Free Queen Bitch of the Callowwood Pack (Siren Publishing Classic) by Siobhan Muir Page A

son.”
    Julianna’s Sister howled with jubilation. You will claim your male and be his Mate forever! He belongs to you. Julianna wanted to shout her joy to the hills, but one thought killed it.
    “Jeff is the next Alpha of the whole pack?”
    Sebrina nodded with a satisfied smile. “He is. He has been groomed for this position since his birth some forty years ago.”
    “Isn’t that a bit old to take over?”
    Sebrina laughed, patting her hand again like an indulgent parent. “Oh my dear daughter, Moon Singers can live a hand of centuries, especially when they’re True Mated. Jefferson is quite young to take the reins.”
    I’m going to live for centuries? “I see.”
    “Tonight is a very special night because now the pack begins the search for the Luna.”
    “Luna? Is that some sort of…Moon Princess?”
    Sebrina looked at her shrewdly, her smile full of approval. “In a manner of speaking, yes. The Luna is the female Alpha, the feminine energy that balances the masculine. To be an effective leader, the future Alpha must pick his Luna, the female to rule with him with the Lady Moon’s blessing.”
    Julianna bit her bottom lip and smoothed a wrinkle in the tablecloth in front of her. “Will the Luna be the Alpha’s mate for life?”
    “Yes. They are a life-mated pair.”
    He is your True Mate. Your male.
    “How is the Luna chosen?”
    “In the first days of the Moon Singers, when the Lady walked this world, it was a simple matter of the Alpha finding his True Mate and she would be the Luna. But as time passed, and Moon Singers were outnumbered by humans, it became harder for the Alphas to find their True Mates. Balanced leadership was still necessary, so the elders of each pack decreed that the strongest alpha females would be presented for candidacy for Luna in hopes that one of them was the True Mate to the new Alpha.”
    “Wait, wait. You said alpha too many times here. What’s the difference between alpha ”—Julianna used air quotes—“and Alpha ?”
    At first, Sebrina looked at Julianna as if she’d lost her mind. Then she lifted her chin in understanding and smiled.
    “It is like referring to the president. There are many presidents out there, those of companies or clubs. But only one President of the humans’ United States. For Moon Singers, there are many alpha members, but only one Alpha pair. This candidacy party is for the selection of the Alpha female.”
    “So the candidates for Luna are selected in…a beauty pageant?” Julianna’s eyes narrowed in disgust.
    “Well, not for beauty, but to find the strongest and most capable female to lead the pack with the Alpha.” Sebrina gestured to the colorful female guests milling under the tents. “That’s what this party is about. This is where the Luna candidates will be presented to the ruling Alpha and his Successor.”
    Julianna’s eyes followed Sebrina’s gesture. “Are all these women being presented tonight?”
    “No, only the strongest and highest ranking alpha females.”
    The older woman pointed toward Cameron Winthrop. The younger woman wore a deep mustard-yellow strapless dress with a matching wrap. Her black hair was piled on top of her head in a complicated coif covered in a net of golden pearls. She spoke with several other guests, as regal in her bearing as Brenda Solaris had been in her entry.
    “That one is sure to be chosen as a candidate. Her family has been in this Pack for generations, and her paternal uncle is one of the current Alpha’s cadre.”
    “So this party is a presentation of females for the future Alpha?”
    “That’s right.”
    “Then where is the current Luna? Was that Jeff’s mother?”
    Sebrina’s face grew solemn. “Yes. It was a great loss when she died.”
    “Is that part of why Richard is stepping down as Alpha?”
    “I suspect so. The Alpha does not confide in me now that the Luna is gone.”
    Julianna tried to remember when Jeff’s mother died, but she only recalled her mother