Chapter 0008
Violet
Watchful and kind. He seemed intrigued,
I drew up short and looked at Theo. His eyes were but there was no mistaking the heat in his gaze either, the interest. The anger started to pull back. The red haze started to clear, and I turned my gaze on Lucas slowly. The red light in his eyes vanished. His eyes widened with fear and disbelief.
“Th–That’s—”
“Impossible?” I hissed. “I’m sure my father thought the same.” He paled. Theo let out a low whistle, but he didn’t stop me from advancing on Lucas. Lucas took a step back, but I didn’t need to get any closer,
“How dare you try to compel me?” I said, sneering at him with disgust. “Try it again, and I’ll consider it a formal challenge, then you’ll have a lot more to worry about that where I’ve been all night.”
He jolted back and turned pale. I turned to Theo, glaring at him. “Enjoy it while you can,
Lucas.”
Theo slipped his arm around my waist and pulled me away. “What a statement.”
We walked out of the hall, and I pulled away from him, putting a bit of distance between us as I looked up at him, coldly. His eyes widened.
‘I suppose I don’t have to wait the hour for that discussion, do I, Alpha Theodore?“,
He smirked and gestured ahead of me. “Shall we?”
As we left, Kincaid fell into step behind us as did a woman I assumed to Dalia, Theodore’s Beta, known to be a cunning, vicious woman who was only a bit older than me. He led me to a different hotel room than the one I’d spent the night with Theodore in. Dalia produced. a contract and set it in front of me as Theodore drank from his glass.
“The deal is simple,” he said. “In exchange for helping you with your little problem, I want 70% of Darkmoon’s GDP for the upcoming year, the alpha’s due as it were and for you to act as my luna for a year.”
Einbarrassment and anger warred in me, thinking about what I must have looked like to him last night. Did I seem that desperate? 70% was outright robbery, but money could always be earned back. If I could get this done within a quarter and leverage my position as acting luna of Midnight for the good of Darkmoon, I’d make it back within the year easily, but my comfort and the ease of things wasn’t worth my dignity or Darkmoon’s pride.
I didn’t even pick up the contract or glance at it.
“You must make a habit of insulting people you need things from.” I scoffed. “No wonder
+25 BONUS
you haven’t made much progress with Midnight’s land stake.”
He bristled. Kincaid’s eyes widened just a bit. His lips twitched like he was going to laugh, but Dahlia looked outright amused. Her eyes twinkled.
“You showed me a good time last night, so I won’t hold your youth and inexperience against you.” He flushed. Dahlia coughed into her hand. “I’ll ignore the insult since I may yet benefit from this alliance: 20% as goodwill and we’ll need to iron out what you’re asking of me.”
“You think you’ve got room to negotiate?” He scoffed. “You must not have a very firm grip on what you’re up against. My brother won’t even bat an eyelash.”
“Your brother will have to change his mind as soon as the Donovan family’s allies start calling for his head. How long do you think that will take? A week?”
He worked his jaw. “You’d be acting luna of the largest pack, and involved with the alpha king’s brother. You think 20% is enough for the honor?”
“You must think very highly of your cock.” His eyes widened a bit as I met his gaze. “To think I would agree to 70%, knowing that you need me for whatever it is you’re after, and to overlook the speculation I will have to deal with. You know the social climate as well as I do, and the show you put on with this ring is going to get people talking. A wedding will be expected, a ceremony– I’ll be your contracted wife, Theodore, not just your luna. How long do you think it’ll take for people to start praising you for bedding me and speculating if I’ve been cheating on Lucas all these years? Having any more to do with you may further set back my efforts, so it had better be worth it for me.” I took off the ring and tossed it on the table. “A shiny prop isn’t enough.”
