Selene POV
I exhaled with relief as soon as I left Noah and headed back to the pack house.
That was a close one. As long as I can gain his sympathy, everything will be fine. I just need to act like it bothered too as this was happening. As I rounded the corner, I bumped into Beta Reid leaning against the wall.
I wanted to ask him what he was doing here but I realized it’ll be a total waste of ti.
"Are you going to pretend you didn’t see ?" Reid arched his brow, snorting.
"I should be asking you that, Reid," I paused and gave him a hard stare "Have you forgotten what my position is now? I am the Luna and I’ll let this pass because the next ti you don’t pay my respects, I’ll have no choice but to relate it to Noah,".
"And we’re back to the threats again," Reid chuckled giving a cold glare "You see yourself as one big, scary woman, right? But let tell you, Selene... you can fool everyone here... but you cannot fool because I can see right through your deceit,".
"If I wasn’t so busy... let’s say, I didn’t have my hands full, perhaps I would have paid heed to your words but, you an nothing to , Reid. You’re not even a piece in the puzzle... I’ll take you out whenever I want to and just so you know..." I wanted to gloat how much Noah loves but I decided against that.
Turning on my heels, I headed for the pack house. As soon as I entered, I made a beeline for the girl’s room. As I opened the door, I spotted Noah’s father, crouched on the floor with the girls playing building blocks with Vina while Maeve was curled at a corner reading.
I coughed loudly to announce my presence.
"You’re here," Grand Lycan Leonard looked up from where he was huddled with the girls.
"Good afternoon, Your Majesty," I greeted curtseying with a bright smile.
"Please," Leonard walked up to , a smile on his face.
I didn’t know if he was putting up a show to like in front of the girls but I like that he even considered them and I was super grateful for it. I didn’t want my children to know what was happening.
"We’re family now, you can now call father,".
"Weren’t you family before?" Maeve asked from her corner. The book she was reading had slipped to her chest.
"What do you an dear?" he turned to Maeve
"She was married to my dad before, weren’t you a family back then?"
Laughter bubbled at the back of my throat as I stared at Maeve grateful, she was my child. She was right though. Grand Alpha Leonard had failed to show up when I was with Xavier. He acted as if I didn’t exist but them and his entire family. To them, I was just the woman, their grandson married because he must stay alive. I didn’t fit the bill of the sophisticated families they usually marry into.
Despite my trying to reach out several tis to Leonard, my ssages had gone on without a response.
When my parents died, was the last ti I saw him.
"She was," Leonard said uneasily staring at Maeve.
"Okay," Maeve nodded and went back to her reading.
"Sorry, I barged in here without your permission. I wanted to spend ti with my great-grandchildren,".
"Of course," I nodded staring pointedly at him.
"Perhaps, if you’re not busy, would you be willing to give a few minutes of your ti? There’s sothing I need to discuss with you,".
"You may go ahead, sir. Do you want us to go sowhere private?" I asked sweetly.
"If that’s convenient for you," he replied.
"Of course," I chuckled warmly and instructed the girls’ nanny while I left the room with Grand Alpha Leonard.
We ended up in the Luna office. The room was a bit old and rusty from not being in use. However, it was the safest place to hold discussions. As soon as we entered, I shut the door and turned to him squarely.
"You wanted to see ," I asked dropping the smile on my face.
He too, his eyes had turned cold and there was a great distance between us as we stood.
"Tell , Selene," he started "What is your real intent? Why did you agree to marry the uncle of the father of your girls?"
"What intent would there be if I found love the second ti and remarried?" I scoffed "And like I’ve said a thousand tis, it was purely coincident. Buried in that forest, out in the rain with my babies and weak to the bone, the moon goddess sent Noah to rescue and preserve our lives,".
"And love just grew between you two?" he asked.
"Yeah" I nodded "I love Noah dearly and I know he loves too but I can’t help but ask, what are you all so worried about? Why is everyone against the union, knowing how much Noah likes and how he won’t be able to live and move on if anything happens to ,".
"When a woman is given a chance to rewrite her wrongs, she always cos back for revenge and as you may know, we’re worried that he’ll et the sa fate as Xavier,".
"The sa fate?" I feigned ignorance "What are you driving at, your majesty? Noah and Xavier are two separate entities and just to put you at ease, I checked out our reading and it ca out perfect. We’re so compatible," I added imdiately.
Leonard grew silent and I knew he was contemplating everything I had just said. He was trying to run the variables, the possibilities that I was telling the truth. Three years ago, when I started plotting against the Carrell Dynasty, including the Steele’s by extension, I knew what I was up against.
They’ve been in power for so long and controlled more than half of all the affairs of the werewolves both within the south and at large and I knew that one false slip and they’ll catch on.
They were smart... because it takes a lot of brain work to remain in position for that long despite stiff opposition but what does it an to play the Carrell and Steel family? My strategy was simple.
’Lay everything out in the open, don’t let make second guesses themselves’.
As long as they continue to suspect , it’ll be easier for all my plans to align.
"You still harbour resentnt against us for the way we treated you when you were still married to Xavier right?" he finally said breaking the silence.
"Resentnt?" I arched my brow "Maybe in the first few years of our marriage when I was languishing away at the rcy of your grandson. Maybe when I reached out a few tis in hopes that you could save or when I had reached out when my pack was attacked and my parents had to die... maybe..." I paused.
"But not anymore. Resentnt would only make my chest ache; it’ll make have sleepless nights and unable to do anything. So, why should I waste my energy on a family that is not willing to change or accept that they were wrong?"
Regret flickered through Leonard’s eyes for a second before he raised his gaze and faced .
"I agree we were too relaxed dealing with your issue with Xavier because we all thought the curse was playing out and..." he trailed off.
"Right!" I shrugged daintily "That stupid, darned curse. If soone had told three years ago that I could leave my husband and still survive I would have doubted it. If I had left sooner, perhaps, I would have been celebrating my fourth or fifth anniversaries with Noah but ... anyway, I don’t regret anything happening now. Rest easy, your majesty... I couldn’t possibly fight the entire Carrell and Steele household. Can I?"
It was a subtle threat...
Silence reigned for a few minutes before he ventured again.
"How about the children?"
"The children!" I raised a brow "What about them?"
"Would they beco Noah’s children and..." he trailed off and sighed "The thing is, our family have survived so far because we stopped every avenue for strife and quarrels amongst siblings and the most common is the fight for power. You do understand that when you start birthing children for Noah, he may want to put his children first before Xavier’s children and If Xavier should remarry and birth a male, his daughters may not stand a chance to claim what is rightfully theirs,".
"So, you agree that Greyhound Pack rightfully belongs to them?"
"Of course," he gave a strange look "The firstborn of every family automatically becos the heir apparent under the anded Acts and Laws of the Alphas but I’m afraid, it’s a bit different with Lycans. Here, the first-born son of the King must rule and the King also has the right to choose who he wishes as his heir,".
"Okay!" I nodded giving him a simple smile "As you know, Grand Lycan... I am only a woman who has been loved and maybe married at one ti or the other by these n. I shall not interfere in whatsoever way they choose to run the affairs of their pack and when they co to any decision, I shall try to teach my children to live in peace,".
"You think it’s easy?" mockery glinted in his eyes "Power is seducing?"
"Are you suggesting now that I am going to choose one of my child over the other?"
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