Page 29 of Eclipse Pack

“It’s Baildon. Pleased to meet you, too.” He gives me a frown as I’ve mispronounced his name.

“Oh, I’m sorry. What do you do around the pack then, Bay Leaf, other than follow Luna Hope around?” I give him my cheekiest smile and wait to see how he takes my sense of humor. Gamzin, I notice, is having difficulty not spraying his lunch all over the table.

“Well, Taria, it’s my job to follow the Luna around. It’s what I do, and I’m damned good at it, too.” He gives me a sarcastic look back and I’m not sure my humor is his kind of thing, assuming he has a sense of humor, that is.

“Oh, really? And where is the Luna right now then?”

“She is with Alpha Connell in his office. While she is in his company, and thus protected, I’m allowed some me, BAILDON, time.” Carrying on with his food, I get the impression that the conversation is over.

“So, Gamzin, your friend here, Baillif, is Luna Hope’s first and last line of defense, eh? Is he good at his job?” I see Baildon stiffen as I mispronounce his name yet again, but he carries on eating.

“Taria, Bailjumper is very good at his job. I would trust him with my family, if I had one, and would be confident that they would come to no harm. What he lacks in a sense of humor, he makes up for in raw courage.” Gamzin smirks at Baildon and I see a crack appear in the veneer that is his face.

“Don’t you start, Gamzin. Little miss soon-to-be-Luna here is doing alright on her own. She doesn’t need any help needling me.” Seeing him finally smile, I smile back and give him a cheeky wink.

“You looked like you needed cheering up.” I begin attacking my food, my hunger getting the better of my sense of humor.

“That’s a new approach on me, but it worked, I’ll give you that. I’m out of my mood now. Thank you.”

Avoiding the obvious question of what put him in the mood in the first place, we enjoy lunch and when Luna Hope comes looking for Baildon, she sees me at the table and joins us.

“Hi Taria. A rose between two thorns here, I see. Don’t let them get you down. They’re a right miserable pair, I’ll tell you.” She gives one of her beaming smiles and I notice how Baildon looks at her. He adores his Luna, that’s clear. Not in a love type adore, but an adore the ground she walks on, type of adore. I can see that she would be safe with him around. When he’s not watching her, he’s scanning the surroundings. I wonder if my Gamma will be that dedicated? If he’s not, he’s not going to be my Gamma for long. Baildon has certainly set the bar high.

“Taria, I have some news for you. Walk with me and I’ll tell you,” Hope says as she jumps up.

Taking my tray away, we walk out of the packhouse and into the walled garden. It is beautiful in here, and I’m going to speak to Bronze about having one at Eclipse, if they haven’t already.

“You will never guess who has been to see me today?”

“I have no idea. Who?” Why I would know who would go and see Luna Hope I don’t know.

“Dahlia and Silas, of course. They asked if there was any reason that they couldn’t take each other as chosen mates. How wonderful is that? It’s all your doing, too.” Luna Hope is so excited. “You’re better than holding a mating ball, Taria!”

“Are there any reasons?” I feel queasy waiting for Hope to answer.

“None. They have both had fated mates. Dahlia’s rejected her after a year, probably why she became so horrible and Silas’s rejected him immediately because she was already sleeping with someone she thought was higher in the pack. Now they’ve found each other, or more accurately, Dahlia found Silas and you nudged him, they can make each other happy. I love happy endings.” Hope is positively giddy with excitement. “I’m going to speak to Connell and he’s going to give them a place to live near the forest.”

“That’s so good of him.”

“Oh, he doesn’t know it yet, but he will when I’ve spoken to him.”

I burst out laughing at her enthusiasm and know that Connell won’t stand a chance. Not for one minute though, do I believe he would seriously deny Hope anything she asked.

Hope excuses herself and after looking around to make sure her gamma, Baildon, is in attendance, she dashes off to whatever it is she has planned next.

Heading off to my room for a shower and a change of clothes, I wonder what this afternoon will bring. I had my day off yesterday as ordered by Alpha Connell and although I rested up, it was such a long boring day. I just didn’t know what to do with myself. Apart from eating three square meals and trying to read a pretty average novel, the day dragged by. I can’t think how poor my daily life was at Blood Pearl. No wonder everyone had such a low opinion of me.

Laying out my change of clothes, I strip off for my shower and catch sight of myself in the full-length mirror.

‘A broomstick, huh? No broom I ever handled looked that good. You need to be careful or I may have a nice rug for my fireplace!’

No matter how much training you do, you’d never be able to make a rug out of me.I can hear Maya giving her wolven chuckle, which always amuses me.

Stepping into the shower, I laugh as Maya preens and then lays down with her head on her paws. Realizing what she looks like, she pops into a sitting position and looks away. I take my time with the shower and enjoy feeling the hot water soak into my aching muscles. Getting my scrunchy all soaped up, I start to wash myself. All too soon, I start to wonder what it would be like to have Bronze soaping me and…

Pups. We’d soon be having pups.

Washing quickly, I hop out and grab a towel, rubbing myself dry in double quick time, hearing Maya laughing the whole while. Dressed, I lay on the bed, debating whether to call Momma when the phone rings. Seeing its Bronze I lay back and take the call.

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