Chapter 133

Olivia POV

How did it come to this? I asked my wolf.

My wolf had no answer.

I had gone into the garden to apologize to Elroy and to see if I could figure out what was going so wrong between us. He’d been like a stranger at dinner with his cold eyes. My very breath had seemed to irritate him.

I’d followed his scent and found Elroy in the garden talking to Emma, who was wearing almost Luna-like robes and staring at my mate with infuriating puppy eyes. The moon was shining, the flowers were delicately fragrant, and the stars were out: it was a fairytale setting, and I saw the way they were leaning toward each other, almost as though they were getting ready to kiss.

“It’s a lovely night,” I said as I approached them. Elroy turned calmly enough, but Emma flinched back as though I had caught her doing something wrong. “I’m surprised the whole Palace hasn’t come out to enjoy the garden.”

“How was your nap?” Elroy asked, and I saw his eyes were tight with some emotion I couldn’t place.

“I feel much better, thank you,” I said. I looked at his companion. “I told him about the Steering Committee, and he was curious as to what exactly the committee will be doing. Can you fill in some details for both of us?”

She laughed and looked at me as though I had said something odd rather than ask a perfectly reasonable question. “As the name implies, it’s to help the initiative stay on its intended course.”

“And as a member of this committee, perhaps you would like to tell your Luna what you think that course should be?” I asked. “Will you be providing regular reports, and if so, to whom?”

She laughed. “Surely this isn’t the right time for business matters? As wolves, should we not be enjoying the moonlight?”

“We can do both at the same time,” I said, and she looked hurt, which was ridiculous. I tried to extend a sign of peace and asked, “Would you like to go for a run?”

“In your condition?” she asked back, sounding somewhat scandalized.

“What has my condition as a pregnant wolf got to do with acting like a wolf?” I all but snarled at her.

Suddenly, she looked ready to cry. “I was only showing concern for my Luna,” she protested. “Am I not truly a member of this Pack and allowed to show that concern?”

“Olivia,” Elroy growled. “Emma is just being kind.”

“She’s being kind of something,” I agreed with a sneer, though I vaguely realized things were getting out of hand. I needed to say something to defuse the situation.

Before I could, Emma burst out into tears, grabbed her robes as she turned, and ran back into the Palace. I had about one second to feel good about the sight of it.

“Olivia!” Elroy snarled. I turned to him in alarm.

“That was completely uncalled for,” he shouted. “I cannot believe you would treat a guest of my Palace that way!”

“Your Palace? Is this not my home?” I demanded. “Is that what you’re trying to say?”

“You’re fouling your own den,” he spat.

“You’re the one fawning all over that she-wolf in front of your pregnant mate!”

“She’s a stranger in her own land and needs our help. I cannot believe you would deny her the assistance of her Alpha!”

“Is that what you call it?”

Elroy looked at me then with something close to hatred in his eyes. That is when I stood there feeling lost, wondering how things had gotten so bad so fast.

“I think you should be careful about what you imply to your Alpha,” he said, his voice deadly calm.

“Or what?” I asked. Again, I wondered who this stranger wearing Elroy’s face was. How could he even think to speak to me like I was an enemy instead of his mate?

“A Luna who is rejected by her Alpha does not do well in life afterward.”

I felt stabbed in the gut. My baby fought back inside me.

“Is that what you’re going to do?” I asked, hearing and feeling the tears in my voice.

He looked somewhat taken aback, but then he rallied. “If, I mean, if I have to, then yes!”

Reeling from the shock of it, I turned and walked slowly back to the Palace. I waited for Elroy to call after me, but he didn’t.

The moment I stepped over the threshold from the garden to the parlor, I knew she was standing there. In the dim light of the moon and stars through the glass doors, I could see her smiling.

“Is there anything I can do to help you, Luna?” she asked in a voice of pure syrup.

“You’ve helped me enough,” I told her.

For a long moment, we stood there looking at each other. Then she laughed.

“Surely you’ve known all along it would come to this,” she said. “You mated yourself to someone who wasn’t your fate. You must have realized his true mate would come along, and you would be gone.”

“I carry the Alpha’s child inside me,” I said, trying to sound defiant but sounding, I was sure, defeated instead.

She shrugged. “Sure, he’ll keep you around until you give him a pup, then you’re no longer needed. And when that day comes, I will be there.”

With that, she turned and walked out of the room.

I was Luna of Lunaris, mate of the Alpha of Lunaris Pack. I was the daughter of the Alpha of Moonstone Pack. I spoke for the Goddess. I led the Pack’s souls.

And all I could was stand there and try not to cry.