Chapter 427 What about my wife?

“Where has she come from, brother? We cannot accept a stray as our Luna without first knowing her background.” Came a deep, dark voice, and Viola looked up to meet the other twin’s eyes, locked onto hers as he rose and walked slowly toward her.

This one carried an even darker energy than the one standing beside her, and something about him reminded her far more of her own Sebastian than the other one.

He came to stand beside her, and she stopped breathing entirely as he leaned down, his nose grazing the side of her neck. The warmth of his breath sent a hot trail curling down her stomach as he inhaled her scent, and when his lips brushed the shell of her ear, her lower abdomen clenched.

“I remember you, little girl,” he said, his voice low. “You wanted to play my brother too, hmm? What brought you here?”

Viola’s back stiffened as words of explanation rose to her throat, but she couldn’t speak. She didn’t even know what to say.

“Don’t you dare toy with my brother. I will uncover your motive for being here, and if you deceive him, I will kill you.”

“Don’t frighten my woman, Vaelor. Step back!”

Viola stared at the one called Vaelor as he was shoved away from her. Looking at him, her stomach filled with a thousand fluttering butterflies, her heart skipping loudly in her chest.

“I have my eyes on you, stray,” Vaelor said as he slowly stepped backward, his eyes locked onto hers in silent warning before he finally turned away and disappeared into the night.

An odd urge rose inside her to run after him and explain herself.

But explain what?

She didn’t even belong here.

Before she could make sense of those feelings, the other man had already taken her hand in his, smiling warmly into her eyes.

“Don’t let Vaelor frighten you. I will protect you and make you my Luna.”

I don’t want to be your Luna. It’s not you I came here for, Viola heard the thought echo inside her mind as her gaze remained fixed on Vaelor’s retreating figure. I gave up my tail for him…

The thought startled her so violently that it seemed to tear her straight out of the dream.

She woke with a gasp, jolted by something cold splashing across her face.

Her eyes flew open to the dimly lit living room of Sebastian’s penthouse, where Wave hovered over her, his mouth already full of water and ready to spit another mouthful at her.

“Don’t you dare, Wave,” she groaned, her head throbbing as though someone had struck it with a hammer. She shoved her wet hair back from her face as she slowly sat up.

“I thought you’d never wake up again, Mermaidia. You slept forever.” Came the creature’s complaint, regarding her strangely, since she was frowning so deeply.

“I just had the most absurd dream of my entire life,” she said, rubbing her eyes and glancing around the dark room. “How long have I been asleep?”

“Since yesterday. Tomorrow is the day your monster kills the mermaid, and we still haven’t saved her!”

•••

Sebastian’s car came to a stop in front of High Tower, and he opened the door and stepped out. His silver eyes lifted toward the almost-full moon in the sky, which would reach its glory tomorrow night, and he felt a sense of peace settle over him, knowing that by this time tomorrow, his curse would finally be over.

Rather than suffering and carrying the pain of a generational bloodline that had nothing to do with him, he could finally worry about other things during the full moons instead. Maybe he could even participate in moon festivals.

His father and forefathers had all suffered through this curse alongside their twins, but none of them had reached their thirties while still carrying it. They had either allowed the curse to take the lives of three of their Lunas and spared the fourth, or, like his grandfather, they had used a mermaid, the main source and reason for their curse, to lift it.

Sebastian’s generation had taken so long to find a way out because the curse grew worse with every generation that passed without fulfilling the prophecy. His father hadn’t suffered during the full moons, but he and Alex had.

Yet it would soon be over, Sebastian thought, not just for him, but for any son he might have one day because a royal mermaid would lift two of them.

The best reward of all would be marking his mate afterwards, finally experiencing the full bliss of the bond. He had already made arrangements for a short vacation with her, a way to make up for everything he’d put her through lately, especially locking her up and staying away from her, though he’d only done it because he didn’t want her talking him out of the marking, or out of curing Alex with the mermaid’s heart blood.

Sebastian shut the car door just as Matt walked up beside him. “Has she reached dehydration yet?” He asked his Beta.

“She’s in the process, and she is mad as hell, the entire room has been destroyed with her screams.” Matt replied, falling into step behind Sebastian.

“Where have you been since yesterday?”

Sebastian had gone to see his twin, to tell him their curse would finally end tomorrow, but Matt didn’t know anything about Alex yet, nor about their switching, so he only said, “Somewhere urgent. Have the men reported back yet on Nick leaving his unregistered pack territory?” He asked.

“Nothing yet from the men we sent to the unregistered territory he’s building.”

Sebastian turned to look at his Beta, clearly displeased by the news. “What about the mails I sent to the other packs about him, have they replied?”

Matt scratched the back of his neck, knowing Sebastian wouldn’t like what he was about to say, but he said it anyway. “Three packs have replied so far, and they all gave us the same answer.”

“Which is?” Sebastian arched a brow at his Beta.

“They said the packless building their own territory shouldn’t be their concern, that it’s better they finally find somewhere to belong rather than causing trouble across the werewolf world at large. As long as they don’t touch any of their own members, and since they consider your cousin a sensible person, they believe he deserves to be given authorization and recognition by you. Nick has already sent requests to several of them, inviting them into his new territory, promising them advanced weapons for protection, the same kind you’ve refused to extend to many of them.”

Sebastian stopped walking at that, his jaw tightening, his fists curling inside his pockets. He’d refused many of them the resources to build advanced weapons because he had given them chances before, chances they’d squandered by turning those very weapons against him, which was exactly why he’d taken the privilege back.

But Nick, ever the clever one, was apparently willing to hand it all over freely, turning them against Sebastian, undermining his request that they band together and bring down the packless and Nick’s growing pack.

It seemed no one was seeing Nick the way Sebastian saw him, as a threat working against all of them, and Nick was making it far easier for those already looking for a reason to turn on Sebastian to finally do so.

“What about the Grim Pack? Did you send the message to Kenny?” He asked, masking his reaction to all of this, something he’d assumed he could deal with properly once Viola bore his mark and the sacrifice was over.

“I sent it to his personal contact, the one from the signed agreement, but we haven’t heard back yet. No doubt he’s still wrapped up in his new mate bond, too absorbed in his mate to have returned to his duties.”

Matt suggested, the most likely explanation, since the man was now essentially an ally to Silver, and as Alpha heir, he held nearly as much authority over his father’s pack as his father did, authority Sebastian needed now more than ever, to help sway the packs Nick was working to turn with his ability to compel.

“I hope he doesn’t go back on his word,” Sebastian remarked, resuming his walk, fighting to push Nick’s case out of his mind before it drove him into a rage worse than what he already felt.

“What about my wife? Did she ask to see me?” He asked, since he hadn’t heard of any requests from her demanding a meeting, nor seen any missed calls from her, which he had hoped for, missing her so fiercely that he’d buried the feeling beneath a mountain of responsibility instead.