Page 211 of An Omega for the Lycan Prince
I reach out my hand to take his. He turns towards me, smiling at me while leading me through Silverlake’s packhouse. His touch sends jolts of electricity through my body like it always does. My heart jumps whenever I look at him, swelling with love and pride for this gorgeous man who happens to be mine. Goddess, I love him so much. He’s calm, composed and earnest, so freaking hot. He is stronger and taller than most wolves… and he has this powerful aura that easily engulfs other Alphas and pushes them to their knees. Yet he always talks to me like we are equals. He talks to Dante and Ari respectfully, valuing their opinions as his Betas. He never sends away a pack member in need and joins their training regularly to make sure they know he’s around and interested in their progress.
“What are you thinking?” he asks all of a sudden.
“Nothing,” I joke. “Just fangirling over you.”
He beams. “Really?” he teases. “Tell me more.”
“Later,” I promise, fluttering my eyelashes at him.
He leans down a bit to be at my eye level. “Is that a promise?” he demands with a certain edge in his voice. It sends a shiver of anticipation down my spine.
I allow my fingers to trace his face. “Yes. You may start the interrogation later.”
“Good thing we already saw Emerson and Daisy and some of the warriors,” he smirks. “There is only Marius left.”
The talk with Emerson and Daisy went extraordinarily well. I didn’t expect them to be so into coming to Red Claw with us. Emerson likes Liam and values him as his Alpha. And Daisy broke into tears because she was so glad to start over somewhere else. They have adopted Emily so the whole family will join us..
Some of Elden’s pack warriors volunteered to switch packs too. Most of them love Silverlake, so we can’t just take a bunch of them with us. However, people have different reasons for changing packs… I originally didn’t consider it at all. Some know that their mates are not in Silverlake and hope to find them in Red Claw or through the new allies Liam will make. Some are strong and self-confident and just eager to take on a new task, a new challenge. Being responsible for training other wolves to become strong is a great task. Even if their trainees surpass them, they will still be highly regarded. There are also a few veterans who join us… similar to Dante. They have suffered through some sort of loss and are keen to start over.
At the end of the day, seventeen Lycan wolves are joining us. It doesn’t sound like a lot going by Silverlake’s high number of pack members, but it’s way more than we expected. It was never the plan to recruit a lot of wolves after all, just enough to help us run the pack and the training.
Now it’s only Marius left.
Flora and Elden promised us they would tell him that we would visit. Normally, I wouldn’t expect him to follow their request, but I think Elden put his foot down once again because Marius indeed expects our visit.
“This better be good,” he mutters when he opens the door to his apartment without so much as a ‘hello’.
Liam furrows his brows but doesn’t call him out for his impolite behavior.
“Hello, Marius,” I greet him. “Thanks for having us.”
He looks at me, surprised, clearly taken aback by my polite greeting.
Liam throws him a glance. Marius shifts around a bit before nodding toward me. “Hello,” he says. There is something in his voice… something I haven’t heard before. It’s not the usual tone of annoyance, arrogance, and displeasure, it sounds almost a bit… insecure.
Is this the reason? Does he feel inferior to his siblings?
No, it’s not just insecurity. My gut feeling tells me there is more to it.
I shift my gaze away, not wanting to stare.
“We have something to discuss with you,” Liam finally says. “An offer.”
Marius looks at him, surprised. “And what’s that?” he asks. “You want coffee or tea?” Momentarily, he seems to have forgotten that he’s not on good terms with Liam. Curiosity has won over. More proof for me that Flora and I are right, that he has no issues with Liam or his siblings. He’s battling something else. It’s just a defense mechanism.
“Coffee, please,” Liam says, sounding surprised himself.
“For me too, please,” I add.
Marius swiftly prepares coffee for all of us before sitting with us around the table in his living room.
Without further ado, Liam talks business. He’s not one for many words anyway. “We would like to invite you to join Red Claw with us. The pack is still in the rebuilding phase and we have invited a few Silverlake members with us… Only those who want to, of course. I’m not forcing anyone, you included.”
“Elden and Flora said the choice is up to you,” I tell him, choosing my words wisely so that he doesn’t feel like his parents want to get rid of him. “But they liked the idea of one of Liam’s siblings joining him for support, so they are not against it.”
Smart move, Leah tells me, sounding impressed.You have a way with words and others’ feelings. You made it clear that no one wants to get rid of him and that you ask him to join you because you need his help, not because of pity or anything alike.
I’m surprised to hear her words. Leah’s opinion has become more distinctive ever since we became Luna. She’s so much stronger now.Thank you, Leah.
