Silence of the Alpha

Silence of the Alpha Chapter Thirteen

Phoenix came in the kitchen just as I pulled the last of the cupcakes from the ovens. The other pack mates, Tyler, Josh, Emily, Rachel, and Johanna, had all taken a cupcake to try and were gathered around the kitchen island making various "mmm" and "oh my gods" sounds. I carefully placed the cupcake pans on towels on the counter top and took off my oven mitts, turning to look at my mate.

He had a small smile on his lips as his eyes roamed around the kitchen. He looked almost prideful- of me, I could only guess- and that make me feel even happier than I already was. His eyes locked on mine and his smile widened.

"I'm guessing no one's allowed to touch these until the cookout." His eyes glinted mischievously. He tried to wrap his arms around me and I quickly slapped his hands away.

I turned and grabbed the red velvet cupcakes from behind me, giving him a pointed look, and moving them to rest with the others. "They are not to be touched until Sunday. Promise me." I felt too proud of my baking to let them be wasted.

Phoenix put a face of mock seriousness on his face and nodded rapidly. "Of course, Luna. I promise not to let more than one, or ten, go missing."

I rolled my eyes and gave him a beaming smile. I walked into his arms and let him hug me until I struggled to breathe. "Thank you for being so accepting of Kaine. It really means a lot to me."

He nuzzled his nose into my hair. "He had no reason to be afraid. He's one of my closest friends. I could never make him leave."

I started smiling again and pulled away, bouncing up and down. "I can't wait to really meet Lysander. I only ever saw him once before." My brows furrowed and I started looking around the kitchen. "Do you think he likes red velvet or chocolate? I should've made some plain ones, but I got carried away."

Phoenix shook his head in disbelief. "He'll love whatever you give him. You are his future Luna. And these aren't for giving away, remember? They're for the cookout." He put his hands on my shoulders and kissed my forehead lightly. "Why don't I help you put everything away and we can go to bed? It's getting late."

My eyebrows raised sharply and I glanced at the clock above the doorway. It was already 8:45 at night. I had spent all day baking cupcakes. I shook my head and looked back at Phoenix. "I'm not really tired yet. Is there anything we can do?"

Phoenix looked a bit disappointed that we weren't going straight to bed, but he responded anyway. "We can talk about it while we clean up." I nodded and we got to work.

It took until 9:30 to clean up all of the dishes and put all of the cupcakes away into containers. Pack members had been slyly coming in and out of the kitchen to sneak out cupcakes. We caught most of them, but we were definitely missing a couple by the time we were done. We talked a lot while we cleaned, mostly about random things like our favorite colors (his is teal), and our celebrity crushes from when we were young (he had various posters of Shania Twain, strangely enough). It made the time pass much quicker.

His lips met mine as soon as the last crumb was swept away. It was a dizzying kiss, like it would be the last time he ever kissed me. I was so shocked that it took me a moment to gather myself and kiss him back. When we finally peeled away from each other, I took a deep breath and pushed the hair off my forehead.

I cleared my voice, hardly helping the sudden hoarseness of it. "What was that for?" My cheeks felt flushed and I pressed a cold hand to my cheek to reduce the intense heat.

Phoenix just smiled a beautifully soft smile. "Because you're gorgeous."

My heart skipped and I felt my cheeks flush even more. I was suddenly speechless and tears rushed to my eyes. He had told me this before, but this felt so different. This felt so real; too real, on the verge of surreal. It felt like a promise; a sacrifice. A lone tear made its way down my cheek.

His brow immediately furrowed, his hand reaching out to caress my face. "Dahlia, love, are you alright? Did I say something wrong?" Panic slowly began spreading across his features.

I shook my head quickly and let out a soft, airy chuckle. "No, no. I'm okay. I'm just..." I paused. Then, I smiled and placed both of my cold hands on his wonderfully soft, warm face. "I'm just happy. You make me happy."

That stunning smile returned to his face. "And you make me happy, Dahlia. Happier than I've ever been in my entire life. A life that I want to spend the rest of with you."

In that moment, with those words, I knew this was the best place for me. I never wanted to go anywhere else with anyone else, as long as we both existed on this world.

UPDATE: The rewrite of Silence of the Alpha has been published! You can find it on my profile as LUNA REVEALED. 

CONTENT WARNING: The rewrite is much darker than this. If you are under 18, it is not for you. See the book description for detailed CWs.