Filed to story: Mated to the Alpha and His Beta Novel Free >>???
Charlotte said. “Looks like you can’t.”
That was a disappointment, but there were many other tests I had to do. My earlier confidence and good feeling from mastering the fast run was fading quickly as I was unable to do anything else my grandfather or Charlotte asked me to do. I wanted to cry again, but this time the tears weren’t happy.
Charlotte hugged me. “Don’t worry about it, Lanie.
Think of it this way. The more we eliminate, the more opportunities you’ll have to focus on what you can do, without everything else clouding it.”
“Enough of this sappy nonsense,” Malachi said, snapping his fingers. “Let’s test your mind reading.”
I tried Greyson first, but although I could tell anything from him. Braden, on the other hand…
e was thinking hard to give me a good chance, I couldn’t get “I can’t…quite…tell what you’re thinking,” I said slowly as I concentrated. “It’s more like I’m getting flashes of your feelings.”
Charlotte nodded. “That makes sense. As your grandfather pointed out before, your own emotions are running high. You’re connected to feelings, especially deep ones.”
“If you can’t discern Braden’s thoughts, then describe his feelings,” Malachi demanded.
I did my best to create that shift in my mind again.
That opening door. But when I looked at Braden’s face, something became so clear to me I didn’t have to read his mind to guess what he was thinking.
He didn’t want me to share his feelings with anyone in this room, and especially not with my grandfather.
Zane–
Silence surrounded me after Xander and Mason shut the door behind them.
I was the only one left in the apartment, and I couldn’t remember that last time that had happened.
It probably never had.
Come to think of it, when was the last time I’d really been alone with nothing to do but entertain myself?
Too long. I wasn’t used to not having any tasks to complete, but I was going to take advantage of having no responsibilities, at least for the moment. Everyone would be back home in a few hours, and family life would resume.
I loved my family, but there was no doubt that the grind of caring for three children as well as three other mates, plus a mother-in-
law, could sometimes feel like a strain. Like it was taking everything out of me but not putting much back.
I did consider giving Greyson a call, but then I remembered that he was helping Lanie with her testing in Malachi’s quarters. That was actually a relief, because then I truly had no reason not to indulge myself in doing…nothing.
Unfortunately, the problem with having nothing to do meant there was, well, nothing to do. I wasn’t really hungry or thirsty, and although a nap alone in the quiet sounded like a decadent luxury, I wasn’t sleepy enough to take one. I didn’t need a shower, and I was feeling too lazy to do any kind of workout.
“Well, s hit,” I said out loud to the empty space. I made myself laugh, shaking my head.
I wanted to be lazy, but it just wasn’t in my nature.
The kids had left a few board games out, so I gathered up all the pieces and sorted them into the correct boxes to put them all away. We had housekeeping staff come in for the actual cleaning, but I knew if Lanie came home and saw the mess, she’d clean it up.
I didn’t want my Luna to come back from her training to do any chores. She’d probably be wiped out.
As I was putting the games back on the bookshelf, I decided to open the cabinet set into the shelves. I’d never bothered to look inside it before. What I saw inside made me laugh out loud.
“No way!”
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d watched anything on TV. Months ago, at least. Here inside the cabinet was a giant flat-
screen h ooked up to every streaming service I’d ever heard of and a bunch I hadn’t.
My Alphas had gone off to handle their leadership duties, and this time, I wasn’t upset about being left out. In fact, looking at this big screen, I was glad I didn’t have to go deal with anything other than making myself a huge bowl of popcorn with melted butter.
I grabbed a couple of cans of soda, too, and settled my as s into one of the comfortable leather recliners facing the TV.
stations to see what options I had. I was used to the human offerings, of course, since that was most of what we had access to back home. I was surprised to see how many new episodes of shows had aired since the last time I could remember watching.
Apparently, the Fae had an entire broadcasting system, with their own game shows, dramas, and even comedies. Fortunately, they were subtitled so I could understand what was going on, but I quickly switched away from the channel after only a few minutes. I had enough drama in my life. I didn’t want to watch it on TV.
I kept scrolling until I found the sports stations. Every sport from around the world, plus all the supernatural competitions. There were even channels devoted to on-demand replays of the best matches of all time.
face.
“This is more like it,” I said out loud. I. dug a hand into the bowl of popcorn and shoveled some into my I didn’t want to indulge in anger about how the High Council had screwed us all over for so long, but when I saw how many supernaturals were out there living their lives, competing in sports I hadn’t even heard of, I couldn’t help feeling the fury and frustration.
We’d been denied an entire world.
The “house” phone rang, startling me with its harsh, discordant jangle. It was more like an intercom system than a landline, you could only use it for internal calls. If any of my mates or even Gabriela had wanted to reach me, they’d have used my cell, so the fact that someone was ringing the house line meant something of an emergency.
“Zane Constantine,” I barked into the handset.
“Zane, hello, this is Myrna from the Brightsky school.
You need to come and collect your daughter, Stella.
There’s a small problem. You really need to come right away.”
Mason–
I knew Brightsky had a system set up to distribute tech to its residents, much the same as we were all provided with food, clothes, and medicine.
Computers, phones, reading tablets, and the like all came from the central equipment hub, and there was an entire IT staff dedicated to servicing all of it.
“Can I help you?” the vampire behind the desk asked politely. Her fangs peeked out over her lower lip when she smiled. She looked about twelve, but I knew she had to be much older than that.
“I’m looking for a new phone,” I said casually.
She nodded and swiveled in her chair to face the computer on her desk. Her fingers poised over the keyboard. “Sure. Name?”
“Mason Constantine.”
She looked back at me. “Oh, my: You’re Malachi’s granddaughter’s mate!”
“That’s me,” I said with a chuckle. I wondered if I’d ever get used to being kind of a minor celebrity around here. “Does that matter?”
“Well, certainly. It gives you access to a much greater range of equipment,” she said with a nod. “And if we don’t have what you want in stock, we can order out for it”
“Not everyone has that privilege?” I asked, curious about how it all worked. Charlotte had given Xander a laptop to use for the leadership meetings, but we all still had our own cell phones from before we got here.
None of us had needed to requisition any equipment since we’d arrived.
The vampire behind the desk pressed her lips together primly. “All residents of Brightsky are permitted to have whatever equipment they want, but if they want something beyond the standard, they’re on their own to order it. Special gaming systems, things like that.
We don’t provide that kind of upgrade.”
“But if I wanted something powerful like that, I could get it,” I clarified.
She nodded. “Yes. It would take a few days, but I could put in the order for you. Were you interested in that?”
“No. Just a new phone.” I studied her as she typed, asking me my brand preference and any specs I wanted. “So if someone does order in equipment, does it still come through here?”
She frowned, looking at her computer screen. “No.
The residents are responsible to order it and pick it up themselves. We have nothing to do with it.”
Which meant there was no oversight of it. Which meant that anyone could bring in tech that was compromised, either with spyware they didn’t know about…or maybe, they did. The phone in my pocket that Goldie had given us felt suddenly much heavier.
I was going to have to fill in my brother about this. I knew he’d have something to say about the possibilities of a security breach.
“Does your IT staff do any repairs on it or anything, if there are problems?”
She laughed. “No. And believe me, sometimes people complain about that a lot. But what do they expect?
If it’s not our equipment, we can’t be held responsible for it. We do always warn people that if they want to go outside of the department for their tech, they’re on their own.”
“Ah,” was all I said. The wheels were turning in my mind. I could sense a spi ke in my brother’s emotions.
Something was going on with him, but he didn’t reach out to me through our mind link.
She typed quickly, fingers flying over the keys in a blur, much like the way I’d seen Malachi running.
It was impressive. I wondered if she made many mistakes. I could only hunt and peck, myself.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?