Rosea reaches out her hand towards Martin. “I am happy that you are the first person I meet,” she says in her usual calm, dignified voice. “Forest already told me how capable you are.”
It’s the way she says it. The composed elegance she displays. It works. Martin is in awe immediately, and her words have the effect of having stroked his ego a little.
“The future luna,” he says, still smiling. I am a little touched that he shows so much joy for me. “Your parents will be so happy.”
Absolutely. I can barely contain my amusement. “I am sure they will be elated.”
“I am sorry to spring this on you,” Rosea says to me. “I am sure it would be easier for you if I didn’t come with you immediately.”
“No way,” I exclaim. “My mate is not going to leave my side. It’s no issue at all for you to come along with us immediately. Right, Martin?”
“Not at all,” he agrees. “A luna is the heart of the pack. Everyone will go crazy with the news.”
I am not sure if they will go crazy, but they certainly will be surprised. To my pack, I am just a huge failure. I know they probably don’t believe I’d be able to bring home a mate, and especially not someone with as much dignity and beauty as Rosea. She will not fit their expectations, but not in a bad way; they will be shocked instead.
It’s exactly why I asked Rosea to be pretty much herself, instead of taking on the role of a bubbly or sweet luna. That role was already played by Lissa, and even thinking about it makes me want to throw up. How could I have been so blind as not tonotice that she was literally manipulating me? I bet Jordan and all the other assholes laughed their asses off knowing she was secretly looking down on me.
To not fall back into the pit of my dark thoughts, I use the ride back home to tell Rosea details about my pack: about how it’s structured and organized, the pack members, its size and all the details that might be of interest to her. It seems to have been the right idea because Rosea listens, the look on her face focused. “I would love to have a list of all pack members and their positions,” she tells me. “Do you think that’s doable? I want to learn as much about them as possible.”
“Of course,” I smile.
Martin casts us a curious look through the rearview mirror, and Rosea uses the moment to take my hand. I squeeze it, smiling at her. Fortunately, I don’t find it difficult to do. She is intelligent and pleasant to talk to. I don’t feel uncomfortable around her, which is odd, considering I barely know her.
I felt uncomfortable as fuck around Lissa, something my wolf easily picked up on, yet I kept making excuses.
But it’s time to change that. I want to prove to my pack that I am not incompetent, and I want to learn how to become a good leader to them. I don’t know how to achieve that, I just know I don’t want to become my father. A man who kills a member of his pack just for being his son’s mate.
Even if I will never have the support of my pack, even if I will continue to be a loser and fail at everything, I know I will never want to become my father. I’d rather leave my rank and life behind, and live a simple life somewhere else or die, than turn into someone he approves of.
Rosea doesn’t even show a hint of nerves when we arrive at the pack. She is all calm and composed, like when she woke up, and we had our first interaction.
Martin looks much more worried than she. “The pack will be very welcoming to you, Luna,” he mutters.
“Don’t worry,” Rosea reassures him. “I am not nervous. I am sure they are great people.”
He stares at her and then at me, making me shrug and smile at the same time. “What can I say, Martin? My luna has nerves of steel.” I turn to her. “I really need to take you along to the negotiations with the alphas.”
She nods. “You want them to kneel for me, don’t you?”
She says it with such a straight face that I can only snort, while Martin laughs openly. “If you manage to do that, I will call you my queen.”
Rosea raises a finger and waves at me. “Don’t forget your promise, Alpha.”
“I never do,” I say, grabbing her finger and kissing it.
When Martin gets out of the car, Rosea takes the moment to lean closer towards me. “Good,” she whispers. “You are doing fantastic.”
“You too,” I whisper back.
The advice she gave me was to always go with part of the truth, and that’s what I am doing. I do want to take her with me for negotiations. I need her help, and I don’t mind giving her what she asks for because she is here to help me. It’s what makes the interaction with her much easier for me. That, and because she is incredibly quick on the uptake and can go along with every conversation.
A small part of me is starting to have fun with it.
However, I can’t stop feeling anxious when I think about how the meeting with my parents will go. We don’t have time to think about this, though, because just as predicted, we arrive right atprime time. The area in front of the pack house is buzzing, and the moment the pack members spot the woman in my car, they stop and watch curiously.
Time for the show.
If I can’t pull this off, I won’t be able to do anything.
