Chapter 132

Elroy POV

I noticed Olivia looked very nice at the other end of the dinner table and told her so.

“Thank you,” she said with a sweet smile. “Nice to hear my looking like the full moon with legs doesn’t mean I can’t make you sniff my neck a bit.”

I knew she meant it playfully, but something about her reply put me off a bit. Still, I hid a scowl and asked if she would like a little watered-down wine.

“My midwives tell me the occasional small glass won’t hurt,” she said, holding up her glass.

I stood, took the pitcher of water and the bottle of wine and poured a little of both into her glass before I resumed my seat. Only when I was sitting down did it occur to me I should have kissed her.

“How did the Initiative meeting go this afternoon?” I asked.

She smiled, but there was just the slightest grimace before her lips turned up.

“What is it?”

She sighed. “It went well, but I’m a little concerned about the lack of discussion before everyone decided to form a ‘Steering Committee.’”

“What’s the purpose of a steering committee?”

She looked annoyed. “I’m sure I have no idea, and no one seemed remotely interested in discussing it. They just made it up on the spot and elected Emma to it.”

“Ah, Emma,” I said, understanding things now.

Olivia looked at me sharply. “‘Ah, Emma’ what?”

I frowned at her tone. “She’s become quite popular since her return. I’m sure many wolves want her on their side.”

“And why is that? She’s been away for years. We know almost nothing about what she’s been doing or what she really wants.”

Now I was getting annoyed. “Emma has made it clear she only wants to help Lunaris, and as for her travels abroad, I’m sure her studies and the knowledge she brings us back from overseas will only serve to make the Pack stronger and healthier.”

She put down her fork. “And why are you so sure? What has she done to make you trust her so easily?”

I snorted. “I never took you for the jealous type.”

“I’m suspicious, not jealous.”

I waved her words away. I really just wanted to eat in a companionable silence, and it looked like Olivia was spoiling for an argument. I tried to be reasonable.

“Emma was a favorite in this city before she left, a powerful, lovely, and intelligent alpha. Of course she’s popular upon her return. As Luna, it’s your duty to make sure she fits into the Pack again.”

Olivia’s eyes flashed. “You’ve never before felt the need to tell me about my duty.”

I snorted again. “I’ve never felt the need before.”

“But for Emma, you feel the need?”

I put down my own fork and threw up my hands. “This is becoming intolerable, Olivia. She’s an asset to the Pack, not some alien invader. If you don’t like that the White Paw Initiative wants her to be on their ‘Steering Committee,’ take it up with Ines and leave me to eat in peace.”

Another flash went across my mate’s eyes, but I saw it was hurt this time, not anger, but I wasn’t interested in feeling guilty because she was being irrational.

She gave me an obviously forced smile and pushed back from the table. I noticed she was having difficulty standing with her large belly and thought perhaps I should help her, but then she was standing up and looking at me with a blank expression.

“I’m tired,” she announced. “I’m going to take a nap.”

“Good idea,” I told her as I took up my fork again.

“You might try a nap too,” I heard her mutter as she turned away from the table. I just let it go.

Alone, I finished my meal, still refusing to feel guilty.

It did occur to me that I could have been more supportive. Olivia had been the new wolf in the pack and had doubtlessly enjoyed her celebrity. Emma was taking the spotlight away, and I was sure that had to be difficult for her. I could have reminded my Luna that she was still my co-ruler of Lunaris and reassure her that soon enough Emma herself would be replaced as the new darling of the public’s eye.

Though I doubted it would be anytime soon. Emma was exceptionally beautiful, after all, and her time overseas lent her a compelling mystique. I knew people enjoyed being around her. She had a way of smiling at wolves that made them feel like the most important person in the world. It was quite the skill.

And that was all I had been trying to explain to Olivia, whose petty jealousy was blinding her to the assets that Emma brought to Lunaris. Any wolf would be proud to have her as a friend or as a mate.

I checked myself there, leaving the table to stand in front of the closest window and look at the darkening sky of the evening. Surely, as Alpha I needed to admit to my own prejudices. Emma had been my savior. Naturally, and justly, I favored her.

But not over your own mate, my wolf said.

Scowling, I left the dining hall and took a nearby door out into the western garden, whose untamed beauty appealed to me greatly in that moment.

I snorted at myself. It seemed this was the older wolf’s version of spoiling for a fight.

I slipped into my fur and padded down the not-quite-overgrown path. I sharpened my werewolf-long claws on a couple of trees and watched as the half-moon rose above their branches.

I realized I was longing for Emma’s company only a few minutes before I saw her form against the stars. She was standing at the rim of the western garden’s wading pool wearing white robes, and I caught my breath at her beauty. Seriously, how could Olivia not see that any wolf would want her on their side?

I put my skin back on and walked up to her. She smiled pleasantly at my approach with none of the guarded quality I saw in Olivia’s eyes.

“I was just thinking of you, Alpha Elroy,” she said.

I recognized it would be inappropriate for me to say I was doing the same—that is, thinking of her. I simply nodded and told her, “I am here to help you should you require the assistance of your Alpha.”

Goddess, that had sounded fatuous.

But she merely smiled in delight and nodded. “I confess, I’m feeling more than a little overwhelmed by the warm welcome I have received here at the Palace. When I watched you and the Luna reaffirm your familial bonds, I thought the rite could not have been more beautiful or more appropriate.”

Then she looked down before glancing up at me through her long lashes. “But I confess, I was jealous.”

“Jealous?” I asked, pleased she, unlike Olivia, could admit it so freely.

She nodded. “I wanted to be part of that rite. I wanted so fiercely, and I still want, that Ravencrest and Eclipse could become as close as Eclipse and Moonshadow.”

She gestured at the moon. “The Goddess blesses Lunaris with the very best of Alphas, and I was jealous that I couldn’t take position in front of the Pack as another of your partners, as Olivia and Claudia were doing.”

I squashed down the warmth her praise brought on. I knew she was flattering me to manipulate me, but somehow it was impossible to mind.

I found myself speaking without further thought: “Whatever I can do to make that happen, Emma, I will.”

She smiled in the moonlight, and I felt dizzy with joy.

What was the matter with me?