As we step out of her suite, Barty, Xander and the Alpha King are waiting for us. I can’t wait until they let me have the warrior brand and I can mindlink with everyone here. It’s kind of quiet for my wolf and | in my head. I didn’t realize | enjoyed the chaos of the dull hum of voices constantly in my head.
“You look wonderful Little One. Maybe some of these Elders will be so mesmerized into silence we will actually get some things accomplished this morning.” Alpha Reggie smiles at me. “And you are beautiful as always my dear. I see you are going for a power move early matching Skylar.” He chuckles a little, stepping in to give her a kiss on the temple.
Luna Anne’s outfit is also maroon, but in a deeper shade.
It’s a dress that ends in a form fitting pencil skirt and paired with a cropped long sleeved jacket that has some navy threads woven into it. It’s a power suit, she looks ready for public speaking and to take on a bunch of old men.
Alpha Reggie holds out his arm for her and Xander does the same for me and we head down the hallway toward the elevators. This feels like a parade and I’m getting more and more nervous as we get closer to the elevator doors.
Barty steps in with another warrior and the rest of us just stand here. We must go down in small groups to make an entrance. When it comes back a few minutes later, two more warriors step in and Xander leads me with him. I didn’t even see these warriors when we came out of Luna Anne’s suite, they are very discreet. I want to watch them work, but I have to keep reminding myself I have a job to do and it’s bigger than I expected.
As we travel the couple floors, Xander lets my arm go and reaches in his pocket to pull out a small box.
“This is for you, and before you freak out, it’s from all of us.”
He opens the lid and a set of silver bracelets are stacked together. They are all small solid cuff-like bracelets, each with a different gem placed at one end. It’s all their colors, my heart clenches at the thought. They are reaching out even this far apart. “They were all intrigued that you were going to be attending this conference with me and wanted to make sure that |, and everyone else, knew that you have a handful of friends out there laying claim to you.” | couldn’t help but laugh. He helped me add them to the bracelets Luna Anne gave me. “These are amazing! | love them. Whose idea was it.” | quirked an eyebrow at him.
“Uh, to get you something or the bracelets specifically?”
“Nevermind, based on that answer, | know.” | hold my hand up to stop him, the bracelets clinking as they slide up my arm. “The minute you told them was coming with you and was going to be paraded around, Oliver and Dakota decided that I needed something to imply | was taken. Cameron probably came up with the idea of the bracelets since | really don’t like any other kind of jewelry. Sam probably suggested the colored stones, which is an inside joke so I would know it’s from them and my brother trying to make up for lost time, had the inside of his inscribed. How close was 1%* His jaw dropped. “Umm, with the exception of mine, spot on. You know your guys well.” He smiled at me.
“Well, you, having slightly more knowledge on my situation than the guys, probably waited until they all had theirs done and then got the bracelet that was slightly wider, but enough to notice, just to piss them off. And you were bringing them to me so they had no say in how I got them.”
Xander openly laughs at me, just as the elevator stops. “You have us all pegged. Remind me not to get on your bad side, you can probably detect weaknesses in your sleep.” He holds his elbow at me to take. “You ready for the circus?”
“Is anyone ever actually ready for this?”
“Probably not, you just have to get really good at pretending.” He says, leaning to whisper in my ear as we walk out. I can already see scowls on many of the faces. I may need to carry a weapon on me for extra protection.
