Chapter 71: Delusional
I gritted my teeth, ignoring the pain as best as I could. With as much strength as I could gather in that split second, I rolled out of the way right before Sienna’s claws pounded into the dirt. If I hadn’t moved, my face would’ve been flattened. If not, her claws would’ve at least punctured multiple holes through my skull.
She snarled as soon as she realized I had missed again. Her attacks became even more relentless than before, but they also became sloppier in her haste.
Sienna swiped her tail out, intending to hit me. However, this time, my first instinct wasn’t to move away. I braced myself for the hit, and the moment her tail came into arm’s reach, I grabbed onto it. It pushed me slightly backwards, but not enough to cause me to lose my balance and knock me off my feet.
I could visibly see her eyes widening, even in her wolf form. No doubt she was surprised that I managed to catch her attack.
Before she could try to worm her way out of my grip, I swung her by the tail, hard. It took a lot less effort than I thought, and the second I released, she went flying towards the nearest tents, knocking them down as though she were a bowling ball.
Several members who were nearby screamed in surprise, scattering out of the way as she toppled into the tents and various camp items in the immediate area.
"Sienna!" Georgia and Isabella cried in unison. They ran towards her immediately, pulling her out of the cloth and debris. "Sienna, are you alright?"
"Ugh..." Sienna groaned. She had shifted back, naked as the day she was born. The clothes that she had been wearing had already been torn into shreds when she shifted into her wolf.
Isabella quickly removed the jacket she had on, placing it over Sienna’s shoulders as more and more pairs of eyes turned their attention towards us. I could feel their lingering gazes as they gestured and pointed at us, whispering to each other.
"Did you just see that?"
"That girl... did she just beat Sienna?"
"Oh my goodness! There’s actually a she-wolf that can beat Sienna?"
"Who is she?"
"I think she’s that prisoner that Lucien brought back with him."
"How is this even possible? I heard that she’s wolfless!"
Similarly, I was also caught off guard. The moment Sienna had barrelled into the line of tents, I was stumped. I didn’t realize that I had this much strength in me. Sienna didn’t feel like she weighed more than a huge bag of flour― heavy to lift, but not impossible. In fact, I had definitely lifted way heavier things while working as an omega servant for the Shadowclaw Pack.
A fully grown adult wolf shouldn’t feel the same as a mere bag of flour, at the very least. And certainly not to a supposedly wolfless person.
I stared at my hands. They were trembling with sudden exhaustion. No matter how light she felt before, right now, it felt as though my muscles had reached their limit from that one swing, though I could hardly be surprised. It was a miracle that it could even do that in the first place.
Suddenly, I remembered what had happened in the hallways during the day of the triplets’ wedding to Violet. I had also easily defended myself against the warriors who tried to assault me, albeit Ralph was there to help me with the second one.
Likewise, back then, I felt an unexplainable surge of strength. That same bout of strength allowed me to knock out a fully grown man, and a trained werewolf at that.
"How dare you!" Georgia snapped at me as she and Isabella helped Sienna back up to her feet. "You are nothing more than Bloodmoon’s prisoner. Know your place!"
"I didn’t start this," I retorted, looking up from my hands. "Sienna attacked me first. I merely pointed out the flaw in her explanation."
"You have no right to meddle in Bloodmoon’s business," Isabella said with a snarl. "You are just an outsider."
"I am not," I said. "I’ve already said it before, but you three didn’t believe me. I am Lucien’s mate. What concerns him concerns me as well."
The crowd immediately burst into excited whispers. I could catch bits and pieces from the many ongoing conversations around us, all surprised by my bold declaration.
"Dream on!" Georgia spat out. "Alpha Lucien has never cared for women. There have been tens, or maybe even hundreds of women who have claimed to be his mate, fated and chosen! What makes you think you’re so special?"
"Because Lucien himself told me so," I rebutted. "I cannot speak for those other delusional women, but I know what I heard."
After Lucien had so firmly stated that we were fated mates, I didn’t have the same sort of doubt and worry that haunted me when I was with the triplets. It felt like Lucien was the last piece of the puzzle I needed, and everything had fallen into place exactly where I needed them to be.
That helped a lot with my confidence and made it so much easier to state it out loud.
I refused to make the same mistake with Lucien as I did with the triplets, and I refused to let our mate bond go unspoken this time. Everything that had gone wrong with Rowan, Soren, and Cassian, every insecurity that those three had built in me, I was determined to correct it here now that I was offered a second chance.
"If anything," I continued, "Sienna is the delusional one. She may have been selected as the Luna of the Bloodmoon Pack due to her strength and feats, but that by no means makes her Lucien’s mate. If anything, she is merely his partner at work, not in life."
Sienna’s eyes were red as she glared at me. Her cheeks were also flushed, and she needed Isabella and Georgia’s support to stand upright. She pointed a finger at me, fury burning through her.
"You―"
But she was suddenly cut short when a new voice boomed through the crowd of softer, chattering ones.
"What the hell is going on here?!"
