Chapter 22

It was a simple interaction. I walked past a worker carrying warm linens, and the scent of lavender wafting off of them was calming. My linens didn’t smell like that, and I would like it if they did, so I stopped her.

“Excuse me,” I said. “Do you work in the laundry?”

“No, Luna,” the middle-aged woman said politely, “I’m one of the house maids. I might still be able to help you, though. What do you need?”

“I wouldn’t call it a need,” I said. “I just wanted to know what laundry soap they used on those linens. It smells wonderful.”

The woman’s face lit up. “Oh, it’s not actually the soap! They’re putting fresh lavender in mesh bags and putting it in the dryer with the sheets. They just started doing it.”

“Oh, really?” I asked, my eyebrows raising.

“Yes, ma’am! There’s more lavender in the garden than there used to be, and we’re all trying to find ways to use it.”

“Hence the lavender scones,” I said, remembering the delicious dessert the cooks had made for us last night.

“Yes, Luna. I believe the cook is trying to perfect some lavender macarons next, though I don’t know if he’ll succeed.” I hummed, thoughts running through my mind.

Lavender was a common scent for a reason, after all, and if they really had so much of it, maybe that could become an opportunity for Eclipse. I’d never had anything quite like that scone, and I knew Eclipse owned a bakery or two…

Suddenly, I was pulled from my thoughts by firm hand gripping my arm. Elroy's stern face appeared, his blue eyes flashing with disapproval. "Olivia, what are you doing down here?"

I bristled at his tone. "I was just talking to—"

"We're leaving. Now." Elroy's voice brooked no argument as he pulled me away from the curtsying maid.

My cheeks burned with embarrassment and anger, and I jerked my arm free as we rounded the corner. "What do you think you’re doing?” I hissed. “You can’t just manhandle me like that!”

“I’m not ‘manhandling’ you,” Elroy retorted, eyes narrow. “And you can't be seen fraternizing with the help. It's unseemly."

"Unseemly?" my voice rose, disbelieving. "They're people, Elroy, not furniture!"

"I know that!” Elroy hissed, glancing around as if afraid someone might overhear. "But we can’t change the pack’s mindset overnight, and associating with the so-called lower classes will only damage your reputation."

My mind reeled back. I’d obviously known there was a divide between nobility and commoners in this pack, but this level of disdain shocked me. "So you're saying they're worth less than us simply because of their station?"

"Of course not!” Elroy said, frustrated. "But the council, the elites, the people you need on your side to act as Luna? They do, and they have a lot more power than you realize.”

My fists clenched at my sides. How could he be so callous? The warm, kind woman I'd just been speaking with was every bit as valuable as any noble.

More so, in my opinion, considering the actual work they did.

"I won't accept it," I said, my voice low and fierce. "And I won't let you or anyone else dictate who I can speak to."

Elroy's expression hardened. "You will if you want to succeed as Luna. Your reputation is everything, Olivia. One misstep, one whisper of impropriety, and you'll find yourself an outcast faster than you can blink."

My heart pounded at the reminder. I knew my place was still precarious, but I still had nightmares about my former pack bond being cut. How could he throw that in my face?

Suddenly, I kind of hated him.

I took a deep breath, struggling to keep my voice steady. "And here I thought you were the Alpha,” I said coldly. Anger flashed in his eyes.

“What is that supposed to mean?” he snapped.

“Exactly what I said,” I repeated, snarling. “If you can’t grow a backbone for your Mate, your Luna, your unborn child, then I’m not sure you deserve the title.”

Elroy reeled back, sucking in a breath. He looked furious, and…hurt.

“You think I’m not trying?” he asked. “You think I’m not doing everything I can to protect you from this shit?! Eclipse has operated like this for centuries, I can’t just change it overnight!”

I laughed in his face.

“What’s changing, Elroy? What changes are you even trying to make?”

“The high council was set up to avoid a dictatorship, I can’t just—”

“Set up by who? Let me guess, the ancestors of the people who are currently on the council? There’s nothing you can say or do that will make them hand over their power, you have to take it from them.”

Elroy pulled at his hair. “It’s not that fucking simple!” he roared. “I need—you can’t just—You’ll understand once you’re acting as Luna, then you’ll—"

“So you admit I’m not your Luna?” I demanded, stepping into his space. I was furious, almost incandescent, and all of my doubts and stresses were scrambling to erupt. I didn’t know if I could stop this now.

“Of course you’re my Luna!” Elroy gasped. “I would never deny that—”

“THEN LET ME ACT LIKE IT!” I yelled, a hint of my wolf echoing in my voice. Elroy looked down at me in shock. “You say you want to make changes, you say you want me as your Luna, you say you’re going to protect me and our child, but you won’t fucking do any of it!

“You make a big show, you say the right things, and then the high council gets involved and you put your tail between your legs! I can’t trust anything you’ve said to me!”

I could see that hit land, and it hit hard. I was insulting his strength, his pride, his power, and most personally of all, his worth to me as my Mate. And he could tell that I meant every word.

Elroy's jaw clenched and he looked away, like looking at me was too hard. He kept his gaze on the vast expanse of city visible through the floor-to-ceiling windows. "It's not me," he admitted reluctantly.

"The council... they're the ones preventing you from fully stepping into your role. They believe you need to cement yourself with the upper class first."

“And why does what they say matter?” I spat.

“Because my faction is too small!” he barked out, shaking in rage and embarrassment. “I don’t have enough support to completely ignore them, not yet, but that doesn’t mean I’m not trying. I’ve been Alpha for less than three months, for fuck’s sake, I can’t change everything all at once!”

“That’s why you need me,” I said firmly.

“Yes!” he said, completely without shame. “That’s why I picked you—I wouldn’t have made you Luna if I didn’t genuinely think you were the best person for it!”

Oh, so not because of your prophecy baby? Are you sure about that, Elroy?

“I know that we can change Eclipse for the better, but we aren’t strong enough yet. The first step is to get you acting as Luna, and to do that we need to play by the council’s rules. Just…pretend to get along with them, please?”

It was the first time he’d ever begged me for something.

And there was no question—he was begging. He was frustrated and anguished, a little bit of well-hidden mania in his eyes, and I started to realize that he was really, actually desperate.

"And how exactly am I supposed to do that?"

Elroy turned back to me, his expression a mixture of sympathy and exasperation. "You should attend more banquets, tea parties. Perhaps even host one yourself. Show them you can navigate our world."

The thought of endless small talk and fake smiles made my skin crawl. More obstacles, more politics. I pictured myself, trapped in a gilded cage, parroting empty pleasantries while the real work of helping people went undone.

I felt helpless.

“No,” I grit out, my voice low and charged with determination. I was not going to end up like that. “I’ll do something even bigger.”

Elroy's eyes widened in alarm. "Olivia, what—"

But I was already striding past him, my mind racing with possibilities. I might be new to this pack but I wasn’t new to pack politics, and I wasn't without resources or allies. There had to be a way to make real change, and I was going to find it.

Elroy wanted me to prove myself to the council? Fine, I’d make sure to give them a show they couldn’t miss.