Fated: The Alpha's Unwanted Luna

Chapter 376: Supportive husband

Viola was surprised that he had given her the right to decide the punishment, and for a brief moment she was caught completely off guard as every single pair of eyes in the room turned toward her, waiting to hear the judgment she would pass.

Viola’s eyes turned towards Hailey, who despite everything was still glaring at her, still not a trace of remorse, still not sorry for the mess she had made of this day. If she was someone with common sense, she wouldn’t pick this day of all days to attack Viola with accusations, considering it was her brother’s mating ceremony.

She had promised herself never to become a cruel person without reason, but Hailey deserved a taste of what life was like without her father’s power and position. She needed a reality check, and maybe that would strengthen her and knock some sense into her.

Without missing a single beat, Viola said,

"She will live in the dungeon for one month and be brought out every morning to clean up after the guests, strictly supervised by two of Silver’s Gammas. Failure to do as ordered will earn her twenty lashes of a wolfsbane whip a day."

Hailey’s face drained of all color. She began shaking her head, grabbing at her father’s arm desperately, but Alpha Daniel no longer had any say in the matter. It was either stand with his daughter and lose every shred of face he had left in front of the guests he had been hoping to rally, or step aside and salvage what remained of his dignity.

As hard as it was, he chose the latter. Hailey had humiliated him too badly today, in exactly the place he had needed things to go well.

He stepped aside.

Silver Gammas, double the size of the Grim pack’s own, moved into the hall and seized Hailey, who immediately began to resist and scream, reaching out to her family members one by one as they each turned away as though they didn’t know her, as she had brought this upon herself and messed with the wrong person.

She even reached for Kim, and her little sister sidestepped her and for the first time looked her directly in the eye with a cold, satisfied expression.

"Enjoy your days as the cleaner, sis." Kim gave her a small wave, feeling deeply satisfied, because just that very morning Hailey had snapped the necklace Liza had given her right off her neck and thrown it aside, saying it looked too cheap to be worn anywhere near her.

Out of sheer shame at his daughter’s actions, Alpha Daniel was forced to apologize to both the wolfless and the Supreme Alpha, who was young enough to be his own son, and then he made his way to his seat without mingling with anyone, promising himself this wasn’t over for that wolfless had just humiliated him.

"Are you all right?" Sebastian asked his wife, who was leaning against him as though her legs were no longer completely sure of themselves.

Viola nodded, even though she felt shaky on the inside for some reasons. For a moment, that one moment when he had removed her hand from his elbow and walked past her, she had been genuinely terrified about what he was going to do. And then he had killed those omegas, whose bodies were now being dragged out of the hall while the blood stains were being mopped from the floor.

"I’m just a little shaky but I’ll be fine." She said, looking up at him with a smile, and noticing the dried blood spots on his face and front coat.

"Are you sure? If you don’t feel well we can go back to the room and—"

"No. We need to mingle and I don’t want to be a coward who hides. Tess is my friend and I owe her an apology for the drama at her special day. It’s not fair if her day ends like this."

She took his handkerchief from his pocket and began carefully cleaning the blood from his face. When she found it had dried, she dipped the corner of the fabric into a glass of water that a nearby omega quickly brought and wiped it away properly, while everyone around them watched and quietly thanked the moon goddess that they had not disrespected the Supreme Luna, because it was now unmistakably clear what the outcome of that would have looked like.

Because the cold, unapproachable Supreme Alpha was standing there letting his wife clean his face with a look of pure, unguarded tenderness in his eyes, and he had bent down to make it easier for her without her having to strain upward to reach him.

"Thank you." Viola whispered when she was done.

He looked at her with a playful glare. "Why are you thanking me? Didn’t I promise to always have your back and clean up after any mess?"

He stroked her cheek and she pressed her face gently into his palm. "It’s been a long time since anyone stood up for me like that." She said again, earnestly and from the deepest part of her heart, because not even during her time as the princess of Moonwillow had anyone ever put themselves between her and the world the way he just had, made her feel that she could stand wherever she wanted because he was the wall at her back, supporting her.

Sebastian was parting his lips to speak when Kenny and Tess approached them both, looking sheepish and genuinely embarrassed, and Kenny said,

"My sincerest apologies for what Hailey did. I am deeply sorry on her behalf, Supreme Luna."

Viola moved to the side and looked at the Alpha heir of the Grim pack, who she had fully expected to be annoyed with her over the drama that had unfolded, but he was apologizing instead.

"I should be the one apologizing, Alpha heir. I was the reason today turned out the way it did and I am deeply sorry for it." She gave her words sincerely, and he looked genuinely surprised that the Supreme Luna was apologizing to him when she had just put his own father firmly in his place.

"And you too, Tess. I truly didn’t wish for any of this to happen on your day." Viola added, and Tess waved her hand dismissively.

"It’s all right, none of this was your fault. You were the one being accused on my ceremony day, not the other way around. And by the way, you look absolutely stunning." She complimented warmly, and Viola smiled with visible relief that she hadn’t lost her new friend to the chaos of the afternoon.

They were still standing together talking when Zoe came striding through the crowd of guests to reach them too.

"What a drama that was, Vee. I had no idea she was planning to do something like that in public when Kim told us," Zoe said with an exasperated sigh.

"Hailey can be unpredictable. I learned that too during the few weeks I’ve been here. I’m just glad everything was resolved so clearly," Tess said, unable to hide the little spark of happiness in her heart over what had happened to her future sister-in-law, who had never liked her and always found a way to insult her in public instead of making her feel welcome in the family.

"She must have made your life hell," Zoe said, already able to relate because her brother had had many mates in the past who hadn’t liked the attention he gave her. They hated how he fussed over her, reminded her to take her medication, and always found little reasons to attack or belittle her because of it. "I can relate. Hailey stayed in Silver in the past and..."

Even though his sister was the topic of conversation between his mate and her new friends, Ken didn’t say a word in her defense. He simply listened to them, just as the Supreme Alpha was quietly listening to the girls talk, laughing and gushing over one another’s outfits.

Zoe finally turned and held out a gift bag to Tess.

"I got this for you at the last minute. I hope you like it. I had to send my brother’s Gamma back home to get it for me last night."