Five

Livia

Perry’s last statement struck me. They were having issues? Bella hadn’t gotten pregnant yet? Really?

“But that shouldn’t matter to you. You should live your life. And Zach will live his. Trust me. I’ll talk to him,” Perry, the Crescent Pack Beta assured me, and I felt a lot better.

“Thank you, Perry. I’m glad to see you again.”

“Trust me, no one is gladder than I am. Keep your head up, Liv. You’re stronger than you know.”

He chuckled and waved me goodbye as I walked away with Emerald in hand.

The event continued and I wandered around the halls, deep in thought and desperate to stay far away from Zach until the event ended. Time crawled and I tried to keep my cool, exploring Augusta’s home which was the venue for this event. At least, the rooms that were open to the public.

One of those rooms was the chamber of relics.

The room was filled with treasures  for our kind from far and wide. Augusta’s family was wealthy and she kept all those relics safe, which was an important duty.

I was careful to not touch anything, holding my breath as I explored the room. The shiny objects caught Emerald’s eyes too.

“Mommy, what’s that?” She pointed her little cute finger at an orb encased in glass. “It’s big.”

“Yes it is sweetheart,” I smiled. “It’s very important so it must be big.

A part of me longed to touch the relics, to see the history behind them. But I knew better than to potentially cause damage to them.

I stepped back and left the room, coming face to face with someone I hadn’t seen in two years.

“Oh, lookie here. It’s the slave bitch.”

Bella.

Her demeanor hadn’t changed one bit. Ever since she exposed herself as a fake friend and spy for Zach when Starlight Pack was attacked, she became a taunting bully towards me, using every chance she could to show me reasons why i should give up and just die.

I raised my chin and stared at her defiantly, gripping my daughter’s hand firmly.

“Bella. A pleasure to meet the true Luna of the Crescent Pack,” I greeted, and her eyes shone with pleasure at my words.

“Of course. You’ve finally known your place,” she nodded with glee.

“Yes. And my place is as the future Luna of the Nightwing Pack, Bella. Don’t think for a second that I’m inferior to you. At the very least, you and I are on the same level. So greet me appropriately next time you see me,” I told her in no uncertain tone.

She blinked in shock, like I had struck her just like when I slapped her husband earlier today.

“What? Future Luna? What the fuck?” She screeched, and I smiled, knowing her peace was disturbed now. She had tried so hard to get Zach and to bully me into submission but that had never worked. I had grown stronger from the naive little girl i had been before.

“Well, Bella. I’ll let you get on with it. Im sure you have better things to do like I certainly do. Bye now,” I waved a little as I walked off. I was glad now to know what the real Bella was like. She was nothing but a sniveling little girl who had an ego problem. I had grown beyond getting easily riled up by her words.

After a few more minutes of wandering, I re-entered the room where the event went on, and my eyes began to search for Hayden.  It was then that I noticed that everyone had tense looks on their faces.

“What could have happened?” I asked aloud to myself as I moved through the crowd towards my fiancé. “Hayden, is everything okay?”

He let out a short growl and pinched his nose in frustration, a move I was used to after a year and a half of dating.

“Something’s happened. One of the relics have gone missing from Augusta’s chamber of relics.”

What?

My heart skipped. Hadn’t I left that room barely ten minutes ago? How could something have happened so quickly?

Suddenly I remembered. Bella. She had to have done something.

“It was her!” Bella’s voice was raised above everyone else’s and I looked in her direction only to find her pointing at none other than me.

“What?” I gasped. “What are you on about now, Bella?”

“Don’t lie. I saw you leaving the chamber of relics. You stole the relic, didn’t you?” She growled threateningly at me. “You thief!”

“Hey, that’s my fiancé you’re talking about!” Hayden stepped forward, growling at Bella. “What does the Luna of the Crescent pack have as evidence for what she just said? Absolutely nothing.”

I was relieved to have Hayden by me, to stand for me and protect me. But I could see the doubts on the faces of others in the event.

“She has not been in this room for a long time, though,” someone spoke up, and panic filled me. How was I to know that trying to avoid Zach would turn to this? I held Emerald who was sleeping in my arms currently, gently as possible and tried to appear calm.

“You’re right. I thought she looked suspicious with how she kept going in and out of the room all day. I doubt anyone has seen her stay in this room for longer than a minute!” Another person declared to my despair.

I looked around. Perry wasn’t here to speak on my behalf, I realized after a couple of seconds. I needed someone else who could.

That was the only way to get them to stop accusing me so blindly.

“The only way to get the truth is to search her, and if that’s not conclusive, interrogate her. Guards!” Someone called and suddenly a growl ripped through the air.

“Is that enough for you to accuse someone who has nothing to do with the relic going missing? Or are you all going based on just one witness?”

My lips parted in surprise.

Zach stood, a head taller than everyone else, and he glanced at me, his eyes unreadable. I swallowed. What was he up to now?