Sun & Moon

Chapter 11 - Rio

"Give me my phone," she demands.

"And good evening to you, Astrid. You look beautiful," I say with a smile, which she only annoyedly observes. "You remember Alex, my Beta."

"You're welcome, by the way," she tells Alex. "Were it not for me, your Alpha here wouldn't have noticed that you were being hexed by witches."

"Thank you, Astrid," he bows to her in an act of good manners I've scarcely seen from my Beta. "I see now why the Moon Goddess has chosen you for Rio."

"To be the better half of a smug idiot?" she comments plainly.

Alex barely covers a snort exiting the recesses of his flared nostrils, which is met with a sharp elbow from me. "I like her," he whispers lowly.

Astrid sticks a hand out expectantly and raises her eyebrows in exasperation.

I surrender and hand her the phone I'd picked up among the wildflowers.

She snatches it from my hands and immediately dials a number. Her perturbed brows cause me to worry a little. By the sound of the relentless ringing, whoever she called is not picking up. She sucks her teeth in and calls again. Still, nothing.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

Astrid's exasperated sighs are causing me to worry even more as she calls for a third time. Nobody's answering. Finally, she looks at me and at Alex and then sharply tilts her head to the side, wordlessly directing us to follow her outside and away from the gathering crowd.

"Bianca's been missing since this afternoon." Her voice is struggling to keep calm.

"She was arguing with her father before he asked me to leave," Alex remarks. "Perhaps she is still mad about that."

"No, that isn't like her. And she missed rehearsal for her performance."

"I'm sure she will show up," I try to comfort, though by the look of scorn on her face, I should be better at it.

"This is all your fault," Astrid points a stiff finger at me. "And you're going to help me fix it."

"Astrid, I'm sure if you calm down and—"

"Do not tell me to calm down!" her eyes are glowing golden much like her father's were a few minutes ago.

"What I mean to say is," I lower my tone as much as I can so as not to trigger anymore animosity, "let's just wait until the pre-dinner program is over. Then Alex and I will be happy to help you search for Bianca."

But my lowered tone does not help.

"Are you kidding me? Bianca could be in serious danger and you'd rather wait to fulfil some facetious social obligations? Oh, what a noble decision from the great Lycan Alpha himself."

"Do not test me, Astrid."

If looks could kill, Astrid's could be deadlier than my mother's. She stands about a foot away, the glow of her eyes having a very slight effect on me. Is that a tiger characteristic? Intimidating glares?

I sigh.

Rarely do I ever admit I'm wrong, but Astrid has bruised my ego quite a bit. Oddly, it fazes me. She is my destined after all.

"Alex, get the car," I order my Beta, never once breaking eye contact from Astrid. Our little stare down is kind of arousing, if I'm honest.

I shine a grin at her, hoping she'd find some relief in me giving up my Alpha duties to search for her friend. But it only intensifies her glower.

"Don't expect a thank you until we find Bianca," she says.

I nod.

"You can wipe that stupid grin off your face now," she adds.

I roll my eyes.

"How else is a man to smile?"

"Normally. Un-smugly."

I catch her subtly look down at my lips and it makes me smile even more.

"Maybe it just reminds you how much you enjoy kissing me," I tease.

She walks away, breaking our stare down. Looks like I've struck a nerve.

Astrid paces in silent, seething anger as we wait for Alex. I might as well take this opportunity to get to know my destined.

"You know, your father said something that made me think about what I told you in the forest earlier. I won't force you into anything, Astrid. And I won't let you be who you want to be. That is entirely out of my hands."

"Hang on," she stops pacing. "Is this your way of saying 'I'm wrong, you're right'?"

I shrug with a blasé front.

"I can be wrong sometimes," I admit. "A good Alpha never relents, but a great Alpha understands that sometimes yielding can give rise to better things."

Astrid crosses her arms and squints her eyes, trying to decipher me. But it isn't hard to decipher somebody when they've spoken the truth. I take this as a good sign.

"Have I surprised you?" I ask.

"Maybe."

"Then perhaps I'm not the only one with a little bit of pride between the two of us."

Astrid scoffs, but doesn't answer. Because I'm right. I may have been wrong before, but I'm right now.

The familiar rumbling of my black BMW pulls up behind. I quickly open the backseat for Astrid as she slides in without a word. Then, I enter the passenger seat.

"So, where do we start?" Alex asks.

"Oscura," Astrid answers.