Confusing
Xander POV
Serafine is standing here rigid, her jaw is tight and her hands are curled into fists as they stay down at her sides. Theres something in her posture, something just beneath the surface, and it tells me she doesn’t like this conversation.
Good, it means I need to push further, to make her uncomfortable so I can tell the lies apart from the truth.
I study her, watching the way her shoulders tense, the way her lips press into a the fine like she’s trying to think of the right response. She’s trying to be careful. “I don’t believe you,” I say flatly.
Her eyes snap up to mine, and something flashes in them, it’s sharp, and almost like frustration. “Why
Is she really asking me why? “Because I know what I’ve heard,” I reply while crossing my arms. “I know exactly what was said about you. Your name was attached to every social event, every meeting, and every important gathering that your father or your pack was a part of. I also know that you were seen at negotiations, at celebrations. People spoke of how we you handled things. Your father used you as the face of the pack. So don’t you dare stand in front of me, dishonor me, and tell me you’ve never done any of that.”
Exhaling sharply, she glares, she actually glares at me. She doesn’t look away, she holds my gaze. She’s angry, but there’s also something else beneath it, something that looks dangerously close to despair.
“I never left my pack, not even once,” she says, her voice low and firm. “The woman you’re thinking of is Jasmine?
Frowning, I look at her. “Jasmine?”
“She’s my father’s partner,” she clarifies, her fingers tighten even more. “She’s the one who handled all of that. The parties, the alliances, the meetings. I was never involved in any of it. She was the one everyone saw, the one people assumed was working alongside my father. I just never knew he used my name.
Holding her stare, I watch her, waiting for her to flinch, or for her expression to waver. I’m waiting for some sign that she’s lying, but she doesn’t look away or try to hide from me.
I don’t believe her. It makes no sense. She was known, people didn’t just assume she was handling things, they actually spoke about her. They praised her. A woman who had never left her pack, never attended a meeting, and never stood beside her father wouldn’t have a reputation like that.
Serafine sees the doubt in my face before I even say a word. Her jaw tightens quickly, and the sharpness in her eyes comes back. “Why do you even bother asking me these things? You’re just going to assume I’m lying, so why bother?” she hisses.
I raise a brow at her tone. “I ask because I want the truth,” I say simply.
She lets out a short humorless laugh, shaking her head. “No, you ask because you already think that you know the answer, and anything that doesn’t fit with what you believe, you assume is a lie.”
Stepping closer, I lower my voice as I watch her carefully. “You expect me to believe that you were nothing more than a shadow in your father’s pack? You honestly want me to believe that you sat behind closed doors while the world attached your name to things that you never had a part in?”
Her green eyes flash with something, and for a moment, I think she’s going to lie again. I’m ready for her to continue pushing, trying to keep up this act, to continue pretending that she wasn’t involved in the things I already know she was. She doesn’t, instead she exhales, and her expression twists into something almost bitter.
“You want to know the truth, Xander?” she murmurs. “I was nothing in my father’s pack. Nothing more than a mistake he regretted keeping. He used my name because it was convenient. A chance for other packs to marry me to form allies. He used my name because it made the pack look good. That does not mean I left, I never did. I certainly never did any of the things you seem so convinced I did.”
Studying her closely, my mind turns over her words, trying to piece them together with everything I’ve heard before. For the first time, I wonder if I’ve been looking at this all wrong?
Her father knows he went too far when he killed my Luna, so maybe she was hidden away, kept under lock and key to protect her from me? From the alpha of the Luna he murdered?
“Can you give me your rules, and what is expected of me besides that I let you into my bed when you want?” Her words are cold and sharp, and I exhale. She’s not like the others. Sure, there are a lot of signs that she is exactly like the other women who play pretend to trick the Alphas. There’s also a lot about her that doesn’t add up.
Still, I should do something, give her somethin Successfully unlocked! le here. This is temporary. Eventually, she will let her guard down and tell me about her pack anu apput her father. She will discuss his business with me. She’s not becoming my Luna.
The pack won’t treat her as that either. She will be seen as someone I brought in. Many already know who she is and who her father is. They understand my quest. I’m not seeking a new Luna, I’m seeking revenge, and she’s my way to gain that.
Confusing
“You can teach the children,” I say.
She turns and looks at me like she didn’t expect that. I wait for her confirmation that it is fine, but she looks genuinely lost. “I’m not sure that I am capable of that,” she whispers.
“All it involves is teaching them about their wolves, the past, the things you were taught in school growing up
Her body tenses. “My schooling was different to the traditional, I didn’t learn about wolves, about mates and bonds. So take that into account before you put me in front of children and expect me to know what to say Jasmine took my place.”
How can she not know those things?
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