Becoming Luna

15 - Money can’t buy happiness but…

The day before…

All her stuff in Andrew’s cottage had been removed and dumped outside her parents’ old home. That was where Siena found them since she had been discreetly informed that she was no longer allowed to stay in the house she had shared with Andrew these past years. The house that had been her home since she became his mate.

Andrew’s new luna was already occupying the place, apparently. She certainly didn’t waste time. Or maybe it was Luna Cristina who put her there.

Siena sighed. It was just as well, since she would be leaving soon anyway. However, it stinged that her presence there had been so easily dismissed. Set aside like obsolete books no one would read anymore, her things swept away like cobwebs.

It was a good thing she had kept her parents’ place tidy, to honor their memories. She usually came to visit every other day to water her mother’s garden and feed the birds, and to make sure the cottage remained in good condition. At least she wouldn’t be forced to sleep in the servants’ quarters, or outside in her wolf form, since her ‘friends’ were suddenly too busy to talk. Or too ‘distracted’ to even meet her eyes from across the street.

Taking a deep breath, she started to bring her stuff inside, already planning which ones to take with her when she leaves. She tried not to think about how the place would be reduced once she was gone. Hopefully, Andrew would be honorable enough not to let anyone trash the place.

She ate the sandwich she had bought at the train station on the way back, since there was nothing to eat in the kitchen as it had not been used in ages. At least, there’s still running water so she had something to drink, but that’s about it.

That night, as she was packing what little she could carry, she heard a notification ping from her cellphone. Frowning, she went to check it and her heart started pounding wildly in her chest when she saw an email from the grant committee.

Subject: “Grant Committee Decision – CONFIDENTIAL”

With trembling hands, she clicked it open and nearly dropped her phone as soon as she’d read the first lines.

“Dear Miss Merick,

We are thrilled to inform you that the Committee has decided to award you the grant…”

The screen blurs as her tears welled up and made reading impossible so she had to wipe them away first before she could continue. When she was done, she sobbed and covered her mouth, biting back the emotional scream that would have alerted others of something important unfolding.

$500,000. Half a f*****g million dollars plus other priceless benefits!

Fully funded. Major sponsorship from the mother company. An official launch that would help her hit the ground running, so hard that she would soon be soaring the skies!

It wasn’t just a dream anymore! SiSi, from her nickname and short for Silver & Silk, was coming true and it was finally happening!

However, reality soon started sinking in, and she stared at the message with less and less enthusiasm. Did she win the grant because she’d slept with Xander? Was this the prize for her dignity and self-respect? Goddess, she hoped not.

And well, say she did win the grant due to her own merit, then what? Soon she would have no pack and no home. Which would mean no location and no manpower to start everything she had planned for.

The project had been for the betterment of the pack.

Maybe she ought to hand over the project to Andrew before leaving. But would the committee still give the money if she was no longer part of the project?

“Should I stay?” she muttered to herself, but the unpleasant thought left an equally unacceptable taste in her mouth.

No, staying was never an option. Nothing, not even double or triple that money, could entice her to live the hellish existence that Luna Cristina was likely planning for her. She used to wonder why the old Luna never warmed up to her. One of her mother’s old friends told her discretely that it was probably because when they were very young, Andrew’s father Alpha Warren was initially sweet on Siena’s mother Genevieve. Everyone was expecting her to become Luna, but then when Warren turned eighteen, Cristina was the one who became his mate. Some said he had never quite gotten over his first love.

And then, of course, there was the uncertain future of how Andrew’s new mate would treat her. If the woman had no trouble hurting her through the cheating pains when she was a nobody, then what would be the odds that she would be kind to Siena once she were in a position of power?

Siena had read too many of these abuse tropes for her to go down that path.

“Maybe I could stay only to start the business, and leave as soon as it’s up and running…” she thought.

Yes, she could hand it over to Andrew once Silver and Silk became fully operational. A temporary solution that would ensure her plans for the pack didn’t go to waste. A safer territory and a more than comfortable life for all of them, just as her parents would have wanted.

Maybe.

A little sacrifice might even the odds for her, to make up for her mistake. Sure, it would most likely feel like abandoning her own child when it was time to leave but…what other choice did she have?

“I’ll see what will happen during the alpha ceremony,” she decided. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad and it was all just in her head.

But just in case, she summoned what remaining courage she had and dialled a number that she never thought she’d ever call, and certainly not so soon.

He answered on the second ring. “Siena?”

………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

“I am leaving,” Siena tells Alpha Warren and everyone who is listening. “I don’t wish to stay where I am not welcome, and for reasons Andrew and his new mate know, I refuse to swear fealty to the new alpha and his luna.”

Luna Cristina’s indignant gasp makes her straighten her back, almost like a whip that strikes her from behind, along with her words. “You presumptuous little bi—”

Siena looks at the former luna, who seems ready to claw her eyes out, for daring to speak as she did. “I know YOU know why. I wouldn’t be surprised if you orchestrated it all. Everyone knows you never liked me as Andrew’s mate. But it doesn’t matter now.” She shakes her head. “In time you will come to regret your meddling. I’m only sorry that I will miss seeing the look on your face when you realize you’ve been taking care of a snake who is already planning on making you its next meal.” Siena turns to Alpha Warren once again. “To ensure my safety, I have requested for a safe passage out of the Borderland, and the Alpha King’s office has granted it to me. The King’s Men will be waiting for me at the western gate at dawn. They have the authority to come in and get me, in case I’m not at the meeting place at the designated hour.”

Alpha Warren’s face turns an ugly shade of red, and Siena feels a twinge of regret for how things are coming to an end. The alpha must be taking it as a form of insult, for her to turn to a higher power because she doesn’t feel safe in his territory, and word of this happening, of the pack mistreating a vulnerable member, will spread like spilled ink that will forever stain his reputation.

“How dare you..!?”

Siena winces but meets his eyes anyway. “I dare because I am left with no choice. I feel it necessary to protect myself, because no one would and no one did.”

“You brought it upon yourself when you cheated on my son—” Luna Cristina’s shrill voice is starting to grate at her nerves.

“Only because he betrayed me first!” Siena snaps. “Yet, I forgave him, didn’t I? He looked me in the eye and swore it happened against his own volition… He promised it would never happen again, and yet the moment I was not around…he broke his word. I felt the cheating pains despite the distance and it nearly broke me, just as it had the first time, so I figured, why not let him try being on the other side of the betrayal? It seemed only fair…”

“STOP SPREADING LIES, SIENA!” Alpha Warren’s voice, laced with alpha command, thundered all around the amphitheater, silencing everyone. Weaker wolves whimper and fall to their knees even though the order was not directed at them, however, Siena remains standing.

Maybe she doesn’t buckle under the pressure of the command because she has renounced her place in the pack… but it’s more likely because she’s telling the truth.

“I’m not lying,” she shrugs. “But it doesn’t really matter, does it? You will not listen anyway.” She turns to leave, keeping her back straight and her head up, ignoring the whispers as she passes through the crowd.

“Siena!” Andrew calls and her stride almost falters as her heart drowns in deep sorrow. He calls again and again, asking her to wait, but she ignores him and quickens her pace, desperate to escape the whole toxic scene.

She really did love him, and that kind of feeling doesn’t immediately go away just because the fated bond has been rejected. She is hurting so much right now and only time will ease the pain. One day, if she’s lucky, she might find a greater love, one that would heal her heart and make her forget. There are second chances mates, however rare. Or she could simply choose a new mate.

Until then… she has Silver and Silk and half a million dollars.

Money may not buy her happiness but it certainly will pay for her freedom, and she can’t wait to be out of there.