Too Old for My Alpha, Worth the Wait for His Rival novel · Chapter 6 of 24

Chapter 6: The Invitation

Jolene arrived at noon in a white SUV with a warden at the wheel and a paper envelope in her lap.

Guest-right meant she could walk onto Ash Mountain land and nobody could touch her until sunset.

Alexander met her at the porch steps with his arms crossed and did not say hello.

I stood behind him in the doorway, in my clinic apron, with Eliza at my elbow.

"I brought the coat," Jolene said brightly.

She held it out in both hands, and her smile was so sweet it made my teeth hurt.

Eliza took it from her without a word.

"And I brought this." Jolene lifted the envelope. "It's a formal invitation, Catriona. You're to witness my crowning at the Midwinter Moot."

"As what?"

"As the former Luna." She tilted her head. "It's tradition. Braden thought you'd want to see it done properly."

"That was thoughtful of him."

"He's very thoughtful." She put a hand on her stomach. "He says it will be easier for you, being there. At your age, closure matters."

Eliza made a sound in her throat.

I put my hand on her arm.

"Thank you for the invitation," I said. "Is that all?"

Jolene's smile faltered for the first time.

She looked at the porch boards, at Alexander, at the yard, and then back at me, and her voice dropped to something much smaller.

"I've been sick every morning for two weeks," she said. "I can't keep anything down, and Braden's healer says it's normal, but I don't know what normal is. My mother isn't speaking to me."

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