The Mark of Betrayal (by Cooper) novel Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Leaders

Roman

I feel like there’s been a small shift in Samantha. It’s not trust, but it’s the start of something that feels like it might be trust I’ll take it. Whatever she went through when she was a pup traumatized her. Somewhere along the way, she decided that Alphas couldn’t be trusted. Or maybe it’s mates that can’t be trusted. She did say the poisoned food was meant for her mate if

she found him

1 gently rub my thumb over the back of her hand which is still clasped in mine. She didn’t pull away and holding her hand feels better than just about anything I’ve felt before. Goddess when she finally accepts me, it’s going to be incredible.

I’m not really sure you saw much of the packhouse. It looked like you were focused on meeting the pack members,” I say as

we walk downstairs.

“Yes. It was a lot of people all at once and I was trying to remember names and who is related to whom,” she says, surprising

me

“No one expects you to remember all of that after your f

your first meeting.” I say.

She looks up at me. “I expect it. I could feel how much having me here means to your pack…”

“Our pack,” I say, interrupting her.

“YOUR Dark

pack,” the clarifies before continuing They need a Luna,” she says softly..

“You are their Luna. That makes this your pack too. Even if you haven’t accepted me yet, you seem to have accepted them as

readily as they accepted you.”

She frowns and I can feel her thinking through her own emotions, the desire to take care of this pack. She may not be saying

it out loud, but internally, she knows this is her pack and she’s already feeling a strong responsibility to them.

She’s so perfect, Pierce purTS.

1 see Samantha’s lips twitch and she glances up at me

“Pierce is quite taken with you and Ayla” I say. I don’t bother denying it, it’s pretty obvious.

When we walk into the kitchen, everyone looks up.

“LUNA” the omegas exclaim as if she’s been away on vacation and they missed seeing her.

Now Samantha does pull away from me and I let her, watching her work her magic on my omegas.

“Our omegas,” Pierce corrects, sighing like a love sick puppy as he watches her.

‘Her omegas if their devotion to their new Luna is any indication,‘ I say, still amazed at how quickly and easily my pack has

absorbed her as their own.

“I’m so sorry, Justina, but your Alpha and I missed dinner,” Samantha says, already remembering names

“That’s okay, Luna. We made you plates. We weren’t sure how long you’d be or if you wanted us to bring them to you, but we thought it was better if we didn’t bother you,” Justina says.

“We hope you like lemon chicken, Luna,” Ellie, another omega, says

‘No

one has ever asked me what kind of

of food I like,’ I say to Pierce.

ng off of hi

him like he’s a damn cartoon character

“We eat everything,” he says distractedly. I swear I can see little hearts coming

gazing at his love interest.

“It smells delicious,” Samantha says, leaning over the plate and sniffing “And is this rosemary in the mashed potatoes?”

“It goes well with the lemon chicken, Luna But if you don’t like it

I can’t wait to try it. Do you know, I was hiding as an omega in my last pack. The Lead Omega wouldn’t let me cook anything I’m a terrible cook,” she whispers conspiratorially to the omegas. They all begin giggling

“You weren’t meant to be a cook. You were meant to be a Luna,” Justina says sweetly.

there did you want to eat?*

“How right you are,” she says, then turns to me. “Roman, where did you

“Oh, hi Alpha!” the omegas say, as if they’ve only just noticed that I was standing here

Who cares about us when they have her, Pierce sighs. Seriously, my entire pack and my wolf are now under the spell of this

woman

‘Don’t pretend you’re immune, Pierce says.

He’s right, I’m not. Pierce sends an image of Samantha leading a bull with my face on it around by the nose.

I really don’t like you, I say, watching as Samantha’s eyebrow goes up.

“What?” I ask.

“Where did you want to eat?” she says slowly as if I can’t keep up

“The dining hall is fine,” I say, stepping forward and taking the plates. “Thank you, everyone, for setting aside plates for us. Your Luna is right, it smells delicious.”

Instead of acknowledging me, they all turn their smiles to Samantha I sigh and turn. I’m pretty sure if she told them to stop feeding me, they would. 1

A few moments later, Samantha joins me in the dining hall with two drinks

“Is there a problem?” she asks as she sits across from me.

I look at her, wondering how much I can truly trust her. “Why didn’t you take over Alpha William’s pack?”

“What? Why would I do that?” she asks, cutting into her chicken.

“Because you could have, easily.”

“He’s a good Alpha,” she says, shrugging

*You a

are stronger than he is. You could have made the pack stronger by becoming their Alpha,” I say

“There’s more to being a good leader than being strong, Roman.”

“What do you think makes a good leader?” Lask, genuinely interested in her thoughts.

“Strength is one part of it, but I think a good leader has compassion, intelligence, patience, confidence and humility. Alpha William never once raised his voice to his omegas. But he could devastate them by simply and quietly telling them he was disappointed in them. He may not have been able to defeat you in a battle, but his pack members adore him I adore him. He draws that kind of love from his pack. I would never have been so arrogant as to take that away from him or the pack”

were your parents that way

“Dad you learn that from Alpha William, the part about making the pack fall in love with you, or we as well?” I ask, holding my breath as I wait to see if she’ll answer

She plays w

with her mashed potatoes for a moment, either lost

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