who'd hurt his luna.

Al scare luna?River's voice was far too calm.

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