Second Chance for the Barren Luna (Talia and Jason) novel Chapter 294

Talia’s POV

I watched Jason walk between the guards out of the hall. Anger rose in my throat as he smugly left. My hands gripped the arms of my chair so hard that I was splintering the wood. Nolan put his hand over mine, and through the mind link, he said, ‘Talia, don’t give him the satisfaction of seeing you lose your composure.’

‘He waltzed into Silverfang like he owned the place. Goddess knows what happened to our warriors for him to be able to get in without us being alerted,’ I responded angrily.

‘I know. We will deal with it,’ Nolan said. ‘It is better to let him think he has the upper hand now. We don’t need your father having a relapse in front of everyone.’ He ran his thumb across the back of my hand. I took a deep breath, exhaling through my nose a couple of times to let my anger subside. My father raised his hand from the front of the stage, and the hall quieted. The Alphas stopped murmuring.

“Alphas, I owe you an apology for the disturbance that has just passed through this hall,” Father explained. “This ‘guest’, who arrived, was not on the list of those invited, and the manner of his arrival was an insult to every Alpha sitting in this room. You came here in good faith, and you have been given less courtesy in return than you were owed.”

The Alphas didn’t respond. They still look concerned about Jason being here. I didn’t blame them. The only one who looked calm was Kent.

“There is one more thing I would like to address before we move forward,” Father continued. “This will be the last Harvest Gathering I host. My son, Solon, will be taking over as Alpha of Silverfang over the coming months. When he is ready, he will stand before you as the next Alpha King of these territories. I ask each of you for the same support you have given me, and I ask you to give it to him as freely as you have given it to me.”

There was a low, surprised murmur amongst the Alphas. They were going through whiplash. They were led to believe the Alpha King was deathly ill, but he doesn’t look like it. Then Jason, the traitor, shows up, and my father announces his retirement.

“You have my support, my King,” Colin said, raising his glass as he stood. “To Silverfang.”

One by one, the Alphas rose to their feet and lifted their own cups. They all showed their support to Solon, who was beaming. “For Silverfang!”

I rose with the others, but my gaze stayed fixed on my father. Sweat traced his temple beneath his hat. His hand held the cup steady, but I could see it was taking considerable effort from the bulging veins in his hand.

‘Solon,’ I said through the mind-link. ‘Look at father. He is sweating.’

‘I see it, Talia. We have to hope that he can hold out until this is over.’

‘How is he doing this? You must know what Leslie did.’

‘I do not know. I asked her this morning before he came down. She would not tell me. She told me he had asked her to keep it from all of us, including me.’

‘What? Why the secrecy?!’

‘Maybe this is where we get it from.’

‘This isn’t the time to joke, Solon.’

‘I know. We will ask Leslie again later, but for now, let’s focus on getting through the Harvest Gathering.’

I sank into my seat and folded my hands in my lap. I didn’t like any of this. My father set his cup down and turned to Kent.

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