Lucy’s POV
Finally alone, I found a little spot in the palace where I could take a seat and just think about the many ways that fate had dealt me a severe bow to the chest. It was exhausting always trying to explain myself, and the more I had to, the more I started to doubt why I should even have cared in the first place. The main thing that kept me moving was the realisation that despite everything, there was still hope for my future.
My stomach grumbled, and I finally got up from the little crevicd where I had almost allowed myself to wallow in self-pity. As I did, Anabella appeared in front of me. She appeared to have been on her way to somewhere, with the way her chest gently rose and fell with each breath.
Today, her hair was let loose, and it cascaded over her shoulders like a wavy, glossy curtain. Some blood had flowed into her cheeks, making them slightly pale.
I remembered then that I didn’t even know how her meeting with Scott had gone. Although it might not exactly have been my business, I still cared about Scott, and wanted things to move along smoothly for him.
“Hello,” I greeted her first, gently picking non-existent lint off her dress.
“Hello. You’re Shaun’s fiance, right?”
I nodded in reply, feeling a little bit strange. “Yes I am.”
“Have you seen Scott? I need to speak to him.”
“No, not at this time. It’s been a while, he might have returned to his room.”
A look of disappointment crossed her cherubic face. “Oh. Alright. Well, it was good meeting you. Hopefully, I’ll get to see him later,” she said.
I nodded, watching her walk away. For some reason, I could tell that she hadn’t made any headway with Scott, which was to be expected. Scott didn’t strike me as a person who could just easily be figured out. I believed that the major thing which had allowed me get close to him was because of our strange predicament which made all three brothers get attached to me with barely any effort on my end. Even right till that moment, I still felt a connection to him and Seth, but I knew better now. It was just as that woman, the former Beta of Moongrowl, had told me regarding her experience with her own mate. It was possible to have more than one mate, but in the end, the connection wouldn’t grow beyond the physical unless deliberate actions were taken to deepen the relationship.
Seeing nothing else to do, I continued on my own way, aiming to get back to my room so that I could get a little sleep and just mute the memories of my conversation with the Triplets’ aunt.
Maybe I should have said more to her. Maybe I should have tried harder to prove that indeed, I loved Shaun and wasn’t going to hurt him-at least, not by intention. I wanted to explain to her what even drew us together in the first place, but that window had closed for now.
As I walked down the halls, already approaching my room, I started to hear a conversation between two people nearby. Normally, I would have just ignored and continued moving, after all, it didn’t matter to me what random people were talking about.
But as soon as I heard a familiar name, I turned in the direction of the voices and froze.
“. . . He’s playing hard to get. But I’m aware of the type of games men like him play.”
I took a few steps towards the voices, finally reaching a turn leading down into another wing of the palace. In the hall, leaning against a wall and speaking to another woman, was Anabella. She was holding on to a cigar, and brought it to her lips, before taking a huge puff out of it and releasing smoke into the air. The look on her face as a little slack, as though her body was merely on the ground buther mind was miles away.
The woman in front of her took the cigar out of Annabella’s hand and took a puff as well. “You and your crazy fantasies. Can’t you just be content with one? If I was even as lucky as you, having gotten access to one of them, I would have been over the moon.”.
“You need to think bigger. Why settle for one when you can have all three of them? Why should I settle?” the young woman asked, her face turning a little serious for a moment. “Their aunt parades them around and thinks that people will be merely content with just one of them. It’s like she’s oblivious to just how delicious they look.”
“But I heard that one of them is getting married soon. Doesn’t that impede your plans?” asked the friend.
Anabella shrugged. “Who cares about that? I’m not asking for him to marry me. That’s where you’re getting it all wrong. I’m just saying that can you imagine spending a night with all three of them? Mmmh, fuck.” She chuckled and playfully squeezed one of her breasts. “I’m getting hot just thinking about it.”
The other woman laughed at Annabella’s display of wantonness. “You’re lucky the Luna doesn’t know just how crazy you are. She would have sent you packing since.”
“A night with those men is worth putting my packship down on the line for.” She burst into laughter and took another hit of the cigar.
They stopped laughing all of a sudden, which was my cue to leave immediately.
I stepped away from where I had been and hastily rushed back towards my room, hoping that they hadn’t caught on to me already. That was the downside of being in a place full of werewolves, it wasn’t easy sneaking around and trying to not get caught. We all had superb hearing abilities so precise that we could differentiate between a pin and a leaf falling to the ground.
I entered my room and pressed myself against the door, chest heaving more from the fact that I had come very close to getting caught.
Shaun lifted his head from the papers he was reading. He immediately took note of my unsettled appearance. “What’s the matter, love?”
I took off my shoes and gown, freeing myself from all unnecessary contraptions. “Nothing too serious.” I said, crawling onto the bed and snuggling against him. His presence immediately brought peace to me. “I’m just realising how highly coveted you and your brothers are here in this pack.”
He smirked. “Are you jealous, perhaps?”
“Not at all.” I pointed to the paper in his hand. “What’s this?”
His face turned serious. “We finally managed to get across to the scouts Seth sent in the other day.”
“And what did they say about the rogues? Did they make any findings?”
He nodded. “Luckily, no one got hurt, but they were able to find what appeared to be a hideout. They found a few of the rogues and observed them from afar the best they could. It’s just as that scout in the infirmary told us. These rogues we’re dealing with, are far more coordinated than expected.”
“What does this mean for us?”
“It means that we have to return home as soon as possible. There’s no telling when they would want to launch and attack against us.”