Page 11 of The Careless Alpha

"That's a good idea," I heard myself saying. "We should set up regular meetings. Go over pack business, leadership decisions."

Her smile was radiant. "Really? You'd do that?"

"Of course. We're..." I stopped, the word 'mates' sticking in my throat. "We should know how to work together."

"I'd like that. I'd like that a lot."

For a moment, we just looked at each other, and I saw something in her green eyes that made my chest tighten. Notthe hero worship of her childhood, but something deeper. More mature. The beginning of real affection for the man I actually was, not just the Alpha she'd been told to love.

It scared the hell out of me.

"I should get back to work," I said, breaking the moment.

"Of course. Thank you for looking at my report." She paused at the door, looking back with an expression I couldn't quite read. "Marshall? I know this isn't easy for you. The mate bond, the expectations, all of it. But I want you to know... I'm grateful. For you, for this pack, for the chance to learn what it means to be Luna. Even if things are complicated right now."

After she left, I sat in my office for a long time, staring at her report and trying to untangle the knot of emotions in my chest. Guilt, because she deserved more attention than I'd been giving her. Respect, because her work really was impressive. And something else, something I didn't want to name.

The beginning of actual fondness for the person she was becoming.

My phone buzzed with a text from Scarlett:Thinking about our conversation. Let me know when you're ready to decide your real future.

I deleted the message without responding and went back to Annalise's report. There was real insight here, real potential for the kind of Luna the pack needed. Maybe it was time I started paying attention to who she was instead of who she wasn't.

Maybe it was time I stopped running from the future and started preparing for it.

Even if that future still felt impossibly far away.

She's growing up,Ranger said quietly in my mind.

I know.

She's going to be magnificent.

I know that, too.

Then why are you still fighting this?

I didn't have an answer for my wolf, just like I didn't have answers for Jackson's criticism or Scarlett's ultimatums. All I knew was that everything was changing. The girl who'd brought me that report wasn't the child I'd been avoiding for two years.

Chapter 5

Annalise - Age 15

The Great Hall of the Alpha house was a symphony of warmth and celebration. The air, thick with the scents of roasted boar, spiced apple cider, and pine boughs draped over the mantels, buzzed with the cheerful chaos of the Autumn Feast. Fiddles played a lively tune from the corner, and the fire in the grand stone hearth crackled and spat, casting dancing shadows on the pack members dressed in their finest velvets and wools.

At fifteen, I understood my role at these gatherings with a precision that had been drilled into me by Luna Etta. I was to be a beacon of grace and calm, a future Luna in training. My duties were small but significant: ensuring the elders were comfortable, mediating squabbles between the pups over the last honey cake, and always, always presenting a serene face to the pack. It was a performance, and I was becoming a master at it.

My heart, however, was performing a frantic rhythm all its own. Marshall was here. After a month away negotiating territory rights with the coastal packs, he was finally home. Hestood near the fireplace, looking every inch the powerful Alpha he had become. The last traces of boyhood had been carved away, leaving a man of breathtaking authority. I’d watched him since he returned, saw how the other warriors, men twice his age, deferred to him without question. He didn't just command respect; he inhaled it like air. He was deep in conversation with Beta Jackson, but as I passed with a tray of fresh bread, his amber eyes met mine over the crowd.

A slow smile touched his lips, a private, warm gesture that was meant only for me. It was a fleeting moment, gone as quickly as it came, but it was enough. It was the fuel that would get me through the rest of the night. That smile promised a future, a time when I wouldn’t just be the girl he was obligated to, but the woman he came home to. I held that promise close, a secret ember in my chest.

“Annalise, dear.” Luna Etta touched my arm, her expression warm but tinged with the familiar stress of a hostess. “Could you do me a favor? The lanterns on the west veranda keep flickering. I think the wind is getting to them. Could you check and make sure the glass is properly seated?”

“Of course, Luna,” I said, grateful for the task. It felt important, a real contribution.

The west veranda was a wide stone patio that overlooked the valley, beautiful but exposed to the crisp autumn wind. I slipped out through the heavy oak side door, the festive sounds of the party instantly muted. The air was cold on my cheeks, smelling of damp earth and coming rain. Shivering slightly in my simple wool dress, I moved down the line of ornate iron lanterns, checking each one and adjusting the glass casings to better shield the flames from the gusts of wind.

I was on the last lantern when the oak door creaked behind me. I turned, expecting Luna Etta, but instead found Tiffanyand two of her followers, Michaela and Sara, slipping onto the veranda.