Luna Athalia

16. Bitterly Confused

Sebastian Rafael Bellevue

As the sun began to set among the mountains that surrounded Roaming Ember, Sebastian at in the Alpha's office. He hadn't touched a thing, pictures still on the wall, though one framed of the Sylas royalty right before they were slaughtered was significantly shattered where it hung. He did vow that once the remainders of this pack was eliminated, he would demolish the entire damn place and put something of his own instead. But for now, he wanted it to stand with the heavy implication that it only remained because it was his will.

There was a quiet, almost nonexistent knock on the door. Sebastian grunted as a sign to come in, the little nurse that had been tending to Athalia appearing. She didn't step foot in the room, barely whispering that she had retrieved the Luna before running back to her quarters.

Sebastian watched from behind her desk as the Luna stepped in, wearing what he could only assume were sleeping clothes and looking just as disheveled and annoyed as when he saw her that morning. She stood close to the door, glaring with her hands clasped behind her back, "That's my desk."

"Is it?" Seb smirked, leaning back in the plush leather chair, "Funny, I've been occupying it for the past couple weeks now. I do say you have good taste in furniture."

She didn't respond, her glare frozen on her face. But the question she wanted to ask - why was she there - was heavily apparent.

"I want you to tell me something, Athalia." Sebastian rose, rounding the desk without breaking eye contact, "What is it about Remy Bell that prevents you from choosing him as Alpha?"

She stiffened, clearly shocked by his knowledge of her true mate, "Vincent is Roaming Ember's Alpha."

"By given title, sure," he didn't falter, "but I saw him yesterday, saw the look on his face when he spoke about you. That is a man clearly in love beyond his control. Why would a Luna name a false Alpha when her mate is ready and willing to take the position?" His tone was devoid of his own feelings in the matter.

Athalia's eyes remained narrowed, though her glare softened just a fraction, "Vincent is the Alpha most suitable to lead Roaming Ember."

Sebastian shook his head disapprovingly, moving closer to her still. As he drew near, he reached out, the she-wolf frozen in place as she readied herself to be struck. But it never came, his large hand moving to slam the office door closed behind her. He kept his hand there, his tattooed arm casting a shadow on her face as she still refused to move.

"What is it about the Sylas women and choosing this damned pack over fate?" His voice was low as he leaned over her, his eyes ablaze.

"What is that supposed to mean?" She snapped.

He felt it again, the worm of nostalgia and memory, one of Wynn's readiness to submit to him to avoid answering his questions. How her daughter was the opposite as she reacted emotionally instead of thoughtfully. Seb remembered for the briefest moment how heaven did not rival the ecstasy of Wynn's touch, how it silenced him so fully. It was the first of many distractions, the first lie she had fed him to believe that she would choose them over her pack.

Sebastian lowered his head, his voice a whisper into her ear, "You look just like her, you know."

Athalia Marie Sylas

After Athalia spoke with Remy through her mindlink, he had disappeared into the foliage to further prepare for the meeting. She suddenly felt lonelier than she had in the entirety of her imprisonment. As she stared into her room, she found herself picking at her wrist, begging for her bracelets. Cecilia muttered something about finally facing her fears, but she ignored her. Instead, she focused on devising a plan to escape. She assumed Julian would try to sneak her out of the servants tunnels, opposite in direction to her office where the meeting was to take place. But how she was to get out of her locked room was beyond her.

She spent the next few hours contemplating escape routes through her window, breaking bobby pins in an attempt to pick the lock, and briefly fantasized about simply smashing through the heavy door and making a run for it.

When Valeria appears with a demand from the rogue Alpha, Athalia quickly took the opportunity to leave the room. She should have been scared, the way he looked at her when she got out of the shower seared into her brain. But Athalia refused to acknowledge that it was more enticing than threatening.

She stood now with him looming over her, muttering about Sylas women, specifically about her mother. Athalia desperately wondered how this rogue seemed to know her mother so intimately. Of course, she had never seen him before the second raid and not once did her mother mention someone with his name when she was alive.

"I can see you trying to put it together, little princess." He mumbled, his body radiating heat that made the Luna fidget, "I should be offended that Wynn never spoke of me but... why would she?"

Athalia trembled as he raised his free hand, the one that wasn't caging her in, and delicately stroked her cheek with a calloused knuckle. She sucked in a breath, trying to ignore his musky scent that screamed salt and s*x and sin. Goddess, what is this?

"Did you know the Sylas women are magic?" He continued, "Did your parents ever tell you just how deeply seated your bloodline is in werewolf lore?"

Yes, of course, she knew. It was her history after all. It was the reason why her parents stopped having pups when she was born, at least that's what they had told her. She knew it was why Vince was so enamored with her. And before she felt their bond, she assumed it was why Remy acted the way he did when he first declared they were fated mates.

It was why she never trusted when a boy from her class would confess his feelings to her. It was why she sated all her own physical needs throughout the years and why she never worried nor fantasized about her mate. It was also why it irked her to all hell when Vince paraded his girl around; she knew the moment her parents mentioned he would make a good Alpha that she would eventually have to share his bed. Of course, that all took a backseat when her parents died and becoming Luna came first and becoming someone's wife came second.

"Did Wynn ever tell you how Aaron was chosen?" Sebastian muttered, dropping the hand to linger at her neck, the contact making her skin goosebump.

Athalia's head involuntarily fell slightly to the side, immediately shaming herself for granting her captor further access to her. But she maintained her gaze as she responded, "He was Beta Samson's son. He was... the most suited to become Alpha." She found herself repeating her very excuse for why Vince was named Alpha and that realization sparked something in her mind that was clearly visible to the rogue. He stared down at her intently, a smirk tugging at one corner of his lips. His fingers spread, ghosting around her neck. Her tongue rolled in her mouth, pressing to the top as his experienced touch ignited something in her, something achingly similar to when Remy kissed her in that same office.

"And how the Beta's son was far more suitable than some lowly kid fighter from another pack?" His fingers began to squeeze at his own words. The breath became trapped in her throat, her eyelids beginning to flutter and warmth pooling in her stomach against all logic.

Sebastian paused, staring at her as he continued to apply pressure, first curiously, then intentionally. He watched her writhe against his palm, the slightest bit forward as she actually pressed into it more. He could read her face as easily as she failed to hide it. She was turned on. The heat from her coming of age, her refusal to consummate her mating with either male at her disposal, and the fact that the man in front of her clearly had some sort of historically unsatisfied carnal effect on her all surmounted in the undeniable fire that she felt in her belly and lower still.

As he released her, she whimpered, bitterly confused at her protest, though she continued on their conversation like she was unaffected, "No, I suppose she never did. Probably because that's common sense, isn't it?"

She lifted her chin defiantly - or was she daring him to put his hand on her again? - as she stood up a little straighter. She leaned forward, the back of her arm just barely pressing into the front of his pants, "The Sylas women are meant to carry out our line. We won't let just anyone come in and ruin us."

The air was heavy between them, her words hanging in equal insult and taunt.

"Ah, little princess, but I'm beginning to think you would."