Don't Poke the Luna (Xena and Ryder) novel Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Xena’s POV

“What’s Ama short for?” William asked, his eyes never leaving her face.

“Amara,” she replied, her voice softer than I’d ever heard it.

“Such a beautiful name.” William’s fingers brushed lightly against her cheek, and I swear I

could see Ama melting under his touch.

I leaned closer to Ryder and whispered, “Is he always like this?” My movement caused Samuel to snort beside me. I could feel his disapproval radiating through our pack link.

“No, he’s acting weird today,” Ryder replied, his green eyes studying his friend with

curiosity.

“You think they’re mates?” I asked, watching the pair who seemed lost in their own world.

“We’ll know soon enough.” Ryder showed me his watch. Fifteen minutes until midnight- when Ama would officially turn eighteen and would know for certain if William was her

destined mate.

“Let’s dance!” Cindy exclaimed excitedly, already tugging on Leonard’s arm. He stood up, allowing her to drag him away. He threw a questioning glance at Samuel and me. “X!

Samuel!”

I shook my head, declining his invitation without looking at Samuel’s expression. Leonard frowned slightly before following Cindy into the crowd.

“Don’t want to dance?” Logan asked, looking at me curiously.

“I do, but I’m more interested in seeing what happens here.” I nodded toward William and Ama, who were still completely absorbed in each other.

“Me too!” Keira bounced excitedly in her seat. “What if we’re destined mates? We’ll know

soon!”

I felt Logan’s discomfort at her words. He tugged at his collar nervously. Ryder leaned

closer to me. “He doesn’t want her as his mate?”

1/4

Chapter 14

I gave him a polite smile but didn’t answer. He seemed to take my silence as confirmation.

“She doesn’t exactly meet Luna standards,” Ryder nodded in understanding.

Before I could respond, a bartender approached our table, looking stressed. “Ms. Xena, I’m so sorry to bother you, but we have a problem.”

“What is it?” I straightened up immediately.

“The beer tap system is malfunctioning, and we can’t figure out how to fix it.‘

“Damn. Give me a minute, I’ll be right there.” She sighed with relief and walked away.

“Is there anything you can’t do?” Ryder asked suddenly, leaning in closer.

“Kill a mockingbird,” I said, meeting his intense green eyes with a playful smirk.

“Can’t you ever be serious?” He frowned slightly.

“Occasionally.” I plucked the cherry from my drink and placed it between my teeth

teasingly.

I could feel Ryder’s gaze on me, an electric current flowing between us. I wasn’t sure why I was flirting with him like this, but something about those deep green eyes made me lose

all common sense. For a moment, I forgot where we were, forgot that we barely knew each other. I just wanted to know what would happen if I crossed that line-

A primal growl interrupted my thoughts. William was staring at Ama intently. “Mate,” he said, his voice thick with emotion.