Chapter-76. Luna’s throne
[Ezra]
Asher picked up her phone and read the news:
Bride or luna?
In the recent visit to the mortal realm, Alpha Ezra Xipher declared the triplet's bride as the luna of the Prime Infernal pack in front of the demon and mortal witnesses.
Sources claim the triplets have finally found the one they were looking for and won't be taking any more mortal brides. But the questions remain.
Has the luna of our pack already been chosen? And is she really their mortal bride?
Is a mortal even qualified to lead the pack of immortals? Is she a mortal at all, or is there more to the story of our mystery luna? Does she have a secret identity our alphas do not wish to reveal?
Who is this mystery luna and will the triplet alphas reveal her to the public? Will there be a formal introduction for her into elite society or do they wish to keep her private?
Public is excitedly interested to know what will be the dynamic and nature of their relationship?
Will the triplets take individual concubines like their father? If not, then what will happen to the other Luna candidates waiting in line?
Will there be three or perhaps four lunas of the pack or is our mystery luna the one and the final choice?
Stay tuned to the No Name Net (NNN) and my next post to know more.
Asher narrowed his eyes and placed Viella's phone back on the counter.
Viella ran her fingers through her waist-long black hair, and let out a frustrated sigh that was followed by the enraged hiss of the pitch black snake wrapped around her neck like a scarf.
Like always, she was dressed in a revealing, deep neck, black dress with a slit from her thighs. Exposing the rune tattoos on her arms and thighs. She was one of the most powerful demoness werewolves, with her wolf being a gorgon type. Every strand of her hair could turn into the most venomous snakes.
Her beauty was the standard for our pack as she held the Most Alluring Demoness's title for a nth time in the Prime pack, but not even an inch of her body was alluring to me.
She was just an entitled, arrogant, power-hungry lady who believed she alone deserved to be the Luna of this pack, simply because my father chose her. Or rather, he molded her into one.
She thought she was a perfect luna and her biggest weakness was she failed to see and acknowledge her shortcomings.
Asher and Viella have been betrothed since they were kids. As kids, their interactions were limited to the formal meetings arranged and strictly controlled by my father.
In their teenage years, she used to be around Asher most of the time, desperately trying to get his attention. They were mostly formal with one another and it seemed as if they were on good terms, even though Asher didn't pay her the kind of attention she wanted.
But the actual tension between them surfaced when Asher agreed to share the alpha position with Raven and me. After a lot of quarrels and disagreements, she approved of Raven becoming an alpha, but not me.
After a heated fight with Asher, she openly went against him and tried everything in her power to stop me from becoming an alpha. Reason: her prejudice.
Her father and grandfather were one of the most influential elders of the elders' council. But even with her strong political standing, it was not her call to make.
Their betrothal was a political alliance, and after their fight, they didn't even care to maintain a formal relationship. Asher became preoccupied with managing the curse and pack. Meanwhile, she began having affairs with other men, probably to regain Asher's attention, but Asher was completely indifferent and uninterested in her actions.
Once Raven and I took the oath as alphas, her political standing took a hit.
Since the position of the alpha was divided into three, the pack, the elders and the alpha council demanded us to clarify our roles, division of power and one thing we had to agree upon was if the position of luna would also be divided into three or if it would remain one.
That is, if we'd choose one luna or each one of us would have separate lunas.
I was ok with whatever Asher agreed upon, but Raven wasn't.
Raven suggested we have several ladies as luna candidates compete for the position of the luna. I knew he suggested it because he wanted to put Nyssa in direct competition with Viella to defeat Asher indirectly.
It took months for a proper, unbiased luna choosing system to be designed with the help of elders and the alpha committee of the pack.
According to the system, the Luna candidates would be monitored in all aspects by the special elders jury and they would compile reports on each candidate. The criterions of judgment would remain confidential until we, the alphas, unanimously agreed to conclude the selection process. Only then would the fate of Luna's throne be determined.
And that's how, from being the future Luna of the pack, Viella became just one of the potential candidates, a status she didn't accept.
She was confident that she'd become the luna one day, and I wondered where her confidence came from.
Yes, she was a powerful woman with wits and best immortality genes. In fact, she was the ideal type, inspiration for many demoness werewolves out there. But she was extremely prejudiced, apathetic, and too full of herself.
At times, it felt like I was being prejudiced towards her just because my father chose her, but she never failed to prove that I was right to not support her.
Once again, she was doing the same.
The strain between Asher and Viella tightened every time they met, and one could feel it just by standing between them.
"It's sourceless news. The most I can do is take it down," Asher said plainly.
"Do you think that will settle the wave this news had created on the devil-net?" Viella retorted. "My reputation is on the line. Taking it down will only create more buzz. And I don't want that."
Asher looked at her, and Viella looked at me. Then she casually sauntered closer to the bar counter and sat on the chair. She poured some wine into Asher's goblet and began drinking from it leisurely.
"Your brother has created this mess and he will correct it," she said.
Here we go again. I wasn't even surprised at this point.
Asher and I exchanged a glance.
"I want your brother to prepare a public apology and post it on his social media," she said.
I knit my brows.
"Or better. He could come live and apologize in front of the entire pack and clear this misunderstanding for once and for all," she said with a sly smirk.
I rolled my eyes, letting out a sardonic chuckle.
"Asher, tell your candidate to stay within her limits," I growled.
"Tell your pathetic brother not to use that tone with me," she told Asher, "and also that if he doesn't comply while I'm asking nicely, I'll summon a meeting where he'll face even more humiliation. I'm only trying to save his face for being the imbecile that he is."
"What makes you think you are in any position to tell me what I should and shouldn't do?" I shrugged.
"And you think you can do whatever you want with the position of alpha that you got as a charity from Asher just because you fucking begged for it?"
"You fucking-" I stepped closer to her.
She threw the wine inches away from my shoes, and I stopped.
She looked dead into my eyes, her gaze glowing like that of a snake as she said.
"Just because Asher gave you the alpha's title out of pity doesn't mean you are worthy," she said impassively. "Beggars are never choosers. And you, out of all people, have no right to choose who sits on the luna's throne. So apologize!" Rolling my tongue across my inner cheek, I broke into laughter. I took a deep breath and calmed myself before replying.
"What have you done to deserve the luna's throne? Your father did all the boot licking, and that's how my father chose you," I said.
"How dare you speak to me like that, you worthless, weak blood-"
"Get out of my house," Asher said in a calm tone, but I could feel the chills from it crawl down my spine.
Viella shut her blood-red eyes. Her face was flushed with rage as she looked away. Clenching her jaws, she tried hard to swallow her words. Then she broke into a mocking laugh.
"Nothing new. You are still the same, Asher." Angry tears lined her eyelids. "Just as cold and heartless as you used to be."
"And you are still just as obnoxious," I said.
"I wasn't talking to you-" she passed me a disgusted look.
"Ezra will not apologize," Asher said. "I will take down the news article, end of story. No need to make a fuss over nothing."
"Nothing!?" Viella snapped, banging on the counter as she got on her heels.
She walked closer to Asher, maintaining eye contact with him.
"I was born and trained to be your luna. The luna's throne is my whole life and you call it nothing?" she chuckled. "I don't understand! You are the real alpha of this pack. The decision to choose a luna should be entirely yours. So why?" "Because they are my brothers. We are equals," he said.
"Your brothers know nothing about the pack and politics. They just wake up one day and remember, oh they have a brother who they have neglected and taken for granted all his life. A brother who has been burdened by the pack's responsibilities for years and they decide to share the burden by handling what? Healing and technology departments of the pack? What rubbish, Asher?"
"Without Raven, the medical department of our pack wouldn't be the best in all three realms and without Ezra, you wouldn't be using the net that you use today, you wouldn't be driving the car that you used to get here," Asher said in a monotonous tone. "Without them, this pack wouldn't be what it is today."
"Huh! How can you be so blind, Asher?" she gritted her teeth. "Your brothers are trying to take away everything you have built. They are a threat to your position. They are weakening your standing as an alpha. They don't want to deal with the complicated stuff, but they have no problem reaping the perks that come with being the alpha of the pack. They are using you. They have been using you for years, but oh hell! For you, nothing comes before your family! Ugh!" "Ezra," Asher called in a grim tone. "Can you give us some privacy?"
"Why? Why send him away? Why don't you fucking confront your brothers? This is so not fair, Asher!" Viella yelled, her lips trembling.
Asher looked into her eyes, and her snake cowered, crawling back into her hair.
"Whose position was really threatened by this news? Mine or yours?" He asked.
"Mine," she confessed. "What's wrong with protecting what's rightfully mine? And I will not let some worthless mortal breeder or your brothers take it away from me. That's why I need your brother to apologize publicly. If he can run his mouth without considering the consequences, he can certainly draft a mindless apology, which would be enough for me-"
"Ezra is not apologizing," Asher said simply.
Viella shut her eyes. The tip of her hairs flickered into snake heads as she tried to suppress her wrath.
"Fine!" she snarled, glaring at Asher. Her chest heaved faster. "Then watch me make him! And don't blame me for what happens next!" Viella shot a look at me before she stormed out of the penthouse.
Asher ran his fingers through his hair.
"She's going to involve the elder demon council in this," I said.
"Don't worry about that. I will handle them and her," Asher said.
He was about to head towards his room when I asked.
"You won't question me? Or scold me? I misused my position. I indeed created a mess on an impulse-"
"-again," Asher completed my sentence.
"Yeah. Again."
"It's alright, Ezra."
"No. It's not. I mean... she's right. I-I have always been the weakest one. And you have protected me all the time. I took you for granted. Even now, I am always careless and then you have to deal with all the complicated stuff. I am just a nuisance. I am nothing like an alpha should be," I said, lowering my head and voice. "I am... nothing like you."
Asher walked to me and placed his hand on my shoulder.
"It's true that you are nothing like me. But it's also true that no matter what Asher does, he can never become what Ezra is. So don't let her words get to you."
I looked at him and gave a curt nod.
"Good. Before the working day begins, I have to stop Viella from turning this into a bigger problem," he said.
"About Xanthea..."
Asher lowered his gaze at the mention of her name, his body petrified as though his mind had immediately switched from his alpha mode to someone who was relatively new, even for him.
"I'll... see her soon, hopefully," he said.
"No. You should go back to her," I said. "I will handle this on my own."
"Ezra..."
"I know. You can handle the situation more efficiently than me, but let me do it this time. Not because Viella's words have affected me, but because I want to prove her wrong so that no one questions your decisions and standing as an alpha again. Please Asher," I said..
Asher let out a calm breath.
"Asher, I can protect myself now. I am not what I used to be anymore. And not just to her, I want to prove it to myself. So please..."All content © N/.ôvel/Dr/ama.Org.
"Ok. If that's what you want."
***
Even though Asher allowed me to handle this alone, I knew he would be watching me from the shadows. Because instead of returning to the Aile castle, he went to his office.
I kept contemplating the entire situation on the drive to my office in the Glass palace.
And while I figured out how I could clear the mess, I turned on the surveillance around Xanthea and found her sleeping soundly, her body entangled with Raven's.
Confirming that she was ok, I turned off the surveillance and concentrated on the matter at hand.
It was by the afternoon that I received a summon crow from the elder council with a handwritten scroll of invitation. Not just me, Asher, Raven, along with their luna candidates and the special jury were invited as well. With a tight gulp, I took a deep, icy breath.
"Ok. Don't mess this up, Ezra."