Chapter 5: The Plan in Motion

Adeline's POV

I've quite literally never heard a silence this loud.

Zale manages to gather his entire family in his home for one afternoon. Aunties, cousins, siblings, parents, and all. They're all staring at me now.

The most angered expression belongs to—

“What?” A woman demands as she takes a step forward.

Her. Sierra Li, the older sister of Dianne Seoh, Zale’s mother.

“Shall I repeat it for you again, aunty?” Zale quips to the older woman, which makes her brow tick in annoyance. She isn’t shy about showcasing her opinion on the matter.

“Don’t be smart with me, boy,” She gesture to me with a look of disgust, “You cannot possibly presume to have this as your candidate.”

“I don’t intend to have Adeline as my candidate,” Zale says calmly, the grip he has on my side tight as he pulls me closer to his side. “She is the only choice.”

The room erupts into a fit of arguments at his statement, and my eyes flutter through the room as everyone begins to say their peace. Moon in heaven, why does everyone seem to be able to have an opinion on his life beside him?

I shoot my gaze at Zale to gauge his reaction, but his expression is empty. It's like he was expecting this reaction from his family. This… unsupported reaction. How can they be so crass even to their own family?

Instinctively my hand comes up to place itself across his one at my side, and I watch as Zale’s eyes turn to me. He doesn’t move his head, so he looks down at me from the corner of his eyes. I've never seen a fiercer-looking man.

I rip my gaze from him and look around the room. Just then, I catch the eye of his mother, Dianne, who is standing next to her husband and mate, James. The former alpha and luna are standing casually in the middle of a dining room.

It all seems so… domestic. And yet not. Why does this whole situation feel so incorrect?

I see her tilt her head at me as her eyes move up from where Zale and I were holding onto each other, and then she spoke up. “What of your arrangement with Leona?”

The woman in question squeaks as she is mentioned, and my eyes move to her. Zale told me about the woman his family wants him to be mated to, but she simply isn’t an option for him.

Leona Green, Zale’s childhood best friend. I feel a sort of hopelessness when Zale tells me of their strong friendship, but he assures me he can not feel anything for her beyond that.

I won't lie if I say a part of me doesn’t sting for her. Unrequited love was a bi—

“I intend to be mated to Adeline. She is my final choice.”

“Then we will have to settle it with the ritual!” Sierra roars, looking as though she were on her wit's end with this entire conversation.

“You can’t be serious,” Zale growls out as he steps forward towards his aunty.

“Quite so, young man. It is the way of things. We cannot simply allow you to forgo such a perfect match simply for a,” she looks to me with a look of disgust, “a mere dalliance.”

I scoff. “And I suppose you would be the one to notice a dalliance if it were presented before you?”

Sierra’s eyes widen at my implication, and she seeths at me, “Excuse me?”

“You’re excused,” I shoot back at her as I take a step forward. “I respect you as an elder member of Zale’s family, but I will not allow you to disrespect me due to this.”

The woman opens her mouth quickly, but I carry on. “He is a grown man, I am a grown woman, and we have decided on this matter.”

“I appreciate the concern, aunty. But as Adeline has stated, we have both made our decision,” Zale says as he backs me up.

“Why not have the ritual then?” Ebonie speaks up, and the room goes silent. She is the oldest here, being Zale’s grandmother. “If you both have made your resolve and it should be accepted by the goddess herself, there is no reason to deny this action.”

She raises her perfect brow, “Unless, of course, there is something else that may prevent the stone from choosing Adeline?”

Zale is silent for a moment, and so am I. Sh*t. If we deny it, they would know something was up. I back down as Zale speaks up.

“Very well then, we shall have it your way.” The family seems somewhat more pleased with this outcome, but the angered look on Leona and her family’s faces don’t retreat.

“Adeline.” My head turns towards Zale as he calls out to me, and again I take his outstretched hand and let him lead me away somewhere in the mansion. I don’t turn back to face his family, but I can feel their glares against my back.

And then the tingles against the skin of my open back are full of different sensation as Zale places his hand there. The tingles shoot through my body until we are outside, and the cold air hits me. I take in a long, deep breath.

“What are we going to do?”

“I have a plan.” I look at Zale, exasperated.

“What sort of plan? What if we do the ritual and the moon goddess chooses Leona instead of—”

“Don’t worry about it.”

I blow air into my cheeks at his dismissive tone. Zale shrugs his jacket off from his shoulders and throws it at me when he notices my slight shiver, but I catch it in the air and throw it back into his chest.

“I am putting as much risk into this plan as you are, if not more. I’m going to need you to do better than ‘don’t worry about it,’ Zale.”

His sharp eyes shoot toward me, and it's then that I notice the concentrated look on his face. But I don’t back down. We were partners in this. I'm risking everything else I have left. I'm not going just to sit back and enjoy the ride.

Zale sighs as he pinches the bridge of his nose and moves closer to me. I watch as his arms open to encase me, and he drapes the jacket over my shoulders, pulling me closer to him at the same time.

What shocks me isn’t that. It was what he did after. Zale brought me closer to him until our bodies were touching, and he leaned closer to whisper into my ear. “Behave,” He whispered, “They’re watching.”

I tried to withhold the shiver that raked my body, but he only pulled me tighter against him and ran his nose up my neck.

“Now would be a good time not to suppress that sensitive body of yours.”

I can barely swallow. My throat feels clogged up. I feel my eyes rise to peak over his shoulder, and I can barely make out the faintest movement from the curtains at the nearest window.

“Who is it?”

“It doesn’t matter. Wrap your arms around me.”

I do as he says, slightly hesitating as I do so. My hands make contact with the back of Zale’s neck.

“What are you, a nun?” He shoots down at me, “At least try to make it look believable.”

I shoot him a dirty look at his reproach. “If you wanted me to touch you, all you had to do was ask.”

He scoffs and then laughs down at me. My stomach does a flip, and for a split second, I wonder if the wide-open grin is genuine or not. When I look into his eyes, I can tell it isn’t.

“Please,” He bends down closer to my ear as he purrs, “Touch me, darling.”

I swallow down this time. Hard. And then I reach up into his hair and tug at the nape of his neck.

“So, what’s your plan? Seeing as we have a second.”

Zale’s nose brushes up and then down my neck once more before speaking. “I had spent some years in Japan with another pack doing some research.”

“On what?” I ask him as I pull away slightly, but he only tightens his grip on my body. I can feel his hard edges against my front and nearly sigh at the firmness of it. Luckily, I catch myself just in time.

“The moon goddess stone.” His admission shocks me. “I can manipulate it.”