Chapter 17

Their remarks scraped at my pride, but I did not yield. I stood tall, pulling my shoulders back and holding my chin high. After all, I was not alone.

I had known that this particular couple was going to harass me at this event. In my previous life, they were “shippers” of Noah and Zoe who held a strong hatred for me. I was accustomed to their shouting and insults.

Even worse, they had relentlessly pursued Zoe in my other life, causing Noah to place Zoe in the most heavily guarded estate he had. Of course, he could not spare the same resources for me, leaving me vulnerable to the dogged paparazzi and the escalating conflict that followed. I wouldn’t be made to fear them this time, though.

No, this time I was embracing the paparazzi by inviting a journalist to an exclusive interview and documentary on my life. This journalist just happened to be capturing random moments for the documentary when we ran into the Noah/Zoe shippers.

I glided across the red carpet toward the palace’s entrance, maintaining my composure as the couple continued to yell at me. By my side, journalist Zhang Emily filmed the entire encounter.

“Does this happen often?” she asked, swiveling the camera from my threateners to me.

“More and more frequently lately,” I said nonchalantly. “Did you get enough footage of the dinner?”

“Yes, I think so,” Emily replied, though she sounded a bit distracted. I was surprised that she could focus on anything over the couple’s yelling. “Back to the remarks currently being aimed at you, any information that you can provide on that?”

“Oh, that?” I waved the matter off, as though the couple were nothing more than a pair of annoying mosquitoes buzzing in my ear. “They’re just a couple of harmless Noah/Zoe shippers.”

Anyone watching this video would be able to see, based on the looks on their faces alone, that these two were anything but harmless. However, if I acted as though they were, then I would come off as calm, cool, and collected. Emily even seemed to be put a little more at ease just by my words.

“So, you aren’t worried about them causing any problems for you?” she asked.

I glanced over at the couple. When Emily’s camera landed on them, they froze in their spots. I smiled kindly.

“No, not at all.”

The interview took place in my living room the day after the big Alpha/Luna dinner. I set out a plate of salami and cheese slices and two glasses of wine for Emily and me to enjoy while we went through the questions. Emily set up her camera across the table from us to film us while she also wrote my answers down on a pad of paper.

After she pressed the button to record and returned to her seat, Emily cleared her throat and began the interview.

“Thank you for having me today, Luna Hannah,” she began.

“Thank you for being here, Emily,” I replied. “Please, call me Hannah.”

“Of course, Hannah. It would be my honor.”

“Are you sure that you wouldn’t like some cheese or salami? Perhaps a bit of wine?”

“Oh, I shouldn’t…”

“What, are you going to get in trouble for nibbling on the job?”

Emily giggled and shook her head.

“I suppose that a little bit of cheese and wine wouldn’t hurt.”

She popped a slice of cheddar into her mouth and chased it with a sip of red wine. I followed suit.

“Now, Hannah, as I’m sure you know, the public is dying to know more about the dynamic among you, Noah, and Zoe,” Emily said.

“Of course.”

“We all know that Noah severed his bond to Zoe, his fated mate, just so that he could marry you in what many are calling a ‘political marriage’. Some have even come to believe that yours is a loveless marriage, one entirely of convenience.”

I shrugged and took a drink of my wine.

“Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.”

“And yet you welcomed Zoe back to the Pack with open arms, and in public, at that. You even hugged her and gifted her son with a toy.”

Again, I shrugged.

“What can I say? She was a new pack member just like any other. I only wanted to ensure that she and her son felt at home.”

Emily cocked her brow at me and wrote down a few notes.

“Well, in light of these details, we—both the public and us at the paper—have been wondering how you feel about Zoe’s return. There have been mixed messages coming from you and Noah, to say the least. Has her presence affected the stability of your relationship with Noah?”

I flipped my hair over my shoulder dismissively.

“My marriage with Noah is not private,” I replied. “As Alpha and Luna, we must prioritize the pack’s interests over our personal affairs. Since Zoe was already a member of the Nightcrest Pack, of course we would always welcome her back.”

“So, you have both been treating her just like any other pack member?”

“Certainly. We only want to make sure that she and her son adjust back to life in the Nightcrest Pack well.”

“And the fact that she dressed identically to your husband the night of the charity ball?”

I smiled and giggled.

“It was just a coincidence. Funny fact, her son actually wanted her to wear that dress because it made her look like a pretty mermaid. At least, that’s what Zoe told me.”

Emily grinned as she scratched out more notes.

“I see. That is quite the coincidence. Now, what about how her presence has affected your and Noah’s relationship?”

I picked up a piece of salami and gestured to the plate. Emily picked up a piece as well. We chewed our salami and sipped some wine before I spoke again.

“I understand the public’s infatuation with romantic stories,” I said. “Just look at Noah and Zoe. They were childhood friends, then fated mates, and a handsome couple.”

I laughed.

“If I weren’t Noah’s Luna, I would be rooting for them as well.”

Emily laughed, too.

“Yes, the public does seem to eat up a tragic love story, especially star-crossed lovers like Noah and Zoe. Does that mean that you and Noah are on the rocks, though?”

I thought back to what Zoe had said the night of the charity ball. She seemed to have meant it when she said that she did not want to get in the way of Noah’s and my relationship. Perhaps I needed to channel that in my answer for this interview.

“I can honestly say that Zoe is not causing any problems in my relationship with Noah,” I finally said.

It wasn’t a lie, technically. Zoe was not the cause of any of the problems between Noah and me, just the unfortunate recipient of its backlash. Noah was the cause of all our problems.

Emily smiled like the cat that caught the canary. I thought for certain that she could see behind the thin curtain separating the public truth from the private truth, but she merely scribbled on her notepad and continued.

“That’s great to hear,” she said. “If you don’t mind, I would like to dig a little deeper now.”

I made a grand gesture with my hand.

“By all means,” I said, “dig away.”

Emily chuckled, then quickly sobered up.

“Well then, I must ask you something that has been on everyone’s mind.”

She leaned forward, and I leaned towards her as well.

“How do you feel about the opinion that you are just a low-budget replacement for Zoe?”