My Fated Mate Can Have Her

Chapter 339: How Tables Turn

Violet

The pack’s conditions looked worse than I remembered.

Marcus had met us at the entrance.

Shadowpine’s Beta had apparently been running the pack as best as he could within Damon, and now Elena’s wishes.

The supposed Luna had not even been the one to come out and welcome the guests. Regardless, the strain of Marcus’s workload showed in every line of his face.

He stared at me like he was seeing a ghost.

I had come with Zephyr, and it felt nice having to ride her proudly without having to hide my true nature. A few wolves from Nal’s capital had accompanied me, and Rowan, as much as I would have wanted him to stay behind, had been very keen on seeing the pack I grew up in.

So, he had come along too.

"Violet." His voice cracked slightly before he steadied it. "We—"

"Where are your manners?" Rowan shifted into his human form as the other wolves snarled.

I immediately straightened, turning to him. "Rowan..."

As much as I would have liked to say it was fine, him addressing him by my name like that was disrespectful. But, I would like to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Their Alpha was gone, and Marcus hadn’t personally visited the capital, but I was sure snippets of conversation would have already made its way here.

Marcus paled and bowed low. "Please, forgive me, Lady Violet. That was a slip of my tongue—"

"It’s enough," I cut in, not eager for any small talk.

I wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about Marcus. He had helped me a few times, but seeing him did not exactly make me happy.

My eyes fell on the patrol wolves flanking Marcus. He had the sense at least to have changed them. But I was going to make very heavy changes.

"I am here to assess the pack’s condition," I continued, keeping my tone neutral despite how sour I felt inside. "And to make arrangements for new leadership."

Marcus’ eyes widened, darting briefly to Rowan who stood beside me. Rowan’s presence alone was enough to make Marcus’s posture shift. His shoulders dropped, his head lowered, and I watched the instinctive submission ripple through him before he could stop it.

He was afraid.

"Of course," Marcus managed.

The pack was a lot quieter than it should have been, and I had a feeling a lot of it must have been due to my visit.

I recognised faces.

Most of them recognised me.

The reactions varied despite the initial greetings and bows. A lot of them avoided my gaze, and they had such shameful looks in their eyes that it was oddly satisfying. One older wolf pressed her hand to her mouth and turned away entirely, disappearing into a doorway.

I hoped they remembered every detail of what they had done.

I would address that before leaving.

To my surprise, Elena appeared near the Alpha’s lodge.

She stood on the porch, her hands clasped tightly in front of her, and the moment our eyes met, I caught the brief flash of shock and frustration before that stubborn pride returned.

It was irritating, if I was being honest.

For her to stand here and have me come to her rather than her receive me in Marcus’s place.

That was supposed to be her if she was truly doing what was required of her.

But despite her pride, she genuinely looked terrible.

She was still pretty in the way she had always been, and her appearance was well maintained, but there was a desperation in it now. Even with her posture.

And that weak pride of hers could do nothing to hide the thinness to her composure that hadn’t been there when she had stood at Damon’s side, glowing with the triumph of having won his affections.

I was half surprised she had not run off and left the pack to find another mate.

I wanted to feel satisfaction. I did feel a bit of it, but not as much as I thought I would have. Vindication would have been nice, but looking at her pathetic attempt to put herself together... it was pitiful.

And her sorry state was only going to get worse from here on out.

She eyed the wolves I had come with standing behind, with Rowan speaking to them in low tones.

Her gaze slid back to me as she forced a smile.

"Vi—" Her bright voice immediately died down at the look on my face.

Her smile waned and faded.

"Such blatant disrespect is unfitting for an acting Luna." I smiled faintly. "I relieve you of that duty. It must have been so burdensome for you."

She frowned, and I could see her literally fighting with herself as she tried to smile again.

Then her eyes widened as if she had finally realised what I had just said. "What...?"

I turned to the others, not even interested in letting her talk. Any more words from her would only irritate me further.

It was good she wasn’t a full-fledged Luna. It would have been annoying ripping away the bond with the pack from her.

"Prevent her from coming in," I told the shocked wolves belonging to the pack, along with the wolves I had come with. "She no longer has any right to enter."

Elena’s mouth hung open.

Rowan walked up to meet me, and I beckoned to Marcus to follow me into the pack house.

I had barely stepped in when Elena shot to her feet shouting, "No! You cannot do this—"

I slammed the door in her face with my syzygy, hearing a subdued smack that hadn’t been just from the door ramming shut.

The door had slammed shut hard enough to break her nose, and her sharp scream after that satisfied me.

I had Marcus take us around the Alpha’s lodge. The building was larger than I remembered, especially with how I saw rooms I hadn’t been to before. But many of them had been left in a state of neglect.

And I had a few memories trickle in from when I was younger.

It left me with a bittersweet feeling as I remembered life when Damon’s father had still been alive. It hadn’t exactly been satisfactory then, but it was fine.

Marcus remained nervous throughout, even as I gave out instructions and commands while going through the pack documents and reports.

His reactions had taken me a while to get used to. It hadn’t been obvious, but me easily picking up every instance of him being shocked I had knowledge of navigating files and documents, including better suggestions to the shoddy plans and goals Damon had left, was funny.

It seemed it had not settled properly for him that I wasn’t the same omega that had left this pack the previous year.

Looking back at it now, so much had happened that it felt like such a long time ago.

And as much as I wanted to leave this place, I had one more part of the pack to visit.