PRIMUS ALEXANDER’S POV
She did it anyway.
If I had my way, we would still be upstairs – her pacing, angry, boiling over at me, and me letting her.
That would have been easier than this. But here I was, walking behind her, watching the sway of her hair, the sharpness of her steps, wondering if she knew how every single one of them would read her the moment she opened her mouth.
I told her not to meet them. I told her she wasn’t ready, that I didn’t want the Elders near her until the right moment. The Order rose as we entered, the scrape of chairs loud in the quiet hall.
“Primus.” Marcus greeted with a shallow bow, “Luna.”
I nodded and took the seat at the head of the table. She didn’t sit and she didn’t acknowledge him either. And then she paused. I could feel the shift in her.
Her brows pulled together, her gaze cut toward the far end of the table. “Why are you here?”
My hand tightened on the armrest before I could stop it. I followed her stare and traced the woman at the far bench. Fiona lifted her head.
“Luna, I was asked to attend-”
“Get-”
“As what and by whom?” Aqua cut me off before I could speak. “You shouldn’t be in this castle talkless of this gathering, Fiona. Leave from here.”
Marcus leaned forward, his palms on the table. “With due respect Luna,” he said, “While you, Levi, and the Primus were gone, Fiona has been… useful to me and that’s why she stays.”
My jaw went hard. Attend a meeting for the Order?
I caught the faint smile on Fiona’s lips.
Wrong move, Marcus.
Aquamarine raised one eyebrow, then shook her head. “Fiona, get out.”
Fiona hesitated and glanced toward Marcus.
I felt something like a smile threaten my face, but I kept my face still.
She’s really pushing it.
Marcus‘ voice hardens.
“I’d like it if she stays, Her input-”
“Isn’t needed,” Aquamarine cut in. Calm, precise. There was a steel in her voice now that made a couple of the older men shift. “This gathering is strictly for The Order. It’s a shame and an insult that someone who isn’t even a member of this pack in this
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Chapter 80
gathering”
Thaddeus’s smile was slow. “I don’t think you should be the one saying that.”
I glared at Thaddeus, a growl slowly rumbling in my throat. “Tha-”
“I am the crowned Luna of this pack, Thaddeus. I have every right to say who attends this meeting and who doesn’t.“–Aqua cut me off as she glared at them. “I want only the First Seven present here.”
She didn’t raise her voice; she didn’t need to. The authority in that one sentence landed harder than any shout. It was as if I wasn’t even in this meeting.
But still, I let her continue. Leonard and Zedd were also watching like they were enjoying the show.
“Which means you, Marcus, Fiona… and the rest will have to leave.”
The Elders began to murmur.
Marcus tilted his head toward me as if expecting me to intervene. I didn’t. I was too busy watching her, measuring the certainty in her stance.
And he was wrong for this and trust me, he would be dealt with.
Bringing a…… commoner in here?
“This is an insult to our faces,” Marcus said, standing.
Aquamarine didn’t flinch, “an insult you caused.”
That made their noses flare. And in less than a minute they all left.
Then she finally sat beside me with the First Seven following her movements. “You’re quiet,” she said under her breath.
I found my hand resting on the back of her chair as she sat, my thumb brushing the top of it.
That was the same thing I’d felt in Naturellia, watching her stand between me and Terran whom she couldn’t possibly defeat.
Reckless. Infuriating.
And gods help me, intoxicating.
“Well, you cut me off before I could speak, ” I whispered back, watching her hands wrap her stomach.
Her attention shifted to the rest of the table and she cleared her throat. “Let’s start.”
“The Primus has refused to give feedback since your return,” Derek started. “What happened with Terran? What demands did he make?”
“He asked me to be his Queen but I refused,” Aquamarine replied. “But it’s been settled and put behind us.”
“So you’re saying he let you go after what happened to Gaia?” Zedd asked. “The kingdom was troubled over your disappearance.”
He shouldn’t have said that. But it made Aquamarine’s eyebrow twitch a little. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking but I knew it wasn’t good.
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Chapter 80
“Not particularly,” she said. “But, we gave him a permanent solution to his problems and ours.”
I listened as she laid out the rest of the details. But she left out the part Terran touched her, the part I shifted, the part we killed him, the part we turned their kingdom to nothing but purple dust.
She spoke clearly, without stuttering, without glancing my way for reassurance.
But I still found my hand on her trembling hands. It was either that she still remembered what Terran did. Or the nightwear she had on was too light for the weather.
“Well, we noticed some changes and we just wanted to know who is responsible,” Leonard said. “And if it would turn against us in the future. You may not know, but we’ve had an alliance in the past that still stands.”
I leaned back, arms crossed, letting her steer the conversation. And yet she wasn’t just here–she was leading.
“I understand, Elder Lorenzo.”
Fik
Lorenzo?
I laughed a bit at how she mixed his name and Leonard shot me a look but he didn’t say anything.
She nudged my stomach and squinted her glance at me. “But we no longer have to worry about the fertility of our kingdom anymore.”
The meeting stretched on for another five minutes but I wasn’t paying attention anymore.
I just stared at her. Even I had to admit, there was a strange satisfaction in seeing them listen to her like this.
When it was done, she rose again, signalling it was over. The First Seven stood with her, bowed, and we left the hall. For a minute, Leonard’s eyes were fixed on her, then they turned and left.
He’s not stupid. I knew he would catch on soon.
“You think I wouldn’t have handled Marcus and Fiona?” I asked.
She didn’t turn. “Like how you handled Gaia and the rest?” she shot back. “You would’ve let him keep her in the room, and I wasn’t going to speak with the Order while she was staring at me like that.”
“You should have let me do my job,” I said. It came out sharper than I intended.
“You’re not in charge here, Aquamarine.” I meant it sternly, correctional. She had crossed a line I had set.
“Neither is Marcus,” she countered. “But yet, he brought someone into the council and others watched. I had thought The Order was ….. sacred.”
There it was: the old, stubborn thing that had always drawn me to her.
“You’re getting bold and getting comfortable giving orders,” I said, letting the observation be my admonition.
She looked over her shoulder, a small, quick grin that was almost cruel. “That shouldn’t be a problem for you, Primus,” she said. “Isn’t this what you wanted? The perfect Luna moulded to your liking?”
I leaned in until my lips were near the shell of her ear. My breath was low. “Are you doing this for me? Or yourself?”
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She didn’t answer, only folded her hands tighter, and for a second my pride was a flame that made everything else look small.
I didn’t tell her, but I liked it.
The control. The authority.
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I also didn’t tell her what I saw in the eyes of the men she just dismissed. The First Seven had seen it too and when they noticed strength, they either claimed it… or destroyed it.
And if she wasn’t careful, she’d give them a reason to see her as a threat.
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