Chapter 452


    Chapter 452


    Xander


    My hand slid over a bare spot on the bed, no longer warm from my Luna’s naked body. I shot up in


    bed, my heart hammering, before I remembered…we were safe. All of us. Back in Constantine.


    With a slight groan, I fell back against the headboard and reached out with the mind link to see if I


    could sense Lanie’s location. She was in the mansion somewhere. Feeling fine. No hint of danger or


    fear.


    “You okay?” Zane yawned and stretched, joining me against the headboard. He tipped his chin


    toward the still-snoring Mason. “Look at sleeping furry over there.”


    I scrubbed at my face and looked around the luxurious room. It was familiar and strange at the


    same time. Our quarters in the enve had been fancier in many ways, but this room was…home.


    “We’re gonna need a bigger bed,” I said.


    N?velDrama.Org holds this content.


    Zaneughed. “Yeah. My ass was hanging over the edge all night.”


    Mason stirred with a snort and opened his eyes. For a second or two, it looked like he was going to


    leap up with his fists out, but he calmed down. He also yawned, ending it with a little yelp, and


    pushed up on his elbow. “Where’s Lanie?”


    “Feels like she’s having breakfast,” Zane murmured. “Which sounds good. If I could manage to get


    my ass out of bed.”


    Mason flopped onto his back. “Damn, it feels nice to just wake up without an rm. I don’t just


    mean the kind thates along with a clock. Just…no rm, and nothing rming.”


    I raked a hand through my hair to get it off my face. I couldn’t recall thest time I’d had a cut, and it


    was way too shaggy. Now that we were back in Constantine and would be hosting official events


    and shit like that, I’d need a trim, at least.


    Zane looked over at me, sensing my thoughts. “It’s going to feel weird. Getting back to regr


    business.”


    Mason huffed out a low noise and, with a groan, got out of bed. He stretched widely and went to the


    window to peer out, twitching the curtains back and then letting them fall again as he turned to face


    us. “Xander, I’m going to let you take the lead on how we approach things, but we are going to need


    an official gathering meeting sooner rather thanter.”


    “Yeah,” I agreed. “We need to let them all know that you and I will be co-Alphas and what that will


    mean for the pack.”


    My brother’s expression eased. I could tell he was relieved that I’d brought it up so he didn’t have


    to. Mason and I hadn’t fully discussed how things were going to work now that we’d all returned to


    Constantine, and the truth was, I couldn’t really be sure yet. I did know that we’d figure it out


    together.


    “The pack is going to be confused,” Zane said quietly. “There might be some pushback.”


    “They’ve all dealt with what amounts to a reign of terror,” I said firmly. “Lies. Betrayal. The High


    Council kept them all scared, all the time, so they could be controlled. Well, that’s not how I want to


    run things here.”


    “No, me neither,” my brother said. “But I am fully aware that I’m the new guy. The bastard son of


    Orion Constantine. It’s likely some of them are going to have a hard time epting me for that


    reason alone. They’ll feel that I don’t have a right to be Alpha.”


    “It’s not a question of feeling. Our father passed his Alpha powers to me, and then he also passed


    them on to you when he died. That’s something nobody can argue with, or take away from you,” I


    told him. “Is it kind of fucked up? Yeah. Will we handle it together? Also, yes.”


    Mason chuckled, shaking his head. “You got it, bro. I got your back…and I know you’ve got mine.”


    We’de a long way from my brother hating me and actively nning my demise to this. We both


    grinned at each other. I got out of bed to stretch.


    “The first thing I want to do is establish that Mason and I are a team, one they can count on to keep


    the pack’s best interests at heart. Two Alphas and a Beta, working together with our Luna. With the


    shit we’ve been through, we can handle a scared pack,” I said as I rummaged in the dresser to find


    a pair of sweatpants to pull on.


    I felt a pulse of warmth emanating from Zane. Relief. Pride. Friendship. I turned to him.


    “Your ce is still by my side,” I reassured him. “I’ll make sure the pack sees that. More than that,


    that they feel it.”


    He nodded. “We got this.”


    That’s when all three of us heard the scream through the mind link.


    “Lanie!”