“Thank you, Luna Hannah,” Zoe said with more sincerity than I had expected.
“Thank you for choosing us as your pack,” I said in an almost sickeningly sweet tone. I turned my attention to her son. “Tell me, how old are you, Adam?”
Adam shyly held up four fingers.
Zoe smiled and ran her fingers through Adam’s golden locks.
“He’s four years old,” she said proudly. “He’s also a bit shy around new people.”
I smiled brightly down at Adam.
“That’s all right. It’s good to be a little cautious in front of strangers.”
I turned back to Zoe.
“With your permission,” I continued, “I have prepared gifts for all the Pack’s children in advance of the upcoming Lunar Festival, and I’d like to give Adam his now. It might be just the thing to make him feel at home.”
Zoe motioned forward with her hand.
“Be my guest.”
I reached back amongst the bags of supplies, where I had hidden Adam’s gift from even Noah’s sight. I pulled out the box encased in shiny red wrapping paper and handed it to Adam. The boy turned the gift over carefully, as though he were unsure of what to do with it.
“Go ahead, sweetheart,” Zoe encouraged him. “Open it.”
Giving his mother one last look, Adam tore apart the wrapping paper and tossed it aside with abandon. His eyes widened upon seeing the Transformer Optimus Prime action figure. He looked at his mother again, then a smile stretched across his face, and he began jumping up and down.
“Mommy, Mommy, look!” he exclaimed, jamming his finger against the box repeatedly.
“I know, I see,” Zoe said, almost laughing with joy herself. “That’s a very special gift. What do you say to Luna Hannah?”
Adam set his new toy on the ground and, to my surprise, rushed forward to hug me, burying his face in my dress.
“Thank you, Luna Hannah,” he said, his voice muffled.
I returned his hug.
“You’re welcome, Adam.”
A chorus of “awws” broke out among the crowd. The paparazzi nearly fell over each other to get a picture of me with Adam and Zoe. To my secret joy, Noah had all but been forgotten.
Later that day, I sat at home, watching various news videos of the Acceptance Ceremony.
“Luna Hannah has outperformed herself today with her warm reception of Zoe, Alpha Noah’s former fated mate, and Zoe’s son, Adam,” one news anchor declared. “She has shown herself to be the picture of grace and poise. I know that I wouldn’t have handled such a situation so tactfully.”
“Luna Hannah has certainly proven herself worthy of the position today,” her desk partner added. “She did not just give Zoe and her child the same supplies as all the other refugees but truly opened her arms and her heart to them and greeted them like long-lost family members. How many among us would have done that?”
“In the midst of Luna Hannah’s praiseworthy response, one has to wonder: why has Zoe returned to the Nightcrest Pack in the first place?” the host of another show postulated. “After all, it is highly unusual for a former Luna of one pack to join another. Zoe, as a Luna, was well-known for her honor and reputation—could something have happened to put both in danger?”
One political commentator went in-depth on the profile of Drake, Zoe’s presumably ex-husband, and made some speculations about the reason behind Zoe’s sudden displacement:
“Drake, nephew of the Luna Queen, is a notorious rich playboy from the days before his marriage to Zoe. It is more than probable that he never gave up the lifestyle. Recently, he was spotted with international supermodel Amber.
“It could be that Zoe had, at last, had enough with his womanizing ways and decided to leave him in an attempt to save her own image. Whether this will work or actually have the opposite effect has yet to be seen. Few Lunas recover from divorcing their Alphas…”
My phone vibrated for what seemed like the hundredth time that hour. It was Viona, again. I couldn’t leave her hanging for too long, or else she might think that something had happened to me.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Finally!” Viona exclaimed. “I was starting to worry.”
I rolled my eyes.
“You’re such a drama queen sometimes. What’s up?”
“What’s up? What’s up? It’s all over the news!”
“What is?”
“Zoe’s back!”
“Yes, I know,” I said calmly.
“Aren’t you pissed about that?”
“Not exactly,” I lied. “Are you?”
“Of course, I am. How could Noah let her come back, after everything that you’ve done for him? After everything that you’ve sacrificed for him?”
“Viona, I don’t know what you’re so worried about.”
“Bullshit, you don’t! They were fated mates, Hannah. You know what that means, right?”
I forced myself to sigh, to maintain my calm façade.
“Yes, I know what that means. I’m not some ignorant teenager.”
“Then why aren’t you more worried? Don’t you know what could happen now that she’s back? That little bastard could—”
“He could cheat on me, he could ruin my reputation, he could make a fool out of me. I know.”
There was a pause as Viona processed my words.
“And yet you’re just smiling and welcoming her and her child into your pack,” she finally said, her tone almost bitter. “You’re letting them walk all over you, as though you didn’t give up being an Alpha to become Noah’s Luna. As though you aren’t…”
I didn’t need to hear it to know what Viona wanted to say.
As though you aren’t mutilating yourself to appease him.
For a moment, I almost lost my self-control. I quietly wiped the tears from face and take a deep breath before I spoke again.
“I have it all under control, Viona,” I assured her. “I know what I’m doing.”
“But, sweetie,” she replied, her tone now sad and placating, “are you prepared to get hurt along the way?”
“I’m not going to get hurt,” I insisted. “I’ve made a decision, and I will not come out of this short-handed.”
I jumped slightly as the front door opened, revealing Noah’s looming form. Scott followed right behind him.
My brows furrowed in confusion. Noah never came home except on our intimacy nights.
“I’m going to have to call you back.”
Before Viona could respond, I hung up.
I watched Noah as he trudged through the living room, Scott by his side. Noah dropped his messenger bag on the couch beside me and stood in front of me, tablet in hand. Upon seeing his brooding expression, I knew that he knew about my decision.
I braced myself for his reaction.
“I got an interesting email from the Alpha Council today,” he said, glaring down at me. He handed me the tablet. “Is there anything that you want to tell me?”
I did not bother to look at the tablet. I knew exactly what it said. He wanted me to tell him that there was some sort of error, but there wasn’t.
I returned Noah’s tablet to him. Then I pulled my shoulders back, lifted my chin defiantly, and stared straight into his eyes.
“Yes, that is my divorce application.”
