Page 68 of A Second Chance for the Beta

“He is right. Everything is still in the open,” Dario mutters. “I don’t mind for one.”

“Don’t you want to become alpha?” Livia asks.

He shrugs. “I don’t think I’m suitable to be one,” he says quietly, wearing a somber expression, but it passes soon. He is not particularly talkative in general, but he is still very attentive and seems like such a nice person. Meanwhile Felix is the exact opposite, but also really nice. They are a funny pair. I’m not surprised the alpha dotes on his younger brothers.

Before we can discuss further, there is a knock at the door, and the luna and Jazz enter. Luna Annalise smiles at us. “I see you have quite the party going on here.”

Being in the same room as the luna makes even Gisela a bit shy. Livia saves us all by greeting her politely and offering her a chair.

“Don’t make such a fuss about me being here,” the luna says. “Jazz and I just wanted to check how Charlie is doing.”

Jazz smiles at me. “We haven’t had much chance to talk yet, unfortunately.”

“Jazz is always busy with college and magic,” Livia says, her whole body language changes to being more relaxed. She and Jazz hug briefly, and Jazz pats her shoulder in a friendly way. “Jazz is one of my closest friends here,” she explains.

“Livia made the transition to the pack so much easier for me,” Jazz tells me. “Most of my friends are in other packs. One is even in France, aside from Livi here and my other good friend, Marilou.”

Marilou… I’ve heard her name before. The luna guesses my confusion and helps me out. “She is the one who is planning our menu for the week. She is still in high school, but she is going to do a culinary degree once she is done.”

“Oh!” I beam. “She is the one with the deserts.”

“She is even busier now,” Jazz grins. “Because she found her mate when we were in Paris.”

“You need to tell me more about that trip later,” the luna tells her. “Aurelia is still there, so Liam and I still don’t know much.”

“Yeah, Auri is still really busy,” Jazz explains. “There are some issues with some of the French packs. And she is helping as much as she can.”

“Did you meet her mate already?” Livia asks the twins.

“Not yet,” they grumble. “We are so curious, though.”

“He is going to move to Silverlake soon,” Luna Annie explains. “It seems like he is a very interesting young man.” She turns to me to explain things further. “Aurelia, Jazz, and some of their friends went to Paris for the Christmas holidays and stayed for a few weeks. Aurelia met her mate during that time.”

“You will like him,” Jazz reassures the twins. “He is great.”

“Poor guy,” Livia mutters. “Aurelia has three older brothers, and her father is like a super alpha.”

Felix laughs. “Yeah, but believe me, she can stand her ground. You think Dad announced her as his heir for nothing?”

“And if anything happens, we’ll have her back,” Dario says quietly. “She is the best.”

“Auri and Liam are his favorite siblings,” Felix teases.

“It’s not like that,” Dario says, looking a bit shy now that the spotlight is on him. “It’s just… they both understand certain stuff better.”

“I think I know what you mean,” the luna says.

The others keep chatting a bit, and I try to follow all they say. I still don’t know everything about werewolves and lycans, and it’s interesting to listen to them. It’s the first time in my life that I feel so fulfilled and like I belong.

That’s why I don’t notice it first. It starts with a slight ringing in my ears, nothing too obvious. I first think it’s noise coming from outside the room, but the ringing gets louder, and even shaking my head doesn’t make it go away.

My head starts feeling dizzy like the room is spinning around me. I don’t notice what’s going on until the luna is suddenly next to me and presses a tissue against my face. It’s like the sight in front of me is blurred.

I can hear noises all around me. The others seem to be shuffling around and trying to get help.

“It’s her eyes,” Gisela breathes out.

“What’s with my eyes!?” I gasp, but when I try to talk, blood fills my mouth. I try to move my hand up to my eyes, feeling warm liquid around them.