Reborn: The Rejected Luna

#10 - Smiling

"New pack members?"

God, how is she always ahead in everything? Romaldo thought he had kept his return to his pack last night casual enough to avert any suspicion. His fiancée bought it completely.

"Pack members?" He arched an eyebrow at Nykka.

His sister, bright and early as usual, but surprisingly in her gym clothes, only gave him a mischievous grin. That explained everything. She knew.

And now that he thought about it, her presence in his personal gym screamed secret mission all over. Nykka was an early riser, but exercise had never been her cup of tea since they were young. And if she was going to put herself through the pain of it, there was a bigger fish she was looking to catch. And what better way to increase her chances than to corner him during his lone gym session where no one could eavesdrop on their conversation. Not that he had any intentions to satisfy her curious mind. Not today.

"There are perks to being the forgotten princess."

He scoffed, stretching his legs to release the tension that was plaguing his back muscles. "May I remind you that you did choose that room against all my protests."

"That was no complaint, dear brother." Nykka took the space next to him on the gym mat and laid down, her eyes fixed on him. "On the contrary, my room in the tower is more than perfect. Peaceful and free of nature's annoying creatures."

By annoying creatures, his sister meant his fiancée, Vieva. Romaldo had given up on trying to get those two to get along. As long as they didn't end up killing each other, he was fine. God knows what possessed him to add one more woman to that list last night.

"Besides that, the tower boasts the best views around the crystal palace."

"Uh huh." Romaldo held his sister's gaze, hoping the expression on his face did not give anything away. It was the only way to tone down her suspicions and keep her off his back. He was going to hold out for as long as he could. For all he knew, Nykka still had no idea who he had brought back to the pack last night. But that was not to say she wouldn't find out soon. He was giving it a day tops and in that time he would have come to terms with his rash decision last night to endure her interrogation. Hopefully. The mere thought of having Irabel here in his territory had him on edge already. He had struggled between staying away from the girl and sneaking into her room just to be close to her.

He wondered how excited his sister would be if she found out that he barely had a wink of sleep because of that newest pack member.

"Whoever they are, they didn't look too happy with their change in residence, at least one of them didn't. Which is very surprising if you ask me. I mean, many would kill to be brought to the crystal castle."

Oh, she would definitely kill too, literally. Only she would opt to cut off my head. For a moment, Romaldo got lost in last night's memories. The defiance in those eyes when she finally understood that he was not making a request had got him excited more than anything had recently.

"May I meet them?" Nykka suddenly sat up, grinning. "I wouldn't have bothered really, but our newest members walking through the palace's gates with our king in the middle of the night has got me both intrigued and curious."

"No." The force of his answer surprised even him. Romaldo needed to keep his sister from this. Not only because Nykka's theory about this girl being his mate would make her even more curious after meeting her, but because the trip to the Green Forest Pack had left him with more questions than answers and he couldn't risk his inquisitive sister getting mixed up in this conspiracy. That is, if what he was thinking turned out to be a conspiracy indeed. "At least wait until they are properly processed and I'm sure that they are not a danger to you."

His sister frowned, understandably. "You wouldn't have brought them here if you thought there was the tiniest bit of threat to the pack because of them."

True, but Romaldo wasn't thinking straight at the time he decided to drag Irabel all the way to the crystal castle. He wasn't thinking when he agreed to her teary request to bring her little brother and mother along.

"Don't fight me on this Nykka."

"Fine. God, I hate it when you do that." His sister sank to the mat, displeased.

"Perks of being your alpha." Romaldo smirked. "Of course I wouldn't have to if only you would listen to your big brother."

"I don't have to if your craziness will keep you from being happy."

"I am happy." Done stretching, he stood up before holding his hand out to Nykka.

"Yeah, right." She scoffed. "Keep telling yourself that and maybe, by some magical power, it might actually turn out to be true."

Do magical powers come in the form of mysterious girls? Romaldo found himself thinking about Irabel. Irabel…He had spoken her name out more times than he could count since last night, both in his head and on his lips. The mere thought of it left a warmth in his heart that he hadn't felt in so long. If he was being honest, that would make it around the time when he still had a mate. Was Nykka right after all?

"You are smiling, one of those genuine ones. You never do that, ever."

"I am not." It was probably too late, but Romaldo still tried to compose himself. "Hit me." He held both his hands up for Nykka to punch.

"If you are trying to distract me from the fact that someone actually made you smile, then you are mistaken."

Of course, he was mistaken. No amount of distraction would work for his sister, but he hoped a good work out would be a good enough distraction for him. Because apparently, his conversation with Nykka just shattered the resolve he had made when he walked into the gym earlier.

He should have spent the time working Irabel out of his system, but the opposite happened and now he wasn't so sure their second meeting would go as he planned.