Crown of Moonlight (Court of Midnight and Deception #2) - K.M. Shea Page 0,12
mate Beta Colton, my alpha and the leader of the Northern Lakes Pack Alpha Greyson, and my packmate, Phillipa.”
“Welcome, I’m glad you could make it.” I tried to give them my warmest smile to make up for the noises Lady Demetria made—which had me wondering if I needed to call for a healing potion because she sounded like she was having a heart attack.
“Thank you for the invitation!” Pre-Dominant Harka stuck her hand out, then shook mine with a firm but relaxed grip. “It was pretty cheeky of me to call and ask for an invitation.”
“Nonsense,” Elite Bellus laughed. “With Killian and me attending, you’d be left out otherwise—and this promises to be a fun party!”
Pre-Dominant Harka didn’t move her painfully bright blue eyes from me, so I offered her my own reassurances. “The Elite is right,” I said. “I am glad you requested an invitation—it would have been rude of me to leave you out of it.”
It was a bit of a lie—that was the plus of being only half fae, none of the restrictions applied to me—but one that didn’t make my conscience prickle.
It never would have occurred to me to invite the Pre-Dominant—the most powerful werewolf in the Midwest.
Right now, the Night Court wasn’t powerful enough to be noteworthy to her—or to the Elite—and she had absolutely no reason to be here except that they were probably curious about Killian and Hazel choosing to attend.
I could have saved them the trouble and just told them I’m pretty close to Hazel, but since I’m half fae they probably wouldn’t have trusted me anyway.
Regardless, I was glad they could make it for the sake of Alpha Greyson and Phillipa, whom I had specifically invited. Since Alpha Greyson led the pack Chase belonged to, I wanted to invite him and a few other werewolves from their pack as a gesture to show how much I valued Chase.
I eagerly turned to the pair, curious to see what kind of packmates Chase had.
“And thank you for accepting the invitation as well, Alpha Greyson and packmate Phillipa,” I said.
“Everyone calls me Pip—and I’m a human and not an actual packmate.” Phillipa—or Pip as she said—fidgeted in her shoes in a way that told me she didn’t often wear heels. “But thanks for the invite, anyway! Hi, Chase!” Her grin was bright and affectionate, but I didn’t miss the way she yanked her hand from Alpha Greyson.
The Alpha—he looked shockingly young, maybe just a few years older than I was—dutifully bowed to me. “Thank you for the invitation, Queen Leila of the Night Court.”
“Thank you for coming all this way,” I said. “It must have been quite the drive. Chase can show you two around.”
Chase frowned at me, as if I had personally insulted his mother. “I’m on duty.”
“It’s fine, you can go. I’m sure they’re very eager to catch up with you.”
Alpha Greyson gave me the same frown Chase did. “Not if he’s on duty,” he said. “It wouldn’t be right.”
“Fine. Okay. Chase, I officially give you tonight off. There, you’re off duty,” I said.
Chase pressed his lips together in displeasure. “Which of my men, then, will replace me?”
“Someone will,” I vaguely said.
“Someone is not a name,” Chase said. “Your security detail must have structure—your safety is our top priority.”
Alpha Greyson nodded in agreement.
Gah, werewolves!
I glanced behind me where Rigel lingered, making no attempts to talk to anyone—though he was watching the Paragon hoist his dark blue robes to his knobby knees and go darting deeper into the mansion.
“Rigel will stick with me.” I took a step backwards to stand shoulder to shoulder with the assassin, and grabbed his arm. “I’ll be the safest person in the world, then. Will that work?”
Chase, unconvinced, looked from me to Rigel.
Dang it! I know Rigel isn’t going to back me up in this—he can’t lie!
“Chase, I promise I’ll be fine,” I said.
“Of course you will.” Lord Linus strolled up to our little meeting and smiled winningly. “Because I’ll stay with her. You go have fun, Chase.”
This—shockingly, confusingly—seemed to actually reassure Chase. He nodded. “Very well, then. This way, Alpha Greyson, Pip.”
My jaw dropped as Chase ushered his packmates away. “Seriously? He trusts you more than he trusts me?”
Lord Linus smirked and adjusted the lapels of his dove gray suitcoat. “Maybe he sees what you don’t!”
A few other fae nobles from my Court had entered while I greeted Chase’s pack. They giggled when Lord Linus stuck his hands in the pockets of his slacks and looked irritatingly