Mated to the Alpha and His Beta (Lanie Stanton) novel Chapter 340

Chapter 340
Lanie
By the time I got to my grandfather’s quarters, that weird wavy dreamy feeling had come and gone a few times. Charlotte had told me it was mostly likely caused by Malachi reaching for me, but the closer I got to his place, the less convinced I was that the weirdness was coming from him.
I paused before knocking on his door to send a few thoughts up to the Moon Goddess. I thanked her for the gifts she’d granted me, and all the guidance she’d given me so far. I waited for her warmth to surround me, and although it did, there was a coolness and a distance that hadn’t been there before.
Frowning, I opened my eyes. Was it possible that the Moon Goddess did not approve of me focusing so much of my attention on these new vampire traits?
She’d chosen me, or at least that’s what everyone seemed to think. She was a goddess. Discovering I was a hybrid had been a shock to me, but it could not have been to her.
Unfortunately, there just wasn’t any way for me to know what a goddess intended.
I still thanked her again without pushing for a more prominent response. I knocked on my grandfather’s door and heard him call for me to enter. Even though I’d been in this “villa” before, I was still pretty stunned to see it looking as though night had fallen.
The windows that had shown a late afternoon summer sunshine glow before now gleamed with silver moonlight against a black velvet sky pinpricked with stars. I couldn’t actually look out of the windows to see if there was also a moon, and I bumped my head trying.
Malachi laughed. “What are you doing? I told you before this is all an illusion.”
“I thought you only had the sunshine, since you can’t enjoy it the way you’d like to.” I let him hug me and
lead me to the living room to settle into the comfy couch.
“The lights are timed to mimic the passing of day. I can leave them on all the time, if I choose, but I enjoy the night and the moon both. Since I don’t always want to go all the way up to the surface in order to see the real sky, this is a lovely substitute. Don’t you think?”
“I prefer the real thing.” I said without thinking about how snarky that might sound, especially to a vampire who needed all kinds of protection to walk in the sunlight “Sorry”
“No need. You should be aware of your fortune, however. You’re able to embrace the sun and the moon equally. It could have as easily gone differently for you” Malachi crossed one long leg over the other and steepled his fingers beneath his chin. “So many hybrids perish at birth for reasons such as that.”
“Were you worried that I would?”
“It was a possibility,” he said.
Would you have been upset?”
deeply as any I’ve ever felt. How could you even think such a thing?”
I frowned, hating the idea that it was mere chance that had kept me alive this far. “Were you making my head feel all funny earlier?”
“No. At least, not on purpose.” He inclined his head.
Why? Who
did it feel like?”
“Charlotte said it might be you reaching for me, that you could do that because you’re an Ancient. I felt
like I was dreaming. Like the world around me was very far away.” I shivered a little at the memory.
Malachi frowned. “It sounds like a Summoning, yes, but it wasn’t coming from me.”
“Who else would be doing it?”
“Nobody here in Brightsky,” he said. Malachi was still frowning.
“Are you worried about it? That it was a….
Summoning? What is that, anyway?”
“I’m not at all worried about it, since I know it’s impossible that anyone but me could have been trying such a thing. A Summoning is much like compelling someone, but it can be done from any distance, and it is not capable of making someone do anything but get to the Summoner. The skills are related, but while many vampire-kind become quite proficient at compelling, there are very few who can Summon. In fact, I believe only
Ancients can.”
“But it makes that dreamy feeling?”
“If you’d been Summoned, I think you’d know it, Malachi said with a chuckle. “It creates a feeling of
desperation in the recipient. Something impossible to deny, One who is Summoned will do anything to get to
their Summoner. They will kill whatever stands in their way, if necessary.”
“I definitely didn’t feel that much of an urge,” I told him with a laugh. “But if it hadn’t been a Summoning.
what could it have been?”