Page 151 of The Alpha's Unclaimed Mate
“Thank you for having us,” Darius says to me.
“Always.”
His hand finds the small of Violet’s back, his palm settling protectively against the curve there. She leans into him without seeming to notice she’s doing it.
“Where is Lillian?” I ask.
Violet looks apologetic. “She wanted to come, Sienna. She really did.”
“What’s keeping her?”
“Ever since Meera and Fiona settled in Moonvale, Mom’s been organizing the classes Meera’s giving. The hybrid magic classes. She had three sessions this week. A dozen new arrivals coming in from the southern territories. She has basically been Meera’s chief of staff for the past couple of years.”
“Goddess! She must be in her element.”
“She is. She’s so happy, Sienna. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her this lit up.”
“How are the classes going?”
“Beyond what we hoped for.” Violet glances at Darius. “Close to a hundred hybrids actively learning. Some of them are taking to it like water to a slope.”
Darius rolls his shoulder. The injury he took in the Covenant compound raid still bothers him in cold weather. “It’s leading them to ask other questions. They want their own community. The same as shifters and witches have.”
Lucas makes a small, thoughtful sound. “Not a bad idea.”
Darius’s brows lift. “No?”
“It’s coming whether we sanction it or not.” Lucas tucks his hand under my elbow, his thumb finding the inside of my arm. “Better it be done on good terms. With our backing. The alternative is they unite quietly, then we find out about it later.”
“That was my read of it, as well,” Kain chimes in.
“Office,” Lucas suggests. “We’ll talk it through properly. Let the women have their reunion.”
“I’d like that,” Darius agrees. He bends to press a kiss to the top of Violet’s head, his hand resting on her belly. “Come find me if you need anything. Even if you want to pick a fight.”
She tilts her head back and smooches him on the lips. “Nah, I’m good now.”
He chuckles.
Kain murmurs something to Anne, his palm cupping her elbow. She nods. He follows the other two up the steps, falling in beside Darius as they enter the estate house.
I turn back to my friends. “Let’s go to the garden,” I say eagerly. “I want to show you what I’ve done.”
Anne grins. “Lead the way, Luna.”
The path around the east side of the house is paved now, the gravel I never liked replaced last spring with smooth, pale stone. Theo and Eli have run ahead, Theo’s voice carrying back to us in excited bursts about the pond, the frogs, the new bench Papa let him help paint.
Violet’s arm is linked through my elbow. On my other side, Anne’s hand is warm in mine.
“Sienna…” Violet’s voice has gone soft. “You changed everything!”
I did. The first year I lived here, the gardens behind the estate were formal and beautiful and entirely uninviting—square hedges trimmed to within an inch of their lives, gravel paths designed to be taken quickly and not lingered on.
I have spent five years pulling the gardens apart.
The hedges came down. In their place, I built three sitting areas across the lawn, each tucked into a different nook. The first is closest to the house: it is sheltered by an old wisteria I trained over an iron arbor, with a low round table beneath it ringed by deep, cushioned chairs. The second sits farther out, by the pond Theo loves: a long bench with a fire pit in front of it for cool evenings. The third is at the very back of the garden, under the oak where Lucas proposed to me: two benches with a small, stone table between them, almost hidden by the climbing roses I have let run wild on purpose.
“Over here,” I tell them, leading us to the wisteria. The blossoms have not come in yet, but the leaves have, soft and pale. “I had this area built first. The boys can play on the lawn, and we can still see them from here.”
