Olive watched as Gia disappeared behind the doors. She felt her heart racing fast. What did Gia mean by that?
‘What is most precious to them is Wayne’s life. And of course, their pride. Therefore, they wouldn’t want someone who has tried to tarnish both,’ Gia’s voice repeated in her mind.
She palmed her face. Did Gia know that she tried to kill Wayne? Is that what she was threatening her with?
“Gosh,” she exhaled and hugged her arms. She felt chilly all of a sudden. She sniffed and began to walk out of the room.
‘… therefore they wouldn’t want someone who has tried to take both,’ she heard Gia’s voice again. She gulped as she pressed the elevator button to open it.
She regretted trying to take Wayne’s life. What if she had succeeded? She shook her head to throw off the thought of her mur. dering her own mate. There was no way she would have succeeded. Wayne would always be one step over his enemies. Or even more steps.
But, what Gia said kept disturbing her. She had also referred to her taking the pack’s pride. But how? She had only just got there and the pack wasn’t even aware that their Alpha had found his mate. It was still rumours and it only circulated in the castle. Or… is it circulating in the pack already? What if they find out about her past? From what Gia also said, they want someone of some nobility or name. She was just a bandit.
Olive palmed her face and tears fell. The prospect of the pack rejecting her as their Luna was much now. If they found out she tried to take their Alpha’s life, and also find out she’s from a terrible background, they would reject her. But, why should they? She was just like Wayne too. Killing and mobbing.
“Though in a low way. And Balendin Pack hates The Vrek Cult,” she muttered to herself and fell down on her knees. She began to cry. Her life was just beginning and yet it was already ending? No, she couldn’t be separated from Wayne. She refused to be separated from her mate. She would die without him. But Balendin Pack was known to have a strong democracy. The government listened to the voice of the people. The Alpha did not joke about his people. What if those people reject her?
Olive did not want to but she ended up crying as she sat on the floor of the elevator. It had arrived in their quarters but she wasn’t aware. The door opened and closed back and she still didn’t know.
Olive realized what Gia was planning towards. It was to use the pack against her. And come to think of it, Gia was well suited for the role of Luna according to the pack’s taste. She was the most important female in the pack and her father was second in command after the Alpha and his Beta. They would use their connections and power to throw her out. Wayne would be forced to take Gia as his Luna because that would be what the pack would demand.
“I’m ruined,” Olive cried and hugged her knees even more. She stayed in that position for half an hour before raising her head up. She realized she was still in the elevator so she got on her feet. She swayed a little and tapped the button to open the door. When she got out, she felt really dizzy. Her eyes dulled and coupled with the little alcohol she had earlier, she fell unconscious.
\*\*
Gia walked gracefully as she stepped out of the elevator on the second floor of the building where her father’s office was. She walked through the hallway and reached the door. She knocked gently.
“Come in,” a hoarse voice answered from inside. She opened it and entered. Her father, Major General Kalif was standing by a chest of drawers and looking for a file. He was a tall man, well built and elegant even for his age. He had been serving the pack for decades. To the human world, he was sixty five years old. But truly, General Kalif was over a hundred years.
The oldest pack member was only two hundred because he was the oldest werewolf who had suffered the Wolf Wars that ravaged America a hundred and fifty years back. The werewolves in the country had had a major fight for domination. Balendin was small then and suffered brutally. The few who survived ran into exile. When the war was over, they all came back and reunited. The Alpha had been killed in battle so his son had been brought up by that fifty year old man who managed to survive. Because of him, Balendin grew again. The old man and General Kalif were cousins.
“Good afternoon, father,” Gia greeted him. She sat down immediately and held her head up with her knuckles, closed her eyes then took a deep breath of exhaustion. She was not healed fully yet. Heck, that little witch had wounded her in critical places.
She only managed to come out because she wanted to show that she was not weak.
General Kalif found the file he was looking for. He pulled it out then turned to face his daughter. His face was hoarse and deathly. Like the face of an old man who never smiled. He was scary and powerful. His wolf was strong and mighty. Balendin Pack warriors and soldiers were led by him to any pack wars around the globe and they always won. Even the look of him could scare the other soldiers away.
Dressed in his uniform with lots of stars and badges, Kalif commanded respect. Except from his daughter.
“I never asked you to sit,” he scolded though without a frown on his face. He was emotionless.
“Oh please, don’t start with those formalities,” she rolled her eyes at him after opening them.
“Hmm,” he exhaled deeply through his nose then sat down. His office was a large one and very luxurious. Not like he cared if it wasn’t though.
“I heard you caused trouble for the Alpha last night,” he stated as he opened the pages of the file in his hand. Gia scoffed and tucked her hair behind her ears.
“That was unlike you, Gia. Publicly doing something uncultured,” he added.
“I needed to do something,” she stated coldly.
“Something like trailing him to a private villa in order to disrupt his dinner with a pretty woman. Again, that was unlike you.”
Gia’s eyelids shot upwards.
“Pretty woman? What makes you think she was pretty? And how do you even know about this?” she blurted out. He lifted only his eyes from the file and placed them on her. They were cold and menacing. Gia cleared her throat and sat back.
“I’m sorry,” she apologized for raising her voice at him. She didn’t see him as high and almighty like the rest of the pack did, but he was still her father and she had that natural fear and respect towards him.
“I don’t know why you’re suddenly acting out, Gia. But you should stop. These news of you stalking out the Alpha and disturbing his new found mate is absurd.”
“I’m not surprised you have also heard about that girl. You hear rumours before it even happens,” Gia scoffed.
“Do you know how hard I’m working to reduce your sentence? The Alpha is very displeased and with the way things are, if I step in, you’ll at least get to spend ten nights in the innermost dungeon, enough whips to last you a lifetime of scars and a visit from The Big Bad Alpha himself.”
“All that even after you’ve stepped in? What? Does he want to kill me when it was her who attacked me and left me for dead?”
“She defended herself. She’s the mate to an Alpha and you kissed her mate in her presence. That’s after you falsely accused the Alpha of this entire pack. If she kills you at that point, she’s not to be blamed.”
Gia exhaled and rubbed her face. She could still feel the pain from Olive’s claws.
“You can’t let me spend ten nights in the dungeon. You can’t let Alpha Knight step in to punish me himself. I won’t survive it.”
General Kalif exhaled and brought his eyes back to his file.
“If you don’t have anything important to say to me, please leave. I have things to-”
“I came here for an entirely different request. Father, I want to become the Luna of Balendin,” Gia cut in. He stared at her blankly, as if she spoke a language he didn’t understand.
“Father, I need you to support your daughter to be the Luna of Balendin Pack,” she added.