Blood Solstice: Part Three in the Tale of Lunarmorte by Samantha Young

the Centre she could have sworn he
was a loyal husband and devout Daylight. Ignoring the impulse to
gape openly at him as if he were nuts, Caia held her hand out to
Reuben. “I’ll take that.”
    He
chuckled and threw her a flirtatious look, nibbling on his lip
piercing. He took a moment before he handed the paper over.
“Getting awfully bossy aren’t we.”
    Ignoring
him and the numerous frowns thrown his way by the Elders and a
disgruntled Alexa – who had so far been trying to catch his
attention (even imminent war couldn’t stop her natural predilection
for hooking up with the newest, hottest being around) – Caia
quickly scanned the list. There were quite a number of names
here.
    “ This should do actually,” she murmured, knowing everyone
could hear her anyway. She looked up as Jaeden entered the room
with Vil and Laila. “Vil, you and I should go. Vanne’s provided us
with a list of names to give to Alfred Doukas’ wife. She should be
able to gather them to us pretty quickly.”
    Vil
nodded but she noticed his hand tightening in Laila’s. Before she
could reassure them, Alexa stepped forward, a little pout she had
perfected years before, playing on her luscious mouth. “I wanna
help.”
    Caia, as
well as everyone else, stared at her dumbstruck.
    “ You… want to help?” Ella queried, quietly
disbelieving.
    Alexa
narrowed her eyes. “What… like I’m useless? I can fight you know… I
have a sharper set of claws than any of the bitches in the
pack.”
    Well, that I believe. An offer of
help, however unexpected, wasn’t something she was about to turn
down. “OK… if you’re sure… Alexa, you can come with us to the
portal, you can help us fight at the Centre.”
    A shadow
cast across the room as Alexa grinned excitedly at the thought.
Standing in the doorway was Morgan with Malek, Morgan’s dark eyes
burning into Caia.
    “ If Alexa is going I’m going.” Malek puffed, crossing his arms
over his large chest defiantly, smirking at his older sister
immaturely.
    Morgan
whipped on him with a fierce growl. “You’re not going anywhere.”
His next lip-curling comment was directed at Caia, “And neither is
my daughter. You are not Alpha here, and you do not get to decide
whether my underage children hit a battle zone for you!”
    After
years of perfecting a blank expression Caia managed not to flinch
under his outrage, but inside she felt spectacularly dumb and
guilty. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
    Before
Alexa could mount what was clearly an oncoming – and loud –
protest, Reuben slid forward to face Morgan. Standing a few inches
taller than him, and just as broad, the vampyre made his
displeasure known in every nuance of his body language. “You don’t
speak to her with anything but respect, do you hear me?”
    The older
lykan was not intimidated one bit.
    “ Guys…” Caia tried to intervene, glancing helplessly to Magnus
and the Elders who merely watched in fascination. Fricking lykans! They
just loved the ‘show of dominance’ crap.
    Morgan
sneered, his eyes wandering over the vampyre in disgust. “And who
the fuck are you to tell me how to talk to her?”
    Ella
gasped at the profanity and made to stand up, but Dimitri held her
back. Caia glared at him but he merely shrugged as if to say,
‘sorry, but I wanna see what happens’.
    Reuben
took another step closer to him and Malek glanced between his
father and the outsider nervously, clearly wondering if he should
step out of the way.
    “ I’m just a being that could tear you a new one in two seconds
flat. But I can see I would actually have to do that to incur any
respect from you. So why don’t I remind you that Caia is your
Alpha’s mate and should be afforded the respect you’re refusing
me.”
    At that,
Morgan lowered his eyes and Caia knew Reuben had gotten to him.
“You’re right.” He looked up and gave her a slight nod, his eyes
dimmed but not defeated. “I’m sorry. But I can’t have my children
in this