"Leave!" she growled at the frozen maids as she crouched down - one hand on the ground in front of her, another slightly stretched behind her, one knee bent in front of her and the other behind her - ready to pounce on Kael.
Her muscles stretched taut, eyes blazing with fury, calculations, and intensity as they fixed on Kael’s figure as he picked himself up from the ground, his movents fluid and unhurried.
Reana’s body was coiled, her senses on high alert, as she waited for Kael to make another move. But he simply dusted himself off, his eyes flicking towards her before darting to the servants who were running for their lives.
"Just because you protect them now doesn’t an you’ll protect them later," he casually said.
"I know every oga who serves by face and na. If anyone goes missing while you’re still in the pack, you’ll be coming for your brother," Reana’s animalistic growl filled the air.
Kael stayed silent. So silent that it made Reana nervous. But she wouldn’t back down - not when it ca to protecting her pack.
Slowly and calmly, he nodded. "I’ll keep that in mind, Luna," he said, giving a 90° bow, with a respectful tone of voice, like he ant it.
But Reana knew better than to accept the sudden change. He was a master of control, a puppeteer who pulled strings from behind the scenes. Reana knew that look - the calm before the storm - and she steeled herself for what was to co.
"What do you want, Kael? What brought you here?" she asked, shifting back to her human form as she strolled to the bench, eyes sharp, voice firm, and her tone direct.
No gas, no pretenses. She knew that with Kael, it was always about power and manipulation. He wouldn’t waste his ti on small talk or pleasantries. There was a reason he’d co, and she was ready to hear it.
"First and foremost, allow to thank you for the well-being of the pack. I heard you had a tough fight with the rogues and ca out victorious." He looked at her calmly. Too calmly, Reana thought, her eyes narrowing slightly as she studied Kael’s expressionless face.
"I also see the progress you’ve made in strengthening the pack’s economy and defenses," he continued, his voice smooth and even. "You’ve done an impressive job, Reana. I’m sure it’s not easy being a Luna."
He sounded as if she was taking care of the pack for him. And when the ti was right, he’d take it back. Perhaps, that was his intention.
Reana’s gaze didn’t waver, her eyes locked onto Kael’s. She knew he wasn’t here to offer complints or praise her leadership skills. There was a hidden agenda, and she was waiting for him to reveal it.
"Get to the point, Kael," she said, her voice firm and direct. "What do you want?"
Kael’s smile was slight, but it was enough to make Reana’s instincts twitch. He was plotting sothing, and she was ready to hear his proposal, no matter how distasteful it might be.
"We start with my mother’s reinstatent," he began. "As the late Alpha Roughman’s widow, she ought to be a dignified mber of the council. But you, Reana, took that privilege from her, for three years. No one complained. I didn’t. And now, I believe it’s ti you returned what belongs to her. Reinstate her to her rightful place on the council and keep the peace in the pack. We can call it a gesture of Luna Reana’s goodwill."
Reana’s eyes narrowed, her mind racing with the implications of Kael’s request. He was threatening her. He was threatening to wreak havoc in the pack if she didn’t. But she wasn’t going to give in so easily.
"I think you know the answer to that, Kael," Reana said, her voice firm and unyielding. "Your mother’s not fit to hold positions in the pack. She lacks intellect and fair judgnt. She’s too... emotional."
Kael’s smile grew slightly, but his eyes glead with a calculating intensity. "I expected as much," he said, his voice smooth as silk. "Won were built so... emotional wrecks, unintelligent..." he plucked another grape. "But you broke the yoke, Luna. Perhaps, you could teach her one or two. Won supporting won – isn’t that what you love doing? Or does your kindness not extend to my mother?"
Reana’s eyes flashed with extre coldness. "Your mother’s case is irredeemable. She’s a blatant misogynist and elitist, more concerned with her own status and power than the well-being of others. You reap what you sow, and if you’re looking for soone to coddle your mother’s fragile ego, you’ve co to the wrong person." Her voice was icy, her words dripping with disdain.
Kael’s smile never wavered, but his eyes seed to gleam with sothing...knowing or primal. "Ah, I see," he said, his voice smooth as silk. "You’re not one to mince words. You’ve never been. That’s one of the qualities I like about you."
He stood up with two grapes in his hand and closed the distance between him and Reana. "Here, share a grape with ." He stretched a grape to her lips, but Reana sidestepped and bypassed him to sit on the bench. But on glancing at the tray of fruits, everything except the grapes had gone rotten and dried.
Her eyes widened slightly and her head snapped up at Kael. "What did you –"
He cut her off. "I heard you’re immune to poisons... but then, there are poisons that break through immunity." He gestured to the affected fruits. "I tested it on the fruits and I was quite surprised. It took half a second for them to react. Imagine how... enlightening it would be to see soone succumb to sothing so... subtle."
Reana’s heart trembled. He was threatening her with poison. Her heart grew cold as she clenched her fists beside her body, her heart pounding with dread and hatred. However, her cold expression belied the turmoil brewing inside her. "This still will not change my mind. Your mother will not sll a seat in the council."
He paused. She saw it. A flicker of malice in his eyes, a subtle tightening of his jaw. For a mont, Reana thought she saw a glimr of the ruthlessness that lay beneath Kael’s polished exterior. But it was quickly masked, replaced by his usual suave deanor.
"As the Luna wishes."
Whenever he used her title, he said it with sarcasm, and even now, it was heavier –unconcealed and tinged with mockery.
But Reana didn’t care. For now, she’d won. A small victory that could be overturned at any given mont. She knew this, but she didn’t care.
"My second reason for coming..." he began. "I want a funeral for Vivian. A funeral befitting her status as the stepdaughter of the late Alpha Roughman, the stepsister of the current Luna, and the blue-blooded she-wolf that she was."
"The pack does not have the custom of holding funerals for those who die in such a manner," Reana spat, her eyes flashing with anger. How dare he want her to allow a befitting funeral for soone who tried to kill her! The nerve of this son of a bitch!
She was raging, furious, but Reana knew better to let her emotions get the best of her while interacting with this deceitful fox –she’d tasted the result a number of tis, and now, she’d learned her lesson.
"You should be thankful that I didn’t expose her for attempting to poison – the Luna of the Black Moon Pack."
Kael’s eyes flashed with interest, but his voice remained smooth. "I see," he said. "Well, perhaps it’s ti for the pack to reevaluate its customs. After all, Vivian was a mber of this pack, and she deserves to be honored as such."
Reana raised an eyebrow, skeptical. "And what makes you think I’m inclined to grant you this favor, Kael? After she tried to kill ?" Her voice was cool.
"But you’re not dead." He chuckled softly. A bone-chilling chuckle. "Who would have believed that your sweet sister would poison you?" he scoffed. "Instead, I think the people would have been more inclined to believe that you are subtly getting rid of the late Alpha Roughman’s family. Your family."
He continued. "But I understand if you won’t change the pack’s rules to accommodate your sister. I’m also sure you won’t change it to accommodate anyone else."
He turned to leave but halted in his steps and looked over his shoulder at . "A small funeral, only to be attended by family mbers, will be held tomorrow at the crack of dawn. It’s the custom of our people from generations for every family mber to honor the dead, and as her stepsister, you’re binded by the custom, otherwise you’re breaking the rules set by our ancestors. And as the leader of the pack, you know what that ans, don’t you?" With that, he walked away, a smirk on his lips.
Reana’s eyes narrowed, her heart drumming in her chest as she realized that Kael ca here to play gas—and he’d won.
He ca to tell her that he possessed poison that could kill her, and also to put her in constant fear for her life. Secondly, he’d reminded her that she couldn’t change the rules of the pack—not for Ryder, not for Mirian.
She was trapped. She’d fallen into his trap.
What Reana knew or didn’t know, was that: whether she agreed to his demands or not, she would have still been trapped, but now, it was worse. Kael already heard the talks about her intentions to make Ryder her mate – the Alpha of the pack. And he was against anything that would make Reana happy or anything that would ruin his own plans. So, he used the rules and her stubbornness against her.
And as for Mirian, it has affected her too, because, the rules of the pack was: none of them could mate an unbeliever, nor could their females mate two n at the sa ti. And if Zeta Detroit was to be deprived of what he wanted, it would an war between the Dark Snow Pack and their Black Moon Pack.
Reana was indeed trapped and a slight misstep would not just be a devastating blow to her reputation, but her position as the Luna too. So now, she must tread carefully and make an intelligent decision.
But what?
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