Reborn: The Rejected Luna

#12 - Stay The Course

You've done enough!"

"Like hell I have!" Romaldo lunged for the doctor a second time, but Ken blocked him again and he saw red. "Get out of my way!" He growled, but Ken stayed put, making him struggle with going all alpha on his beta.

"Calm down, will you?"

Calm down? He glared at Ken. How was he supposed to calm down with what he had just heard? He suspected it, saw it too, but hearing the gory details from his pack doctor about Irabel's abuse had activated his murderous side, surprisingly. Someone was going to pay soon, but he needed to see her before making that happen. Something in him needed to make sure she was okay and he considered tearing Ken and the doctor apart for keeping him from doing just that.

"What?!" He shot another glare at Ken. His beta had an undecipherable expression on his face that angered Romaldo even more.

"We need to talk."

"We don't need to do anything," Romaldo roared, his focus on the door behind the two figures that were bent on keeping him from walking through it.

"Maybe not, but I still have something I have to say. Please."

Please? Romaldo was taken aback by the calm plea. Ken never said please, at least not to him, and that was enough for him to grab at some semblance of sanity.

"What is it?" Romaldo huffed.

"Not here." Ken set off before Romaldo could argue with that. He decided to follow after his beta, but only because they were the best of friends and Ken the more rational one between them. Whatever Ken was thinking, Romaldo knew he needed to hear it.

"You better take good care of her." He growled at the doctor, who looked vulnerable now that Ken had left him to guard the door alone.

Ken was pacing when Romaldo walked through the door to his office. "Whatever it is, keep it straight to the point."

"She asked not to see you." Ken said, making Romaldo frown. It was straight to the point, but nothing about it sounded like a conversation they couldn't have had back at the pack hospital.

"That's understandable." Romaldo crashed in his office chair, remembering the glares Irabel kept sending his way the entire trip to his home last night. "I'm sure I'm not her favorite person right now." He found himself hating that fact. A part of him, a tiny part, wanted to be the one she desired.

"You aren't listening." Ken shot him a serious look. "She asked the doctor not to see you–"

"I heard that part–"

"Before you were ever near the room."

"I heard– what?" Romaldo froze and, by the look Ken was giving him, there was no way he was going to keep pretending that Irabel meant nothing to him, especially not with this new info. How the hell could she tell he was coming?

"I had a word with the pack doctor on my way here. The examination went well until she sensed your coming. She panicked and made a weird request. She did not want to see you, specifically. Is she your mate?" There was a hint of betrayal in his beta's voice which Romaldo understood.

This was not news that he should have kept from him in the first place, but then again…mates? Irabel knew that they were mates? How does a girl with no wolf know they are mated when he and his wolf were still swimming in confusion about the fact?

"Like I said, I don't know." Romaldo sighed. "And before you go all beta on me, I really don't know. There is no scent, no wolf, no undeniable pull except…"

"Except what?"

Romaldo ran his hands through his hair. "There is something about her. Something that keeps drawing me to her, I don't know what it is exactly." He finally confessed. "My bond with Amelie…it was unmistakable. There was no way I could have missed it. With Irabel, however, I don't know what the hell is between us. And whatever it is, today…doesn't feel like yesterday."

"Yesterday? You are not making any sense." Ken frowned.

"I actually want to be close to her more than I wanted last night. But that can't be right."

"Well, her story seems more clear." Ken shot him a knowing look. "I can bet my life on the fact that she knows you are her mate."

Then why is she fighting me? That had been clear from the moment he laid his eyes on her at the Green Forest pack house. He'd seen it in her eyes. She wanted him, or felt something for him, but had made no move to act on whatever that was.

"One more thing" Ken hesitantly shifted on his spot. "You were right."

"About what exactly?"

"She does really think you are Maxith. She called you by your brother's name in there."

I was right… Romaldo sank his claws in the arm rests of his chair, doing little to keep himself from shifting. His insides were already burning with rage as Maxith's smug smile flashed before his eyes, unearthing memories of their bloody years of sibling rivalry and melting all sense of reasoning.

"Calm down." Ken rushed to his side. "We can't be sure this is him. We can't be sure that it's Maxi–"

Of course it's him! Without thinking, Romaldo flew out of his chair and his office while Ken called for him to stop. The calls fell on deaf ears as he marched towards the pack hospital. There was no way in hell he was letting this go so easily. He was taking care of it now. Maxith was playing his deadly games again and if she had agreed to be his pawn, she just sentenced herself to a senseless death. After he'd tortured every last bit of information out of her.

"Who are you?!"Romaldo charged at the girl upon entering the examination room, much to the shock of his pack's doctor.

Her reaction, however, surprised him…again. She cowered, but not in submission. She was only afraid and not submissive, just like last night. How was that even possible? He felt his temper flaring. He was the damn alpha king! She was just a pack member, a lowly omega in his territory, so how the hell was she not affected by his authority? Unless…

"I asked you a question, witch! Who the hell are you?!" Blinded by years of his twin brother's betrayal, Romaldo yanked her by her arm and she screamed out in pain.

"Y-You are hurting me!"

"I'll do worse if you don't get that pretty mouth of yours talking." He roared, hurling her to the floor out of frustration.

"Are you insane?! What if she is really your mate?" Ken rushed to the girl's side and the sight of his beta's hands on her struck a chord in Romaldo, but he ignored those feelings, choosing to stay the course.

Stay the course. That resolve had not only made sure he held on to his territory and title, but it was his radar when he sailed the sea of pain and loss after Amelie died. It kept him from going insane, kept him strong enough to do what needed to be done. Maxith knew that. Now that his plans were falling into place, Romaldo wouldn't put it past his brother to have him distracted. To bring him down from the inside out. And even if it was true, he didn't need a mate. Hadn't needed one for years now and he wasn't about to start now.

"I don't care. She can be the moon goddess for all I care, I will not risk my territory. Not for anyone!" He hissed.