Chapter 6

Layla's POV

Watching Kian's men scrabble to pick him up from the floor because he was struggling to stand on his own and staggering like he'd been at the wine all night really was one of the most entertaining parts of the night in my opinion.

The icing on the cake was getting into bed at the apartment that I had bought and receiving the message from Erin with a clip from the livestream that showed Kian's humiliation in all its glory.

"I doubt that he'll ever recover from this," Freja preened happily.

"Yes but the Whitecrowns won't forgive this in a hurry, if at all." I hummed thoughtfully as I flipped onto my back and threw a message back at Erin.

"I would hope not. I wanted to leave a lasting impression that he wouldn't forget. It's just a pity that you wouldn't let me take one of his limbs...or maybe an eye. Now that I think about it, the eyepatch might be an improvement." She sighed happily.

"You really are despicable, you know that?" I laughed as she nodded back, grinning wildly.

"Of course I am. We learned from the best or did you forget? La vengeance est un plat qui se mange froid."

I smiled softly as the familiar words settled over me.

La vengeance est un plat qui se mange froid.- Revenge is a dish best served cold.

Then suddenly, my heart ached for the family that I had left behind in France to return to this godawful city in pursuit of an alliance for the benefit of my biological parents...not that they even deserved that title.

"Do you think they'll be angry?" I asked her softly as a muted silence fell over us.

"For what? Honoring them by hosting a feast in their name?" Freja asked, perplexed by the question.

"No," I sighed, "For using their crest and their name without even asking, without so much as a phone call."

"Are you kidding me?" Freja snorted, "You know as well as I do that they adore you. They would be ecstatic, you daft cow."

"Really? It's been three years since we spoke to any of them and Gabe..."

My throat closed on his name as I was flooded with emotions that I had tried so hard to forget since I returned to this poor impersonation of a home.

The man who had stood by my side at my lowest point, who had defended me against anything and everything that was thrown my way...

"Yeah, and don't forget the obsessive, possessive control, the constant phone calls to make sure that you were ok, the constant demands to insist on you buying what you need with his fancy black card..." She paused and scratched her ear with her back leg as she thought for a moment, "Yeah okay, the whole spending his money thing was totally worth it. I miss steak on demand and our personal chef."

I chuckled and stifled a yawn.

"Maybe I'll call him..."

"You can't call him yet!" Freja whined, "We have an appearance to make at The Moon Gathering. If he suddenly decides to show up, all the attention will be on him and we won't get to have any fun."

"I doubt he's going to even bother to travel all the way from..."

"Dont even finish that sentence otherwise Im gonna book you into the psychiatrist as well and you can discuss your delulu-land vacation with them." she huffed, "You know that as soon as he knows where you are he's going to make every effort to get here as soon as possible. Then people will twist things and say everything we achieve is because of him, not because of our own hard work and careful plotting."

I snorted as I buried myself under the duvet.

"You make it sound like we're an evil mastermind plotting to take over the world. Are you Pinky or are you Brain?"

"Obviously I am the Brain. Also...Mmmm...probably not the whole world domination thing. I think that's overreaching just a little bit...now perhaps if we plan really carefully the continent would be achievable..."

"Freja! I have enough with trying to keep you under control in public just in this city! Never mind an entire continent."

"Do less bestie," She quipped as she flopped down in a heap and yawned noisily, "Now, I think it's about time I got some sleep. I can hear chaos calling me at the Crimsonfang pack house and I would hate to not show up after I RSVP'd."

"I think you're the one who needs the psychiatrist's couch, not me."

"We are one and the same person, loser,or did you forget?"

"Maybe I'm schizophrenic and you're not actually real though," I teased as she rolled her eyes dramatically.

"Please. You couldn't come up with my winning personality and legendary temperament all by yourself even if you tried. Besides, the whole shifting into a raging beast kinda overrules the schizophrenic theory."

"Psychosis." I answer simply and she scowls at me.

"Shut up, Fuck off and go to sleep." she snarled as she closed her eyes, leaving me chuckling to myself in the dark.

My life in France seemed an entire world away now, but if I could go back and do it all over again, I probably would. Even with...

No. All that could wait...

The Crimsonfangs were hosting the Moon Gathering tomorrow night and every pack would be there.

They'd expect me to crawl back and beg for forgiveness now that I had got my little defiant tantrum out of the way. But that wasn't even close to what I had planned..

Tomorrow the whispers would turn to stories. And at the Moon Gathering, I'd give them something new to remember.