Chapter 33 THE LUNA GATHERING
OLIVIA’S POV
I stood there for a moment, stunned by her question..
Why is she asking me why I’m here?
She’s the one who needed help, wasn’t she?
Unless… she never needed me.
Unless–Lady Grace had betrayed me.
My stomach tightened at the thought, but I quickly pushed it aside. I couldn’t doubt her–not yet. I clung to the hope that this was just a misunderstanding, not another cruel setup.
I squared my shoulders and answered firmly, “Lady Grace asked me to come here. She said there was something I was needed for.”
My voice was calm, but inside, my heart was thundering.
Evelyn arched a perfectly shaped brow, her lips twitching into a deceptively casual smile. “But Lady Grace isn’t even here. So how would she know you were needed here, out of all places?”
The words were simple. Her tone, nonchalant.
But I wasn’t stupid. I heard the mockery laced beneath it. The way she said it–like I was some child foolish enough to fall for a trick. My hands clenched at my sides, nails digging into my palms.
I took a deep breath. “Are you trying to say that Lady Grace wanted to sabotage this event by calling me here?”
She let out a light laugh, not the kind that came from amusement–but the kind that made you feel small.
“Oh, Olivia,” she said, tilting her head in a show of innocence. “Lady Grace isn’t even here. How could I possibly insinuate anything about her intentions?”
Then came that smile. Soft, sweet–and absolutely false.
“And besides,” she added, her eyes locking with mine, “I know for a fact she didn’t say anything of that sort.”
Her words hung in the air like a trap–gilded and silent.
The realization hit me hard.
She knew. Evelyn knew I was coming.
She planned this.
The discomfort in my chest twisted into a cold knot of betrayal and rage.
And still, I couldn’t shake that sickening thought from my mind.
Had Lady Grace really sent me here?
Or had she offered me up… on purpose?
Can she really stoop that low to insult me?
The air in the conference room thickened the moment Evelyn finished speaking.
Every Luna in the room–dressed in jewels and flowing silks–turned toward me, eyes sharp, expressions unreadable.
Chapter 33 THE LUNA GATHERING
+25 Bonus
And that’s when it hit me.
I had walked straight into a trap.
A perfectly orchestrated, humiliating trap.
Evelyn had never needed help.
She needed an audience.
As her cutting words sank in, a hush followed… but it didn’t last.
The whispers started low, snakelike, slithering through the room.
“She showed up uninvited?”
“Dominic’s Luna? Isn’t Evelyn the bearer of the Phoenix Mark?”
“She doesn’t even look like a Luna… Poor thing, she looks like she got lost on her way here.”
“Can you believe she tried to insert herself into an official Luna meeting?”
Each word felt like a needle, pricking holes in the pride I’d worked so hard to build.
I swallowed hard, my throat tightening, but I forced myself to keep my chin up.
Evelyn, standing at the head of the room like a crowned queen, was relishing every second. She didn’t need to raise her voice. Her presence alone commanded attention.
Her eyes met mine again, and with a slight tilt of her head, she smiled–a slow, graceful curve of her lips, full of poison masked
as sugar.
“As the Phoenix Luna,” she said, projecting her voice so every woman in the room could hear her clearly, “it is my duty to stand beside Alpha Dominic and guide this pack into its next era.”
Several Lunas nodded, visibly moved by her confidence.
“I understand how difficult it must be,” she continued smoothly, turning slightly to address the room, “to watch someone else fulfill a role you thought was yours. But as Lunas, we all know… destiny is not something we can fight.”
Her gaze slid back to me, cold and unwavering.
“But,” she said, feigning a sigh of empathy, “if you truly love Dominic and wish to remain Luna…” She paused for effect, her voice gentle–too gentle. “Then I will… bless you.”
Gasps followed. Some shocked. Others amused.
It wasn’t a blessing.
It was a public declaration of her victory.
A Luna from the Silverlake Pack leaned over and muttered–not even trying to be discreet-“She should take the offer. It’s more generous than she deserves.”
“I would’ve clawed her out of the room the moment she walked in,” another whispered, her laugh sharp.
I stood frozen in the center of it all, humiliation burning in my chest like wildfire. I could feel their judgment, their disdain, their pity.
My lips parted–I had a dozen responses, a thousand retorts-
But before I could say a single word, the doors to the conference room suddenly burst open-
Chapter 34 THE PLANNES CHAOS
