Chapter 276: A Situation that changes things

Viola released Doctor Gilbert’s hand just as Zoe waved cheerfully from behind her. "Hello, Gilbert."

"Hi, Miss Zoe. It has been a while, you must be keeping busy at the fashion house." Gilbert said, a trace of awkwardness in his voice as he recalled that the last time she had contacted him, she had asked him to model for her new limited edition men’s collection. Gilbert was accomplished in many things, but standing in front of a camera and taking a pose was not among them.

He had politely declined with the excuse of being too busy, and though he was fairly certain she had been stung by it, she-wolves like Zoe were not accustomed to being turned down, given that most people lined up eagerly for the chance to be noticed by her and be picked as her model, Gilbert was a doctor with a full roster of patients and had never had any interest in using his looks for anything beyond charming reluctant patients into accepting their medications and injections without complaint.

"Yes, very busy. I found myself another male model who was more than willing, so no hard feelings about last time." Zoe said, resisting the urge to facepalm herself for having been foolish enough to ask Gilbert when Nick had been right there willing from the very beginning.

Though as desperate as she was for his attention, Zoe knew all these feelings were something that would disappear the moment she found her fated mate, who was taking his sweet time finding her, because had he been here already, she wouldn’t be so smitten with her doctor.

She was still embarrassed about approaching Gilbert to model for her and knew talking about it was awkward, but thankfully the Beta finally stepped into the conversation and steered things away from any further awkwardness.

"Luna, I came back to inform you that you two need to leave the main quarter for now." Matt announced, addressing Viola directly.

"Wait, what?" Zoe exclaimed.

"Why?" Viola asked, taken aback. Sebastian had told them to stay put and not go anywhere until he was back. What was Matt saying now?

Even Gilbert turned to the Beta with an arched brow, knowing the Alpha was away and that these two were safest here in a quarter heavily protected by warriors and security systems designed to cut any intruder apart before they got close.

"We have a situation that changes things." Matt said. "The elders have decided to hand the Alpha seat to Javier, and as we all know, the new Alpha has rights to this quarter and everything in it. I don’t know all the details yet, but I’ve heard he intends to take Ember as his new Luna and she is requesting to stay in this quarter ahead of the crowning."

Viola’s brows pulled together at that information. Javier was taking the bait for the seat? And he intended to make Ember his Luna?

Shouldn’t Ember have returned to her own pack by now?

None of this sounded good, and it left a sour taste in Viola’s throat. She still had a history with Ember that she had not forgotten.

But steadying herself, she looked at Matt and asked, "Does Alpha Sebastian know that you are moving us away from here?"

Matt nodded. "Yes, I wouldn’t take this step without reaching out to him first. He says to move you two back into the city. You can stay with Zoe for the time being until he’s back. The security at her apartment is as strong as it is here. Furthermore, the city is much more protected with the pack members around."

Knowing Sebastian was aware of the move, Viola gave a quiet nod and let her shoulders relax. She didn’t mind being moved as long as there was no drama involving Ember, she had no desire to cross paths with that she-wolf or watch her get high and mighty over a position she was about to temporarily occupy.

The only thing that truly bothered her was the thought of Ember and her new lover using the bed where she and Sebastian had shared their first time. That memory was private, something that belonged only to them, and the thought of it being tainted by someone else felt like a quiet violation she had no power to prevent.

But there was no choice. She excused herself to go and get her things ready.

Viola walked into the master bedroom, pulled out a suitcase and carried it into the closet. She packed the clothes Sebastian had gotten for her and her underwear, then paused with her lip between her teeth and reached into his section of the closet, pulling out two of his shirts and one of his house shoes and stuffing them into the suitcase. If she had to leave, she could at least take something of his to hold onto.

Sleeping was always hard without him next to her, perhaps if she took his shirt it would help her sleep more.

She was closing the zip when she stopped, got up, and walked out of the room. She moved down the polished, quiet hallways of the large quarter into the gallery where Sebastian had once told her his family album was kept. She searched through it for a moment, found what she was looking for, and tucked it under her arm.

She still couldn’t shake her curiosity about Alex’s death and his relationship with Sebastian, the fact that Sebastian left on the date he had killed his twin, the silence he kept around it. She wanted to see their past through the pages of the album, to understand something he had never chosen to tell her.

Done packing, Viola left the room with a quiet promise to herself that she would return. She didn’t carry much attachment to the place, she hadn’t been here long enough for that, but what attachment she did have was bound up entirely in last night, this morning, and her husband.

Downstairs, Matt spotted her coming down with the suitcase and moved quickly to take it from her, leaning in to murmur, "The Alpha says to tell you to endure any shortcomings until everything is cleared. He said he will make it up to you when he comes back."

Viola felt her heart warm at the fact that he had sent his Beta with a private message just for her. She wasn’t worried about any shortcomings, she had endured far worse and a she-wolf temporarily sitting in her seat was hardly the hardest thing she had ever faced.

"Do you know when he will be back, or where he went to?" She tried her luck with Matt, who let out a slow sigh.

"Unfortunately I don’t have the answer to either of those. He may be back in a week or more. Let me take that, Luna." He took the suitcase and the bag she was holding along with it.

Gilbert, who had come only to drop off supplements, found himself feeling the pull to stay and accompany them. It was his day off, and seeing the Luna and the Alpha’s sister safely to their destination felt like the right thing to do. He picked up Zoe’s bags that were still sitting in the kitchen and, being a gentleman, placed a guiding hand at the small of her back as he fell into step beside her.

They all drove into the city toward Zoe’s apartment connected to her fashion house. As they entered the city of Silver, Viola watched every holographic screen they passed carrying the same news, Sebastian’s death and Javier’s coronation, and she couldn’t help turning to Matt, who was driving. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"Is he responsible for the assassination?"

"No. But the culprit will strike again, and when they do, Javier will be the target rather than Sebastian. That is what we are counting on."

"What if the culprit has something personal against Sebastian that goes beyond the Alpha seat? They could still try to come after him regardless of who is sitting on the throne, couldn’t they?" Viola asked, her brow furrowed deeply. She couldn’t shake the thought that an enemy driven by something more personal than ambition wouldn’t simply stop because the seat changed hands.

Who knows, the person might want to investigate more into Sebastian’s fake death than focus on Javier.

"You are smart, Vee. They could still want my brother’s life." Zoe remarked, biting her lower lip with worry. "And why are they even crowning Javier when he doesn’t have a strong enough Alpha presence to hold that seat?"

"We haven’t looked deeply enough into that angle yet, Luna. But we are hoping it is someone whose motivation began with the seat, as most of his known enemies started there. As for Javier, Zoe, he is walking himself into something he may not be equipped to handle." Matt said, though he filed the Luna’s words away carefully and made a quiet decision to increase the security around Sebastian and around the Luna herself.