Fated: The Alpha's Unwanted Luna

Chapter 185: The Crazy husband at her doorstep_Part 3

Viola saw the fear living in the she-wolf’s eyes and sat herself down on the edge of the bed so that Sofia wouldn’t feel the urge to bolt the moment she looked away. "You said you came from Claws Pack, right?" She asked gently, and Sofia gave a small nod.

Claws Pack was the fifth largest pack in their world, and though they were not as close in progress or as well-developed as Silver, she didn’t think they knew their daughter was going through this here.

Though, from what she had studied in the past, Claws Pack had more daughters than sons, she still believed they would take Sofia back.

"I will speak to my husband and ask him to contact your pack and find a way to get you out of this situation with Javier. I know I can’t tell you not to be afraid of him, but I don’t think it is safe for you to go back to him in the condition you are in right now." Viola tried to reason with her, but the she-wolf was already shaking her head before the words had even finished leaving Viola’s mouth.

"No. I will stay where Javier is. I am his mate, I cannot go back to my pack without him." Sofia said, her eyes filling at the edges, and Viola sat back slightly as the realization settled over her that Sofia had been so thoroughly conditioned into believing her husband was her entire world that she genuinely couldn’t see beyond him, even when that world was quietly killing her.

Though Viola wanted desperately to help, she had sworn to herself ever since her own life-changing experience that she would never again look away from someone in need, as a way of atoning for what she had once done to a sister who had given her everything, she was genuinely at a loss with this particular situation. Was this another form of abuse, then? The kind where you couldn’t run from your abuser even when you knew with every part of yourself that they were slowly ending you?

Perhaps she should reach out to Sebastian and let him know what was happening. But then he would be at the breakfast by now, wouldn’t he? And besides, Sebastian must have known about the abuse this woman had been enduring all this time and had chosen not to interfere, most likely because of some unspoken rule that forbade other men from inserting themselves into matters between mates. It was one of the most infuriating customs their world clung to.

But as the supreme Alpha, he had authority over his cousin that went beyond that rule, and that thought made her suddenly, quietly furious with Sebastian in a way she hadn’t been expecting.

"Okay, how about this, you stay here for a little while until—" Viola hadn’t even finished the thought when she heard the front door chime through the house system.

"He is here! I should go!" Sofia cried, immediately pushing at Viola’s hands and trying to scramble up from the bed.

"He will not touch you. I will talk to him. Stay right here and do not come out, no matter what you hear. Do you understand me?" Viola asked, looking directly into the aqua eyes that stared back at her swimming with open, desperate fear.

"He will kill you..." Sofia whispered in anguish, her lips trembling and fresh tears beginning to spill. "You shouldn’t have helped me. Now he will hurt you too because of me..."

"He can’t hurt me, I am the supreme Luna now, remember?" Viola said, even though she didn’t entirely believe her own words as she said them. She wasn’t naive enough not to see how many people had not accept her as their Luna despite the ceremony having taken place, title or no title. "Now don’t be afraid and stay right here. Will you do that for me?"

Sofia didn’t nod or speak. Her eyes were fixed on the bedroom door as though she expected her husband to materialize right through it and drag her out by the hair. Her fingers curled into tight fists around the edge of the blanket, and Viola slowly straightened up and left the room, pulling the door quietly closed behind her.

She hadn’t expected Javier to come this quickly. She had hoped, foolishly, perhaps, to have spoken to Sebastian first before ever coming face to face with his cousin, having been warned more than once to stay well clear of him.

Viola drew in a slow breath as she reached her front door and unlocked it. She had braced herself for a raging husband, but what she found on the other side of the door was a man smiling at her. Sweetly. Warmly. As though they were old friends.

"Good morning, Luna." Javier greeted her with the tone of someone who had known her for years, when in truth they had barely exchanged more than a handful of words since she had arrived here.

"Good morning to you too." Viola replied, matching his easy familiarity without missing a beat, even though looking at him made something crawl unpleasantly beneath her skin when she thought about what he had done to the woman currently hiding in her guest room.

"How is your day going? You didn’t make it to the breakfast, is everything all right?" He asked, that smile still sitting comfortably on his face.

Javier didn’t want to jump to conclusions just yet. He knew Laila, that little bitch, was bitter and still hadn’t gotten over the fact that the Alpha hadn’t chosen her, which was something Javier had actually been hoping for, as he had strongly wanted his cousin to end up with this nobody who had no real background to speak of.

He didn’t want to make an enemy of a woman he was quietly hoping would become the very thing that dismantled his cousin’s reign from the inside, and so despite the rage burning steadily beneath his composure, he kept his voice pleasant and his smile in place.

Viola’s fingers tightened around the edge of her door as she replied with the same good-natured ease. "I wasn’t feeling very well this morning, so I didn’t manage to make it." She lied with a perfectly straight face.

Javier gave a sympathetic nod. "It must be the jittery aftermath of the wedding. I hope you feel better soon." He said warmly, and then, noticing how she stood stiffly at the doorway with her body blocking the entrance, he added,

"I don’t feel much like going back to the hall anyway, how about you and I take this opportunity to get to know each other a little better? We are family now, after all. You could invite me in for tea. In the old days we actually had a tradition where the newest female addition to the family would cook for everyone, though it has slowly faded with time."

Viola gave him a tight smile. He would be eating poison if he wanted her to cook for him, she was so genuinely terrible at it that she would add the wrong thing without even meaning to, and she secretly thought it would have suited this particular man rather well. But she wouldn’t be attempting it regardless.

"Then I should be grateful the tradition is no longer practiced, because I cannot imagine cooking for the entire Kade family." She said, threading humor into her voice, and Javier laughed with his head thrown back as though she had said the funniest thing he had heard all week.

"Every woman these days has decided she doesn’t like cooking, when it is something they were made for naturally." He remarked, his light gold eyes glimmering as they fixed directly onto hers with a look that was daring her, quietly, pleasantly, to refuse him.

"But since cooking is off the table, how about just a cup of tea? I missed my own breakfast to come and check on you. The least you could do is invite me in."

Did she take him for a fool? He could easily force his way past her and bash her head against the wall while he was at it, but his mother had spent years training him to keep his temper leashed when it mattered, and right now, it mattered.