The Mark of Betrayal (Samara and Roman) novel Chapter 78

Sloane

“Why do that Alpha and that woman keep looking at you?” Scarlet asks me.

I know who she's talking about and I can guess, but I’m not sure. Because we’re in the dining hall, I give her a look letting her know that I’ll tell her later.

“Mom, who are those people over there?” she asks instead.

Beta Elizabeth, now Luna Elizabeth, looks to where Scarlet is gesturing.

“Which ones? Those are all guests for Luna Samara’s ceremony tomorrow.

“Can you go around and let me know who is who? I mean, I know Sloane’s Grandpa Will and Grandma Jasmine, and her Grandpa Sterling and Grandma Devi, but who are the others?” she asks.

“The ones sitting across from Alpha Roman and Luna Samara are Alpha Waylon and his friend Judith,” she says.

“His friend? What does that mean?” she asks. Scarlet is really good at getting answers. The woman was introduced to me as Judith as well. No title, just Judith.

“It’s a long story, but I understand that Alpha Waylon is planning to take Judith as his mate,” Luna Elizabeth says.

“Planning to? Isn’t he kind of old to just be getting around to taking a mate?” she asks, and I look over my shoulder at the couple. My eyes connect with Judith. She smiles, but I turn away quickly. Scarlet’s right, it’s creepy.

“Well, he had a mate. I don’t really know what happened to her. Your father and I haven’t exactly been in our Alpha and Luna positions long enough to know the gossip, Scarlet.”

“He doesn’t have an heir?” she asks, continuing to probe.

“I don’t know the story, but I heard that he disowned his heir. He was stealing or something,” she says, distractedly. She’s feeding Aria a bottle while Aunt Samara talks with the guests.

“Well if he needs an heir, that woman is too old. He needs a younger mate,” Scarlet says.

“Why are you so interested, Nosy?” she asks, turning to Scarlet as Aria finishes her bottle.

“I can take her and put her to bed, Luna,” I say, quickly diverting the conversation.

“You don’t have to, Sloane.”

“It’s okay, I don’t mind. She’s my sister,” I say, standing up and walking over to her. I know from helping my mother when I was young that babies have to burp after they eat, so I begin patting her back.

“Scarlet, do you want to join me?”

“Sure,” she says, hopping up.

“Don’t forget to bring the baby monitor back down with you,” Luna Elizabeth says.

“Sloane,” Aunt Samara calls out as we start to leave the dining hall.

I turn and look at her.

“Are you okay? Do you need help?”

“I’m good Aunt Samara, thank you.”

I glance at Alpha Waylon and Judith who are once again watching me.

Once we’re upstairs, I hold out my pinky to Scarlet. “Bestie promise.”

She hooks my pinky immediately. “Bestie promise. Who are they?”

“Deal! I hope they say yes. That Will is awfully cute.”

I snort, grabbing the baby monitor. I really have missed Scarlet.

Roman POV

On the day of Samara’s official Luna ceremony, cars begin arriving by eight in the morning. I ended up inviting all the Alphas in our northern region and most from the southern region. Some of it is pride, and I am man enough to say that. Samara tried to reject me in front of a room full of Alphas and now they’ll get to see that I got my woman. But more than that, I’m beyond proud to let the world know that I’m mated to a white wolf. Samara and Ayla are amazing on their own, but the status and respect that comes from other packs when they know that you’re mated to a white wolf, is instant.

For the most part, this power move is to ensure that the three packs that I now oversee aren’t targeted for attack while Austin learns how to manage a small pack and my father manages Dylan’s old pack. But making this announcement ahead of announcing that Alpha William and I are now in an alliance, will also bring an added layer of protection to him. No one will dare go after him or Will once they know that he’s supported by a pack run by a white wolf. It would be a death sentence and I’ll make sure everyone knows it.

Samara and I greet our guests until nearly noon. Then she gets Elizabeth, Scarlet, and Sloane and they all head upstairs to get ready. I make sure that food is sent up for all four of them. By early afternoon, I have my mother and Luna Jasmine also go check on them. I’m getting excited. I’m beyond ready for the world to know that Samara is mine.

It isn’t until Austin and my father come to get me that I realize it’s time for me to go get ready too.

“Why am I nervous? She’s already my Luna, she’s my mate. She’s everything,” I say.

“Because she’s just that special, my friend,” Austin says to me.

“Yeah, she fucking is,” I say, jogging up the stairs.

I get to our room and stop. Down the hall I can hear the chatter of a bunch of females having a good time. I take a moment to listen, to hear the woman I thought was dead, laughing; to hear the child who thinks I don’t know she hides to cry alone, joking. I can hear my mother, the woman who became a shell of herself after our dearest friends were murdered, directing others like she used to.

My heart feels so full of love for the woman who is my mate, that I push it through our bond, wanting her to know that today, like every day, she is the best thing that has ever happened in my life.

I feel her mind connect to mine, wrapping her love around me as I do the same for her. I close my eyes and allow myself to revel in this moment.

I am the luckiest fucking bastard in the world. I make a silent promise to the Moon Goddess, my mate, and all my future pups that I will never, ever, take this beautiful life or them for granted.