“I swear, I swear I did not take it!” It was no coincidence that the girl with whom April was rooming ended up possessing my ring. I knew April well enough to know that she would not have done something as stupid as stealing my jewellery and keeping it amongst her things. In the first place, she would not have been interested in the ring but in what it meant.“If you did not take it, then how did it get into your bag!?” Cassius thundered. “C – Cassius, calm down.” I touched his bicep which was bulging from how hard he gripped the girl’s throat. Her eyes were already popping out of her socket. “No, Perse, how can I calm down? How dare this wench steal from you and she still has the nerve to lie to my face!” “I – I swear on – on the goddess’ name –“ The girl still insisted on her innocence. She was a girl I did not know well so she must be new here. There was no one here to vouch for her so she was undoubtedly going to take the fall for this. I looked at the brown-haired girl behin
“An invitation came for you from Alpha Koa.” Cassius held onto the invitation. “What is that about?” “How do you have my letter?” My tone was defensive and I regretted it immediately. My dealings with Alpha Koa, as much as I would like them to be kept private considering our status, were likely to become public sooner rather than later. Still, I was scared of someone, Cassius especially, somehow learning the terms of our deal. If he knew I was trying to take away the footstool that elevated him thus far, I was not very confident that he would stay still. No, he definitely would hold on to me if he got even the slightest hint that I was trying to be rid of him. He would never let go of the benefits only I could bring him. “Perse,” he called my name with a low and sad tone. “Before we are mates or fiancees or any of that, we are best friends.” He stared deep into my eyes as if to see into my soul. “You used to tell me everything so what changed?” Was the nervousness in his tone my i
“Hey there!” Someone shouted as I walked into the house. It never occurred to me that I would ever be addressed that way so I did not pay attention to the voice as I continued on my way.“Hey!” The person continued to scream. It was not until I heard the mutterings coming from behind me that I stopped. ‘You should address her as ‘miss’ or ‘Luna’’ Someone whispered. I turned in time to see April sneer as the girl beside her corrected her. Her eyes met mine and she pursed her lips before averting her gaze. “But is she the Luna? She may never even be the Luna,” she whispered loud enough for me to hear. “What do you mean? Who else will be the Luna if not Miss Persephone?” The other girl asked. Pretending I did not hear them, I walked into the house and went to my room. I just returned from seeing Alpha Koa whose very existence got on my nerves. The last thing I wanted was to deal with something even more unpleasant upon my return. When I got to my room, I was amazed. The room was f
“You said your name was what again?” I asked the girl whom I had saved from having her hands chopped off when April framed her. “My name is Dora, Luna.’ She bent her head, twiddling her thumbs on her lap. “Dora, how about working for me?” I asked her and she nodded her head without looking up at me. While my reputation had improved since I stood up for her after my engagement ring was found in her bag, my reputation of having a short temper and lashing out for even the smallest reasons still remained. It was something I had to change for my future projects because in this life, I would do a lot of bad things but I would still need the support of the people around me so I had to keep a low profile. For this, I needed people. It was my biggest weakness in my past life. I had no one on my side because I chased everyone away with my abhorrent personality. This time, I had no illusions that I could be liked by everybody. In the past, April acted as my character foil and there were a l
“You are not a child! Why are you crying in public?” My father continued to scold me but I buried my face in Cassius’ arms and continued to cry. In the past, I hated my father for how harsh he was and thought he hated me but now I realized he was clumsy with showing his affection. He did not like seeing me cry and he did not know how to comfort me so he yelled and offered to buy me a cart filled with jewelry. “Stop this nonsense! Stop crying!” The more my father yelled at me, the harder I cried in Cassius’ arms.“Do not worry, Alpha Rufus, I will get to the bottom of this. Her necklace will be found,” Cassius tried to placate my father.“Why did you allow her things to get stolen in the first place?” My father sneered. “How can I trust you to keep my daughter safe if I cannot even trust you to protect her property?” The relationship – or lack thereof – between my father and Cassius made me laugh. Cassius was what I would call a fan of my father – there were not many who did not adm
“I – Is that not a bit too much? It is okay to send her away from the pack,” I said. There was no way Cassius would cut April’s hands so I had to play on that and appear at least a little benevolent by suggesting a lesser punishment. “Cassius, what do you think?” I did not forget to push the decision to him. Ultimately, I was after April but I could not publicly go after her. Let her see that the man who brought her in was not shit anyway. Let her see that whatever promises he had made to her would be difficult to carry out and let her begin to doubt his words. “It – is there – we do not have proof.” It was unlike Cassius to sound so unsure so I almost smiled as he stuttered out his words but I held myself, laughing inwardly. I wanted to see how he would deflect this. I needed to know how precious this girl was to him and most of all, I wanted to one-up April. Just because I was no longer interested in her good-for-nothing mate did not mean I would not like to see her crestfallen
It was chaos after that. Cassius shouted her name with a loud growl and my father almost punched Cassius in the face. Thankfully, the enforcers caught him before he tackled him to the ground. I reckoned he would have killed him. “You – You are lying.” It was my my turn to put on a play so I put in my best work. I stumbled and Sylvia rushed to catch me as a single tear rolled down my cheek, my eyes still on her. She could not hide the gloating smile on her lips as I pretended my world had just been ruined – ended even. “I am not lying.” Then she bent her head. “Cassius is my mate.”“April!” Cassius yelled at her, taking several steps towards her as if he would make her disappear from the world. “C – Cassius – is this – is this true?” I cried out and he rushed to my side. “No – No, do not touch me! Don’t touch me!” I pushed his hand away as he reached out to grab mine. “Perse, listen to me, please. This is –““You still have the nerve to talk to her. You found your mate and brought
“No, no, no! Don’t touch me! I do not want to hear anything from you! Go away! Leave me alone!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. There were people gathered at my door and they could hear me screaming but I did not care. I wanted them to hear everything being said in this room today. This scandal had to be publicized for me to change my public image. I needed people on my side and a foolproof way of getting people on my side was by inducing sympathy. There was nothing more sympathetic than a woman who had been betrayed by her love. “Perse, listen to me, please,” Cassius begged, holding my hand in a tight grip. “Listen to what I have to say!” “What do you have to say? Every word that proceeds from your mouth is nothing but a lie! Go away!” It was the fifth day since April disclosed to the world that Cassius was her mate. By now, everywhere would be abuzz with news of my heartbreak and my subsequent hysteria. Many letters had come for me, some out of genuine concern but most