29. Relationships

Seff was drawn into the crowd that camped out on the lawn in front of the nursery. There was chatter, but mostly everyone listened to Aster’s pained keening for eight hours so far. They also heard Kiran’s swearing and punching walls. Apparently no one was strong enough to get him outside. He was barely partially sedated by the calming drug.
Seff sat at the outskirts of the pack, knees drawn to her chest, cheek resting on them. Altan and Elio had been the ones to rush to restrain their Alpha, so she was alone.
Until she heard grass crunch and looked up to find Allium lowering herself beside her. “Alli.”
Her best—former?—friend pretended that the past two weeks where they didn’t speak a single word to each other didn’t exist. “Hey.”
She looked no different than ever before. Same beauty, same curves, same easy air about her. She’d braided her hair with thin gold ribbons and her skin sparkled with glitter. Really, Seff thought, she looked more alive. But that didn’t mean Kiran’s abuse meant nothing. Seff searched for lingering bruises but of course found none.
“This is what we have to look forward to?” Seff asked with a mix of faint humor and nervousness.
“Hours of agony pushing multiple tiny werewolves out your coochie, yes. Just think of the preceding nine months of no sex.” Allium laughed, and Seff didn’t realize how much she missed the sound. “But Kiran’s attention is on her as if she’s the whole world and more. I’ll still do whatever it takes to mean that much to him, even for a short time.”
Seff’s smile melted and she looked away from Allium’s side profile. “Hopefully the next two weeks go well.”
She squirmed with sudden excitement. “I already have a test waiting on my desk! As soon as it’s recommended, I’m peeing on that stick like I haven’t peed in a month.”
“Good luck.”
Allium pouted, finally looking at Seff. She considered her for a few moments before saying softly, “I’m sorry for all the things I’ve said. I *was* mad at you, but I can’t be mad at you forever.”
Seff wasn’t mad either and hoped her question didn’t come off as so. “What changed?”
Luckily, she didn’t. She plucked at the grass. “Two weeks is a long time to not talk to your best friend,” she mumbled.
Seff looked up and their gazes met. Green and green, colors unforgettable. Seff’s throat thickened with tears and all the words—the secrets—she wanted to tell her, but those were for a later time. Now, they just threw their arms around each other and closed their eyes against warm, sugary skin.
When they pulled away, Allium was chewing her lip, suddenly unable to look at Seff. “Hey,” she said quietly as if she didn’t want to be overheard.
Seff’s heart did a small flip. “What’s wrong?” she whispered.
“There’s something else I’ve been wanting to ask you about.” She leaned in, still covertly looking around. “You know Sienna Haru hasn’t always been Lord Kiran’s Delta, right? Where in hell is Aiden August? I…I think something *bad* happened to him.”
Seff recalled Allium’s confusion when Kiran told her to get her information written down by his righthand. *“Sienna? I thought Aiden August was your Delta?*” Kiran had jumped to his feet, *angry* for some reason. Seff hadn’t thought on it, or why Sol had written Allium’s name down in front of Seff. Whoever held the title of Delta had never been Seff’s interest, though she didn’t mind Hyacinth’s sister being one, but she had to admit it was strange.
She didn’t want to say it out loud, so she mouthed, *Dead?*
Allium nodded. Seff felt her heart drop and Allium’s pick up in speed. It was random and far-fetched, but Seff could tell her friend had been sitting on the thought for a while. Maybe triggered by Sienna leaping in front of Kiran to alert him about Aster?
“But…why?” Seff asked in barely a whisper. “Who would do that? And when?”
“Before we got here. It’s weird that it wasn’t announced, that no one was updated about the change.” Allium leaned her head closer to Seff’s. “I tried asking Sol and some of the Betas, but no one will tell me anything. And you know that Deltas are only replaced for one of four reasons.”
One, if they stepped down, which had never happened before. Two, if they died of natural causes. Three, if they tried to usurp their Alpha to take the title, which had been attempted by other packs but never successful. And four: if they were murdered. It didn’t need to matter who, but whoever it was had probable cause. But if Sienna killed Aiden, Kiran would never give her the title. Kiran couldn’t kill his righthand because they ran the harems in his stead, so what reason would he have to rid himself of Aiden, who had been his Delta for over twenty years?
What was more, didn’t Seff and Allium have enough on their plate to consider adding a murder mystery?
They heard shuffling and looked up too fast to be casual. The pack had gotten to their feet, because Aster had stopped crying—because her two pups were.
“Seff!” Altan was snaking through the crowd. “Seff, Kiran wants you up there.”

That did not do wonders for a repairing friendship.

It felt fundamentally wrong to be *asked* to impede on something like this.
Seff was allowed to pass four Alphas and a few midwives as well as Sienna and Sol. Not a single gaze was kind except for faithful Altan and Elio. Seff tried not to linger on Sienna too long despite Allium’s suspicion occupying most of her mind.
Kiran was sitting in an armchair with two swaddled newborns in each arm, Aster deep in sleep. Seff peered around the door frame just to see if she could catch him off-guard, and—whether she really did or he let her see it—she *did*.
She felt like she knew Kiran Cyrus her entire life with how he and Selene were the center of gravity in the Magnolia pack, though she knew him for barely a month. Either way, he was a monster. Even those who worshipped him could admit the terrible acts he committed in the name of selfish pride.
But seeing him now…was it possible to look past it just a little?
*Maybe you’ll fall in love with me too.*
Too, as if he admitted he already loved her—or assuming she was in love with Selene first.
Kiran’s expression was tender, a smile not formed by anything devious gracing his lips, eyes a smoldering gold. *Fondness* was not something Seff envisioned Kiran Cyrus was capable of feeling or showing.
But it was hard not to feel a little gushy around two newborn babies sleeping with little mouths gaping and tiny wriggling fingers, even Seff had to admit.
“They’re cute,” she said quietly.
“I know what you’re thinking.”
She winced but didn’t let him deter her. “Then you can know later. This is rude for me to be here.”
Kiran looked up. His docility didn’t harden, but something about him still made her root in place. She hated how often that happened. “I’m the Alpha. If I say it’s not rude, it’s not.” His gaze flicked to the lurkers behind Seff. “Eavesdropping is.”
They scattered.
“Can you envision yourself ever in this position, Seff?”
She was conflicted again. She wanted to have pups someday—she *thought*; she still couldn’t decide—but *not* with the Alpha of the Sun pack. “I don’t know.”
“But you can see Allium Ren here?”
Her jaw clenched. If Allium tested positive and she was pregnant, that meant she would be bound to the harem not just for another nine months but for the rest of her life. Seff wasn’t sure she could personally stay another week.
“Are you blackmailing me?” she asked in a whisper.
The pups mewled, and Kiran bounced them a little. He was practiced in this. It was also strange to accept the fact that he was a father. And he *cared*.
Seff was an idiot. She accused him so harshly—but it *was* justified, absolutely warranted and still true—but he just proved her overarching assumption wrong. It wasn’t an act.
“Using your friend as leverage…again?” Kiran mused. “Just to keep you here with me?”
“What do you want from me?” she demanded. Aster stirred in the bed. “What do you *really* want from me?” she asked quieter.
Kiran said simply, “Your love.”