novelraw Chapter 201: The rumors
Chapter 201: The rumors
Sebastian took a quick hot shower to wash off the oil and then threw on a robe as he stepped out and opened the door for Matt and the unwelcome woman who had come to him at the very wrong time of day, when not even the shower seemed to help calm the annoyance or the desire for his wife that still burned like hot coal beneath his skin.
The moment Sebastian opened the door, Laila threw her arms around his neck and complained, "What took you so long to open the door? I have been standing out here ringing your door until Matt came. You even changed your password!"
Sebastian glared at Matt over Laila’s shoulder and said through their mind link, "You couldn’t have come to me at any other time but now."
Matt felt his friend’s glare like acid and quickly defended himself, "Hey, hey, it’s not my fault. I came here to tell you something important but then I found Laila already standing here ringing your door. She was here before me and you weren’t answering so I had to connect through the mind link. Don’t blame me."
After what Sebastian had done in his wolf form, Matt didn’t think their discussion could wait for another time, not unless he wanted to find his mate gone by morning, kidnapped and taken somewhere he wouldn’t be able to reach her, tortured to weaken him. Something like that wasn’t so farfetched when it came to people who were desperate enough for the supreme Alpha’s power.
Sebastian subtly pulled away from Laila’s embrace as he closed the door behind them and said, "I change my password every time I marry. It’s nothing new." He told her with a straight, emotionless face that was completely different from the warm expression he wore when he was with his wife. "What brought you here?" He narrowed his eyes at her as she made her way over and threw herself onto his couch.
"You don’t want me here?" She asked him, smiling up at him where he stood in his robe, looking deliciously enticing and arousing, turning her on unexpectedly. "Can Matt leave us alone?" She asked, twirling a strand of hair around her finger.
"No. Matt can’t leave and you can’t stay here." Sebastian said flatly, knowing exactly what she was trying to imply by wanting Matt to leave. "You know my motto, Laila. Once I marry I do not sleep with another woman, nor do I keep her in my place. It has been like that with Natalie and Evangeline and it will be the same now."
Laila’s smile fell. She had known he was going to be like this. Though she hadn’t been around during his marriage with Natalie, she had been here during Evangeline, and she knew how he had paid her no attention even when she was his mate.
Not until his second wife died did he come back to her like a lost puppy, cuddling with her on the bed at night and not wanting to let go, or stop burying himself inside her all night like he wanted to pour out his hurt and grief through his body.
However, unlike Evangeline, this Viola was giving her the wrong signal, and the rumors already circulating through the building were enough to make her come here seeking not only validation but the truth of whether they were real.
"I know you don’t sleep around while married, Seb. But tell me why everyone is saying you carried your Luna on your back this afternoon. You’ve never even carried me, your mate, on your back. People are saying not even Natalie had sat there, so why did you carry Viola?" Laila asked, feeling the same anger and jealousy she had felt the first time she heard the rumors rising all over again inside her.
"People are also saying she is one of your mates. Is that true?" She added, looking at him with curious emerald eyes. It had better not be.
Laila had intimidated many others who turned out to be Sebastian’s mates and driven them away until she was now the only one who remained close to him. If this little wolfless woman turned out to be another one, Laila found the notion laughable, but it would be a simple thing to have her uncle get rid of her in the blink of an eye before the curse even got the chance to.
Sebastian let out a humorless laugh. "What made anyone think she is my mate? She is nothing but my Luna, and whoever holds that position will naturally receive my protection. That is why she rode on my back. If she were my mate, I wouldn’t have married her and made her my Luna. Nobody wants a weak mate who can weaken them standing beside them, so drop the notion that she is anything other than the Luna and stop overthinking things."
’Man, you are over explaining.’ Muffin groaned inside him. ’You never explain yourself that much.’
’Laila might be smart about some things, but she is as dumb as a chicken when it comes to matters like this. She won’t catch on to anything and take my words for it.’ Sebastian replied calmly.
Laila looked thoughtful for a moment before she let out a slow sigh of relief. "I knew there was no way someone like that would be among your mates. The moon goddess wouldn’t add a wolfless woman to be the supreme Alpha’s mates. The guests were just exaggerating everything that happened earlier." She said, and then she got up and walked towards him, adding,
"My uncle from the Red Moon Pack asked if you were treating me right because he was thinking about withdrawing his agreements with your pack since I didn’t win the competition." She let out a soft sigh, touching Sebastian’s chest with her palm and looking up at him with a coy smile.
"But of course I told him you are still treating me well and encouraged him to sign the contract this year. After all, you and I will be married next year and I can’t afford for us to lose all those lands when I become Luna."
Sebastian knew exactly what Laila was trying to do. She was trying to remind him of the benefits of keeping her close and how she had far more to offer than the woman he had married.
As much as he would have liked to shatter her illusions and tell her that whatever had existed between them was over, he couldn’t do that now, not while Viola’s wolf hadn’t yet awakened and all the potential of the prophesied one hadn’t yet risen in her.
Until then, he would have to keep up appearances, not just with Laila but with everyone.
Sebastian sent Laila away with the excuse that he had important matters and work to deal with alongside Matt and would get back to her. After he watched her walk out through his door, he turned to face Matt, who clicked his tongue and said,
"I would never want to be in your shoes, man. In order to protect one you have to pretend to still want another."
"What’s the news?" Sebastian asked, ignoring Matt’s remark and walking towards his bar and pouring himself a drink.
Matt followed him to the bar. "The news is that everyone is now assuming the Luna is your mate, just as Laila said. Alpha Noah even invited me to his room, which I sadly declined, because I already know he will try to probe me with his powers to draw out the truth."
Alpha Noah was an Alpha whose pack had maintained a hot and cold relationship with the Silver Pack ever since Sebastian’s father was alive. Unlike other packs, Noah’s pack, the Grim Pack, was said to house werewolves with the rare ability to compel, though it only worked when the victim was in a relaxed state.
More than anything else, Sebastian knew the man would no doubt set his sights on Viola the moment he learned she was his mate, and then use her as leverage against him, forcing Sebastian to finally agree to the long standing demand of handing over hundreds of his male pack members to join the Grim Pack and expand it. Something Sebastian would never agree to when his own pack still had more than enough room to grow.
"How are you going to dispel the rumors?" Matt asked, pouring himself a drink as well. If the rumors didn’t stop spreading, it would travel way beyond their reach.
"I don’t know." Sebastian said flatly, glaring at the opposite wall like he wanted to burn a hole straight through it. This wouldn’t have happened if Muffin hadn’t compelled him to carry her on their back, but then Sebastian didn’t even regret it, because he had been rewarded with her giggles and her smile, and that alone had made it worth every complication that followed.
"Do you have any helpful suggestions?" Sebastian questioned, taking a long sip of his drink.
"My suggestion would be to perhaps put some distance between yourself and her and make it obvious to everyone that you are doing so. Mates were known to find it hard to be apart. If possible, you could use Laila to dispel the rumors. It’s just a suggestion, don’t glare at me like that." Matt said quickly as Sebastian’s silver eyes cut to him.
"I know how you are starting to feel about her, but until we are certain she is the one, you cannot allow anything to happen to her. You could take Laila out shopping or something of that nature and let everyone see that you did. The rumors of her being your mate will die out in an instant and get replaced by something else. It’s only until the guests leave Silver." Matt said cautiously, unable to think of another way out of it.
"Scratch that idea entirely. I will think of another way. For now I need to meet with the elders about something important. Until the guests leave Silver, send my warriors to discreetly keep an eye on my wife at all times. They need to make sure their eyes are on her without making it known. If anyone suspicious is seen lurking around her, they are to report to me immediately." He said as he rose from the barstool.