The Alphas' Legacy (Alpha Eyes: Book 3)

Chapter 44

Zoey

I glanced at the dining room clock for the twentieth time. The hands hardly seemed to have moved at all. Despite the various tasks Luna had given me, it had still been the longest four hours of my life. As I continued filling little silk sachets with candies, I couldn't help but wonder how long it would take the guys to handle the situation at the border.

Luna told me that it would take 3 hours for them to reach the border, which would mean another 3 hours back at full speed. Even if they'd immediately found their guys and turned around, it'd be another two hours before they'd be back. If the patrols were hurt, they might have to go slower.

"Zoey?"

I jumped and looked up from the sachet in my hand. Luna smiled and reached out to grab my hand.

"I know you're worried about him. Van's team is the most elite in our entire military. They've trained for every kind of situation. There's nothing that can surprise them," she assured me.

I nodded slowly and squeezed her hand. "I must seem like a pathetic mess to you, worrying about the last person who needs worrying about."

"There's nothing pathetic about worrying for the man you care about, Zoey, no matter how trained he is."

Whether she knew more than she was letting me believe or it was a lucky guess, her understanding gave me a little bit of peace. She wasn't teasing me or pushing me for answers either, but a part of me desired her support.

"Is it super obvious?" I asked her.

She let go of my hand and went back to filling sachets with candy. "...obvious that you and my son have mutual interest in each other? Just a little..."

I flushed when she winked at me. She was his mother, so she was probably more tuned into what was going on. Maybe it wasn't as obvious to others.

"Someone asked me just the other day why Van hadn't formally introduced his mate to the pack yet," she continued with a straight face.

"I'm not—" The words died in my throat as I caught the shadow of a smirk on her mouth. "We can't be sure that he's my second chance mate. It seems too good to be true, too coincidental to be possible."

Luna tied off the sachet and added it to the box we were slowly filling. "Maybe you're right; maybe you're not. You won't know for sure until your current mate bond is broken. Once it is, I hope you'll continue staying with us while you discover what's next."

She made it sound like she already knew that Van was my second chance mate, so of course it would be right for me to stay. It would be very strange to leave shortly after finding a mate. No one does that. But my circumstances were far from normal.

"What if he's not my second chance mate? Wouldn't it be strange for me to continue staying here after the danger has passed?" I couldn't imagine any of them kicking me out, but I could also see how it might start gossip in the pack if I continued to stay without being officially announced as Van's mate. As an elite military man, he didn't need that kind of gossip circling around him.

Luna offered a sympathetic smile. "Did Van tell you that?"

I shook my head. "We decided to take things one day at a time. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"Then don't worry about it until you know for sure," she affirmed. "Wait until your mate bond is broken and see what happens afterwards."

A tightness exploded in my chest like someone had punched me. I dropped the sachet on the table—sending little candies everywhere—and pressed a hand to my chest. The next couple breaths hurt, not quite enough oxygen reaching my lungs with each one.