The Omega's Revolt (completed)

Act 2 - Charlatan

            “Are you sure?” I asked Nessa as she smelled the tea leaves that I had brought back with me from Millie’s quarters.

            “Positive,” Nessa confirmed. “There’s definitely St. John’s Wort and safflower in the mix. The smell of the chamomile is strong but I recognize the smell of St. John’s Wort and safflower everywhere. They are the choiced herbs in your uncle’s household when someone wants to prevent a mistress from conceiving.”

            “And the flower that I described to you? The one with pinkish purple petals and looks a little like a daisy, you’re sure about that too?” 

            “Yes, coneflowers, another likely cause for infertility. These herbs have an effect on hormones, which in turn affects chances of conceiving. I’m not sure how effective they are on she-wolves but seeing how Parvus Millicent is still without child after nearly two years in the Alpha’s harem, I’d say they are either just as effective on she-wolves or that girl is infertile.” 

            Pain shot through my hand as the sound of shattering glass filled the air. 

            Pallăca Orphelin is kind to me when she’s happy. These are all gifts from her! 

            The joy in Millie’s voice echoed in my head and in my mind’s eye, I could still see the curl of her lips as she showed me the little winter garden she had made for herself. Even though she didn’t have much, she had taken out her best tea leaves when I was over at her quarters for the first time since I became her Luna. 

            There was no doubt in my head that the naive Omega had no idea about the schemes of the Pallăca, and I shuddered at the thought of Millie learning that she had a hand in her own failure to conceive an heir for our husband. 

            In the short time that I had known Millie, I couldn’t tell how genuine her affections for our husband were but I knew that she craved for his favor. The surest way for her to win our husband’s undivided attention was to conceive an heir for him. 

            It wasn’t my place to tell her that life could be so much more than bearing children for undeserving men, and perhaps, one day I would try to drill that into her head. For now, I needed to stop whatever plans that evil Pallăca has up her sleeves. I couldn’t allow Orphelin to destroy Millie’s health like this, not on my watch!

            “You need to calm down, Luna,” Nessa mused as she gestured at a female buttonman to dress the cuts on my hands and at another to clean up the broken glass all around me. 

            “It’s unlike you to be so emotional, Luna,” Nessa smirked and I could tell that she was relishing in the moment. 

            The past year had taught me well to hold my tongue and bid my time. A year ago, I would have come up with something clever to shut Nessa up but I knew better now. Without my own power base, I’d still need the protection of my Clan before my husband, just like how I could use the protection of my husband against my Clan. 

            That was the new plan that I had come up with, and I was determined to play the two devils in my life against each other. 

            “Get me ready for our monthly harem dinner,” I said to the female buttonman who had just finished dressing my wounds. “And bring me my engagement ring, the one that my husband had sent over to our Clan before my uncle accepted the proposal on my behalf.” 

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*           *           *

            I looked down at the sparkling emerald set in platinum and encrusted with diamonds next to my simple gold wedding band on my fingers before clenching my fingers. Tonight, I’d put that Pallăca in her place! 

            “It’s time, Luna,” a female buttonman reported to me while another finished the final touches of my make up. “The Pallăca and Pavus are already in the dining room awaiting your arrival.” 

            My lips curled involuntarily as I stood up and sauntered slowly to the dining hall, taking extra care not to mess up the updo that my female buttonman had painstakingly done for me. Besides, there was no need to hurry. The place of the Pallăca was to wait patiently for her Luna. 

            The sound of chairs being dragged across the hardwood floor echoed in the large dining room and I smiled warmly at Orphelin and Millie as I made my way towards my seat. I could feel a pair of eyes boring into my head as I took my time to arrange the napkin on my lap before motioning for the two concubines to take their seats. 

            “You look nice today, Luna,” Millie commented timidly, her eyes hesitant to make eye contact with me. 

            I couldn’t blame her. Even though I didn’t have the acute senses of a werewolf, I could still feel the rage rolling off Orphelin as her cold eyes glared at us. 

            “Why, thank you, Millie,” I exclaimed dramatically while touching my updo gently with my left hand. “I guess I’d have to ask my buttonman to do my hair like this more often.” 

            From the corner of my eyes, I could see the glint of jealousy in Orphelin’s eyes as the sparkle of my engagement ring caught her eyes. Suppressing a smirk, I turned to look at the Pallăca and reached out to grab her folded hands on the table. 

            “I want to especially thank you today, Orphelin,” I said with as much gratitude as I could muster. “If not for you, I don’t know what would have happened to our pack, and I just want you to know that as your Luna, I’m beyond grateful for everything your brother and you have done for us, and you know I speak for Jesse and myself when I tell you this.” 

            I could feel her hands turn cold as her lips trembled while a smile forced itself onto her face. Her lilac eyes glowed for a split second before going back to normal and my heart soared at the sight of the Pallăca looking like she had just swallowed a fly. 

            “You’re very welcome, Luna,” she said as calmly as she could but the way that her jaws were so tightly clenched together let me know that I had achieved what I wanted to. 

            “That’s just too kind of you, Orphelin. Now don’t you dare think for a minute that Jesse and I are just going to accept your kindness with nothing in return. Those pleasurable nights with Jesse and the girls, I hope that you’ve enjoyed them and our idea of repaying you for everything that you’ve done for us. I don’t want to steal the credit from Jesse, but let’s just say that it wasn’t completely his idea.” 

            I winked mischievously at Orphelin before sitting back and taking a sip from my wine glass. The display of colors on the Pallăca’s face from pink to red to green and then back to red was perhaps the best light show that I had seen in the past few years. Despite my disdain for Nessa, I had to say that sometimes, her intelligence came in really handy. 

            “I had no idea that you did so much for us, Pallăca,” Millie exclaimed, her eyes wide with surprise and a tinge of sadness. “I could only dream of becoming like you one day.” 

            Orphelin’s brows knitted tightly together as her eyes shifted to glare at Millie. 

            “How dare you compare yourself to me, you dirty Omega!” Her sneer threw the dining room into silence as the Omegas who had just brought us our first course retreated out of the dining room quickly. 

            “Orphelin, there’s no need to be rude now,” I chided gently as I patted her hands with my sparkly left hand. “We all serve the same man and we all want the same thing, for Jesse to be happy. Omega, Beta or human, we’re all the same in this house. If Jesse is happy, we’re happy, don’t you agree?” 

            The muscles in Orphelin’s jaws were twitching from how tightly she was clenching them together and I had to suppress a laugh as I watch her nod her head with utmost difficulty. So easily riled up and the main course hadn’t even been served. 

            “Anyway, I called you here for dinner tonight because there’s something important that I’d like to announce,” I said casually as I dabbed my mouth with the napkin and gestured at the Omegas to bring the next course, completely ignoring the fact that Orphelin was still stabbing away at the bowl of salad. 

            Rage flashed across her eyes as she held herself back from snapping at the Omega clearing her plate before she turned to me, waiting for me to drop my announcement. How I wished I had werewolf senses, maybe then, I would be able to see the smoke coming out of her ears right now. 

            “I think you’ve been doing a lot for our pack, Orphelin, and I think it’s time for me to start pulling my weight around here. After all, I’ve been married to Jesse for over a year and people will talk if I continue to let you carry the burden of running our harem. From now on, I’d take care of the allowance of everyone in the harem as well as the upbringing of Kono and any future pups born to our husband.” 

            A loud thud echoed in the room as the back of Orphelin’s chair hit the hardwood floor. The rapid rising and falling of her chest as she pointed her finger shakily at me gave me such a rush, I could swear pissing her off was my new drug. 

            “Don’t forget your place, Luna! I’ve seen Lunas of this pack come and go, and you will be no different from the ones before you!” 

            Without any word, Orphelin stormed out of the room and my eyes darkened as I pondered upon her words. 

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A/N

Hi everyone, I decided to post author's notes here because I'm not able to see author's notes on the books I'm reading anymore LOL, not sure if it's the same for you. 

There's going to be a lot of twists and turns this week, get ready :p What are your impressions of the female characters so far? And do you think that the real male lead has showed up yet? :p

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