Juno’s POV
According to my schedule, I had three Lunas waiting to meet with me. When Isabelle arrived, her pregnancy was obvious, and her eyes were red and swollen, she’d clearly been crying.
Not that I cared. I remembered how she had wanted Matthew when I had already let him go. She gently stroked her belly before sitting down, and I wasn’t sure if the gesture was meant as an insult or just habit.
“Luna Juno,” she greeted me respectfully.
“Why do you want to see me?” I asked.
‘I wanted to thank you for helping Matthew and me before,” she said, her voice trembling slightly. “I owe you my life. I never expected such kindness.”
“We’ve all moved on to where we belong,” I said. “I’m no longer part of your lives.”
Isabelle lowered her head in shame. ‘I’m sorry for how I behaved. I was wrong.”
“I didn’t lie intentionally,” she continued. “My father forced me. You know how cruel he can be. I had to support the story he told the Alphas.”
“Matthew and I only fooled around,” she admitted. “He tried to refuse me several times-”
I held up my hand, cutting her off. “I don’t need to hear about Matthew refusing you,” I said firmly. “I have other Lunas waiting.”
‘I’m not his Luna, Isabelle blurted out. “He refused to marry me.”
My eyebrows shot up in surprise.
“I pretended to be a Luna to get on your schedule,” she confessed. “I needed to see you.”
She leaned forward, her eyes desperate. “Matthew swore he would never let someone replace you. Your room is still empty. Sometimes he sleeps there.”
I stared at her, “What do you want, Isabelle?”
“Please help him move on,” she begged, tears welling in her eyes. “He needs your permission to move forward.”
“He barely eats or sleeps. He’s a shell of himself, she continued, her voice breaking. “Zephyx tries to help, but Matthew is drowning in guilt.”
“Please give him closure,” she pleaded. As his oldest friend, he’ll listen to you.”
She clutched her belly protectively. “I don’t expect him to love me. I just want him to live… to find a reason to go on.”
Isabelle looked ready to kneel before me, but I quickly stopped her. The last thing I needed was for her to go into premature labor in my box due to distress.
“I’ll speak with my mate about it,” I assured her, wanting to calm her down. “I’ll try to talk to Matthew.”
“Thank you,” she gasped, tears streaming down her face. “There are no words to express my gratitude.”
She rose to leave, explaining that she’d only requested ten minutes of my time. I realized that as the mate of Forestvale’s leader, she should have been a VIP guest, but Matthew had refused to give her my former position.
As she left, I considered what I might say to Matthew to help him move forward. Isabelle had seemed genuinely desperate and helpless.
I also realized that Charles had forced Isabelle to lie. If she hadn’t complied, she might have faced even worse treatment. But why had Charles wanted Isabelle in our home so badly? And was she merely a pawn or an unwilling accomplice?
After meeting with Isabelle, I received the other two Lunas. They simply wanted to invite me and my friends to visit their homes. After what happened in
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Dawnshere, I was cautious and told them I’d consider it. I remembered lusw Juliet had sent me poison when I didn’t even know I was pregnant, BAKT knew about my baby, I needed to be extra careful.
When I returned to the main box, the morning mallet ball match had ended, and we had to move to the main box to kill time. On the way back, I und Scarlett and Freya about my meeting with Isabelle.
Scarlett burst out laughing when I finished. Freya looked annoyed.
“Now she has to lie in the bed of thorns she made, Freya said sarcastically.
We all laughed at that, even Amelia joining in. Except for Ruby, all of us had been hurt by our husbands‘ fated mates, so we understood each other perfectly
When we reached the box, I was surprised to find it filled with gifts and cards addressed to me.
“What’s all this?” I asked, staring at the pile in amazement.
“Apparently, they’re all for you,” Scarlett said, picking up a card that read “Merciful Luna Queen.”
I reached for another card, but Amelia caught my wrist.
“Juno, dear, just because something is addressed to you doesn’t mean you should open it,” she warned. “As someone who will be Queen, you have enemies.
She explained that there were staff members who checked gifts for harmful contents first. She signaled for some people to take the items away.
I noticed a simple card with a white daisy attached to it. It looked harmless enough.
Before Amelia could stop me, I picked it up and opened it. The contents made my blood run cold. It was composed of letters cut from magazines and
newspapers:
“YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE GOTTEN INVOLVED. TO DESTABILIZE HIM, I MUST REMOVE YOU FIRST. WATCH YOUR BACK.”
Shocked, I felt Amelia take the card from my trembling hand.
I reached for another one with a red rose attached to it:
“TRAITOR. YOU SLEEP WITH THE MAN WHO DESTROYED MY PEOPLE’S LIVES. HAVE YOU NO SHAME, OR WAS THIS YOUR PLAN ALL ALONG?”
I began going through all the cards, finding six in total, each filled with hatred and threats. I tried to detect a scent from the sender, but the fragrance from the flowers attached to each card masked any identifying smell. The delivery had been very careful.
I realized that someone, or multiple people was unhappy with the hearing’s outcome and knew I had helped. Somehow, I had become a target in a game where I didn’t even know all the players.
‘Juno, you’re sweating,” Amelia said, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Remember the baby. You need to stay calm.”
I nodded, trying to steady my breathing. But the threatening messages kept flashing through my mind. Who wanted me gone? And how far would they go to make it happen?
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