Olivia’s POVI aim to make sense of this gala, seeing donations piling out of the boxes along with land deeds and jewelry and checks. Looking up, I feel a sea of eyes on me now, something still so unfamiliar about being seen to be; being truly seen, not as an object or a fill-in wife, but as a Queen Luna, as someone with purpose.Part of me aches with this new found attention but I push those dwelling anxieties away.I am greeted by Alpha’s of such rural packs; I can’t believe I’ve never even heard of their existence. I may not have had much of an interest in politics in my last life, but this life is different and the more arraignments I make with these wealthy agricultural wolves, the more I get to bring awareness and money into the charity.Reese would be so proud of me now. He’s stable for the moment but I dread leaving the palace phones, waiting for someone to rush up, eyes in a panic with labored breathing to tell me the young, male wolf I have been looking after isn’t going to
Olivia’s POVThe back wall holds many tables with several brochures, framed documents and pledges of money people have made just this evening. I’m too confused to admit it to myself, Gabriel leading me down the lengthy tables full of information about my charity as if I had been the one to set these up; but I haven’t.I stop near the center of the onslaught of information, seeing a single photo framed and propped upright in all of its nostalgic glory. It’s a framed photo of Reese and myself, my childhood features so cheerful, so innocent, before my brother and I faced our first hardship together in the death of our parents.“How did you find this picture?” I ask, choking back a sob, my brother’s cheery grin so cherubic and innocent that it physically hurts my wolf and my heart. “I have never seen this picture of—of Luna Olivia and her brother.”Gabriel grins, his hand gently sliding across my back. “I may have gone through some of Reese’s things after he was inducted from our pack and
Third Person POVThe bank has grown used to the sight of the Queen Luna since her account opened a few months ago. The manager recalled her rushed sense of urgency to open an account, to have the top banker manage the finances and send her a report by the week as money flowed seamlessly in and out of her account.Of course the tellers had seen the receipts. Money and checks written out by Alpha Herold, by the King Alpha and by countless other Alphas, only spreading more rumors than the tabloids have been running with lately. She returns to the bank anyways, filing more bills, more gold coins, and stacks of personal checks by Alphas, betas, and common wolves alike.The Royal pack has seen her glide through the palace, walking alone on the sidewalks and making deposits at her bank on the regular, before returning to the hospital to visit a new intake wolf into the pack. If anyone caught a glimpse of her, they would think she is strong-willed and determined.Deep down, she feels mournful
Olivia’s POVI’ve made it a point to avoid the news on TV, pushing away any offer to read the papers or magazines brough into the palace by the maids. I’m not embarrassed, though I probably should be, that the Royal pack and several others seem keen on guessing who I share my bed with these days.Frankly, I’ve been sleeping in Gabriel’s office, denying him any opportunity to pull the same stunt he had tried to pull at the gala. To him, it was a kiss a husband would give to his wife. It was a simple, even natural, act and he probably considered it to be harmless.To me, it was a violation of my desires.We sit in the dining room now, silent as it has been for days, my eyes focused on the small spoon swirling around my coffee cup will Gabriel glares through me, waiting for me to say something, to explain my brazen behavior toward him at the gala, but I will let him suffer a little longer in this tensile silence. He has earned it.The attending warrior from the foyer bows his head as he
Olivia’s POVEven through the differences in the real Queen Luna and myself, Celine and I have a good time together. We talk as if we’ve been friends for years and I feel relived to have one more person know my deepest secret, a person not gunning for my heart like Eugene. I fill her in on that drama at once, both of us talking through the day and into the early evening.She listens as I spill the gossip over Alpha Herold daring to claim me again, in this form, and the friction it has caused with Gabriel. She speaks of his as cold and callous to her old friend, the stark opposite of how he is with me now. We murmur about his affection for me, about denying me of a divorce, and she speculates he is accommodating for his rejection of his mate for so long, but I think it’s something else.I try not to focus on it too much.“I guess you’ve come to see that my girl Rebecca has very little friendships in her life aside from the long-term sisterhood we have formed through the years,” she say
It feels like forever before the fight ends in the once crowded bar. Everyone has since filtered out, interested in facing the furious Alpha and his damningly large wolf. The rogue is cut loose from Herold’s ferocity after a minute goes by, Celine kneeling beside me as I painstakingly pick the tiny shards of glass from my hands and knees.“Not what I had in mind tonight,” Celine says, chewing her lower lip nervously. Her gaze focuses to Alpha Herold, watching him shift back into mortal form without a scratch to bare from his scuffle. “Thank you so mu—”“Don’t thank him,” I growl, brushing away the few trails of blood that line my exterior. “This is Alpha Herold.”Her once light and thankful features turn sour. “Oh.”Herold, although exasperated and breathy, manages to spit, “you really can’t give me any credit, Queen Luna? I just saved you from that obnoxious drunk.”Also got me killed, jerk. I hiss at my wolf as she harps on her negative feelings of the Alpha. I hate him too, but I s
The weather hasn’t let up, even when I wish it would. The clouds are heavy and dark and stagnant, unmoving through the skies and blocking the sun for what feels like a week, maybe more. Having Celine here is a beacon of light in itself, but there’s far too much going on for me to see her as much as I would prefer.I drag myself to the hospital, wearing the laziest set of sweatpants and a hoodie. I tied up my long, fair hair, letting it hang off my neck in a ball or a nest; I don’t care of the appearance at this rate. I lurch myself to the top floor, leaning forward against the glass to peer into Reese’s room. He’s hardly awake anymore.Just like today, he still breathes through a machine, several others beeping stagnantly. I’ve built new programs, hired specialists of our kind, and built beautiful charities to raise money for wolves just like Reese. And yet, here he lays, no better than he was the day he was brought to the Royal pack.Eugene rests a heavy palm on my shoulder. “It’s go
Gabriel threw me in the car this morning, wordlessly. I want him to explain himself, but I know he won’t. We don’t talk much anymore, which is understandable given my behavior, and besides me being cold to my own husband, I have been thinking of Eugene far too much to admit. I’m not saying I enjoyed that kiss, but it has certainly taken up space in my head.I curl up in the backseat of his compact, luxury car, feeling like the Alpha Kind chose this for a reason. There is little space between us, and even less when he pulls for my legs, resting them comfortably over his lap, to let them stretch. I settle in at the position, relaxed for the first time in so long.“Should we talk?” he asks, his voice stoic and abrupt in this otherwise silent car ride. “My dear, you’re so detached from me. Did I do something?”“No,” I say in heavy gust. “To both questions.”He nods, seemingly leaving this topic aside for now. I realize shortly that we have entered a familiar pack, one that makes my stomac