Chapter 151
Elena’s POV
The Roosevelt Pack was quieter than I had expected it would be.
As I walked inside the packhouse with a few warriors with me in the distance, which Jayden insisted I bring with me, I didn’t even encounter anything unusual.
There are no gossiping members or staff, and there are no awkward glances. Aside from the official members who were assigned to usher me inside, everyone went about their own business like any other day.
All through my walk in the living room, all I heard was the hum of the central cooling system in this extremely hot weather and the faint scent of freshly brewed coffee.
“Elena…”
Duchess Hermoine Gallop greeted me with a faint smile as we met eyes.
She’s standing at the base of the staircase, dressed simply in a navy wrap blouse and crisp white slacks. She looked extremely elegant without even trying. Unlike most of the royal members, she looked like she didn’t care about her status, nor did she have anything to prove.
Duchess Hermione Gallop was a distant member of the royal family and considered Deacon’s aunt, hence a Duchess. However, she was her mate’s alpha of another pack and had to marry away, to which she gladly accepted and left the kingdom.
“I wasn’t sure you’d come,” she uttered in a low voice as she strode toward me.
I took her hand politely and shook it. “I wasn’t sure I would either until a few hours ago.”
This was the first time we met each other. It’s just unfortunate that it was under such circumstances.
“Well, I’m glad you did.” She motioned for us to move into a sunlit sitting room, glass walls overlooking the garden.
We sat across from each other, and for a moment, neither of us spoke. Just the quiet clinking of coffee being poured by a servant before she was dismissed.
“I wanted to see you as soon as the palace investigator finished their report,” Duchess Hermoine said, folding her hands on the table and looking at me intently as she sighed. “I’m sure you already know by now.”
I nodded my head suddenly.
“That Princess Sarah was behind the slander?” I asked, but it wasn’t really a question. “Yes, the investigator came to see me two nights ago.”
As soon as the gossip spread across the kingdom like wildfire, it wasn’t only Kyline and me who went all out in finding out what happened. Deacon and King Desmond also had the investigator move to get to the bottom of this.
After two days, we all came to the conclusion that Duchess Hermoine’s daughter, a princess whom I had never met, was the actual source of the gossip.
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But Kyline’s report was still right… that it all led back to the Grand Princess Gelin.
The Duchess’s expression tightened with guilt. “And that it wasn’t just her. I learned that the Grand Princess orchestrated it all, fed her lies, encouraged her to weaponise your reputation.”
“Court politics at its finest,” I muttered, shaking my head as I grabbed the cup of coffee and took a sip of it, savouring the bitterness that came with the situation I was constantly being tested in recently.
Duchess Hermione winced. “I know that is not an excuse. In fact, no excuse or reason can justify what my daughter did. Sarah was foolish, but she still shouldn’t have been stupid enough to have been anyone’s pawn. Especially not in something so cruel.”
I kept silent at her words. I mean… she was accepting it all easily and speaking transparently with me. What else could I say to a surrounding mother?
We both knew the rumours were nearly devastating–painting me as someone who disrespected my late family, married for influence, and even questioned my qualifications as Deacon’s future wife.
“I regret not stepping in sooner,” she added, sighing devastatingly while shaking her head in regret. “I didn’t do my job well as a mother in supervising my daughter, and that almost branded me unfilial because of some petty power play… It’s shameful. It could’ve destroyed your standing.”
I shrugged lightly. “It’s just gossip. I’ve learned not to let words break me.”
All through my life, I had walked around on thin ice, hearing words that weren’t even a quarter of the truth. Over time, my skin thickened so that I wouldn’t be bothered easily by such things.
But that didn’t mean that I wouldn’t do anything either, especially if it wasn’t just my name on the stake.
Nevertheless, my understanding surprised her. “You really don’t take it to heart?”
“Duchess,” I said calmly, “I lost my entire family in one night. I’ve stood alone in rooms where everyone doubted my worth. If gossip could ruin me, it would’ve done so years ago.”
>>
Her eyes softened. “You’ve endured more than anyone should. I see now… You inherited more than your mother’s eyes. You carry her strength, he too.”
My heart stopped at her words, and I looked at her deeply. I didn’t know what to say to that.
After a pause, she stood and crossed the room to a narrow drawer built into the cabinet by the window. From it, she pulled out a small box wrapped in black velvet. She brought it over and placed it gently in front of me.
“I want you to have this.”
I looked at the box with furrowed brows, cautiously pulling it toward me while giving her confusing glances every now and then.
When I opened it, a bracelet stared back at me–delicate, yet commanding. A wolf howling over the moon was carved from gold, the moon inlaid with tiny gems that caught the sunlight and shimmered like the moon itself.
I blinked in awe, momentarily speechless before finally managing to say, “This… is beautiful. But why are
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you giving it to me?”
“I ordered it from the Stone Steel Pack years ago,” she explained. “Ordered a customised item for myself. The wolf and moon design was special to me.”
“Then it’s yours,” I said, pushing the box slightly back.
But she immediately shook her head and smiled.
“I never got to pick it up. By the time I returned to the pack, Vince–the jeweller–told me it had already been sold.” Her lips lifted in a small, ironic smile. “To your mother.”
My fingers that were holding the bracelet suddenly halted and felt cold. “She never mentioned any of this.”
By then again, it probably didn’t matter. After all, it’s just jewellery and it happened years ago.
She shook her head and continued her narration, “She didn’t know it was mine. She told Vince it was for her daughter. Said you’d need something meaningful and beautiful to wear one day–something that reminded you of what you came from.”
I looked at the bracelet again.
So this was hers. Or mine. Or both. Now, I’m confused as hell.
But one thing was for sure… Looking up at her, I asked causitously, “So… she bought what’s yours?”
“I wasn’t angry at her,” Duchess Hermione continued with a shrug while glancing at the bracelet lovingly.” Just at Vince. For not telling me. But now…”
She pushed the bracelet closer to me again. “I think it was meant to be yours.”
I hesitated. “It feels like I’m taking something that belongs to you.
“It belongs with you,” she said simply. “Especially after everything. You’ve earned more than apologies- you deserve remembrance.”
“What do you mean?”
My brows furrowed.
Chapter 192
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
