Forsaken by the Moon Goddess novel Chapter 22

Benedict

I watch Sloane leave my party. I can still taste her honey flavored sweetness on my tongue and that passion… that was unexpected.

I smile as I watch her tail lights disappear down the drive.

Fiery Sloane Hartwell hadn’t been kissed before tonight.

Or if she has, she’s not that experienced. I’d wondered about her and Alpha Will. They seem very close, but after tonight, I’m confident that nothing has happened between them.

1 turn, ready to go back into my party only to find my mother standing at the entrance of the packhouse with that sour look on her face.

I sigh as I climb the stairs, intending to ignore her.

“Benedict …”

“Be very careful of the next words that come out of your mouth, mother. The warning I gave to everyone in the ballroom included you.”

Her mouth somehow manages to press even more tightly together.

“May I ask why you sent Alpha Melody and Alpha Mira home?”

I stop and turn to face my mother. “Because I caught thembullying Sloane. I will not tolerate bullying, belittling, o demeaning by any member of my pack, in my packhouse, or on my pack lands. And I do mean anyone, mother,” I say, before striding into the packhouse before I say something I might regret.

“Bene!” Bethany whisper yells at me before I can walk back into the party. “Mom didn’t get to her, did she?”

“No. What did I miss?” I ask, trusting my sister to give me the updates.

She leans forward, sniffing me. “I think the better question, dear brother, is what did I miss? Why do you smell so much like Sloane? Did you kiss her?”

* “Yeah, I did.”

“She didn’t punch you, right?”

smile, remembering that Sloane responded in a lot of ways, but punching me wasn’t one of them.

“No, she didn’t. She kissed me back.”

“Good! Well, everyone was a wee bit surprised at your declaration, Benedict. I mean, I wasn’t, but everyone else was. Mom was puckered so tight I thought she might actually become a lemon. But don’t worry, Dad stepped in and got things going again.”

She rolls her eyes and huffs. “I accepted dances with a bunch of Alphas I had no interest in dancing with. You’re welcome. But the party is in full swing again, just waitingfor the man of the hour to return.”

“You’re the best! I owe you.”

“Was it a good kiss?” she asks.

“No. It was two AMAZING kisses.”

“So, you still think…”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Mom is going to fucking lose her shit,” she growls.

“Mom will get on board or she and I will have a serious problem.”

• The rest of the night is boring without Sloane there. But I make sure to talk business with the Alphas I have business with, I don’t bother dancing with anyone else because no one else at the party interests me, and in the early morning hours I am finally able to fall into bed and sleep with dreams of Sloane and lots of kisses.

The next day, my mother made of point of ignoring me. I guess she thought I should apologize, or maybe she thought I needed to see her displeasure. It actually made my day easier. I was able to sneak away and find a spot to watch Alpha Waylon’s pack lands.

I waited, hoping to see Sloane. After an hour, I was about to give up, thinking she might have already returned to her uncle’s pack, when I saw her walking alone in the woods between our packs. I settled in to watch her.Her face was serene as she lifted her head to the sun. I’ve never seen Sloane look so relaxed. I’m hoping that I get to see more of her like this in the future.

I know how we could relax her, Marrok purrs.

‘Easy, Marrok. As inexperienced as she was with that kiss, she’ll have no experience with any kind of intimacy:

I’m a very patient wolf, especially if she’s the prize we win.

‘What is with you and her?’ I ask him, smiling as Sloane reaches up and touches her lips.

I look at her, waving quickly at Alpha Roman, Luna Samara, Slade and the rest of their crew.

“What do you want to talk to me about?” I ask her. “Is this about…” I give her a look, letting her know I’m asking about her taking over Alpha Waylon’s pack.

“Yes, sort of.”

When we get to her bedroom, there is pizza, candy bars, popcorn, and sodas. It smells like friendship and late nights talking and telling secrets.

“Okay, let’s get pizza, then we’ll talk,” I say.

We grab our slices of the still warm pizza, biting into the cheesy, greasy goodness of a pepperoni pizza.

I moan through my first three bites, then grab a soda and look at my friend.

“Okay, hit me,” I say, settling in. This is exactly what I needed to get my mind off of not being mated to Will.”So, I’ve pretty much decided that I’m going to take over Alpha Waylon’s pack,” she begins.

I squeal. I’m. so excited for my friend. Yeah, she’s got a lot of hard work ahead of her, but I know Sloane can do it.

“If you’re planning to ask me if I think it’s a good idea, girrit, hell fucking yes. Take that pack and whip them into fucking shape.”

She grins at me. “Well, you know, that Beta and Gamma have to go.”

“No question,” I say. We both know they suck. “Have you considered who you want to take as your Beta? You should do that first. It will be really important that you trust that person. They can help you build the pack and make it into the strong pack it should be,” I say, taking a bite of pizza.

She grins at me. “Well, actually yes, I know exactly who : want my Beta to be.”

Since my mouth is full of pizza, I grunt at her, giving her the hand gesture to tell me.

She smiles. “I want you to be my Beta.”

I nearly choke on my pizza.