Chapter 14: The Red Moon Truce Summit

Ran didn't expect that Caph would notice the subtle change in her demeanour, much less pinpoint the exact cause of her anxiety.

Werewolves could sense a person's emotions more easily than humans but they often ignored such feelings and considered them a distraction from the important stuff.

See something didn't necessarily mean paying attention to it.

But Caph noticed and did not brush aside her frantic overturning of her father's study as something meaningless.

He also noticed how she missed the opportunity to make sarcastic remarks about him.

'It's my first time going,' she answered brusquely. 'I wasn't Beta yet four years ago.'

'You'll be fine,' Caph said, resting one hand on her shoulder.

Ran glanced up at him to check if he meant it.

He did.

His blue eyes were glowing with pride.

'These past two weeks, I've been learning about what your pack has accomplished here in Punggol. Every member of your pack spoke highly of you. You have done a lot for your people as Beta. You inspire them by doing your best. Even Acamar himself said you worked very hard and he could leave important matters to you because you'd do them well. So even though you'll be surrounded by many other capable and intimidating people at the Red Moon Summit, you'll be fine.'

The heat of Caph's gaze warmed her cheeks and the tip of her ears.

She looked back down at her father's meticulous notes about all the Alphas and Betas he talked to.

'Um...thanks, Caph.'

Caph peered over her shoulder to read the notes as well. 'Not as reassuring but it'll be my first time too. And I'm not even a Beta. I'm just playing pretend Alpha.' He smirked self-deprecatingly.

Ran didn't see it. She had told herself not to look at him again.

But she smiled to herself. 'You're a natural, fourth son of Celphus. And I'll lend you my father's notes too, so we both don't make a fool out of ourselves.'

Caph rested his chin on her shoulder, wrapping his arms around the back of her chair and circling her neck. 'I can just read it like this.'

Her elbow went into his ribs. 'Not a chance.'

In order to get to the Summit on time, Acamar, Ran and Caph left Punggol at 3 am to catch a plane from Buttercup International Airport. It was too far of a distance to run in wolf form and they had to bring along luggages of gifts for the other leaders.

Although it was unlikely that anything would happen since it was a Red Moon Truce, the pack would be in the hands of the Delta and Gamma leaders. All werewolves honoured the Red Moon Truce the same way they submitted to their Alphas. It was an irresistable instinct. Fighting ceased unwittingly and no blood could be spilled.

It's just that Acamar never lowered his guard ever since the rogue attack.

Their flight was an uneventful eight hours during which they were sound asleep. When they landed in Middleton, a large bustling metropolitan city ten times the size of Buttercup Town. From there, they hailed a taxi and travelled four hours north, to an obscure countryside hotel run by humans who were friends of the Leo pack who ruled the territory.

As she expected, Acamar made her share a room with Caph even though they were not married yet. It was a calculated move to convey to the other packs that Caph was as good as Alpha of Eridanus beside Ran.

Ran had not been able to wriggle her way out of this in order to prevent her uncle from basically announcing to the world that she would be handing over the position of Alpha to Caph.

And frankly, she hadn't thought that far.

She was exhausted and jetlagged from travelling such a long distance (even though she was asleep for most of it). All she wanted to do right now was continue sleeping but they only had an hour before they had to be at the reception in the hotel ballroom.

Ran decided she was going to take a nap no matter what. It would clear her mind of anxious thoughts. No point worrying about what she could do now.

It was already done.

Caph had gone in search of his father to greet him, so she had the whole room to herself. She showered quickly and set an alarm for herself, then collapsed on the bed and closed her eyes.

She must have dozed off for a while because when she opened them, she heard the doorbell ringing incessantly.

It had only been 15 minutes. She gritted her teeth and stormed to the door.

'Don't you have your own key card? I was taking a–'

Only, the person at the door was not Caph.

His eyes were chocolate brown and he was bulkier, more muscular. A beautiful woman with dark hair and blonde highlights clung to him, her yellow eyes reluctantly turning from his face to look at her.

She smiled lazily, long eyelashes fluttering.

'Oh Dingo, your first love is a cutie.'