The Alpha’s Substitute Mate

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I was in the lounge and Lance trailed into the room. He had a notebook in his hand and a pencil tucked behind his ear. “I’ve been going through the house plan. There is a small chamber on the first floor, it was probably an office or a study. It’s not as big as the other bedrooms upstairs, but I was thinking that we should renovate it first, as your bedroom that way you would be in a more comfortable space. What do you think Bella?”

” Awww, I think you’re very sweet and considerate,” I replied, easing myself down onto one of the torn couches in the lounge. He plopped himself down in a chair across from me.

Lance turned to me. ” What’s the plan now, Luna?”

I sighed and leaned my head back on the couch, I hadn’t really planned this out much beyond escaping in one piece. I didn’t know where to go from here. I cleared my voice and started ” First and foremost we have to look for jobs since the money we came with won’t carry us for long.”

Jack gave me his tablet so that I could type up resumes and start looking for jobs.

” It’s going to be hard since we have no references, no work history. Who is going to hire us?” Lance asked

“Fake it,” Jack said with a shrug and joined us on the couch. ” If each of you gets a phone, you can create a fake work history and list each other as references.”

I stared at him and he held up his defensively ” What?” People do it all the time and it’s not a big issue here.”

I leaned back on the chair and rubbed my forehead ” He’s right somehow, we need to buy a phone that would be our top priority. And everybody should make sure not to call any contact from the pack to avoid us being traced.”

Violet started twisting a golden curl around her hand innocently. “Do you think they will bother themselves to look for us?” I looked up into that signature smiley face of hers and shook my head ” I don’t know Vi.”

I started pouring over a handwritten budget at a makeshift desk when Lance and Jack came and sat close to me “Luna?”

Lance called out to me, I didn’t even look up ” You know you don’t have to keep addressing me with that title.”

He ignored me. ” I told Jack everything about us..”

” Oh really?” That made me look up with curiosity and I looked from Lance to Jack.

” Can he join our pack even if he’s human and not a werewolf?” Lance pleaded

I took my time in answering, pondering about the whole stuff. Some packs strictly forbid inter-species connections, while some were very open and free with the connections. Though mating between humans and werewolves wasn’t common, it did happen sometimes. I sighed knowing they were waiting for my response. ” Sure, he’s very much welcome to join our mighty and small pack.” I declared

They squealed and jumped up and down like little kids who were handed a pack of candy. Lance grabbed me in a fierce hug and kissed my cheek ” You’re the most amazing Luna and sister ever.”

I squeezed his back. ” I think you are just incredibly easy to please bro.” He giggled while Jack hugged and thanked me for approving him to join my pack.

Later in the day, Jack was able to pull some calls and got Violet and Lance a job in the Disney hotel where he also worked as a receptionist at the front desk. Violet worked in the housekeeping department while Lance worked in the hotel restaurant as a waiter. The manager of the hotel was an old family friend of Jack’s, so he didn’t ask too many questions about their application or the gaping holes in their resumes.

They didn’t agree for me to work as their Luna. I spent my time organizing our budget. Everyone was willingly contributing half of their salary to the pack funds. This enabled us to pay all the bills and the mortgage. There was electricity, internet, heating fuel, taxes plus our grocery and supplies. I also had to put some money toward our renovation projects and then I tried to put as much away in the savings as I could.

With time we would have to find ways to expand financially and also invest, but for a start, I was satisfied that we were able to pay our bills and fix up our house.

During Sunday brunch, I decided to talk to Lance about training our little pack so we could learn how to defend ourselves if the need arises.

” Lance. We will need you to train us,” I said

He squirmed in his chair. ” I don’t know Bella, Training wasn’t really my thing. I mean, I went because I had to but I’m not a tutor like my brother Malcolm.” I grimaced at the mention of his name, but I tried hard not to let it show. My strange attraction to Malcolm will forever remain my dirty secret.

” Look, Lance.” I pointed my fork at him. “We’re not total beginners, just start with the basics, please. We really need to learn. Moreover, it’s just the four of us and we all need all the help we can get.”

He shrugged ” Okay, it’s settled then. I would check the schedule of my work and find out the perfect time for the training. I smiled at him as he happily relished his meals and engaged in a football discussion with Jack.

But in all, I was bored despite being surrounded by my best friends, I was feeling lonely.

I felt like some essential piece of myself was missing.

When Violet was off from work, we would drive around to explore different places. We would wander around the local shopping mall, visit a nearby moon lake, and also visit the menagerie for sightseeing but none of this was able to quench the lonely hole in my heart. I felt lonely and broken and I knew deep down in my heart and soul that only one person could fill the void in my aching heart.