10.
1769 Words
“Arabella..”
"What…I was dreaming…" moaned she, the third time Logan gently touched her shoulder to wake her up.
"We're stopping." Her brother informed her as she struggled to open her eyes.
"Where? Are we there?” asked Arabella in surprise, she seemed to have just fallen asleep.
"We're at the Crescent Moon." Replied Logan as the car parked.
"Why?" inquired she confused but then it was enough for her to take a look out the window to understand, the rain had intensified to the point that visibility was reduced to a minimum, continuing in those conditions would not have been very prudent. “Oh…” she murmured gloomily but then her expression soured further as Arabella saw the line of cars parked in front of the Pack House at the Crescent Moon.
“What are they doing here?” wondered Arabella after Theor got out of the car, moments later.
"I guess they decided not to risk it, taking the long way, like us." Commented Logan, with a look towards the entrance of the mansion, even if her question had been a rhetorical one.
“Do you think we'll have to stay long?” asked him Arabella, rubbing her eyes to get rid of the last traces of drowsiness.
She felt much more rested but was not in the mood for socializing at all.
"I doubt Wayward will mind." Commented her brother, glancing at the Alpha of the Silver Horn who had just joined the others in the hall, waiting for them.
"I do mind." murmured Arabella, sighing annoyed.
"Do you want me to act as a protective brother?" offered Logan, amused.
"I just wish they'd all leave me alone." Answered Arabella, contemplating staying in the car and waiting for the rain to stop or at least ease but in fact she felt quite sore and needed to stretch.
She wouldn't mind taking a walk.
When Theor returned with an umbrella, the idea of facing Ilyan Wayward and all the others still didn't appeal to her, but Arabella still accepted Logan's help to get out of the car.
Her father, Celestia, Gabriel and Natasha had already come down and were greeting the Varadens and their guests.
In addition to the Waywards, the Seyimours had also sought refuge at the Crescent Moon, waiting for the weather conditions to improve, before resuming their journey.
Arabella was able to make out, between a veil of rain and icy wind, Alpha Cedric entertaining himself with Alpha Gabor, Beta Landon, her father and Alpha Grayson, while their Lunas were chatting pleasantly nearby.
And then there was Ilyan, his sister Erinna, Tristan and Sacha Varaden and of course Celestia, Gabriel and Natasha.
She didn't saw Rhys or his brother Kellan but wasn’t surprised at all.
Considering the tense relations between them and Ilyan.
"Welcome to the Crescent Moon dear." Greeted her Alpha Gabor, when Arabella reached the group and approached the adults, to greet them respectfully.
"Thanks for the hospitality." Replied Arabella, making an effort to smile and show a few ounces of good manners because in fact both Alpha Gabor and Alpha Grayson as well as their respective Lunas, had always treated her with great kindness.
Alpha Cedric also had always been very kind to her himself, despite Celestia's obsession with his son.
“Arabella..”
“Tristan.”
Arabella would have preferred to linger in the company of the adults longer than joining the group of her peers, but she couldn't help but return Tristan's greeting, she was trying to act politely after all.
“Arabella.” The smile Ilyan Wayward gave her was much warmer and more intimate than Tristan's friendly one, but Arabella ignored it and returned the Crescent Moon Alpha's instead.
“We haven't seen each other for a while Tristan, how have you been?” she asked, feigning an interest she didn't really felt.
She and Tristan had never been friends, and while she couldn't say she didn't liked him, Arabella couldn't say she liked him either.
Tristan was indifferent to her.
But at least he was nice.
Even though his open, friendly smiles had gotten on her nerves a few times.
"I've been fine and I'm even better now that I know you've thought about me sometimes." Joked Tristan.
"Mhh.." answered Arabella, improvising a little amused laugh that could not convince anyone. "Sacha .." added she therefore, stopping before choking.
“Princess Arabella.”
“Still without a sweetheart?” inquired Arabella, forcing herself to smile at him too.
Sacha had shifted for the first time in only a couple of months but seemed as unfortunate as his brother as he still hadn't found a mate.
“You too I heard.”
"Maybe not for much longer." Interjected Celestia, inopportunely.
"Did I miss something?" asked in surprise Natasha, staring at them curiously.
"A little maybe…" commented her sister, catching her icy gaze.
Thank goodness Celestia didn't have the opportunity to say anything else because at that moment Luna Dorina invited them all to have lunch together.
"May I accompany you?" asked Ilyan, chivalrously offering her his arm.
His gesture didn't escape anyone so in answering him, Arabella spoke more harshly than she had initially intended.
"I assure you that I am perfectly able to walk by myself and if I needed help, I certainly wouldn't ask you." she informed him dryly and to give more credit to her words she approached Logan imperceptibly, who had joined them after having in turn greeted the adults.
“Still in a foul mood?” answered Ilyan, purposely staying behind to walk with her.
“Still determined to be humiliated?” commented Arabella, annoyed.
"I told you, I don't get discouraged easily." the Alpha of the Silver Horn informed her, imperturbably.
"And I told you I'm not interested."
“You might change your mind.”
“Or I could send you to hell.” Retorted Arabella, trying hard to ignore the looks they received as they walked into the dining room together.
Luna Dorina had had an enormous table set, with more than twenty place settings and an army of waitresses were scrambling all around to serve the food, hot and fragrant.
There were free seats next to her sister and Logan directed her to them, but at the last minute, in a maneuver that once again didn’t escaped anyone in the room, Arabella went instead to occupy the seat next to Kellan Seyimour, to avoid being sitting next to Ilyan.
The seat that had probably been reserved for Theor who consequently sat next to Logan and the Alpha of the Silver Horn.
Thus managing to get rid of both Ilyan and Theor, who didn't particularly liked each other, judging by the looks they exchanged.
"Kellan." greeted him Arabella, when he gave her a look that was anything but friendly, he didn't even get up to push her chair away. “Or should I call you Alpha Kellan?” Arabella added, perfectly indifferent to the coldness in his dark eyes.
Meanwhile Arabella also silently nodded to his brother who seemed himself in a less than happy mood.
And yet, Arabella was surprised that Celestia hadn't taken the opportunity to sit next to him, usually she wasn't intimidated by the sombre frowns of Sioggard's Alpha.
"Thank you."
Smiling appreciatively as a waitress served her an appetizing-looking bowl of hot soup, Arabella then quickly returned her attention to the future Alpha of the Red Moon.
After the Hillingthorns had been defeated three years ago, following the conflict that had forever changed the balance of the entire kingdom, considering that the victory had been largely due to Isadore and his Alpha, everyone had agreed to entrust the fate of the Red Moon to the Seyimours.
For three years, in addition to acting as Sioggard's Beta, Kellan had also been in charge of rebuilding what was left of the Red Moon and now that he was almost finished putting the pack back together, he was also about to become its Alpha.
Sioggard officially had a new Beta, and the next coronation ceremony she would be invited to would be that of the Red Moon's new Alpha.
"Tell me Kellan." Arabella asked him after tasting a few spoonful of the delicious soup that had been served to her. “It's been months since we last met, how have you been lately?” inquired she, forcing Kellan to make conversation.
"Good." Replied he coldly, not bothering to ask if she had been fine too.
"I am happy to know it." Replied Arabella, starting to enjoy that lunch. “Although I'm quite disappointed.” She added, despite the brooding look Kellan gave her back. "I mean, you're always so busy that lately it's been so hard to meet each other." Complained Arabella, continuing to tease and provoke him.
“Meet each other?” repeated Kellan, frowning so deeply that she almost burst out laughing.
"Mhh.." nodded instead Arabella, giving him a calm, artfully studied smile. "Now that you're about to become Alpha, won't you like having a very beautiful Luna by your side, with royal blood in her veins?" she asked then, smiling amused when she caught the look that passed his gaze but then noticed the silence which descended all around them and realized that their conversation was no longer private.
Even the adults stopped eating for a few moments to give them some interested looks.
"Not particularly." replied dryly Kellan, breaking the silence that fell over the dining room.
“No?” repeated Arabella with a sigh, aware that everyone’s interest was focused on her person. "It's a real shame." She added, pretending to feel regretful. “I always thought you and Amarantha Waldengrove would make a wonderful couple.”
“Really.” replied Kellan, once again somewhat coldly, as the others resumed eating, having realized they had been fooled by her ambiguous words.
"She is such a beautiful girl, with noble blood and it seems to me that you have many things in common." Murmured Arabella, continuing to smile placidly.
Kellan didn't answer and in the meantime a delicious beef stew was served as the main course so Arabella didn't insist.
However, she had achieved what she set out to do.
Send an unambiguous message to Ilyan Wayward.
He might be the only Alpha who wanted her by his side, but he wasn't the only Alpha without a Luna.
As far as he was concerned, the next time she might have been referring to herself when she would ask Kellan Seyimour if he didn't want a beautiful, royal-blooded Luna at his side.
- Writer
