Reborn: The Rejected Luna

Bonus Points

Nykka had been right. Irabel did think Romaldo had had a hand in her family’s death. Whoever they were. Because, clearly, the family he’d presented and hoped to make her smile with, was not it. The murderous intent in her eyes had said it all too when he’d attempted to apologize for not letting her know that her mother and brother were alright. But more than that, it was the pain in her eyes that had got to him the most. He'd been accused of cruelty before. Some of it lies while some it was the truth as was expected during wars, but none of those accusations had gotten to him as hers did. Hell, she hadn't even accused him of it yet, at least not to his face and definitely not involving her birth family. She’d called him a murderer once, but had never said any more.

And with their recent past, he couldn't very well ask why she believed what she did. So he'd fallen back on figuring it out himself. But so far, going through what his men had unearthed about Irabel had revealed nothing new, leaving him swimming in frustration.

Or maybe it was the fact that Irabel had refused to come back to the castle with him. Or the fact that having her so far away from him had unsettled him so much that he’d spent what had remained of their day and night together hidden in the woods near the cottage watching over her, leaving him too tired to actually notice anything different in the reports.

Watching over her… His mind scoffed at the idea. It is what he’d told himself. Because admitting that he couldn’t stay away from her, because she was something more scrapped at the guard around his heart that he was desperate to mend.

“What do you think?” A familiar voice intruded Romaldo’s thoughts and even if he’d wanted a distraction, that was definitely not it.

“Huh?”

“What do you think?” Vieva bit her lips seductively as she’d done many times before. Times they’d ended up naked and breathless on the very table in front of him. But with how he and his wolf remained uninterested, those times seemed like aeons ago.

“About what exactly?” Romaldo failed to keep the irritation from his tone, but if Vieva picked it, she made no mention of it. She kept holding up two pieces of cloth that made no sense to him. Not that he was even paying any attention to them to figure out why.

“Which colour suits me best?” Her excitement soured him even more.

”Isn’t that what the designer you insisted on having is for?”

“I know, I know. But for this I want my fiance’s opinion. I haven’t been to Elizabeth’s and Dante’s since the initial introductions and I want to make sure I look perfect.” Romaldo froze, wondering how in the world she had gotten wind of what Dante and him had discussed in the confines of his office. He hadn’t even included her on the guest list.

Crap! Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t invited Irabel either. And going by how far she wanted to stay away from him, a positive answer from her would be wishful thinking on his part. Unless… “Nykka?”

“Yes, your majesty.” His sister answered his mind link too quickly and happily for his liking. But whatever was cooking in her pretty little head, Romaldo decided he’d endure it because what he needed from her was more important.

“Will you come over?”

“You know I never say no to you, brother.” That was debatable, but Romaldo was not about to get into it.

“I can’t believe you are mind linking some pack member when I’m having a major disaster that needs your intervention.”

“My sister is not just some pack member. Even if she were, what I need from her is way more important than choosing some material for–.”

“This is not just some material, my love.” Vieva walked over and Romaldo surprisingly got ready to evade her and her touch, relaxing only when she stopped a few feet from him. “I’m your future queen, surely you see the need to present me flawless to your allies and enemies alike?” Once upon a time, that had been part of the reason he’d chosen her. She understood the political atmosphere and could easily navigate it. She was strong too and would protect herself even in his absence. Something that Amelie had lacked and something he’d always thought partly got her killed.

Now he wasn’t so sure that all these reasons were what he was looking for in his luna. Was he even looking for another luna? Irabel’s face flashed in his mind.

“Romaldo? Can’t you pay attention for once?” Vieva pouted and because he couldn’t stand her whining and wanted to get rid of her before Nykka walked in, he circled his table and pointed at one of the pieces of cloth.

“You make anything look good.”

“Red?” The bold colour had always been her preferred choice many times before so he merely nodded. “Are you sure?” She held it up to her face and Romaldo fought the urge to roll his eyes.

“Positive.” He faked a smile and wished he hadn’t because it landed him a smacking kiss and Vieva too close to him.

“Oh, sorry. Didn’t mean to interrupt.” The door to his office suddenly swung open and he had never been glad with Nykka’s interruption.

“So go away.” Vieva barked, but that only made Nykka walk further into the room before sinking in his office’s couch.

“No, can’t do. His majesty needs me.” Vieva shot him a look at Nykka’s statement.

“It’s important.” He untangled himself, much to his fiancee’s protests. “I’ll see you later.” He had no intentions of doing so, but anything to appease her and to get her going so he could take care of his predicarment.

“See you later then.” Not paricularly happy, Vieva sashayed out of the room, the view behind her promising of things to come, but yet again, he still remained uninterested.

“Aren’t you going to thank me for liberating you?” Nykka smirked once the door closed behind Vieva.

“Didn’t need your help. Not with…that anyway.” Romaldo circled back and took his seat. “I need you to bring Irabel back to the castle.”

“Heard that she doesn’t want to be here, what did you do?”

“Nothing. And since when did you start assuming the worst of me?”

“The bigger question is why do you want her back here? Because in my opinion, she’s fine right where she is. With people that love her.” His sister shot him a questioning look, but he knew what she was doing. He wouldn’t be admitting anything.

“Dante and Beth will be holding a ball. I need you to invite her.”

“Uh huh. Is this because you are afraid of asking her out or did you really mess up, so much she has vowed never to go anywhere with you?”

“Neither.” Annoyance prickled. “Will you do it or not?”

“Of course, I will. But only because I want to see you happy.” Nykka shot to her feet after considering his question for longer than he’d have liked. “So, our old home… I thought it was off limits to pack members.”

Glad that she wasn’t going to press about Irabel, he relaxed in his seat. “I found someone who would apreciate it as much as us…as mother had.”

“Hmmm.”

“What?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Bonus points, maybe?”

He chuckled. “You think I did that because I wanted to score desperately needed points with Irabel?” He hadn’t, but he couldn’t deny how much he’d liked how Irabel had looked at him when her mother had broken the news to her. He could give that and a lot more if it would make her look at him like that each waking day.

“You are the one who used the word ‘desperately’, not me.” Nykka shrugged, swallowing any defence he would have had.

Was he really…desperate?