"I know," Kimberly sighed. "He is such a hunk."
"Hey," Ruben complained.
"I will always love you," Kimberly said, kissing him, "but Adam is truly drool-worthy."
"Whatever," Ruben said, growling at her.
Jillian laughed. "So in a few weeks, then?”
"Yeah, not sure the exact date, but soon.”
"Hmm, okay."
"Why?" Kimberly asked.
"Edric wants to get married soon, but I can move it up to see Maroon 5 in concert."
Ruben laughed as he put food on his tray. "You would move your wedding so you could see them perform?"
"Of course," Jillian grinned.
“Don’t let the Alpha hear that,” Ruben shook his head. “Moving your wedding for a rock band.”
"You know Luna," Kimberly grinned, "I bet if you asked he would perform at your wedding."
"That would be awesome, but he is probably too busy."
"No one is ever too busy for a Luna," Ruben pointed out.
"I don't want to inconvenience him if he has a concert somewhere," Jillian said.
Her two friends laughed. "You are something else Luna," Kimberly shook her head.
Jillian grabbed some food and headed with her friends to her table. The other students stood until she sat down, but Jillian didn’t really notice. She had her back turned to them until Orson pulled out a chair for her so she could sit.
"So, any troubles lately?" Kimberly asked Jillian as they began to eat.
"No, not really. I mean other than the Alpha's plane almost getting blown up, and Carla almost drowning," Jillian shrugged.
Ruben paled. "How could you say that wasn't trouble?"
Jillian sighed. "I guess so much crap has happened that I am getting used to it? I don't know. There is always something happening. It is getting kind of old, you know?"
"Well, spring break is next week," Kimberly said, "and I have always wanted to go to Florida, we could go, get our minds off things, party, get drunk, hit on men," Kimberly teased.
Ruben growled at her.
Jillian grinned. "Okay, let's do it, without hitting on men, or getting drunk. But going to relax on a beach, just to get away, that would be nice," Jillian admitted.
"But no flying," Ruben said.
"And no boats," Kimberly added.
"Driving it is," Jillian said, "but to convince the Alpha."
"Just let him know you need to get away from the stress of things," Kimberly told her, "he has to understand."
"I suppose so, okay, I will do it."
“And don’t forget the Prom is this weekend.”
“Oh crap. Of course, it is.”
Kimberly laughed. “You don’t have to go, you know.”
“I know, but it would be kind of fun, but then again, I don’t have a dress, and I haven’t asked Edric.”
“Just ask him when you get home.”
“Yeah, that will work. Edric, I know I escaped this morning to go to school, but can we go to the dance on Saturday and will you buy me a dress?”
Ruben snickered. Kimberly hugged her friend. “You are so funny. I’m sure he would love to take you. Just think, the Alpha and Luna at the dance. That hasn’t happened in like 30 or more years.”
“Really?”
“Yes, when the Great Luna Queen and Alpha King were in high school. Of course, they were just a normal Luna and Alpha, they hadn’t been made the High King and Queen yet.”
“How were they made the High King and Queen?”
“Not sure, the story is the Moon Goddess bestowed it on them, but no one really knows.”
“So, did they meet in high school then?” Jillian asked Kimberly.
“Yes, and I guess that they were the most incredible couple you have ever laid eyes on. Everyone was in awe of them, kind of like we are with you and Edric.”
“You are in awe of us?” Jillian asked, surprised.
“Well, yeah. I mean, come on. I have never seen the students act like they do around you.”
“What do you mean?”
“The reverence they hold for you, like when you walk down the hall, and the hall goes quiet and they all bare their necks to you.”
“Oh,” Jillian blushed. “I figured that was what they did for all Luna’s.”
“They do, but more so you. You are special Jillian, and everyone can feel it.”
“Guess I won’t be bullied anymore then?” Jillian grinned.
“Nope, and if you are, you or your guards can take them down, you have permission to do so.”
Orson and Wes were standing behind Jillian as she ate, and they were nodding. “We can Luna, it is our job,” Orson told her.
“Well, I feel better then,” Jillian grinned. “And at least Jarem is gone.”
“He is?” Kimberly asked her.
“Yeah, he went to jail, but then he hung himself because he wanted to take the chicken way out.”
“That’s crazy,” Ruben whistled.
“It’s cowardly,” Jillian frowned. “All because the Alpha wanted to go and question him. But at least we don’t have to deal with him anymore.”
The two of them nodded, both of them held great respect for their Luna. She was going to lead the wolves and make everyone whole again, they could tell.
Ruben and Kimberly exchanged glances and smiled.
Jillian stood then, ready to head to class. She knew she needed to graduate, but school seemed so boring now with what had been going on. The students who were still in the lunchroom stood with her, even Ruben and Kimberly.
“I will never get used to this,” Jillian smiled.
“Let me take your lunch tray, Luna,” Kimberly told her. “You shouldn’t have to do that.”
“Thanks, Kim, you are sweet.”
The students waited until Jillian left the cafeteria before they sat back down.
When the bell finally rang to signal the end of the day, Jillian headed to her locker, and suddenly felt an arm about her waist. She looked up to see Edric.
"Hi," he said.
"Hi," she replied, opening her locker and putting her books inside.
"Are you mad at me?" she asked him, as he took her hand and walked with her, the students parting down the middle of the hall to let them through, all of them bowing their heads as they walked by.
"No," Edric said, walking with her outside, ignoring the students, Orson and Wes following. "I was kind of angry this morning, but I know life has been stressful lately, and for that, I apologize," Edric said.
"It is not your fault Edric," she shook her head.
"It is my fault. You had a normal life, with normal friends, until I crashed into it, and since then you have had nothing but trials."
"What are you saying?" she asked him, stopping at the limo.
"I am just apologizing. I am sorry for all of this."
"Oh, I was thinking you were going to say something bad."
"Like what?" he asked her.
"Like calling off our wedding."
He smiled softly at her. "You think that would be bad?"
She nodded. "I love you Edric, I want to spend my life with you."
He pulled her to him and kissed her softly. "And I love you my Luna, more than life itself. I would never cancel our wedding, although I did hear you wanted to move it up so you could attend a certain concert?"
Jillian flushed. "How?"
He pointed to his head. "I know, remember?"
"I am going to kill my friends," Jillian growled.
Edric laughed and kissed Jillian again, before tucking her into the limo. He climbed in after her, along with Orson and Wes.
"We can move the wedding, and I know Adam would be honored to perform for us," Edric said as Emerson pulled out to the street.
"He would?"
"Of course. He and I are good friends. He suggested this concert so I invited him here, I was hoping to keep it a surprise though," he chuckled, "but your friends talk too much."
Jillian g
rinned. "I am glad Kimberly told me, so then I wouldn't miss that, and I can have him at our wedding."
"As long as you don't run off with him," Edric teased.
"Why would I? You are much better looking, although I don't think you can sing as well," Jillian teased, making the guards chuckle.
Edric began to tickle Jillian. "Take that back," he said, as she laughed.
"No, never," she gasped out as he tickled her.
"I will make you sing later," he then whispered in her ear. She blushed bright red, making him chuckle. “So, what is this about Prom?” he asked after kissing her cheek.
“Oh, you heard about that also.”
“Yes, Kim wants you and I to go?”
“Yes, she thinks it would be good to have the Alpha King and his Luna at the dance since that hasn’t happened in a long time.”
“I think we could do that, but I will get your dress. I don’t want you out shopping and for something happen to you.”
“Okay.”
“You are giving in?” he chuckled.
“You are letting me go to the Prom, I don’t want to bite the hand that feeds me.”
He leaned in and whispered. “You can if you want.”
She laughed and punched his arm, making him chuckle. “Emerson is right, you hit like a girl. Maybe we need to get you training with my men.”
Jillian frowned at him. “You want me to train?”
“Why not? Then you can defend yourself if someone tries to hurt you again.”
“Who would train me?”
“I would of course. I don’t want anyone touching your body, but me.”
“Okay, when?”
“We can start this afternoon if you are up to it.”
“Bring it on.”
He chuckled. “You asked for it.”
They pulled into the gates and he sent her to change her clothes. She put on some leggings and a sports bra with a t-shirt over it, her shoes and then headed down to the front door. Edric was waiting for her. He was in a t-shirt and work out pants. She took a deep breath and let it out, feeling faint. Edric’s shirt outlined all his muscles, and the pants outlined everything from the waist down. She fanned herself. “Wow, if I had known you would look so hot in those clothes, I would have you dress like that every day.”
Edric chuckled and pulling her to him, he kissed her. “I can if you would like,” he whispered, “but I like it better when we aren’t wearing a thing.”
She blushed and pushed him away. “What are we going to learn today?”
“I want to start out easy. We’ll warm up then I want to show you a few hand to hand combat moves.”
“Very well,” she said, following him outside and to the training facility. He opened the door and she stepped in, looking around in awe. The place was huge. Weapons of every kind lined the walls, and mats were on the floor to cushion everyone’s falls.
The men who were in the building practicing, bowed their heads to their Alpha and Luna.
“Keep working men,” Edric told them. He then turned to face Jillian. “Okay, let’s warm up.”
He showed her how to warm up properly, and he watched her graceful moves. She caught him staring and winked at him. He cleared his throat. “Okay, let’s start with a few basic moves. First I want to work with our hands, and then with a knife. I want you to learn to disarm me.”
She nodded as he stepped forward and showed her how to work with her hands. She began to block Edric with ease, and he smiled at how fast she was learning.
“Okay, I’m going to get a knife, and we will see how well you can disarm me,” he said. He headed to the wall and grabbed a knife then headed back to Jillian. She had her shirt off, and was wiping the sweat off her brow with it. All the men had stopped their training to watch her, since she was only in a sports bra. Edric growled at them, and they got back to work.
“Luna, you are driving my men crazy,” he said, and taking her shirt, he put it back on her.
She laughed. “Sorry, I was warm.”
“We have towels, and water,” he said, nodding to an area by the weapons.
“Fine, I want a break then.”
“Very well,” he said, “Five minutes.”
She nodded and headed to get a towel and a drink. Edric did the same, and a few minutes later she was back with him, and in moments had him disarmed. He was impressed and told her so. “You learn fast.”
“Thank you. I did take some self defense growing up, my parents insisted on it.”
“Oh, what did you learn?”
“Some Judo, and a bit of karate.”
“No wonder you are so good with your hands.”
“Thanks, glad you think so,” she winked at him, making him chuckle.
“Later love,” he promised her. “Now, show me what you know.”
She nodded. The men who had been working out stopped to watch. They wanted to see what she was going to do.
“Grab me around the neck,” she told him.
He nodded and stepped behind her, putting his hands gently around her neck. She crouched down, grabbed his arms, and he suddenly found himself on his back.
The men cheered. Edric laid on the mat, stunned. His Luna had just tossed him flat on his back.
She smiled cheekily down at him.
“How did you do that?” he asked her.
“Practice,” she winked.
He stood up and pulled her to him. “Why didn’t you do that when you had a gun to your head?”
“I was scared. It’s harder to think straight when you have a gun pointed at you.”
“Then we need to practice that, so if there is a next time, you can do what you did to me.”
She nodded, and they got to work.
They were both exhausted and sweaty when they headed into the house for dinner a few hours later.
“Dinner in our room?” Edric asked her.
“Yes, shower first.”
“I like that idea,” he growled hungrily at her.
She laughed and ran up the stairs, him on her heels.
Chapter 26
The next day at school, Kimberly walked up to Jillian as she was headed to class.
"Hey, Ruben and I were thinking of going to the park just down the street for lunch, want to join us?"
"Sure, what are we going to take for lunch, and whose car? Emerson drops me off and picks me up.”
"I have a car, so we can go in that, and we already packed a lunch."
"So, what's the occasion?"
Kimberly grinned, "Nothing, it's just a nice change from school."
"Sounds good to me," Jillian said, and after hugging each other, the girls headed to class.
Jillian was sitting in her class, daydreaming. Last night had been incredible. Edric knew she was still healing, so he had been gentle with her, but he was very talented in the lovemaking department. She tried not to be jealous as she thought of the other girls he had had in his palace before he had met her. She was glad that they weren’t around anymore. She wondered then where the hussy Jessy was. She had been so determined to get her claws into Edric. Jillian hoped that she had found her mate so she wouldn't have to worry about her anymore. She trusted Edric now and didn’t want someone like Jessy barging into their lives now.
Class ended, and she headed to her next class, nodding at the students who nodded their heads at her. Classes were boring as usual. Her teachers treated her just like the other students, which was good. She didn’t need to be treated differently because of who she was.
Soon, lunch rolled around and Jillian headed outside to see Kimberly and Ruben already waiting for her. Kimberly led her to a nice Dodge Charger, and Jillian was about to climb in when Orson and Wes walked up to her.
“And where are we going to sit?” Orson asked her. “You know you can’t go anywhere without us, Luna.”
“Tight fit in the back seat then?” Jillian said, a grin on her face.
The men chuckled. Orson climbed into the front by Rube
n, then Wes climbed into the back, Jillian in the middle, and Kim on the other side of her.
“Well, this is cozy,” Wes chuckled as Ruben drove to the park.
“At least you and Orson aren’t back here,” Jillian laughed. “I would be a pancake.”
Wes nodded. “Yes, and I am sure the Alpha would love that when you went home, to see you flat.”
“Wes,” Jillian gasped, smacking his arm, and making everyone laugh.
“What? I wasn’t being a pervert, I promise,” he laughed.
“Sure you weren’t,” Jillian laughed with him.
Jillian was smiling as they got out of the car a few minutes later. It was a large park. There were several large trees for shade, a pond in the middle for fishing and feeding the ducks, there were even a large playground and picnic tables under a large roof. That is where Ruben headed to take their picnic.
Jillian started to follow them when she felt lightheaded again. She cussed as a vision flashed across her sight. A dark car came barreling through the park, across the grass, aimed for them. It was going to hit Ruben head on, and he would not survive. What the hell would a car be doing in the middle of the park, unless it wanted to kill Ruben on purpose?
"Ruben!" Jillian screamed, running to catch up to him and Kimberly who were both several steps ahead of her.
Ruben turned to see what Jillian was yelling about, just as a dark car came barreling through the park. People jumped out of the way, yelling at the driver, some pulling out their phones to call the cops.
Things moved in slow motion it seemed as Jillian leaped at Ruben pushing him out of the way, as the car barreled past, catching Jillian with the front bumper of the car.
She went down, feeling her leg bust in two, as the car took off and pulled out to the street, roaring away.
Jillian cried out in pain as she hit the ground, Ruben, and Kimberly instantly by her side.
"You saved my life," Ruben said, his face ghostly pale.
"They were trying to kill you," Jillian gasped out, feeling her leg heal. She grimaced as the bones snapped back into place.
"You broke your leg," Kimberly whispered, but then watched in fascination as her leg straightened out.
"That was fast," Ruben commented, shaking his head in disbelief, as he sat down by Jillian, feeling extremely shaky.
The Alpha King and his Human Mate Page 21