His to Claim (Published)

Keeper Of Secrets

“May I come in?” He asks. I can smell Jane’s anxiety and sigh a little, “Jane you have to calm down or he’ll know your here—I promise I’ll keep your secret for now okay? But he’s going to find out eventually.” There was a small space of silence before she whispered back to me, “Thank you Scarlett.” 

“Do you have to?” I ask back even though I know Noah ordered him to come here to check on me since I blocked him out of my mind. What a baby! 

“I’m sorry Luna but the Alpha has asked me to personally check in on you and to give you some more medicine.” His last words are all the encouragement I need. “Come in—“ I say exasperated. He slowly opens the door and pokes his head in as if he was afraid their might be a fire breathing dragon inside. I try not to smile with amusement as he enters the room with caution. 

He comes closer to the bed but stops and tilts his head to the side and sniffing the air. His eyes darken and he starts to look around my room frantically but when he doesn’t see anyone else in the room he releases a growl.

“Is something wrong?” I ask trying to pretend as though I have no idea what is happening. 

“Who else was in here?” he asks me clearly forgetting his initial reason for coming to my room. I tilt my head to the side thoughtfully, “I don’t know. I woke up alone but there was some tylenol on the side table—could have been anyone.” He growls again closing his eyes and breathing in deeply clearly trying to calm himself down. He turns to leave the room but I clear my throat, “You said you had medicine for me?” 

“Oh, sorry—“ His voice is hoarse as he marches over to the side of my bed. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out two blue tablet just like the ones Jane had given me not long before. He sets them down on the side table, “I have to go report back to the Alpha but I will return shortly to check on you.” He says with assurance and I smiled softly, “Okay, but only if you bring me more of those magic pills.” 

He stands motionless by the bed for a moment and I feel myself growing tense. Please do not look under the bed! He looks down at me, “Are you sure you don’t remember anyone else being in here? maybe you woke up for a moment and saw something or talked to someone…” I felt slightly guilty keeping him from his mate but I wanted to protect the small friendship I had built with her. I gave him an apologetic smile and shook my head, “no—I’m sorry.”

“If anyone else comes in here let me know. The Alpha was clear he wanted to minimize the people coming in and out of here—so anyone else that wants to visit will need authorization.” He says to me. I try not to roll my eyes at him, “Yes sir! Now run along back to Mr. Alpha. I’m suddenly very tired and bored of this conversation…” I say. Dane paused for one more minute before he turned and left the room clearly much tenser then when he had entered. I waited a minute or two to make sure he wasn’t going to come back and demand I tell him. I could tell he knew I was keeping something from me but because I was the Luna he didn’t want to press his luck. 

“It’s safe to come out now.” I say dryly. 

Jane popped up beside my bed a couple seconds later her cheeks tinted red and her breathing heavy, “Thank you so much Scarlett—“ 

I stare at he for a moment longer before I sighed and looked away, “He’s going to find out soon—Now that he knows your scent Jane he is going to do everything in his power to find you. Which is quite a lot of power considering he’s the Beta.” 

“I know! I don’t know what to do—I want to be with him but I’m afraid. Please just keep my secret for a little while longer Luna Scarlett. I’ll do anything…” She pleaded with me. The sound of her plea made my heart ache. I might not feel the sting of David’s rejection but that doesn’t mean I forgot the feelings that had tormented me for so long. I looked back to Jane, “He is not going to reject you Jane—if he even thinks about it I’ll cut his balls off and give them to you as a trophy.” 

She scrunches up her face in disgust and then lets out a small laugh, “I appreciate the sentiment Scarlett.” 

“Good, now you better get out of here before he comes back.” I say quickly wanting to be alone. Feeling the strong urge to sleep—I’m thinking it’s part of the blue pills. She nods her head and rushes towards the door but stops and turns back to me, “I’m glad you showed up Scarlett—Claire used to be my best friend—I’ve missed her terribly.” I watched her eyes grew teary but she held herself together, “I was nervous about meeting you after Alpha Noah told me about you—but when I met you I felt like it was possible for us to be just as close as Claire and I had been—is that weird?” 

I feel a lump in my throat but I swallow it and shake my head, “Not at all. I hope that we can be friends.” I reply softly. She smiles brightly before she quickly turns and leaves the room. I sink down deeper into the bed and let out a sigh. It seemed as though Claire’s death left a whole in the whole pack not only Noah. I had serious doubts about being the right girl to fill those shoes.