Page 247 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha

She set her hand gently on my arm. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to keep it from you. It just…didn’t seem important, I guess? He didn’t threaten me or anything. It was just a weird conversation.”

I knew the moment I met her bright aquamarine eyes that she was being genuine. I could believe she hadn’t intended to keep it from me, but after our talk about being honest, I felt a little hurt. I forced myself to loosen my death grip on my spoon.

“Bryn, we promised to be open with each other about this stuff.”

She winced and lowered her head. “You’re right. I dropped the ball on this, Night. I really am sorry. I’ll try not to keep you in the dark about anything like that again.”

“I know. It’s okay.” I touched her wrist. “So, what did you and Lance talk about?”

“Not much. He and the vendor went back and forth about the price. For both bracelets, I was told it would cost forty-five dollars, but he dropped it to thirty because Lance said he’d seen the vendor’s daughter sell them to her friends for fifteen each.”

That told me Lance was very perceptive. It also told me he was familiar with everybody in the pack. Funny how he seemed to know so much about everyone, but no one knew anything about him.

“Did he say why he helped you?”

“He said he was just having fun.”

I scratched my chin. There wasn’t anything inherently wrong with the situation Bryn was describing, but she clearly wasn’t sure what to think about it. I wanted to go out there, find the kid, and settle things right now, but that was obviously a bad idea.

“Did he rub you the wrong way?” I asked.

“I mean, I was cautious, and he didn’t seem dangerous. But you know, now that I’m thinking about it, he came off as kind of…awkward?”

I scoffed at the thought that the arrogant guy I’d spoken to earlier would seem awkward, but I believed her. I wondered if he was hiding his true personality from her, but I couldn’t come up with a reason why. How would he benefit from throwing Bryn off?

“Well, I see you two have a lot to talk about,” Mom said, standing. “I’ll go now. Bryn, I’ll get things ready for tonight, alright? Meet me when the moon is at its zenith.”

“Okay, Violet. See you later.”

“Night, walk me out,” my mother said.

“Oh. Sure.” I walked her to the foyer. When we reached the door, she looked up at me.

“Listen, Night…” She looked at me. “Don’t be too hard on Bryn. Believe me when I say that the little things can slip from a woman’s mind when she’s pregnant. It sounds to me like that thing with Lance was one of those things.”

I wasn’t sure what to say to that. My mother was sticking up for my mate, which I would normally appreciate…if it wasn’t about something Bryn and I had talked about and promised to improve upon.

Instead of responding to that, I asked, “What did you mean when you said you were getting things ready for tonight?”

“I’m sure Bryn will tell you. It’s not anything you didn’t already know.” She patted my cheek. “See you then, son.”

I closed the door behind her and returned to Bryn. “What are you and Mom doing tonight?”

She smiled brightly at me. “There’s a ritual that will help me learn more about my birth mother. We’re doing it tonight!”

Her smile was so sweet that it took me a few seconds to comprehend what she’d just told me. “Wait, you’re doing that tonight?”

She nodded. “Isn’t that awesome?” But her smile slowly disappeared when she saw me frowning. “You don’t seem happy.”

“Mom told me about that ritual. She said she needed to make sure it would be safe.”

“Well, I guess she made sure it was safe. She wouldn’t have suggested it to me otherwise, would she?”

She was right, but frustration swarmed my chest. “How could you make that decision without talking to me about it first?”

When she scowled at me, I knew my question had come out the wrong way. “What are you talking about? I’m telling you right now. This was the earliest I could tell you. Anyway, Night, it’s my body. I can do what I want with it.”

“No, Bryn, it’snotjust your body while our pup is growing inside you. I think I should have a say if you’re going to put our baby at risk.” I glared at her. “I’m not saying you can’t do the ritual at all; I just don’t get why it has to be right now while you’re pregnant. This is our only chance to have a baby. Why would you want to put that at risk?”