Fated: The Alpha's Unwanted Luna

Chapter 356: Trouble at the doorstep

With Daniel and his Luna gone, it was just Kenny, Tess, and the omegas moving their suitcase toward the stairs.

Kenny didn’t want to say anything in the presence of his father, so after he left, he stepped forward to greet the Supreme Alpha personally.

"We are finally meeting in person, Supreme Alpha." Kenny said, dipping his head respectfully toward Sebastian. "I am genuinely honored that you came and brought your Luna for my ceremony."

"It’s no trouble," Sebastian replied curtly, and a brief, slightly awkward silence settled between them, the kind that happens when two people don’t quite know how to begin forming any kind of friendship or alliance, which was the purpose of this trip for Sebastian.

Sebastian was the youngest Alpha in the entire werewolf world, both by reputation and by age, and if Kenny took over from his father, he would become the second-youngest. Forming a friendship and alliance between them would do both of them good.

However, Sebastian carried himself with such quiet authority that anyone who wasn’t an Alpha often felt as though they were beneath his notice and shouldn’t be speaking to him unless spoken to first, and Kenny was clearly not immune to that.

He looked up to Sebastian, that much was obvious, but Sebastian’s naturally aloof expression gave him nowhere to start, and so Kenny simply didn’t, because he didn’t want to force himself into the company of someone who looked completely uninterested.

Little did Kenny know that Sebastian wasn’t looking down on him at all. He simply wasn’t very good at talking to people unless there was something that needed to be said.

Kenny welcomed them warmly enough and then stepped back, letting the omegas take over, and Tess leaned toward Viola before following him.

"I hope we can find some time to catch up while you’re here. I grew up in Arizona, actually, met Kenny at a music festival about a month ago, and this is still all very new to me. I don’t really have any girlfriends here yet and wouldn’t mind getting to know someone," she said hopefully, and Viola nodded with a genuine smile before the woman turned and hurried to catch up with Kenny at the foot of the stairs, where he was waiting for her, the two of them disappearing up the stairs hand in hand.

"I don’t think Kenny likes me much either, same as his father." Sebastian remarked as they followed the omegas through the hall.

"I think you’re wrong about that." Viola said, patting his arm. "He’s just not the kind of person who pushes through when someone is giving off a ’don’t come closer’ energy, and you were very much giving that off. Give it a few days. We’re here for five, and I think by the end of it you will have your alliance." She paused and added, "I like Tess. She doesn’t carry that particular arrogance that most she-wolves in this world seem to arrive wearing."

"Then brace yourself, my love, you are about to meet several of the ones who do." He said, nuzzling his mouth against the side of her neck as they walked, and she felt the smile against her skin and giggled.

"Here is the Supreme Luna’s room." The omega leading them said, stopping at a door and gesturing inward.

Sebastian paused, realized what was happening, and said without hesitation, "There’s no need for a separate room. She’s staying with me."

The omega opened her mouth as if to speak, closed it again, and said nothing. Miss Hailey’s specific instructions about the separate room arrangements sat unspoken in her throat, and she couldn’t tell him, because the man standing in front of her was the Supreme Alpha, and whatever Miss Hailey had ordered suddenly felt very small indeed. So she led them to the room arranged for the Supreme Alpha, dreading Miss Hailey’s reaction if she found out that she hadn’t put the guests in separate rooms.

She’s going to skin me alive!

___

Hailey didn’t leave her room again after making the arrangements for how the Supreme Alpha would be settled. She had made sure his room was placed as far from his wife’s as possible, so that when she visited him, there would be no one nearby to interrupt them. She was certain they had a great deal to talk about before the day was out, and she wanted that time uninterrupted.

She waited a few minutes until she was certain he had been shown to his room and was beginning to settle in, then left her own room and made her way down the corridor, omegas bowing their heads as she passed, with some of them hurrying away to avoid her, especially the one who had been sent to show the guests to their rooms.

If things went the way she intended, Hailey thought as she walked, she would have him announce their renewed relationship right here at Tess and Kenny’s ceremony, and who knew, perhaps they could make it a double occasion.

She was well aware of how desperation, particularly under the kind of pressure the elders were applying about an heir, could push an Alpha toward decisions he might not otherwise make. And Hailey had no interest in a war between the Grim pack and Silver regardless of what Daddy said about it.

What was the point of fighting when she could just be the Supreme Alpha’s mate and Luna?

She knew she probably should let him rest and come back tomorrow, given that the ceremony was the day after, but wasting tonight when it was right there in front of her felt like a foolish choice she wasn’t willing to make.

"I better meet him tonight and straighten things up between us."

---

Viola and Sebastian were settling into the room that had been given to them, decorated in a way that genuinely matched the interior of a French castle, with a modern king-size bed surrounded by flowing curtains and gauzy drapes. While the omegas arranged their things in the closet, the two of them drifted out onto the balcony together to admire the Grim Pack from above.

Sebastian pulled her back against his front, and they stood there in comfortable silence looking out over the grounds below, where Gammas and warriors were moving in formation, patrolling in dozens as additional security was added ahead of the ceremony. With guests of this importance arriving, the level of protection required had been scaled up considerably.

There had been a case in the past where enemies attacked during an event and planted a bomb filled with silver and wolfsbane that wiped out an entire pack along with their guests. The tragedy had been recorded and preserved in werewolf history, and ever since then, extra care was taken during events and ceremonies, especially in places with no security cameras, like the Grim Pack.

The patrollers moved about in their red and white uniforms, and watching them shift across the grounds alongside the deepening colors of the setting sun, Viola felt something quiet and rare settle into her chest, peace, a real kind of peace.

She relaxed into her husband’s arms and let herself simply exist there, forgetting for a moment about all of it; the half-breed blood running through her veins, the constant awareness that if it ever became known, she would become a prize hunted for power and greed, the lack of acceptance from people, and the constant thought of how to win them over, all of it.

Coming to the Grim pack, despite the drama she could already sense building around them, had given her the strange and welcome illusion that she was simply a werewolf, nothing more, nothing less, with nothing to hide and nothing to fear.

She knew she would have to be exceptionally careful while she was here and make absolutely certain she didn’t accidentally drain anyone. But for this one moment, she didn’t have to think about any of that.

She felt Sebastian’s lips find the side of her neck and tilted her head to give him more access as he kissed and nibbled at her skin. Then he brought one hand up to cover her breast from behind, his grip possessive and warm in equal measure, and she bit the inside of her cheek in pleasure.

"Control yourself, husband. I can feel you from behind and we are standing outside." She chided, even as she made absolutely no effort to step away from him.

"And you should stop tempting me constantly, wife. You make me act like a beast who wants to devour you whole all the time." He hummed approvingly against her neck when she pressed her behind back against the hard length of him, and he gave her breast a firm squeeze before sliding his hand beneath her shirt.

They stayed like that, talking softly, moving slowly against each other, her back warm against his front, the sunset spreading out ahead of them, until he suddenly trailed off and went quiet and still.

Viola turned to look at him and saw his face. She recognized it immediately, the particular kind of absence that came over him whenever he was occupied with a mind link.

"Give me a moment," Sebastian said to her as his heart hammered inside his chest upon hearing his twin brother’s voice in his head. He hadn’t spoken to Alex since he left their private residence, and his brother had kept his mind shut until now.

’You enjoy betraying me time and time again, brother. We need to talk,’ came the bitter words of his twin, and Sebastian kept his face neutral because he knew his wife was watching.

Viola slipped gently away from in front of him to give him space, as though sensing he needed it, and made her way back into the bedroom, where the last rays of the sunset was pouring through the windows and balcony doors, painting everything a deep, warm orange.

She was considering whether to use the bathroom when a knock came at the door.

Refreshments, perhaps, she thought, and moved to answer it, but the moment she pulled it open, the person standing on the other side was not an omega with a tray.

It was the daughter of the Grim pack.