Chapter 327: The Luna’s help
After ending the call with Nick, Viola sent a quick text to Sebastian so that if he came back and found her gone, he would see it the moment his phone became reachable again. She took a quick shower and changed into a summer dress that fell just below her knees, paired it with matching sandals, and slipped her phone into her purse.
She hadn’t planned to leave the building at all today, not with everything going on in the pack, but Nick was a friend she simply couldn’t turn her back on, not when he sounded like that.
She was almost ready to leave the penthouse when the door chimed. Viola hurried to answer it, hoping it was Sebastian, it would have been perfect timing to catch him before she left, but when she pulled the door open, the last person she expected was standing on the other side, grinning.
"Hello. Mind if I take a few moments of your time?" Laila asked, already stepping inside before Viola, who was momentarily too stunned to respond, had the chance to say a word either way.
Viola closed the door slowly and turned to find the she-wolf had already made herself comfortable on the couch without so much as an invitation. Laila’s eyes swept over Viola then, taking in the dress and the purse, and she tilted her head. "Oh. You’re going out."
"Yes, I am. And you’re holding me up, Miss Serrano." Viola said, folding her arms. "What do you want?"
Laila let out a small sigh and said, "I came to thank you. I know you don’t particularly deserve my gratitude, but here we are regardless." She crossed one leg over the other and added, "I also have something to tell you that I think you will want to hear. I take red wine, by the way, if you are hospitable enough to offer it. Chilled, please."
Viola stared at the she-wolf as though she had grown two heads, because her audacity was not only amusing but genuinely laughable. Since when had she and Laila been close enough for her to show up this casually and make herself at home on her couch? The request for a drink made Viola’s brow arch on its own. Was she expecting Viola to serve her chilled drink?
"I don’t have any wine, and I doubt you’re lacking it at your place, Miss Serrano. I have somewhere to be."
Laila gave a small nod. "You’re right, I don’t lack it. But as a guest here, I assumed you were supposed to offer me something?" She cocked her head to the side, studying Viola.
"Shouldn’t this be the moment when you realize you’re holding me up and leave? If you came to thank me, you’re welcome, but I really do need to go," Viola said, gesturing toward the door, hoping Laila would take the hint.
Instead, the she-wolf simply leaned back against the couch.
"I cannot leave until I have spoken to you, Luna. Shouldn’t a good Luna listen and help her subjects when they are in need? I came to you tonight as a subject, so give me a listening ear." Laila said, and notably, her usual arrogance was absent from her voice, because tonight she needed this woman’s help more than she needed her petty anger.
Finding her fated mate had made everything she had ever felt for Sebastian feel suddenly and strangely insignificant. She couldn’t even remember clearly why she had hated the wolfless girl so much. It was remarkable, really, how completely a fated mate could make a person forget another man in the blink of an eye.
Viola glanced at her watch. 7:00 pm. She let out a quiet sigh and reluctantly walked back to the couch and sat down at the edge of it. She would give this ten minutes. Whatever Laila had to say couldn’t possibly take longer than that.
"Won’t you be hospitable? I really need a chilled wine, and if you won’t offer it, I can serve myself, if you don’t mind." Laila said, already rising from the couch before Viola had the chance to respond either way, making her way over to the wine display on the wall.
Viola watched her select a red wine, take two glasses, carry them back, pour both, and push one across toward her side of the table as though this were perfectly natural behavior.
"It’s always nicer to talk over drinks, don’t you think? Especially now that I’m welcoming you into my circle," Laila remarked, clearly expecting the wolfless Luna to be delighted by the privilege of being personally served by Laila Serrano.
Viola, however, wasn’t impressed or delighted in the slightest. Laila noticed she maintained a calm, passive expression, as though she couldn’t give a hoot about being welcomed into her circle, when other she-wolves would have been thrilled to be personally served by her. Well, perhaps they would have been in the past, before she had become the subject of gossip alongside this very woman.
Viola met her with a flat expression and didn’t reach for the glass.
It almost felt as though this were Laila’s penthouse and Viola were the visitor, and she didn’t like that at all. The woman was behaving as though she owned the place, dominating the space like it belonged to her.
Viola was just glad Laila was no longer trying to lay claim to her husband openly, or maybe she was here for that reason?
"Why are you here, Miss Serrano?" She asked, looking at her emerald eyes directly.
Laila sipped her wine, settled back, folded her legs beneath her on the couch as though she owned it, and finally said, "I need your help with something."
"What could you possibly need my help with?" Viola asked, genuinely taken aback.
"I found my fated mate a few hours ago." She announced.
"Oh..." Viola said, and then it landed on her what that meant. It meant Laila would no longer be circling Sebastian, no longer be a threat to their relationship or future. She straightened slightly and said,
"Congratulations. I’m happy for you." Though she still couldn’t quite work out why Laila was announcing it to her specifically.
"If you’re happy for me, does that mean you’ll help me?" Laila asked, shifting forward on the couch like she was settling in for a gossip session with an old friend. "He doesn’t seem to feel the bond as strongly as I do yet, and I don’t know him well enough to figure out how to get his attention without it being completely obvious that I want it.
"You seem to know him better than I do, so I think you can help me with some inside information." She added, looking at Viola with an expression that was almost hopeful.
Viola felt uncomfortable being looked at like that and pressed her lips together. "Could you give me his name? I don’t know that many people here, unless you mean Nick. And fair warning, I am not a love expert and won’t be much help in that department regardless."
Laila waved her hand dismissively. "Nick? Absolutely not. He is not my type, and thank the goddess this has nothing to do with him. I am talking about Gilbert. I heard he is your doctor. Do you have his personal contact? I cannot find it anywhere, I keep getting redirected to his receptionist, and that woman is annoying as hell and kept repeating I needed an appointment before I could meet him and she couldn’t share his personal contact info."
Viola blinked. Then blinked again, just to be certain she hadn’t misheard. "You mean Doctor Gilbert is your fated mate?"
Laila nodded. "Yes. Shocking, I know. I still can’t quite believe it myself. I have never exchanged a single word with the man in the past."
"That can’t be possible!" Viola exclaimed before she could stop herself, and Laila looked at her with a sharp frown.
"Why isn’t it possible?"
Viola caught herself. What she wanted to say was, because my sister-in-law has been dreaming about that man for longer than I have even known her. Zoe had told Viola more than once about her feelings for the doctor, about the future she had quietly mapped out in her head involving him, and Viola had laughed and quietly hoped she would get the man she wanted someday. But it was looking very much like that door had just closed permanently.
She composed herself under Laila’s suspicious gaze and said evenly, "I didn’t mean it that way. I was just surprised, that’s all. Does he share the bond too?"
Laila shrugged. "I’m not certain. I kissed him, and he kissed me back eventually, but I can’t tell for certain how much he felt, which is exactly why I need to see him again. I need to know he feels it enough to want to mark me." She looked at Viola with an earnestness that didn’t sit naturally on her prideful face but was there nonetheless. "I need his mark. I can’t explain how badly I need it right now."
Viola was momentarily at a loss for words. With a kiss already exchanged between them, it seemed Zoe’s chances had evaporated entirely. But could she help Laila without it feeling like a betrayal to Zoe?
