Sold To The Billionaire Alpha
Chapter 64

I blushed. A social butterfly, I was not. I linked arms with Orion and Talus as we made our way around the table. I actually remembered Orla’s advice, her voice ringing out in my head, explaining that a good Luna greeted everyone of every rank in her midst.

“Well, you already know my uptight older brother, Timbre,” said Talus.

“Upright?” Thundered Timbre making his twin sons jump and then laugh. “You call this uptight?!”

“Dad, please don’t!” Said Timothy.

“Go for it, Dad!” Cheered Titus.

“Little Luna, where’s my phone? Maze, film with your phone for me,” came Thaddeus’ deep voice.

Timbre got up and attempted some kind of dance. It seemed like a belly-dance but I wasn’t sure.

“This is how you wine,” said Timbre.

Now that I knew what he was trying to do, he wasn’t half-bad, he had some rhythm.

“Stick to ballroom dancing,” muttered Talus.

“You know his sons: Timothy, Titus and Thaddeus,” said Talus, pointing to the wrong son with each name.

“I don’t know this person,” said Talus, gesturing towards Maze.

“That’s Maze,” I chuckled. “Friday’s other mate. The same Friday who saved your life, Dad!”

Timbre wracked his brain, trying to remember.

“Aha! Of course I remember Wednesday!” Said Talus, holding Raelynn’s hand instead of Friday.

Raelynn’s vampire mate, Ezra, and her half-brother, Fang, burst into laughter. The real Friday watched in amusement from her seat between Thaddeus and Maze, her two alphas.

“You’ve gotten so tall, girl!” Said Talus to Raelynn.

Raelynn was about two inches taller than Friday.

“Ok, we’re done with this group,” said Timbre before we had even said a proper hello to half of them.

“This is Heath, my Uncle,” said Orion, smiling.

Heath grinned. He clapped Orion and Timbre on the back and then hugged me.

“She’s gorgeous!” Said Heath to Orion, looking at me.

I blushed. Orla or Hannah as Heath called her was frowning in the background.

“This is my beautiful wife, Princess Hesper,” said Heath.

“Your Highness,” I said, about to curtsey.

“Don’t you dare!” Warned Hesper, stopping me mid-curtsey and hugging me.

Hesper was so young-looking. I could not help but stare. Wolves looked great for their age but this was just ridiculous. The woman looked like a teenager and she had teenagers.

“These are our babies, Luna Hannah and Alpha Harper,” said Hesper, pinching Harper’s cheek.

Harper was a younger refined version of the ruggedly handsome Heath while Hannah Star was the very image of her mother, Hesper. Harper hugged Orion and me at the same time and then introduced his extremely polite and adorable wife, Holly, who was apparently half Autumn Fae and half human.

“I’m half human,” I blurted out excitedly to Holly while she was introducing the snowman she had in fact brought just as Heath had predicted.

“See, told ya, you two would be friends,” said Heath, putting his arm around a sulking Orla.

I had never met another half human other than Ellie Joan who was not the best example.

Orla was dividing her time among glaring enviously at me, Rose, Hesper and even Holly to my surprise. She seemed fine with Star, perhaps because Star, though a woman, was a b***d relative who shared her name.

“I’m so happy to meet you too,” cooed Star, giving me a hug.

She was just as heavily pregnant as Holly. Hesper was also pregnant but she did not show as much as the other two despite being close in due date. That woman was just blessed. Orla seemed to hate Hesper the most out of all the women who had married into her family but Hesper, who was clearly a socialite, kept up an endless one-sided conversation with Orla.

“It’s so funny how no one calls either of you Hannah. You’re Orla and she’s Star!” Chuckled Hesper.

Orla scowled.

“I call them both Hannah,” said Heath, grinning.

Orla beamed at her little brother as if he were a Godsend.

“Are your mates here?” I wondered, noticing Hannah Star was alone.

“They went to the bathroom. They will be back soon,” said Star.

“All of them?” I inquired.

“Yeah, they’re usually pretty in sync when it comes to having to pee,” said Star, lowering her voice to a whisper.

“Are they Backstreet Boys when they have to poop?” Joked Talus.

“I’m so sorry,” I said seriously to Star, apologising for that lame joke. “Pretend he never said anything.”

Star on the contrary seemed to replace that hilarious. One of her mates was probably corny.

“Here they are,” announced Star.

Four handsome Alphas flanked Star, two on either side. I could barely imagine what Friday’s life was like. This was just ridiculous. I would roster them. They were tall, and muscular like most Alphas. They had the most striking green eyes and their hair was undecided between a dark blonde and a light brown.

“Okay, in birth order,” said Star.

“No, we always do that,” grumbled one, pulling her closer to him and pouting.

“Ok, in reverse birth order,” said Star.

The pouting one grinned.

“This is Zaya, short of Isaiah,” she said, introducing the first one to speak.

Zaya hugged Orion, me and Talus.

“This is Eli, short of Elijah,” said Star, introducing the one who always kept a pleasant smile on his face.

Eli hugged us too.

“How are you doing since the you-know-what?” Wondered Eli.

It took me a while to realise he meant the kidnapping.

“Well, thank you,” I said. “Surprisingly well.”

“This is Noah,” said Star.

“Short for Know-it-all,” said Zaya.

Noah rolled his eyes at his brother and shook our hands firmly.

“I read about your battle strategies. So inspired. Northern Alphas have such disciplined warriors,” said Noah, eliciting a huge smile from Orion.

“And Jonah,” said Star.

Jonah kissed me on the cheek to Orion’s annoyance and then proceeded to ask us to call the police for Holly as she had brought a magical creature across pack land lines without the necessary license. Holly pulled her snowman closer to herself and Harper.

“He’s just being an i***t, Holly,” said Harper reassuringly, running his fingers through her hair.

“Leave me my friend alone, Jonah,” I said, gently pushing his shoulder.

“She’s harbouring two more magical creatures on her person,” revealed Jonah.

“No, I am,” said Hesper, breaking away from her one-sided conversation with Orla, who looked relieved to be rid of her.

Hesper showed me her earrings.

“They’ve lovely,” I said warmly, not sure of what anyone was talking about.

“They’re imps,” said Jonah.

“Erin is going crazy for you!” Said Hesper. “Even Rein is almost in a good mood!”

“The…earrings,” I said, wondering if Orion really needed to be close with this side of the family.

“Yes! My cousin was tired so I agreed to bring them,” said Hesper, blowing dust on me.

I coughed. Yeah, this side of the family would be a once a year sort of thing. When I was finished with my coughing fit, I suddenly began hallucinating. Hesper’s earrings were wriggling around and talking to each other and about everyone else.

“Thaddeus is so fine! Mmmm,” said one of them.

“Erin, I thought you were team Zaya,” muttered the other one.

“That was before I saw Thaddeus in person,” said Erin, the lustful earring. “Rein! Rein! She’s looking at us! Is she hearing us? Yoo-hoo!” Squealed Erin.

“Hi,” I said, feeling like I was under the influence of a party drug.

Erin screamed so loudly, I jumped.

“I’m Erin! And this is Rein!” Squealed Erin. “We love you!”

“Speak for yourself,” grumbled Rein.

“News of your plant magic takedown of those wolf hunters has spread like wildfire! I read an article about you in Luxe Luna! Do you subscribe to that magazine?” Wondered Erin. “They have great outfits. I wear a double zero but Rein is full-figured so sometimes we both need custom!”

Erin never stopped ever. Ever. Erin talked more to me than Hesper to Orla. Erin continued talking to me even when I went to the bathroom, making Hesper wait outside the door for me. Hesper tried to give Erin to me but I quickly lied about having weak earlobes. I feared if I wore Erin and Rein, Hesper would make a run for it. What if they became stuck in my earlobes magically? I was relieved when people began retiring to their rooms to get away from Erin.

“I’m so glad we’re besties now,” said Erin. “Holly, Hesper, Star, let’s do lunch with Orchid next Friday! Oh wait no I have a date then! I’ll call you and set something up after I double-check my schedule!”

Just in case an earring could actually make a phone call, I would turn my cell off. Orion seemed to be having a great time though. He and Heath had a shockingly large number of things in common especially when it came to their skills on the battlefield. I could see why Orla might have transferred her Heath obsession to Orion. Orion was demonstrating his archery techniques for some of the guests still downstairs. He and Heath hit every mark, sometimes even splitting the arrow already there, in order, to hit the exact spot.

“That’s why I named my baby after the stars,” gloated Orla.

Orion was one thing we could agree on. He walked towards me grinning.

“That was amazing,” I said, accepting his nuzzle.

“That’s what she said,” joked Orion.

“You’re spending too much time with Talus,” I chuckled.

“Talus is mad at me,” whispered Orion.

I felt guilty.

“It’ll pass,” I said gently.

“He has every right to be,” said Orion, cupping my face.

I caressed his cheek.

“I’m going to make sure that my pack never engages in anything like this again,” said Orion. “The more modern packs are right about us. We are too archaic at least when it comes to this.”

I knew he was talking about the Caros and their girl auction. I nodded.

“What will the Caros do instead?” I wondered, thinking of Sylvia and Salvia.

“Makeup tutorials?” Guessed Orion with a shrug.

“What do you know about makeup tutorials?” I asked.

“Erin mentioned it,” he chuckled. “Hesper got me with her dust.”

“You’re probably ready to go then,” I whispered.

“I’ve been ready,” whispered Orion.

“Are my friends leaving already?” I heard Erin say loudly as we waved goodbye and exited into the hallway.

I heard footsteps that sounded like Hesper’s high heels. Orion and I exchanged a panicked glance. Orion grabbed my hand and we ran upstairs at top speed, giggling the whole way.

When we flung open our door, there was someone waiting there in the dark for us. I screamed. Orion put me behind him and flicked on the light.

“Sorry, sorry, I beg your pardon!” Said Holly apologetically.

I calmed down. Orion breathed a sigh of relief.

“Holly! You scared me!” I said, feeling relieved that it was not Erin.

I eyed Holly’s earlobes. She was wearing small yellow gold hoops with a floral design set with chocolate brown diamonds.

“I love your earrings!” I said, admiring the unusual choice of stone colour.

“You’re just glad they’re not Erin and Rein,” giggled Holly.

“How did you make it up here so fast?” I wondered, looking at her large pregnant belly.

“I teleported!” Said Holly brightly.

“Oh,” I said, encouraging her to sit down on the bed next to me.

“What’s up?” I said.

“I wanted to give you this!” Said Holly, handing me a card.

I examined it. The card was half pink and half purple. The pink half said Mina in purple font and the purple half said Tina in pink font.

“It’s scented,” said Holly.

I sniffed the card. The pink half smelled like roses and the purple half smelled like orchids. I gasped.

“The scent is custom. It’s meant to attract the customer in question. It changes with each person that smells it. How cool is that?” Said Holly. “It’s my spell,” whispered Holly. “They did a good job at my wedding so I made those cards for them.”

I laughed.

“I’ll call them,” I said, smiling. “But there’s no number listed here,” I noticed.

“Just through it at your mirror,” said Holly. “It’ll stick and call their headquarters for a magic vid-chat. If they’re unavailable, it’ll let you leave a video message and they’ll get back to you.”

“Wow,” I said, looking at the card.

I looked at Holly’s huge belly.

“May I?” I asked.

She nodded. I felt her belly curious about the lie of the foetus. In medical school, they would always bring a woman who was pregnant with multiples to confuse us. I felt more heads than I should. I gasped.

“How many babies are in here?” I whispered, trying to gently count what I was feeling.

Holly put a finger to her lips. Star’s belly had looked pretty big too come to think of it.

“Holly!” Said a vaguely familiar voice.

I looked around to see Orion’s first cousin, Alpha Harper, in the doorway.

“Orion mind-linked me,” said Harper.

I glanced at a disgruntled looking Orion sitting up by the bed’s headboard.

“Let’s give these two some privacy, Baby,” cooed Harper, picking Holly up and holding her bridal-style effortlessly.

“My work here is done,” said Holly sweetly to Harper as he carried her out of the room.

He vanished into thin air with her as he reached the door. I gasped. A pillow hit me with a soft thud.

“Orion!” I said, annoyed.

“Stop checking out my cousin!” Said Orion, pouting.

I laughed.

“Are you crazy? I was marvelling at his magic!” I said pointedly.

“I don’t care what you were marvelling at! Come marvel at this,” he said slyly, pulling me under the covers with him.

I giggled but he soon silenced me with an urgent k**s. Before I knew it we were intertwined and that oh too familiar pressure in my middle was building deliciously. This was definitely how I wanted to spend night after night in the near and far future. I would call those wedding planners tomorrow.