Page 277 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha
I beamed at her as she thanked us again before walking back to her mate and son. Many of the people who had stayed to speak to us had benefited directly from the reconstruction project. It was nice to hear their confidence in us, and it went a long way to prove that we were on the right track to get the rest of the Kings to warm to us.
Claire, one of the young mothers I’d spoken to, came up to us, holding two wine coolers. “Consider these a token of my relief for your win,” she said, “I wish you both nothing but the best.”
As Night took both coolers from her, I said, “Thanks, but only one of us will be able to drink that.”
She seemed confused at first. “But I thought I saw you drinking this at your claiming ceremony…oh!” Her eyes brightened. “Bryn, no way! Are you…?”
I nodded, touching my stomach.
She gasped, and those closest to us who’d overheard began to cheer. Night and I laughed as word of my pregnancy carried through the crowd. There had been rumors of it, so this was, if anything, just confirmation for many of those folks. But it felt official now.
“Congrats, you two,” Tanya said, smiling widely. She clasped my hand in both of hers. “It feels like we’re standing at the start of something new.”
Tara nodded enthusiastically. “It’s amazing how quickly things have been getting done since you two took charge of things. And now with the baby, things feel even more hopeful.”
“Thanks, Tara, Tanya.” I grinned at them.
Next in line was Tyrell. He had been in charge of the reconstruction project but had stepped down shortly after Tavi and I spoke to him about getting it underway. The responsibility had proven too much for him and his family, but he was still involved in the process, just not at the helm. “There is a slew of people who would love to personally thank you both for how efficiently you’ve been taking care of things.”
It was clear I wasn’t the only one thinking about what all this meant, because Dom leaned in to speak to us when there was a lull in the influx of thankful Kings.
“Not a bad way to take the temperature of how they feel about us and the changes we’ve made,” he said with a smile.
I nodded. “I was thinking something similar. More people decided to stay and mingle than I would’ve expected.”
“That’s encouraging.” Night’s smile was determined. It told me that he’d taken the retreating backs as part of the challenge of being alpha. I returned his smile.
“Let’s not dwell too much on that sort of thing,” Tavi said when she returned to my side. She’d gone off to grab beers for herself, Night, and Dom and a soda for me. “Let’s alleviate some of our stress tonight.”
“Good point.” Dom grinned at her, and when he accepted the beer she handed to him, he touched her fingers longer than was necessary. Tavi gazed back at him. It was like the world had completely disappeared around them, and they were the only two around for miles.
“Could you two go see what there is to eat?” I said. “Night and I should stay here since it looks like there are more people waiting to talk to their new alpha.”
“Oh, yeah, sure,” Tavi replied. I wondered if she’d heard a word I’d said, but when Dom reached for her hand, she took it. The two dissolved into the crowd, and I giggled, leaning my head on Night’s shoulder.
The next person in the line came forward, and Night and I were surprised to see Lance. He nodded at me. “Congratulations, Bryn,” he said.
“Yeah, thanks.” I didn’t smile. The last time I’d spoken to him, he told me he already knew about my pregnancy and that I needed to watch my back around the Kings. I still had no idea what his endgame was, but I wouldn’t pretend to be friends with him just for the sake of appearances. I didn’t trust him. Not at all.
His cerulean eyes shifted from me to Night as he smirked. “Congrats to you, too, Night.” He took my mate’s hand and shook hard. “I’m glad that was such an easy fight for you.”
Night kept his expression neutral, but because I was standing so close to him, I felt his muscles tense at Lance’s hard handshake. Was he reacting to an injury I was unaware of? I needed to get him away from here soon.
I turned to Night and whispered in his ear. “Let’s go home.”
He nodded, slipping his arm around me again. His touch, combined with the prospect of heading home, reawakened my desire. Though we were eager to turn in, we didn’t want to make it seem like we were leaving because of Lance, so we ate some of the food Tavi and Dom brought us and let a few more Kings speak to us until we were finally ready to depart.
A few people stopped us on our way to the alpha cabin to give us their congratulations or to thank us, but we got home without too many interruptions. We made a beeline for the bedroom, and once the door closed behind us, I turned to my man and wrapped my arms around his shoulders.
“I’m so relieved that you’re safe and sound,” I told him, my hands slipping down his chest to his waist. “And mine.”
He let out a deep chuckle as I curled my fingers into his waistband and tugged him closer. “I get the sense that you want to show me just how worried you were.”
“Mm-hmm.” I pressed my forehead to his chest, his heart beating against my skin.
“I should take a shower first,” he said. “I want to get Xavier’s scent off me.”
I pulled back, my nose scrunched up. Now that he’d mentioned it, I did smell Xavier’s musk and sweat on him.
