Page 167 of Conner's Luna

I manage to peek around two well-muscled shoulders to see the main attraction. Alpha Wilkinson is just as I remember him. Coldly arrogant, with a cast of envy and anger that hangs on him like a well-worn coat. Alpha Carmichael is a few feet away, an equally arrogant smirk on his face, but with a relaxed, almost mocking demeanor as they face-off.

"You said you wanted to speak to the alpha,sí?" Alpha Carmichael says.

"I am issuing a Challenge to Alexander," Alpha Wilkinson grinds out between gritted teeth.

"An Alpha Challenge?" Alpha Carmichael's grin becomes more feral. He looks around in faux surprise while the LoboGris snicker. Carmichael meets Alpha Wilkinson's hate-filled gaze and spreads his hands out to his sides. "Here I am,pendejo."

I stretch on my tiptoes to see more but fail miserably to see over or around the line of men in front of me. I futilely glance around until two sets of caramel eyes catch my attention from a second-floor window. Uncle Mattie and AuntieCassie have their faces pressed to the glass; worried gazes fixed on the spectacle below. Mikko is curled up in Auntie Cassie's arms, fast asleep. Behind them is a black Amazonian goddess that could snap me like a twig. If Alpha Carmichael trusts her with his two mates then she must be formidable.

"You should be up there, too!" Velia hisses in my ear as she finally catches up to me. She starts tugging me away from the group.

"I want to see what's happening!" I whisper back. I grind to a halt, using a large man next to me as a way to block Velia's efforts.

The man looks down at me, then edges closer to the man in front of him, blocking me in even more thoroughly. I huff and hear him say something quietly to the other man. I try to step to the side, but I'm hemmed in. Frustrated, I shove my hands in between their shoulders and push. Both men turn to look at me, smile as if they think my puny efforts are adorable, then turn back around without budging a millimeter. I'm effectively trapped and blinded by sexy wolf-men.

"Where is the coward?" Alpha Wilkinson snarls.

"Cabrón," Alpha Carmichael bares his teeth in a poor imitation of sincerity, "you fight Alex and win, then you and I have problems, and I end you,sí?What is the point?"

Alpha Wilkinson laughs sarcastically. "I'm not here to fight you. I want my cousin's..." he looks around scornfully, "pack... to recognize their true alpha!"

Alpha Carmichael looks around again, "the Beta and Alphason aren't here-"

"He's not the Alphason!" Alpha Wilkinson practically screams. "He's a northerner! The Grims belong in Alaska."

Alpha Carmichael pauses, then, thoughtfully, muses out loud, "so, you think if you take the pack from Alex, then Teague and Conner Grim will tuck their tails between their legs and run north?"

Every man around me bursts into laughter. One of the two men in front of me makes a crude gesture, moving just enough to let me see past him. I look just as Alpha Wilkinson shifts in discomfort, revealing the woman standing behind him.

I can't hold back the gasp as Lydia comes into my view.

Holy moly, Batman. She's bonkers. Her shirt and the front of her pants are soaked stiff in dark blood. Splotches of red dot her face and neck. The ends of her hair look like they've been dumped in paint. Her eyes... they are crazed, so wide that the whites show all around, with pupils as small as pinpricks. She gnashes her teeth, hands twitching. Claws poke out from the ends of her fingertips. Her hands drip as if she was stirring blood with her bare hands.

"Where is my pup?" she suddenly interrupts the male posturing, her voice screeching and high-pitched. All of the laughing males fall silent.

"It's not-" Velia starts to say hotly. A teenager standing next to her calmly claps his hand over her mouth and shushes her. She glares at him but doesn't fuss.

You can hear a pin drop. I watch as Alpha Carmichael inhales deeply, then softly he says, "why did you bring a murderess here?"

Alpha Wilkinson's eyes narrow. "Lydia is the ClearHowl Luna." His smirk grows but falters when laughter fills the air again.

Suddenly, Alpha Carmichael is in front of me, parting the solid wall of men without any effort at all. His blue-white eyes shine down on me as he smiles. "Hola, Preciosa. Can you come here a moment?"

If a gorgeous, older man calls you precious, can you say 'no?' I mean, he doesn't want me to get into a white van, right?

I take his offered hand and he gently pulls me into the tight ring of wolf-men surrounding Alpha Wilkinson. "This is the human your son was fated to have,no?" he asks Alpha Wilkinson. I feel a line of men at my back. Otherwise, I would probably scream and run away as fast as my short, chubby legs could go.

I hold my breath and the world inhales with me. Alpha Wilkinson's mouth turns in a sneer before it halts, then drops as his face whitens. "You..." he chokes out.

"I... what?" I whisper to no one when Alpha Wilkinson stops talking.

"You're Marked and Mated,Preciosa," Alpha Carmichael says. "And, most importantly, you are pupped." His hand gently pats my belly in a move that I feel I may sadly have to get used to. You carry an alphason or alphadaughter,sí? The future ClearHowl alpha."

"I Challenge her!" Lydia spits out.

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42 - Alpha, Luna

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