"Let me call River and Sage back." Matthew says once he's gotten enough kisses in. The smile unable to wash off his face.

I'm about to move out of his arms, but he tightens them quickly, keeping me in place on his lap. I let him hold me, putting my arms around his neck and placing kisses on his cheek while he mind links River and Sage. Matthew sighs contently, eyes fluttering shut as he enjoys my attention.

I stop as soon as there's a knock on the door. Sage walking in first, her eyes landing on us, quickly followed by a thankful breath. She looks like she just dodged a bullet by the way her body calms down. "Thank Goddess," She smiles brightly.

I raise my eyebrow at her, "Happy I'm staying?"

"So happy," Sage doesn't even bother sugarcoating it. "I would hate to go down to the Full Moon and have your name removed from the scoreboard."

I let out a small laugh, "You'd love it actually. You'd be the record holder."

"By default," She crosses her arms. "Not merit."

River suddenly appears behind his sister. He takes one look at the way Matthew is holding me, how he's relaxed, and his aura isn't remotely negative. River gives me a kind smile, "I guess we'll have to officially throw Mia an initiation."

I perk up at this, "Really?"

We'll have a pack? My wolf jumps with glee.

"Yes, gorgeous." Matthew smiles, his fingers trailing on the inside of my wrist where I'll have the brand of his pack. "We'll have our fall initiation soon. You'll be a part of it."

River walks over to the chair across from Matthew's desk. He places his hands on the back of the chair, leaning in slightly. "We need to discuss a few things with you, Mia."

The tone of River's voice changes ever so slightly but I notice. Matthew snaps his eyes to River, narrowing them at his friend. River initially flinches, but quickly relaxes his shoulders. "She needs to know, Alpha."

Sage is quick to support her brother, nodding along with him. She pulls up a chair, setting it backwards so that she's straddling the back while taking a seat. Her arms cross over the back, eyes locked on me.

"I'm happy you want to stay Mia, really." She starts off, "But Alpha Bren's letter makes things more complicated for us."

I frown, "Why?"

"He's formally requesting Alpha's across the country to report you if they see you." River explains slowly, "A formal request from an Alpha is usually signed off by the King, which means—"

"Dickwad's letter has royal approval." Matthew interrupts, annoyance lacing his voice. "By not reporting you to Sparta, I'm going against the decree of the King to show loyalty, transparency and humility towards other packs."

"That's...that's absurd." I can't help a small tinge of panic hit me. Would I be putting the Valley in danger by me being here? Why would the King even sign this off? I doubt that Bren was so kind to provide any details.

"We were drafting plans on how to circumvent this situation." River cups his chin in thought, his eyes staying put on me. "Who all knows you're from Sparta?"

I shrug, "Just you three and Tyler."

"Tyler?" Sage frowns, "Why'd you tell him?"

"I didn't have to tell him. We practice together in physical training, and he figured it out. He hasn't told anyone though." I glance between Sage and River, "So what do you both recommend we do? I can't go back to Sparta."

"You don't have the brand," Sage analyzes. "Which means there's no clear indication that you're from there. Step one is that we initiate you as one of our own. That way no one can really question what pack you're from. At least, no outsiders."

My wrist itches for the brand. I want so badly to have the Celtic tree of life on me. Keeping myself a secret is going to be the best solution to this problem. I'm not sure how long we can keep it up, but maybe the longer is goes, the less likely Bren is going to want me back. Maybe he'll just assume I've died.

"Step two?" I ask.

"Step two is the Advisor issue." Matthew rubs his temple, "He had the audacity of sending a separate letter suggesting that he has Advisors that are ready to be sanctioned to different packs."

"Spies you mean." I say under my breath with a frown. Typical Bren, hotheaded and unbelievably obvious. He really hasn't grown at all over these last few months.

River nods, "We expect they're going to be located to keep an eye out for you. We don't know how to hide you away if a Spartan is here. I'm assuming they'll pick up on you as soon as they're on the territory."

My shoulders sink slightly—what's the point of being kept a secret if someone is just going to come and expose me. Anxiety starts to rid its ugly face. Why can't I just be left alone and stay here with Matthew without any complications.

Even with the severity of the situation, River manages to push a friendly smile. "You're quite popular after all."

I return his smile, letting all the knowledge I have of Sparta start to wash over me. I need to find a solution—or at least a piece to solve this puzzle. The gears in my mind working overtime until I feel like a lightbulb has gone over my head. I turn to Matthew, "Request Clara!"

The thought almost excites me. Having Clara here would be amazing. She might miss all the battling and fighting that we had in Sparta, but I have no doubt she would easily fit in. Matthew seems to consider it for a moment, his mind trying to process the idea.

Finally, he shakes his head, "It's too obvious Mia. Requesting your best friend while you're missing."

"Clara was one of the top in her class in academics." I smirk slightly, "With my help anyways. But if you request an Advisor with certain academic criteria, it should only narrow it down to roughly two or three girls. I can help you come up with the criteria that you require of an Advisor. You can say that you expect the Advisor to teach university classes and Clara fits the bill."

"Can this girl be trusted?" Sage asks hesitantly. There's doubt in her expression and I can tell she doesn't fully believe me.

"Clara is the only person I would trust." I tell them honestly. Thinking back to all my memories with her, of our friendship over the years. Clara would never betray me. Especially for Alpha Bren.

"We'll draft up a plan in that case." River turns his attention to Matthew. "I can't guarantee this will work in the long term, Alpha."

"I know," Matthew nods. "But for now, it gives us time to plan something else. Maybe make favor with the King."

I can only imagine the work that we're going to have to put in to get the King to agree. He's incredibly adamant towards mates being together. Previous King's were focused on uniting Alpha's across the world. Some were driven by war. But overall, they left the kingdom to Aiden quite secured. Alpha King Aiden's reign has thus far been maintaining peace amongst the packs, enforcing werewolf laws, and having to battle against the Rebellion.

"Is there anything else I should know about?" I ask when silence falls in the room. River and Sage look at each other. Matthew turning away from me, his expression hard. I'm somewhat afraid to ask at this point, "What is it?"

Matthew nervously plays with his wolf ring, a mannerism I've realized he does when he's nervous, anxious, or trying to control himself.

"Mia," Sage says with a sigh. "To keep you a secret, Alpha can't mark you."

Matthew can't suppress his growl, his grip tightening on me. Sage's comment catching me off guard as I try to process her words. My wolf gets pissed off by the statement, practically growling in my head. I haven't put that much thought in the idea of Matthew marking me but I'm somehow angry and sad at once.

"What do you mean?" I ask blankly.

"If Alpha marks you," River explains with a sad expression in his eyes. It's almost like he was rooting for it to be honest. "Then you would be the Luna of the pack."

I grab onto Matthew's hand. We haven't talked about this. We definitely should. It's been brought up too many times for us to put it off. I just haven't thought of mentioning it. I'm content with just getting to know Matthew, falling in love with him. But part of me is also afraid that he might not want to officially claim me as Luna. I'm not his mate and his mate was supposed to be the one to lead the Valley.

"It's tradition by some packs, including this one," Matthew tells me. "That when a new Luna is claimed, we host other Alpha's to meet her. Sparta doesn't have this tradition, but it's still required that at the very minimum, we claim the Luna to the King and to the packs. The Luna has to pledge her fidelity to the crown."

So many traditions I didn't know about. Sparta was never a place to really abide to monarchic rules. We always did the bare minimum to please the King. But now that I know how close Matthew was to King Aiden, I'm not surprised that the Valley partakes in older traditions.

"It's like those baby announcements," Sage explains with an eyeroll. "Except it goes, 'Hey the Valley pack has just claimed their Luna, her name is Mia Holms. We might host a party but maybe not this year.' Then at the bottom it practically tags the King, 'At Alpha King, here's Mia Holm's name so you can write it in your old history books.'"

I nod in understanding, realizing that in any other circumstance I might have laughed at Sage's explanation. "But I mean..." I can't help asking, "Would the King actually find out? It seems kind of stupid. If you didn't send that announcement, would he really know?"

"He would find out." Matthew sinks down, "The King has his ways. He's incredibly powerful. Magical even."

Matthew seems a bit deflated. I squeeze his hand, offering him a smile. "It's okay then. You don't have to mark me. We'll be fine."

River snorts back a scoff. Matthew's eyes snapping at him quickly with a low growl. River puts his hands up in surrender, "Sorry."

"You don't think it'll work?" I ask him honestly.

"No, I think this is a proper short-term solution." River crosses his arms, keeping his eyes on Matthew. "I'm just unsure of how long Alpha will be able to go without marking you."

"I'll be fine." Matthew grumbles under his breath, "If it means keeping Mia safe, I won't mark her."

There's a distaste in his words like he's savoring silver. My wolf can't help it and be giddy at the thought of being marked. Not to mention seeing Matthew's reaction. He wants to mark me. He wants to make me the Luna. It gets me really excited, but I quickly have to push those thoughts back.

We're not getting marked? My wolf huffs, But I want it.

Not yet, I tell her to try and reassure her.

"Alright," Sage gets up from her chair. "Looks like we've got a small plan brewing. I'll start working with the university and pack regarding this fall's initiation. We can let everyone know that Mia will be there. I'm sure she'll be getting a lot of support."

River meets Matthew's eyes, "I'll work on any contingencies and make sure to have a plan in place in case shit hits the fan. If I could schedule a meeting with Mia at some point to discuss her knowledge of Sparta, that could really help me with preparing our wolves for anything."

Matthew nods, "Very well. We'll figure something out. She and I will also send you a draft of our request for Clara. I want you to verify any information you have on her and get a list of all Advisors Alpha Bren is offering so I can cross reference it with Mia."

River agrees, making his way towards the doors, Sage following close after. Just as they're about to leave, River turns to face me. "Make sure he doesn't mark you." He says sternly, "No matter how bad either of you want it."

Matthew growls, "Close the damn door on your way out."

I can't help but chuckle softly as they do as he says. As soon as they're gone, Matthew pulls me closer, nuzzling into my neck to inhale my scent. "There are plenty of other things we can do, you know?" He says suggestively.

I pull away, leaving feather like kisses along his jaw. Matthew let's me kiss him. Let's me shower him in affection. He closes his eyes and I take the opportunity to shift my body so that I'm straddling him. A hum slowly emitting from his chest as my hands find their way under his shirt, fingers skimming across his toned stomach.

"I could get used to this," He says licking his lips. His eyes flutter open, dark green orbs staring at me intensely. A smile plays on him, "Say it again, gorgeous."

"What?" I tease him, fully aware of what he wants to hear. His hands trail down until they're firmly gripping my ass. I let out a small laugh, Matthew cutting me off with a firm kiss. His lips soft and tongue instantly looking for mine.

He pulls away quickly, leaving me lightheaded. I smile, "I'm staying here Matthew. With you."

He kisses me again—the seriousness of the last few minutes with River and Sage flying away. Because Goddess...I just want to stay here with Matthew. And nothing is going to ruin my enjoying of him.