Page 113 of Cost of Courting

“Luna doesn’t know what’s going on. She doesn’t know how bad her boyfriend is. That is Selene’s weakness. This guy is the worst news, and if ever Selene has a nemesis, then it would be him. Luna is why she stays her hand, pulls her punches, and lets things slide. Luna’s words are the swords that cut our glorious moon to pieces.”

Dot hands me a beer.

“Since she has decided that you are hers, you’re going to need to step up. Not to protect her but to walk beside her.”

“You two know each other well,” I murmur.

Dot tilts her head back, looking up at the sky. “Yeah, we’re good friends. We’ve been that way for a long time.”

“I’m not sure I’m the right person for her. I’m a mess at the moment.”

“Of course, you are. You’re an omega and alpha, just like her. Things will always be messy. But you know how to lead, you know how to protect. And the heart of an omega can see all the parts a pack needs that an alpha might miss. You are unique and powerful. If you are half the person she is, you will be amazing.”

I hang my head. It’s like she’s reached right inside me and pulled all my doubts and fears and laid them out.

“What if I’m not good at being an omega?”

“Because you’ve been running so long?” She snorts. “Even if it’s new to you, Bailey, you’ve always been an omega. It’s simply a part of who you are.”

“How do you know all this? How did you even know what I was?”

“I’ve met someone who could slide the designation scales like you. Alpha to beta. We were friends, the best of friends.”

“What happened to them?”

“Oh, they went on and met a pack and got to experience true happiness.”

“You lost contact?”

Dot looks down at the cigarette she’s just lit. “I didn’t want her to be torn, to look back and feel sorry for me stuck here. She was happy. That made me happy.” Her voice trails off. “That’s all I need.”

I think Dot was in love with that person. Maybe that’s why she’s helping me and why she’s so protective of Selene. Maybe we remind Dot of the woman she loved.

“I don’t know how to make the two parts of myself work in sync.”

She laughs, low and mocking. “Then why aren’t you talking to the person who already figured it out?”

I huff. “I don’t want her to think I’m a mess.”

“You are a mess.” She elbows me. “Lucky for you, our girl has a soft spot for hot messes.”

I sip my beer and ponder that while Dot leans back in her chair, lost in her own thoughts. It’s nice and companionable. Selene doesn’t know how good a friend she has.

Now I just need to find a way to be the alpha or omega she needs.

Chapter twenty-eight

Selene

I creep out ofthe bedroom, leaving my alphas asleep in the bed. The creak of the screen door is enough to have me tense, but the footsteps that follow let me release my death grip on the machete I have hold of. Luna barely glances at me as I walk into the kitchen.

“You’re back?”

“Only to grab some clothes,” she says coldly.

She’s dressed in a similar way to how I saw her the other day. Expensive, austere clothing, completely at odds with who she is. What happened to the bubbly, happy Luna who always smiled?

I stare at her but see a stranger. That helplessness I’ve been feeling over the last few years fills me again. It’s like we have nothing in common, like there are no words left that won’t start a fight. All the love I feel for her is wrapped up in frustration, anger, and pain.

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