Page 27 of His Lycan Luna Queen

“What the heck is going on around here? Seems like everyone is finding their damn mates these days. So much for it being a rare occurrence,” Kyson mutters, nudging me playfully.

“Yeah, I sure as shit don’t want to be catching that damn disease. I will need to get me some mate repellent. Ain’t that right, Dusty poo,” Liam chimes in, joining our conversation. Dustin clearly doesn’t appreciate the nickname Liam threw his way and retaliates by flipping him off while Damian glares at him. I wonder what Liam said to make Damian so upset.

“Well, Tandi, I’m Azalea. Nice to see you again,” I smile. Her brows furrow in confusion, and she looks at me oddly.

“Why does that name sound so familiar to me?” she ponders. “And what are you doing here, and where is Abbie?” she asks, trying to take her son from Damian, but Damian holds him higher, not allowing it.

“It’s a long story, and Abbie?” I smile to myself as I hear her coming up behind us. The sound of hurried footsteps catches my attention, and I turn to see Abbie stopping in her tracks as she stumbles out of the door. In a state of shock, Trey grips her arm to keep her steady as her mouth opens and closes in shock. As Abbie looks at me with the same shock that I felt upon seeing Taylor, I find myself sputtering as I see the look on her face. She looks at me for confirmation, as if she doesn’t believe what she’s seeing.

Several steps behind her, Gannon and Tyson emerge from the castle. I watch as Abbie’s lip quivers when I nod to her, telling her that Taylor is here before her feet are moving quickly, and she collides with Tandi. There is barely enough time for Tandi to catch her before Abbie’s legs and arms are wrapped around her.

“I thought you were dead,” Abbie gushes, squeezing her tight, and I move closer. Taylor, who is now Tandi, reaches over, squishing us together as she embraces us. “How, how are you here?” Abbie says, placing her feet down as tears stream down her face. Kyson, Gannon, and Damian all just stand there gawking at us while we fuss over each other when Tandi turns to Damian and pins him with her glare.

“My son— now. I did what you asked,” she says, earning a look from Damian. But it is Gannon who nudges Damian to hand her son back.

“Give her son back. She looks like she bites, like an angry gremlin,” Gannon mumbles.

“She fucking does. She’s already bitten me twice while throwing a fit,” Damian growls irritably as he reluctantly relinquishes the child.

“You have a child?” Abbie gasps, peering into the blankets to catch a glimpse of the sleeping toddler in Tandi’s arms. Turning towards Gannon, she extends her arms, silently indicating that she wants to hold Tyson.

As Gannon passes Tyson to Abbie, the little boy squirms and reaches out for her. The sight of Abbie cradling her son, reunited with our long-lost friend, fills me with both relief for Tandi and Abbie and longing for the life I lost.

Chapter

Fifteen

AZALEA

“Who is this little one?” Tandi asks while reaching out and gripping Tyson’s little fingers as Abbie holds him. I swallow; in their joyful chatter about their little ones, I stand on the outskirts. Tandi’s grip on Tyson’s tiny fingers feels like a reminder of what I have lost, the little fingers I will never get to touch. The warmth of Kyson’s chest against my back only amplifies the ache in my heart, his breath on my neck a bittersweet caress.

“One day, my love,” he says, and I nod at his words. He pulls me closer as if he can shield me from the heartache I feel right now. Yet as Kyson holds me close, his touch tracing the outline of where my belly used to be round with life, I can’t help but feel the emptiness within me grow. His arms around me are both comforting and suffocating, my own hands now cradling nothing but a hollow space beneath my clothes.

His arms circle my waist, his hands sliding over the backs of my hands as he laces his fingers through mine. I let out a breath, looking up at him as he leans down and rests his chin on my shoulder. He pecks my cheek, and I turn my attention away fromthem to Damian, who is watching his newfound mate worriedly. I focus on him, not wanting to see them bond over their babies while my arms lay empty. While happiness for them brims in my heart, it is overshadowed by the raw grief that engulfs me. Their world of baby coos and parental bliss feels distant and unreachable as I grapple with the void left by my own loss.

“What’s wrong?” I ask Damian, who snaps himself out of his thoughts, to look at me.

“Gannon, Abbie, take Tandi to my quarters and help her settle in, please. I need a word with the King and Queen,” Damian says, and Tandi’s head whips to the side to stare at me. Her eyes widen when recognition hits her at what Damian called me like it escaped her earlier when I mentioned it.

“Azalea, Queen Azalea Landeena, I knew I heard that name,” she exclaims.

“You have heard of the Landeena’s?” I ask her, shocked, because I know she can’t read like us unless she has since learned.

“Yes, of course,” she says when Kyson huffs behind me.

“Everyone has. It is in every history book, love. You and Abbie were the only ones oblivious to who they were, who you are,” he purrs beside my ear when Tandi speaks up while shaking her head.

“No, I can’t read. No, I heard the name at the brothel when hunters come in sometimes. Amazing the things you hear when you aren’t supposed to be listening,” she says, blowing out a breath.

“Hunters?” Kyson asks her, lifting his head to look at her.

“Yeah, the ones that work for the council, Larkin, introduced me to a couple of them, and they creeped me out,” she says with a shrug.

“You know Larkin?” Kyson asks her.

“Yes, she does, and that is what I need to speak with you both about. Because I just stole his son,” Damian says behind me. Kyson straightens at his words, and I look at Tandi’s son in her arms, knowing this is going to cause issues, yet I am still stuck on the hunters working with the council, and clearly, that is where Kyson’s thoughts are as well.

“You said the hunters work with the council?” Kyson asks Tandi. She nods her head and shrugs.

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