Page 170 of Luna: Posy 2

She'd been plenty nervous, but after Queen Lilah took a seat next to her, Posy loosened up and the two chatted away happily while we talked with the king, who told us what Ranger was doing to reshape Tall Pines.

After that, we alphas had to mingle with the masses, as did the king and queen, their pair of betas trailing them while holding hands. We played Rock-Paper-Scissors to create a rota so one of us was always with Posy here at the table. Jay got to stay first, so the rest of us kissed our girl and headed into the crowd.

There was a small stir of excitement when Callie and Keeley Breckenridge entered the hall and almost immediately scented their mates.

On one hand, I was happy. The twins were the last of their family after their older brother, Everett, was killed three months ago. They had always feared their mates would be in different packs and they'd be separated, and that fear became worse after Ev's death. They'd also been struggling to support themselves, although my brothers and I stepped in when we realized that. The poor kids were still in high school, for Goddess' sake! They shouldn't have had to worry about full-time jobs.

On the other hand, James and Aiden Briggs were not who I would have wanted for their mates. I knew better than anyone that they didn't have the best track record when it came to taking care of those they were supposed to love and protect.

Where are you going?Mase linked me as I walked toward the small knot of people near our parents.

In Ev's honor, I have to give the older brother talk to the Briggs boys, I told him with a little smirk.

Keep a tight hold on your temper.

You going to ground me if I don't, Papa Bear?I sneered.

You don't answer to me, Alpha Cole.

He sent me the image of our girl's face as she clapped her hands with gleaming eyes and an excited smile, happy that her friends and brothers were mates.

Well, hell.My mouth twisted into a grimace.

Exactly.

Sighing, I pinched the bridge of my nose with my thumb and forefinger.

You can still scare them, boss, Topaz said and drew his lips up in a pretend snarl that was actually cute enough to make me laugh.

#

Jayden

More shifters than I'd anticipated came to see our luna and the new members inducted into the pack.

Of course, some came just because King Julian was there with his new queen, and they wanted to get a glimpse of her.

Thank the Goddess that Mama and Mom knew what they were doing and had everything running as smooth as glass, efficiently managing a reception of thousands of shifters from five packs in a staggered rotation, although the few remaining Dark Wood wolves were folded in with special guests and outside visitors.

Dad and Papa helped, too, by arranging photographers and media for the event so that it was broadcast live on the pack's private channel and recorded "for posterity," according to Papa.

After officially making Posy our luna by inducting her into the pack, we exchanged rings with our girl, and our wolves puffed with pride to see how she incorporated their namesakes into our platinum bands.

When Wyatt slid our set on her finger, her bottom lip trembled and a couple of tears skated down her cheeks, then a beautiful smile brightened her face, and we all breathed a sigh of relief.

Wyatt kept telling us she'd love it, and he was right.

Finally, we welcomed the new members into the pack: the del Vecchio flock, Zayden and Zayne Maxwell, Leo Halder, and Thoreau Jones, who had a small breakdown when we had to cut his thumb. Emerson was ready to storm the stage, but Leo, of all people, gave the kid a hug and turned his face away from the blood until it was done.

Later, Angelo told us that Leo had bonded in a big brother-way with Thoreau, and both of them were thriving under Emerson and Angelo's positive attention, which was good news.

As we were being seated at our table, two unmated shifters muttered a few crude comments about Posy. Unfortunately, Tyler happened to overhear them, and River flew into a fury. We linked Emerson to contain Tyler before River broke free, and it was a struggle to controlhimafter he found out why River was mad.

By then the other betas were aware of what was happening. Matthew grabbed the offending shifters by the backs of their necks and dragged them out of the hall with his usual subtlety - which meant not at all - and Tristan and Crew held Emerson back and joined Angelo, who was wrestling Tyler out the door on the other side.

River's fierce roar and Cove’s deep growl shook the windows in their frames, and everyone in the hall cowered. However, when no further threat came and they saw their alphas not reacting, they stood again and carried on with their conversations and eating.

"What's going on?" Posy's eyes were huge and her hands had started to shake.

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