Chapter 15

Killian & Elena

Killian

Elena’s umber eyes went as wide as saucers, right before they narrowed into slits. “Get off me, you pig,” she growled, shoving me away with force. She turned on her heel and stormed out without another word, slamming the door behind her.

I stared after her for a moment, but couldn’t help but chuckle and shake my head. These new flirtation tactics were certainly out of the ordinary for Elena, but I couldn’t deny it—they were a turn on.

Elena had always taken the more passive role in our intimacy—she always wanted it and I always made sure she enjoyed herself, but she rarely came onto me first. And if she did, it was usually late at night when the bedroom lights were dim and right after she had spent nearly two hours preparing herself in the bathroom.

Needless to say, “spontaneity” was never Elena’s thing. She was the type of woman who felt the need to primp and prod in front of the mirror, to shave every hair except for those on her head and to scrub and spritz and doll herself up until she was nearly unrecognizable.

This… this was a different version of Elena, one that I had never seen before.

I wished she had shown me this side of herself before. It was attractive, seeing her be so confident and, dare I say, argumentative. This stubborn streak of hers seemed far more natural on her than the meek and mild housewife I had come to know.

Of course, I didn’t know where this came from or why it was happening, but I wasn’t complaining.

“I wouldn’t be so certain she’s flirting…” my wolf’s voice huffed in the back of my mind.

I rolled my eyes. “What else would it be, then?” I asked out loud. “Elena wouldn’t actually leave me, so I know she’s not really intending to get divorced.”

My wolf simply growled his disagreement and went back to sleep.

I turned to sit behind my desk, but that was when I noticed a folded piece of paper on the floor. I realized that it must have fallen from Elena’s pocket as she had stormed out.

I frowned and picked it up, not expecting much. But I was surprised when I opened the paper to find an incredibly detailed performance plan proposal—for herself. It outlined everything she hoped to achieve as Luna for the next year, down to the last detail. Outreach, charity programs, even suggestions for new security protocols…

It was incredibly comprehensive, even at a glance.

But upon skimming it briefly, I knew she couldn’t have possibly written this herself; Elena might suddenly have an interest in picking up her duties, but I knew her. She wasn’t normally like this, and she had no experience in such things.

Someone had to be helping her.

Unbidden, my mind wandered back to thoughts of Jaxon, and my fist clenched around the paper, crumpling it slightly. Was he helping her assume her authority from behind the scenes? Hell, was he partially responsible for her sudden change in demeanor?

And if that was the case, then… why? What motives could they have behind working together? Were they plotting to beat me in the election, maybe even perform a coup? Did she intend to divorce me and marry him so they could achieve this? The very thought made my jaw tick with frustration.

I’d have to keep a close eye on her, I decided. It was the only way to prevent an accident happening before the election.

…

Elena

I found Tiffany in her office down the hall—the office that was mine now, I supposed. She was packing up her things and hardly spared me more than a glance as I entered.

“I appreciate your service,” I said as warmly as I could manage. “I hope you know that your hard work has not gone unnoti—”

“Between you and me, Luna,” Tiffany cut me off, slamming the cardboard box she was holding onto the desk, “you are not qualified to take on these duties. You may be Killian’s fated mate, but that doesn’t mean you can handle this. Killian will return my pin to me soon—you’ll see.”

I stared at her for a moment in shock; I had to give it to her, her forwardness earned her a degree of begrudging respect. But I wouldn’t stand for being spoken to like that. I had already told my adoptive mother off for treating me with disrespect, and Tiffany was no different. She had always looked down on me in my past life, but not anymore.

“If I’m unqualified,” I retorted, “then what does that make you? Forever the fill-in, never the real Luna? Meanwhile, someone who you deem as ‘incapable’ will always be above you. Will always have the man you secretly wished you had. And that man just handed me my duties without question, because I’m his wife and you never will be.”

Tiffany’s face blanched, and I knew I had hit my mark. There was nothing left for me to say, so I simply stepped aside and gestured to the door. Tiffany huffed and grabbed her box, hurrying past without saying anything else.

Once she was gone, I let out a small breath that I hadn’t realized I’d been holding and looked around the room. The office was warm and well-appointed, with tall bookshelves lining each wall, a large window overlooking the courtyard below, and an impressive mahogany desk in the center of the room.

It hit me, then, that this would be the first space that was truly mine—ever.

Growing up in my adoptive family’s cottage, I had been given the small utility closet at the back of the house as a bedroom, and my stepmother always went through my things—always accusing me of getting up to trouble—so I never had any semblance of privacy that I could really recall.

Then, when I moved in with Killian, I had been given my own suite to decorate as I saw fit. But he still held the skeleton key to the house, and could enter whenever he chose. Not even my mind had truly been my own because it had been so consumed by thoughts of him.

But this… this was my office. I held the only key now, and wore the crescent-shaped pin on my blouse that meant that it was my rightful space. Not permanently, of course, since I would soon no longer be Killian’s Luna soon—but it was mine for the time being.

I’d have to make some changes, of course, to make it truly feel like mine, but that didn’t matter right now. For now, I had work to do.

Having been reborn years before my death had its perks; I recalled many things that were yet to come, one of them being an unexpected attack on Waning Moon. It would happen in precisely three days, during Killian’s first campaign speech.

I held all the cards now, but I also held all the responsibility; if I told Killian that I expected the attack, then he would suspect me. No, the attack would have to happen, and I would have to pretend that I hadn’t known about it.

But I could be prepared, could minimize casualties, save innocent lives… And earning a bit of extra respect for doing so wouldn’t go remiss, either.

Finally, I would become the true Luna of the pack—a heroine similar to Natalie.

As long as I played my cards right, that was.