Page 34 of Betrayed Alpha Bride

Nico takes a seat right next to his grandmother, and as they talk with each other, a soft light comes into her eyes, and she becomes more animated than I’ve ever seen her.

I sit next to Nico, with Galen beside me. Winnie takes a spot on the opposite side of the table and immediately grabs a handful of blueberries from the bowl on the table and flicks one at Galen.

“Not this again,” he moans. “Last time, I was cleaning splotches off my jacket for weeks.”

“So it’s a good thing you’re wearing a black T-shirt,” Winnie giggles. “If I manage to get a good splat, it won’t even show.”

“Seriously, Winnie, must you?” Macy says in annoyance. “Can we not have one nice dinner without you acting like an utter clown?”

“Don’t challenge me like that, Mom,” Winnie warns. “I could start juggling.”

Nico laughs, trying to cover it but not succeeding. Macy smiles at him indulgently.

“Your nephew has better manners,” Macy tells Winnie. “When are you going to settle down?”

“Hopefully never,” Winnie says, laughing. “I’m not suckered into true love like my bro here,”

“Excuse me?” Galen asks indignantly. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh, come on. My room wasn’t that far away from yours. I heard you playing those love songs over and over after Clara left town.”

“Winnie, stop,” Galen groans, putting his face in his hands.

“Don’t stop,” I tell Winnie. “What love songs?”

“I can’t remember exactly, but it was all swelling beats and ‘I’m gonna love you forever’ type stuff.”

“I knew it,” Nico says brightly. “Dad always loved us, he just couldn’t come because of wolf stuff. Isn’t that right, Grandma?”

The table falls silent. Macy smiles at Nico, brushing his hair from his forehead as she looks at him with her dark green eyes.

“Pack business can be complicated,” she says. “But you’re here now, and that’s all that matters.”

Nice dodge, Macy.

Even though his question wasn’t answered, Nico doesn’t seem to mind, and at that moment, Gert appears with plates of food. Nico’s sufficiently diverted, and we get away from the topic.

Macy stays fully engaged with Nico, wanting to know everything about him, and Nico glows under her attention. I’m surprised because she never approved of me, and after the way she acted when we first returned, I was worried her meeting with Nico wouldn’t go well.

Maybe she got the stick surgically removed from her butt.

“Clara,” Macy says in a warm tone. “You have done a fine job with this boy.”

I blink in surprise. “Thank you… uh…”

“You may call me Macy.”

“Thank you, Macy,” I answer, my heart pounding in my chest.

“I’m extremely proud of my grandson, but Galen, I must have a word with you about the incident.”

My heart sinks.Here we go.

“You heard about that?” Galen asks.

“It was all over town. I don’t blame the boy at all—he is going through a hard time, and he has been without support. But if it becomes widely known that you cannot manage your son, the other packs may see you as weak and create problems for us.”

“I understand, Mother,” Galen answers. “I appreciate you not laying any fault on Nico. I should have been with him, and this is all on me.”

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