Bound By Legend

CHAPTER THREE: KEEP IT

REVERIE POV

Zip!

The zipper on the last piece of luggage–if you could call it that– screeched across the track to a satisfying snap. Hands on my hips, I looked around the room I'd pretended was mine for the last seven years. It's time for me to return it.

No trace of me, just the way I need it.

The only sign that I had even been there was all the beautiful vintage decor I had procured as a passion project since I'd arrived. The mini mansion was beautiful, eclectic, and colorful. The design was completely different from my clinical, logical, and organized color palette at the hospital. Which one is the real me, I wonder?

None of that mattered anymore. I grabbed the luggage and made my way out of the soundproofed room just as my wolf Kamari perked up. Her instincts flooded my senses, warning that danger was near.

As I crossed the threshold, I was nearly run over by some Solvane pack warriors as they lugged a mahogany desk.

"What–" I ducked as another set of warriors grumbled and lifted the long matching mahogany conference table out of the house too.

Another group lugged in luxury, high-dollar furniture to replace anything that had been removed. Paintings and curtains were ripped down from the walls; electronics were replaced. I furrowed my brow as I navigated the minefield of my former home to the outside and clutched my bag to my chest.

Unscathed, I stumbled outside and heard ear-splitting voices barking orders. That disgusting tangy pineapple smell of Kieran's spoiled little sister, Nova Solvane, invaded my space. "I'm sorry, did we ruin your rest? You lazy bitch."

"What are you doing?"

"Making room for someone who actually belongs here," Nova said, crossing her arms.

"And who, pray tell, is the lucky new tenant?" I asked, despite knowing the answer.

"Delilah, of course." She snorted.

"And what exactly was wrong with the main pack house? Where her husband lives?"

"If you had shown up for work like you were supposed to. You'd know Draven was in the hospital again."

How convenient.

I laughed. "You do realize I am the Pack Doctor, right? Which means I work three twelves. That is twelve-hour days, which I actually opted for four twelve-hour days, which is out of the norm for a hard-working doctor in the human world. Not that you would know hard work if it fell on your head."

"Guards, show this b***h a lesson." She snarled, fists balled.

They moved toward me. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. I may not be the Alpha's Luna. But this specific sect of warriors knows I am his wife." I lifted my hand to show off my ring that I hadn't taken off yet. Thankfully.

They froze.

"Don't act as if he cares about you."

"Maybe not, but he sure likes f*****g me." I sneered. Nova's face turned red with disgust, then fury, but I continued. "As for the furniture? Why don't you, fine warriors, take some with you when you go? You can even take your pick. Vintage, or high end?"

"You–" She lifted a hand as if to strike me. Her lush blonde ringlets bounced with the movements as her brown eyes stared with hatred.

I caught her hand mid-swing and pulled her close. “Tsk, tsk, Nova. Let's be smart here. You and I both know I have very damning information against my husband and our dear sister-in-law–bolstered by this coup. Tread very lightly."

She yanked herself out of my hold and turned away from me. A disgusting cloud of some floral scent kicked up like a sandstorm.

Christine Solvane, Kieran's mother, the widow of Kelvin Solvane, Kieran's father.

She'd never been a good Luna when her husband was alive and was even less so now that her son ran the pack. The former Alpha and his wife always hated her. Yet, as his father's widow, Kieran treated her like a Dowager Queen. Consistently enabling her scheming, gold-digger habits, which she'd now begun to pass on to her daughter.

Perfectly collected, dressed to the nines like she was on her way to the red carpet, dripping in Solvane Family jewels she should've passed onto me–had this been a proper mating and marriage.

"Our time is expensive, Reverie. You've wasted plenty of it. Delilah is on her way. Make her that soothing soup? The one you made when she miscarried the first time."

I smirked. "Oh, is she miscarrying again?"

The Solvane in-laws glared in response, completely unamused by my barb at their preferred Mrs. Solvane. Apparently, the grooms could be interchangeable as long as the favorite gets the spotlight in the end. I could almost see the PR campaign she'd created to explain away the tiny little problem of her being married to the Eldest son, but now hanging on the younger brother's–and reigning Alpha's–arm.

An idea struck like a chord inside of me: Draven's hospitalization. Was it intentional? Are they trying to…

"Her paralyzed husband is back in the hospital, and she is going through a trying time. She has not completely healed from that car accident herself!" Christine deflected before I could even finish the thought.

"It's a miracle she made it out at all!" Nova co-signed for her mother's defense.

"Oh yes. Funny that. How odd that her husband is paralyzed, and she walked away without a scratch."

Nova's eyes instantly filled with tears as she hissed. "My brother nearly died protecting his mate, just like a good male should. You wouldn't understand a true mate bond."

Her words squeezed my heart; she is exactly right. Kieran was my fated mate, but our mating had been a contract. They'd never let me forget that I was an outsider.

"Know your place. Make the soup," Christine demanded. A nearby maid let out a sound of pity.

In that moment, the reality of clarity came to knock, and I let out a cold chuckle. Christine, a she-wolf hated within this prison pack, chose her own victim instead of breaking the cycle. I should've expected this. Kieran's family had never been kind to me aside from his grandparents, but they couldn't intervene since they were no longer in charge of the pack. Even if Kieran and I had fallen in love, Christine had only ever planned for Delilah to become Luna, and the only way for that to happen was for me to disappear.

Between playing the fool and playing doctor, I cooked all meals and treated all wounds, but all I would ever be was the help.

Thank the Moon Goddess I'd had the good sense to protect Rhiannon from this place. She deserved to be part of a pack that treated the people they served with love, dignity, and respect. Everyone in the pack matters, from the lowest Omega, to the highest Elite.

"Cook. It. Yourself." I retorted and walked right past them, then stopped. "Oh, and by the way, someone needs to explain to Grandmother Satori why all of the long-lost Solvane family heirlooms I recovered for her have now been destroyed or rehomed. In case you have forgotten, this is the home she plans to relocate to and retire. Talk amongst yourselves. I'm leaving."