Chapter 55

When he fall into heat and became hungry for sex and a female body, he would come looking for her.

And when he did, Laila knew she would make him beg.

It wasn’t hard for her to make Sebastian grovel; after all, he had a mate bond with her that made him unable to tolerate seeing her displeased, and she knew exactly how to use that against him when it suited her.

When Laila reached home that morning, her parents and her terrifying uncle, Elder Halvrek, who made her heart thud involuntarily in fear, were deep in discussion. The moment they noticed her enter the house, they beckoned her into the living room.

“You’re finally home, dear. Come over here,” her mother called, gesturing for her to sit beside her. “Your uncle has come to see you p>

Elder Halvrek coming to see her wasn’t always good news, she thought warily, a faint unease settling in her chest.

Laila wasn’t really in the mood for these family moments, but she wouldn’t dare say that aloud. No matter what she thought of herself, her family had engraved fear deeply into her, especially of her uncle, who was known for his strictness and cold authority.

When Laila sat down beside her wary mother, her uncle spoke to her, his tone calm and somewhat pleased.

“I am hoping you are coming from the Alpha’s place? I smell him on you p>

Elder Halvrek had once been part of the last generation to command warrior of their pack, and though he no longer held authority over them after taking the elder seat, that commanding presence still clung heavily to him that made him scary and calculative.

“Yes, uncle. I spent the night there,” she said, deliberately leaving out the part where the Alpha himself had not spent the night in his own place.

He nodded, looking deeply pleased and satisfied. “Good. I do not want to regret that I did not support Camilla when she wanted my support to use this opportunity to bring Alpha Sebastian down and place Javier on his seat, then marry you off to Javier, especially when that wife of his, Sofia, is completely useless with her insanity. I am glad you are still in good standing with the Alpha p>

Laila grimaced internally at the thought of marrying Javier, but she hid the reaction to listen to her uncle talk. No shewolf in her right senses would want to marry Javier with his hot headedness.

“Now that we are all certain you will be our Supreme Luna, after three of the participants have forfeited and the other two competitors are nothing but people you could easily outshine, especially that wolfless girl, I have come here to speak with you about ways to secure a brighter and even greater future for our family p>

No matter how much influence their family held within the Silver Pack, they did not own the place or the authority. The Alpha, whose bloodline had built Silver from the ground up, could replace them at any time. This was especially true for elders who had served for so long and were slowly becoming old-fashioned in their ways. The only way to continue holding control within Silver was by placing their bloodline in a position of undeniable power.

And from Elder Halvrek’s bloodline, that person was Laila, someone in whom he had complete faith, especially after she had frightened Elder Brennan’s daughter into forfeiting the competition.

“As you know, the Alpha has grown stubborn and no longer listens to our way of doing things for the pack,” Elder Halvrek continued. “I want you to understand that once you become his wife, it will be your responsibility to be our voice, my voice, to be exact. We haven’t had the chance to speak since you returned permanently to Silver for this competition, and now that it is only two days away, I already have faith that you will win p>

The elders, especially Elder Halvrek, rarely smiled, but he did now as he reached out and held Laila’s hand.

She looked surprised, because despite him being her uncle, he was never one to show affection to family and was always burdened with pack affairs. To be more precise, he had never truly liked her, simply because she was not a male child.

He had no wife and no children of his own, yet he placed the full weight of his hunger for power upon his sister’s daughter, Laila. He was one of the main reasons she wanted to become the Supreme Luna and finally settle into a position that would satisfy him enough to make him stop insulting her mother, his own sister, for failing to give birth to a male child.

His eyes met hers, and she felt even more important under the intensity of his proud gaze.

“Don’t disappoint our family,” he said. “We are all placing our hope in your victory. And remember what I once told you p>

Of course, Laila remembered.

She didn’t believe in curses, but her uncle clearly did. He had once told her that the Alpha was indeed cursed to kill his Lunas until he found a certain one, someone none of them knew how to identify except him, as the prophecy was meant for the Alpha alone and must not be told out to the public.

And if she turned out not to be that one, the Alpha would kill her, just as the rumors claimed he had killed the previous two. But before that could happen, her uncle had told her she was to end the Alpha first and take his life with a dagger driven straight through his heart.

Though Laila didn’t believe it would ever come to that, because she knew she was the one meant for the Alpha, and Sebastian would never hurt her, she smiled at her uncle.

“Do not worry, Uncle. The position is already mine. I only need to make it official the day after tomorrow after the games p>

Elder Halvrek laughed, a hearty, proud sound.

“Now that’s my girl. I have absolutely no worries,” he said, though he had worries he wouldn’t voice out. “But I want you to know that I have wagered more than half my wealth on you. If you lose, I will lose half of everything I own. Still, I already know you won’t disappoint me, because if you do, I will not forgive it p>

He said this with a smiling face, patting the back of her hand as if offering reassurance rather than a warning, before adding,

“I trust you. Do whatever you have to do to become his Luna p>