Chapter 16

For a moment, my heart softened towards Noah.

I quickly reminded myself that he was not defending me; he was defending the position of Luna and our reputation. We were on the verge of a divorce, and he surely did not want anything else to taint our image before that.

Still, I relished the shock upon Emma’s face. It felt good to watch her get knocked down a peg. It served her right, trying to lecture me on how to keep men away from my husband when hers had—

Then it hit me. I knew where I recognized that redheaded woman from. She was Emma’s husband’s mistress.

The problem was that the truth had not been exposed yet.

In my previous life, several months after this event, there was a scandal regarding Emma’s husband and the redhead. It had brought great shame onto Emma and completely blindsided her.

I tilted my head and considered Emma. I had never really built good social relationships with the other packs’ Lunas, always following in Noah’s shadow. Now that I wanted to be an Alpha, though, I would need practical alliances.

I looped my arm through Emma’s and laughed to cut the tension.

“You need to relax, Noah,” I said, flipping my hair. “Emma was only trying to give me some advice the best way that she could.”

Noah narrowed his eyes at me. Emma’s body stiffened so that even our intertwined body parts did not really touch, but she faked a smile at me.

“Of course,” she said. “Just a little Luna-to-Luna advice.”’

“It’s all in good fun.” I turned my attention to Emma. “Speaking of good fun, I just overheard two women in the bathroom talking about how they should convince an Alpha to give one of them his Luna’s property.”

Emma’s eyes widened.

“You mean—” her voice lowered— “an Alpha’s mistress is trying to blackmail him?”

I nodded.

Emma tightened her hold on me and started to drag me towards the restroom.

“Well, we have to listen in on that!” she exclaimed.

As we entered the restroom, I heard the same voices that I had walked in on earlier. I stopped Emma short of revealing herself and got her to peek at them from around the corner as we eavesdropped.

“He will ruin me if I try,” the redhead said, frantically pacing back and forth.

“If he tries to, you have enough information to tear down him and his bitch Luna,” the brunette countered.

“But who will believe me if he discredits me first? It’s not like he’s Alpha of one of the minor packs.”

The brunette scrunched her nose.

“Yeah. Frankly, if it weren’t for his status, I wouldn’t believe that you ever slept with him. He’s so fat and—”

“Watch it!”

“Well, it’s true. I mean, what do you do after making love? Run your fingers through his scalp?”

Beside me, I felt Emma stiffen as she began to put the pieces together. Fury flashed in her eyes. Her body curled as she prepared to pounce.

I grabbed her elbow in my half-hearted attempt to stop the oncoming storm.

“Wait,” I lipped.

Her lips a firm line, she shook her head and ripped her arm out of my grasp. She charged toward the women and grabbed the redhead by the wrist.

“Hey! What are you doing?” the redhead yelled.

“You think you can get away with sleeping with my husband, you little trollop?” Emma accused.

The redhead’s eyes widened in recognition, and she tried hard to pull herself away from Emma.

“You and I are going to go have a little chat with my husband.”

Emma dragged the redhead out of the restroom, the brunette trailing behind them. I followed them as Emma led the procession into the dining room. All eyes fell upon us, but Emma did not seem to notice.

As we approached Emma’s husband—Grayson—one of his dining companions tapped his shoulder and brought his attention to the scene approaching him. His bespectacled eyes widened, and he struggled to his feet.

“Emma, what are you—Scarlet, are you okay?” he said.

“Your crazy wife grabbed me and dragged me here from the bathroom,” Scarlet said as Emma released her wrist.

“Your side piece was planning to blackmail you for my property!” Emma screeched. “What is the meaning of this?”

Grayson pulled a handkerchief out of his breast pocket and dabbed sweat off his face and neck.

“Emma, darling, I don’t think that this is the time or place for this discussion—”

“We’re having this discussion, now,” Emma growled.

I raised my hands placatingly between them.

“Hold on a moment.” I turned to Emma. “Emma, what happened to you is distressing, but do you really want to do this in public, where people might twist you into being the bad guy?”

Emma stared at me for a moment, then looked at her husband. Her attention returned to me, and she nodded.

“We’re going home, Grayson,” she said through gritted teeth, “and you’re going to invite…Scarlet and her friend over for a little chat.”

Grayson seemed to deflate.

“Yes, darling.” He turned to Scarlet. “Scarlet, Johanna, will you join us at our house for some…tea?”

Scarlet and Johanna glanced at each other.

“We would be honored,” Scarlet said stiffly. “After you, Alpha Grayson, Luna Emma.”

The foursome left the dining hall, all eyes still on them—all but Noah’s. His stayed fixed on me even as everyone else returned to their food.

“Why did you do that?” he asked as he approached me. “You must have known who that other woman was. Why would you put Emma through that?”

I arched a brow at him.

“I’m surprised. I would think you would want me to socialize with other Lunas, considering how I used to avoid it.”

“You should still be a little more sympathetic to her perspective. You know how messy these kinds of situations can get with Alpha/Luna relationships,” he said bitterly.

“Whatever,” I said as I walked away from him.

I hated to admit that Noah was right.

Alpha divorces were incredibly complex. As key figures in the pack, the Alpha’s and Luna’s individual reputations were essential in dividing their assets. I couldn’t imagine what that would mean for Emma if it came down to a divorce between her and Grayson.

My own reputation had taken a dive in my previous life. I had used all of my influence to suppress news related to Zoe: escaped tabloid reporters, refused to comment, and even had my subordinates confiscate cameras. Unfortunately, instead of the situation going away, it had escalated, and the media had given me a lot of negative publicity.

If I wanted to win my upcoming divorce, I had to improve my reputation, fast.

I spotted Scott at the back of the dining hall and rushed to him.

“Luna Hannah! How are you enjoying the event?” Scott asked, raising his wine glass to me.

“Just fine, thank you.” I bit my lip. “Look, I wanted to discuss a new strategy with you.”

Scott cocked his brow at me.

“I’m listening.”

“I need to improve my reputation. Immediately.”

Scott seemed to consider the matter for a moment, sipping at his wine, then smirked.

“Luna Hannah, I believe that is an excellent idea.”

The next event was a few nights later, a dinner for all the Alphas and their Lunas at the home of one of the most prominent Alphas. Conspicuously, Grayson and Emma were absent. I felt bad about that, but Emma had texted to confide in me the day before, so my plan to make an ally seemed to be working.

Despite the lavish dinner that we enjoyed together, Noah left early without me. I was certain that he was still sore about how I had dressed at the charity ball. No matter the reason, I was left to exit the palace without him.

As I made my way to the entrance, I was pursued by a couple of relentless Noah/Zoe supporters. They hurled insults at me the entire time I walked.

“Get out of Noah and Zoe’s life!” they yelled. “You’re not our real Luna!”