Lunar Temptations

Ch 8

"Care to explain what the f**k just happened?" Esme said while Winnie followed behind her gasping out loud when her eyes landed on the ring on my finger. They followed me out of the hall, the moment I got the chance to escape the people. After the engagement, we were surrounded for the next half an hour by people congratulating us as if the ceremony was long due. It did not surprise me since Zayden's words convinced almost everyone that he had really found the love of his life and the whole Audrey thing was a huge misunderstanding on his part.

What surprised me was the fact that everyone believed and accepted me with open arms. They were ready to accept me on the word of their Alpha.

No wonder, the Night Walkers were the strongest pack among us... and the fact that I was to become their Luna was scaring the f**k out of me.

Now that I was finally out of the crowd and away from my so-called fiance, I could finally breathe without feeling a crowd and the enticing presence of a mate around. It was extremely weird around him. A part of me was unknowingly attracted to him, wanting to be closer to him which was clearly the mate bond's effect yet another part of me wanted to run away from him and never see his face again because all it did was bring back bad memories.

A waiter passed nearby and with just a glance at him, he hurried towards me. One of the perks of becoming Zayden's fiance was being addressed immediately even with a glance, something I discovered when on my way outside several waiters asked me for every available treat if I were to even look in their direction.

It would be an appreciated gesture if only I had not been getting annoyed with it.

"Fetch me the strongest liquor available." - was my first-ever command, which would be hilarious but all I cared about was making my thoughts shut down. "I need that drink Esme, okay?" I reassured her when her stare turned hard.

"Is he blackmailing you?" She said, losing her patience with each second. Thankfully, the waiter returned and I almost snatched the drink from his tray before composing myself and controlling my intrusive thoughts.

"Did he threaten you?" Winnie asked, following Esme's train of thought.

"No...and NO." I declared after taking a good sip of the drink.

"He is my mate," I said. Their eyes widened and the looks on their faces were priceless but I understood their confusion. Mentally, I was still processing the fact that Zayden turned out to be my mate and physically, I was already engaged to him in the absence of my parents and my pack.

"You mean... the mate who dropped Audrey off at the boutique?" Esme was amazed and even more so amused by the situation now.

"Yeah, bingo." I sighed, frustratingly twisting the ring on my finger. "Woah, what will you tell Mom and Dad?" Winnie asked while Esme recovered from the revelation. "That I found my mate and crashed his engagement ceremony and watched as he put a ring on my finger -" I inhaled deeply. "I am sure they will understand," I replied sarcastically and poor Winnie almost seemed convinced by it. She was too innocent for the world.

"Oh, you are fucked." Esme said, recovering but for some reason she looked more traumatised than me.

It had only been a day since I had arrived and I was already engaged to the man topping my hate list and was now the future Luna of not one but two packs - of course, I was f****d. "Why did you agree to this Raya?" she was now dead serious while Winnie watched us quietly. "I know he did not force you because - he is not like that." She paused before admitting lowly and she was right.

"This is in the best interest of everyone," I replied sternly, not in the mood to deal with this. Her mouth parted and she threw her head back in frustration. Esme was aware of the harsh past and knew how he had killed Elio which made her reaction reasonable. Although I was still right, there was no way to avoid my fate.

"Why didn't you reject him? For all you could care he was f*****g Audrey and about to marry her, if you hadn't showed up and accepted him." Esme blurted out, annoyed. My jaw clenched as the words 'f*****g Audrey' drove me closer to bursting into a mad fury. Why would I need to care about it? He did not consider me when killing my boyfriend, why would he care about me when marrying Audrey yet why?

Why did he leave Audrey for me on the day of their engagement?

"I-" I did not know what to say. I could not tell her that my wolf was weak and it could not even pounce twice without trembling and the worst part was that I was not even in heat. Who knows if my wolf would have survived another moment away from its mate and what scared me the most was its need to mate. Only mating could stop my wolf from slowly dying and this was not even it. Dad's health was deteriorating and someday I would sit on my Mom's chair and I would need someone to fill Dad's place as well - if not me then the pack would want it and what sort of a leader would I be if I ripped them of their right to an Alpha.

"You would not understand." That was all I said before I dialled Max and told him to bring the car around. In the next few minutes, we were on our way home. I did not tell Zayden nor bothered to even see his face, even though I could feel him everywhere. He was watching when I gulped down that drink and the energy from him made it impossible to ignore him anymore. The best solution was to simply leave.

Mom rushed to us the moment we arrived back home. Her gaze was expectant and she scanned me until her eyes landed on my finger. "Oh honey-" she awed and in a matter of seconds she was tearing up. Besides me, Esme scoffed annoyingly and sprinted to her room.

Guess, I would need to talk with her later. Mom and Dad did not know anything about my grudge against Zayden and her actions could cause unnecessary drama because as Zayden said - I had to play along.

Turned out, Max had informed her of the situation and she was awaiting us. Unlike how we expected, she was the happiest and told me that Dad extended his congratulations and would meet me in the morning. I should have expected their reactions, they had great relations with the Castillos and hell... everyone loved them. They were the perfect ruling family of the Lycan world. I dismissed myself to my room before Mom could start deciding on the wedding invitation list. Sleep took its sweet time with me, testing my patience even more and at one point I even thought of going for a hunt in the woods but eventually, I fell asleep.

****

My eyes opened to a knock, which was definitely not the first one to resound. I had been ignoring the previous ones for the past few minutes, in hopes that the person would give up and leave me be. Lazily, I got out and straightened my pyjamas before opening the door. The bustling noise of the household blew right in, making me almost dizzy. It was oddly too loud for everyday activities, but I chose to ignore it and focus on the person across me.

"Good Morning Miss Dawson." Miranda, our housekeeper greeted. She was like Max but for the in-house services and even in her late 60s, her service to our family was unwavering. Seeing her face and realising that it was late in the morning, memories from last night came rushing right in but I shook them off.

"Morning. What is it?" I said fixing my hair. Her face morphed into the biggest smile I had ever seen on her face, which blew away remnants of my sleepiness. She was one of the few people, I had rarely seen smiling. The last time this happened was probably when Winnie was born and somehow this was creeping me out now.

"Mr Castillo is here." She replied and out of everything I was anticipating, this was not it.

Great, the more I ran away from him, the more he was following me.