Selene
“What do you mean, Frederic wants to claim me for himself?” I ask nervously, glancing back and forth between the two betas.
“The message he sent Bastien made it very clear, Selene.” Donovan sighs. “He plans on taking you for his mate, whether you agree or not.”
That doesn’t make any sense. I think uselessly.
Why not? Luna asks. You’re the Alpha’s mate, you have his child and the pack loves you both. Who better to convince them to accept Frederic as their new leader than you?
Ignoring my wolf, I press, “Why? Just to spite Bastien?”
The men exchange a look that sends my stomach lurching up into my throat. “That’s possible.” Aiden admits.
“But?” I prompt, knowing there has to be more to this.
“But we think-” Donovan begins, only to have Aiden cut him off.
“No, we promised Bastien.” The younger man argues.
“You promised.” Donovan corrects, “I think she has a right to know.” Pursing his lips and eyeing me with staid resolve, he continues. “We it’s highly likely Frederic has been posing as someone you know.
He probably doesn’t just want you on principle… there’s a strong chance he’s truly interested in you… romantically.”
“How is that possible?” I ask. “How could he be in the city without being recognized?”
“He was only a boy when his father was killed, and he hasn’t lived here since.” Aiden sighs, “Besides, he could be in disguise for all we know. It’s clear he’s very clever.”
“And I suppose Bastien intended to keep all this from me?” I demand, indignant anger rising up inside my chest. Suddenly I don’t feel nearly so bad about lying to my mate about Dr. Kane. The nerve of the man: forbidding me from keeping secrets, then turning around and keeping a thousand of his own.
“He wanted to protect you.” Donovan sighs. “After what happened with the safe house-”
“You know I’m getting really tired of people trying to protect me by keeping me in the dark.” I snap, cutting him off before he can remind me how badly I wished I’d stayed in the dark about the spy cameras in Asphodel.
Pressing my palm to my belly. “And what about the baby? What about Lila? Did Frederic say anything about them?”
“As far as we know, he didn’t mention Lila, but she’s a girl, she wouldn’t be a threat to him anyway.” Aiden relates.
“And the baby?” I repeat stiffly. I can’t stand the way the betas are looking at me, their eyes full of pity, as if there’s no hope for us.
“As far as we know he doesn’t have any idea you’re breeding.” Donovan admits, “And we need to keep it that way as long as humanly possible.”
_____________________________________
Frederic
“Selene is breeding.” My mother announces, striding into the kitchen.
Turning to face her, I note the thick layer of makeup caking her bruised cheek. “Excuse me?”
She averts her gaze in submission. “It’s all over the city. The Alpha’s mate is carrying his second child – almost guaranteed to be a male heir, or so they say.”
Grinding my teeth in frustration, I hiss, “How can they possibly know that?”
“She’s far enough along that her scent has changed.” Mom explains, “There’s no doubt.
She’s pregnant.”
“Idle gossip.” I growl. “Let me know when they see a damned sonogram.”
“I heard it from one of the alpha’s sentries.” My mother informs me coolly, “Trust me, he knows what’s going on inside the pack house better than you do.”
Anger sparks at her words, how dare she think a lowly guard could be more in tuned with pack happenings than I am? “What the hell were you doing talking to one of the sentries?” I snarl.
“I didn’t!”
She insisted, the scent of her fear spiking between us, “I was eavesdropping, he never knew I was there.”
Goddess damn it. This is all going wrong. As if it wasn’t bad enough that Bastien marked Selene and started rutting her day and night for all to see. Now I’m not only going to be stuck with my mother, but probably another one of his brats.
It’s not a death sentence. My wolf asserts grumpily. It’s only a problem if the pup is a boy. If it’s another girl it won’t make a difference, you can send her off to boarding school with Lila after you claim Selene.
“We need to move faster.” I tell Mom. “We need to make sure people know he’s left the city again. We need to make sure they don’t forgive him this time.”
“How are you going to do that?” She asks, “We don’t have an insider on the council anymore.”
“We don’t need one.” I proclaim, “I have an inside track with the Novan press, and you know as well as I do that there are some offenses which can’t be forgiven. This time he can’t march back into town with some romantic saga to excuse his negligence.”
“If you tell me what you’re planning, I can help.” My mother insists stubbornly.
“I don’t want your help.” I hiss. “I want you to sit down, shut up and do what you’re told.” Raising my hand, I move to tower over her, “Or do I need to give you another lesson on who’s in charge.”
“No Frederic.” She immediately quells. “I’m sorry.”
_____________________________________
Bastien
What is she doing here? I think irately.
Who cares? Axel counters, surging forward with a vicious growl. Let’s get her.
I can’t deny the idea is appealing. I want nothing more than to charge into the shop and take the woman I once considered a surrogate sister into custody. Almost as quickly as the impulse strikes me, fear rises up alongside it. Arabella knows Selene is a Volana, by now she might even know about Lila.
If Arabella has met Blaise she might now know about the reward, and she wouldn’t hesitate to turn my mate in even if there wasn’t money up for grabs.
This is very, very bad. I think in agitation.
What do we do? Axel presses, some of his anger fading amidst our shared concern for our mate and pup.
We’ve got to find out how much she knows,
I decide, hating the idea of cozying up to the would-be murderess, but unable to see another option. And if she’s spent time with Blaise, we’ve got to discover what she’s told him.
I wait for her to exit the shop, slipping around the corner and watching the entrance until I hear the strident ring of the entrance bell. Arabella struts out of the boutique, sashaying down the street in the opposite direction. It only takes me a moment to circle around through one of the alleyways, and within seconds I’m standing at the mouth of a narrow side street, waiting for the traitorous she-wolf to walk into my trap.
When her footsteps near I reach out and grab her by the collar, pulling her into the alcove and slamming her up against the wall. Her brown eyes go wide as dinner plates, and undiluted fear washes over her countenance. “Bastien?”
“Give me one reason, one, why I shouldn’t kill you where you stand.” I command, forcing the words out through bared fangs. Axel is aching for the chance to make good on my threat, and I’ll be damned if I don’t want to let him.
“Please,” Arabella begs, “please just hear me out.”
“Hear you out?” I thunder, lowering my voice when I realize passers-by might overhear me,
“hear out how you tried to murder my pregnant mate. How you undermined me every moment you were in Elysium, how you allied with my enemies to ruin my life?”
“You don’t understand.” She whines, “Frederic made me-”
“Frederic?” I demand, my worst fears coming true. Of course I’d entertained the idea that they might have been working together, but I’d hoped against hope I was wrong. “I was talking about
Grigore.”
The blood drains from Arabella’s face. “It’s not what you think.”
“Then what is it?” I bark, “you wanted the chance to explain, now explain!”
“He’s a monster.” She mewls, tears sparkling in her eyes. “He forced me to work for him. I didn’t want to, you have to believe me. He’s mad with his plans for revenge, and so cruel… you have no idea what I’ve been through.”
“Oh give it up, Arabella.” Shaking her roughly, I continue, “I’m not an idiot, and I know you came back to Elysium with your own agenda in mind. Don’t pretend like you’re a victim in all this.”
“You’re wrong.” She squeaks, “I didn’t ever want to come back, I always dreamed of coming here. But I met Frederic in the Gemini territory and he took me prisoner.”
My rage growing more violent with every minute that passes, I go in for the kill. “You know he is the reason Flynn is dead.”
I dig my claws into the papery skin above her carotid artery. “Not me. If Frederic and his father hadn’t tried to stage a coup, your brother would still be here.”
That was all it took. Arabella suddenly went from begging and pleading to being positively crimson with righteous fury. She drops her act, and for the first time in years, I’m actually looking at the woman beneath the mask.
“No!” She spits, “I was there! I saw what happened! I know the truth, Bastien! My brother is dead because of you!”
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