Ditched Cheating Alpha, I Led My Daughter to Life's Peak novel Chapter 302

He looks from Shen to me. "Yeah?"

"Could you see where Michael is?" I ask.

He furrows his brow. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. I'm just... checking on him. He's supposed to be with Suzie."

"Oh, okay." He nods. "I actually can't fully use mindlink right now, because I don't want..." He glances at Shen. "Certain things to get out, but I can check to see if they're okay."

"That's fine." I smile.

He smiles back. "Alright. It'll take one second." He stares off into space, but before he can say anything else, Onai's Dad cuts in.

"Luna." The older man's dark green eyes land on me. "A word."

Uh oh. What does he want with me?

When I don't make a move, Ethel whispers to me, "Did you still want me to...?"

"Are they alright?" I ask.

He nods.

"Then that's enough. I think I need to..." I gesture towards the father-son conference I'm about to be pulled into.

Ethel looks worried. I'm sure I look worried too, because Onai's avoiding eye contact.

"Is everything okay?" I ask once I make it up the wooden steps.

"Please ignore him," Onai says.

His father talks over him. "Your brother's Michael, right?"

"Um, yeah?" Is that a problem?

He frowns. "Well could you tell him-"

"Dad, stop," Onai says.

"Why don't you invite him to dinner?" the older man asks.

Wait, what?

Onai looks so embarrassed. He keeps looking over his shoulder, trying to get his dad to lower his voice. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"Isn't that what humans do?" his dad asks. "Dinner?" He looks at me this time for confirmation.

I nod, but Onai frowns. "We don't need to talk about this right now."

"It's not everyday you bring friends over."

"And now they're running."

"They're not running," the man says. "I kicked them out."

"That's worse!"

I feel like I have to step in. "Michael would love to come over for dinner."

Onai's dad's eyebrows shoot up. "Really?"

"Until he meets you weirdos," Onai says. "And then he'll break up with me."

"Onai," I gasp.

The beta doesn't take his words back.

His dad glares at him. "Luca and I can be normal for one dinner."

"Are you sure he won't shift halfway through?" Onai asks.

We say goodbye to Onai's dad before heading deeper into the forest. Ethel shifts, but Axel doesn't do the same. Neither does Carson or Aiden.

"I carried Mia here," Axel says to them. "So if one of you wants to...?"

"No," Aiden says.

I roll my eyes. I didn't expect him to jump at the chance, but naturally, Carson doesn't disappoint. He slaps the bags he's carrying against each of his brothers' chests, walking through the middle like Elsa 2.0. "Duty calls, boys."

But something catches his eye right before Aiden can curse him out. I follow his gaze. Sure enough, he's looking at Shen. Everybody is, because she's staring at me in the weirdest way.

"What's wrong with her?" Aiden asks.

Ethel doesn't know, not that he could answer verbally.

"Shen?" I ask.

Carson blocks me from stepping closer to her.

I can literally see the cogs turning in her head. She glances at Axel, as if waiting for him to say something. When he doesn't, she seems startled.

"What is it?" I ask.

"Which..." Her voice comes out too low for me to hear. She looks between the brothers and me. I move around Carson, leaning closer to her so that she can tell me. I know the brothers can still hear, and I'm sure she knows that too, but it should make her feel comfortable enough to whisper. And she does. "Ethel said that one was your mate." She looks at Aiden.

I nod. "He is...?"

"But I thought you were with that one." She looks at Axel.

I stutter, "I..." I clear my throat. "I am." Didn't she already know?

"But..." She looks at Carson.

"I'm with all three of them," I announce for the umpteenth time in my life.