The Perfect Luna

Chapter 5. The Beta Female Best Friend

Goddess, how she hated her. Roxy looked at Ria in front of everyone with her huge doe eyes and shook slightly to add drama to her manipulative performance. She always did this. Every meeting with her was a performance.

Riannon used to be reserved around her, making it her priority to suppress her feelings and hide how hurt she was by the whole situation. Roxy, in turn, masterfully used Ria’s responses to her advantage, painting herself as the sweet girl and her Luna as the icy queen.

Well, Riannon wasn’t going to let her get away with this anymore. This pattern had to change. Luckily, she had the best teacher—Roxanne herself. Roxy had put her through so many awkward and humiliating situations in the past that now Ria was ready for anything.

Moreover, she knew that what she did before did not work.

So, she was going to try something new.

“I am so sorry, Luna.” Roxy sniffled and prepared to fall to her knees again, but Riannon rushed to her aid and gave her the biggest of hugs. The two women froze together while the room filled with awkward silence. Someone dropped a fork, and from the corner of her eye, Ria noticed it was her friend Maya.

“Roxy,” Riannon spoke, finally distancing herself and sighing with a sad smile on her face. “I can call you that, right? I want you to know that this is a safe place for you. No one will ever hurt you. We are nothing like the pack you came from. You will always be treated well here since you are a member now. Those hard days for you are over.”

She swept her eyes quickly over the room to see stunned expressions on the faces of her pack mates. They did not expect that. Back in her past life, she tried to ignore Roxanne as much as she could while staying polite when they had to talk. Everyone understood, but the more Roxy cried, the more they felt pity for her. She weaselled her way into people’s hearts. Over time, a lot of them stood by her side because she was, after all, their Alpha’s true mate, and she had a hard life before.

Meanwhile, Riannon was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. However great of a Luna she was, they thought that it wasn’t a big deal since she was born and trained to do it. No one understood how much she had worked and sacrificed to reach this perfection.

Suddenly, Roxy threw herself into Ria’s arms again.

“Thank you!” she whined, making Riannon want to strangle her. If Onyx, her wolf, was here, it could have ended quickly. However, Onyx wasn’t close by, and she knew this was now a battle of acting skills.

In the meantime, Roxy droned on. “I was sure that the nightmare in which I lived would repeat itself here as well! But you are so kind! I am ready to do any job! However hard it is, I’ll be your personal maid if I have to.”

At the head of the table, her husband Brayden was watching them with his jaw clenched. It was hard for Ria to hold back a laugh since she knew by the way he looked that he had been busy all night searching for the intruder. He hated that his mate was ready to become a cleaner. On top of that, his wife did not behave the way he expected her to. She was sure that she had shocked him for life at this point.

Get used to that, my love.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Roxy!” Ria gasped and even forced a small tear to roll down her cheek. After all, hugging her worst enemy was horrible, and a part of her did want to cry. “You’ve suffered enough, and my heart goes out to you. I will assign you work according to your abilities, and if they aren’t enough at the moment for a decent job, we will send you to study at the local college. Everything will be fine. Do not worry. You will not be mistreated here. Our pack is a fair one. Brayden and I have been building it for years. Everybody gets what they deserve. And so will you.”

The omega frowned but quickly regained herself. Did she know that it was a promise?

“I am the luckiest girl alive,” she offered and smiled innocently, fluttering her eyelashes. “No wonder my mate—I mean, the Alpha—is so in love with you, Luna. Now I see that what people say about you is true.”

“Oh, you will have to tell me later!” Ria giggled and pushed Roxy back onto the chair she had been sitting on. Luckily, she hadn’t risked taking the Luna’s seat or the one right next to Bray. She would soon take it, of course, but at least Ria didn’t have to deal with that today.

“I will be happy to!” Roxanne shook her red locks, and the oversized t-shirt that she was wearing ‘accidentally’ fell off her shoulder, making Brayden look at her with eyes filled with lust. The damn mate bond was already working. Their time was slipping away.

“By the way,” Riannon stated as she took a sip of her coffee—it seemed more bitter than usual, “we need to assign a budget for Roxanne.”

Once again, the whole room went quiet.

“Are you sure, Luna?” Beta Asher spoke. “She is just an omega and—”

“She is not just an omega,” Riannon interrupted, raising her chin high and putting a perfect smile on her face. “She is our Alpha’s mate. He did not reject her, and she is part of our pack now. She needs to look the part, so it’s time to throw away the worn-out t-shirts and jeans.”

“That’s very kind of you, Luna,” Maya interjected, unable to stay silent any longer. “Some would even say too kind. I mean, considering—”

“I do what I can,” Ria countered as she sent her best friend a warning gaze. As always, Maya understood her without words. “Let’s make this clear once and for all. I was very serious about Roxy being treated appropriately here. I don’t want anyone to bully her just because the three of us are in a peculiar situation. I wish her no harm and will have zero tolerance for anyone who tries to do any kind of harm to her.”

With that, she started to eat her omelette as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred, stealthily catching the glances of her pack mates.

There they were. The looks they used to give Roxy. Now they were rewarding Ria with those. Only this time, there was more respect than pity.

Back in the day, Ria did all the same things. However, her mistake was to not announce it in front of everyone. In the end, Roxy played them and made them believe Ria had mistreated her at every chance she could.

She caught Brayden’s gaze and sent a small smile his way, startling him. At least she was getting the exact reactions she wanted. For the first day back, this was pretty good.

Right after breakfast, Maya pulled her into the Luna office and made sure to properly lock the door. The room had sound insulation, and they could talk in private without fear of being overheard.

“What the hell are you doing?” Maya hissed at her friend. “You are welcoming his mate?! You should have insisted again and again on him rejecting her!”

“Oh, M.” Ria sighed, unable to help herself and hugged the girl once again. She still smelled of almonds, and this made the Luna’s broken heart feel a little warmer.

“Stupid perfect Luna! You can’t be this kind!” Maya sniffed. “You have loved him all your life! He marked you, for Goddess’s sake! What was he thinking?!”

“I know.” Ria sighed yet again, stepping away. “But that ship has sailed. No one can fight the mate bond. That battle was lost the moment he met her and didn’t reject her.”

“You are so calm about it! I can’t believe this!” She shook her head in bewilderment, clear signs of worry on her face.

Ria contemplated an idea for a few seconds. Deep inside, she knew that if she could entrust this secret to anyone, it would be someone who had been her best friend since childhood.

“I need to tell you something.” Riannon took Maya’s hands and led her to the armchair, while she perched on the edge of her desk. “But I will need you to be open-minded about what I am about to say.”

She talked and talked, and the more she told her, the paler her friend became. She omitted the part about Maya’s own death. There was no need for that. She knew the small fragments she was ready to now share would be enough for her.

When she was done, Maya looked at her with red eyes. “It’s—”

“Unbelievable, I know.” Riannon sighed.

“Horrible!” Her friend took her hands and gave them a tight squeeze. “Ria! That’s awful! What you had to go through—”

“Wait, you mean you have no doubts about what I just said?” the Luna questioned as she raised her brow. She expected that she would need longer to persuade her bestie.

“You wouldn’t joke about all that at a moment like this.” Maya leaned back on her chair. “As far as I know, just yesterday, you were madly in love with Brayden. But now… you are so calm it’s frightening. Though, this explains a lot. You don’t get over love like that in one day.”

That was true. Riannon did not know for sure if all the love she had for Brayden was gone, but she definitely wasn’t the same girl from a year ago. She was twenty-five, yet it felt as if she had lived much longer. Suffering and a broken heart could do that to people.

“It doesn’t bother you how crazy that sounds?” Ria decided to make sure they were on the same page.

“I believe in the Moon Goddess.” Maya shook her shoulders. “She may have wanted Brayden to be with someone like that, like Roxanne. But I will never believe that she would want such a death for you! Anyone but you!”

“I missed you so much.” Ria couldn’t help herself and gave Maya another hug. She fell quiet for a bit and made herself a promise that, come what may, she would, at the least, save her best friend. She was not going to lose her again.

“So, what’s the plan?” Maya instinctively progressed to battle mode. She was one of the underappreciated wolves. They called her Luna’s assistant, but both of them hated the title. Maya had pure Beta blood and could take down an Alpha if she tried hard enough. Maybe not any Alpha, yet definitely most of them. Some wolves thought too highly of themselves and always underestimated pretty girls.

“The plan is to divorce and take our pack back.” Ria smiled, knowing that she had a great ally on her side now. “The Pearl Moon.”

“Is this even possible?” Maya whistled. “I mean, if you quickly get pregnant with Brayden’s baby and then we kill him, we could get this all—”

“No, thank you.” Ria burst out with laughter. “Goddess, you are so bloodthirsty!”

“My hands are just itching to cut off his di—”

“I got you!” The Luna covered her face with her hands, trying to suppress another outburst of giggles.

“You know what, I have an idea!” Maya exclaimed all of a sudden. “How about we ask Lycans for help?! This may actually—”

“Been there, done that. Their king is an asshole,” Ria retorted, rolling her eyes.

“You what?!” Her friend’s jaw dropped to the floor.

“I had one Lycan who owed me, and I asked him to arrange a conversation with his king. You have no idea how arrogant he was!” Ria explained.

“Worse than Brayden?” Maya chortled.

“Worse than Brayden,” Ria confirmed.

“Okay then, what’s next?” The Beta female wasn’t prone to giving up, and this was one of the many reasons they became friends in the first place.

“Simple, really. I need to get the support of as many Alphas as I can.” Riannon exhaled loudly before continuing. “So that when the divorce comes into force, they will give me their votes when I raise the matter in the Alpha Council. And I will.”

“How many do you think will support you?” Maya asked bluntly, getting her phone out of her pocket. “You can count on the Alphas and packs where my cousins are Betas. I’ll take care of them.”

“Not sure yet, but I know where to strike first.” Ria tapped her fingers over the cold wood of her desk, waiting for Maya to tear her eyes off her phone and spare her a glance.

“Do tell!” The girl seemed genuinely interested.

“The most important event of the year is just around the corner.” Riannon smirked. “The annual Alpha Ball.”