Fated: The Alpha's Unwanted Luna-Chapter 86: Viola all the way

A few minutes earlier.

When Sebastian was walking across the polished grounds toward Viola’s penthouse, he didn’t realize that just as he stepped in the direction of his private elevator, the public elevator doors were sliding open.

Javier walked out of it at that exact moment, grabbing his wife’s wrist and dragging her along like one would pull a stubborn dog reluctant to follow its owner. He had been turning to warn her to hurry up when his gaze landed on his cousin’s back, and on the fact that Sebastian was carrying someone in his arms.

Javier’s brows arched as he watched Sebastian’s retreating figure disappear around the corner.

"I’ll be damned," he muttered under his breath. Dropping his intention to scold Sofia for walking too slowly if she didn’t want to get a slap, he instead yanked her roughly and changed directions, heading off to find his mother and tell her what he had just witnessed.

When he entered the room where she was staying, he found her just ending a phone call. She looked visibly annoyed, her expression tight with anger, and she slammed the phone against the wall before turning around to face him.

"What’s got you all worked up, mamita?" he asked casually, releasing Sofia’s wrist before ordering her sharply, "Go sit right there. You and I have so much to talk about once I’m done discussing things with mami."

He had told Sofia to wait for him at their car after the competition was over, but the fool had gone ahead and gotten herself lost in the crowd, causing him endless trouble as he searched for her and wasted his time. Then again, he realized that if she hadn’t wasted his time, he wouldn’t have seen his cousin walking in while carrying the wolfless girl. At least he believed it was the wolfless girl, he had caught a glimpse of black hair, and not many women in the Silver Pack had hair that dark.

He gave Sofia a shove to make her sit down properly before turning toward his mother, who said to him in a low, irritated voice, "It’s that bitch, Elder Ysara. I tried to talk to her, to convince her to give a false verdict, that the Moon Goddess wanted a change in the silver pack and that a new Alpha should be placed on the seat."

Javier let out a dry chuckle. "The bitch threatened to tell the others if you approached her again, didn’t she?" he asked as he walked over to sit on the couch, crossing one leg over the other and stretching his arms along the backrest in a relaxed posture.

Camilla narrowed her eyes at her son. "Have you spoken to her before?" she questioned, because there was no way he should have known what the elder had said.

Elder Ysara’s words were never ignored, as many believed they carried messages from the Moon Goddess herself. The old shewolf never lied, and no one could bribe her into speaking false prophecies or words, not even an Alpha. Camilla had only wanted to test whether there was any weakness she could exploit to sway the elder in her favor. But the shewolf elder had called her a bruja. (Witch) How dare she call her a bruja when all she was doing was helping her son?

Javier shrugged. "I spoke to her a while back when the late Luna died. But let’s forget about her right now. I have some news for you that will make you happy."

That immediately caught his mother’s attention. She moved to sit beside him, turning to face him with sharp curiosity in her eyes. "What? The Alpha is dead?"

"I wish," Javier replied with a smirk. "Unfortunately, he’s still very much alive. But I saw him carrying the wolfless girl in his arms when I passed by. Do you know what that means?"

Camilla grew thoughtful for a moment, her golden eyes narrowing before glimmering with calculation. "Why would he carry the wolfless girl? Sebastian doesn’t concern himself with people beneath him. Now, isn’t this interesting?" she hummed slowly, her mood visibly brightening as possibilities began to unfold in her mind.

"Interesting indeed, Mami. From what I can tell, the wolfless might end up being our Luna. And honestly, I believe she’s better suited to be our Luna than anyone else. If Seb marries her, no doubt she will also die like the others. And if she doesn’t die and manages to bear his heir, she’ll give birth to an heir whose wolf won’t be strong enough to become our Alpha."

Camilla couldn’t help but agree with her son. This wolfless girl was not a threat to them at all. In fact, Camilla would be pleased if she became the Luna instead of Laila. It would serve as a sharp lesson to Elder Halvrek for rejecting her proposed alliance when she had confronted him with her carefully laid plans. Laila had lost the competition despite her uncle being so confident that she would win and become their Luna that he had signed away half his wealth in wagers.

Camilla did not know how that wolfless girl had managed to win against participants who possessed wolves of strength and rank, but however it had happened, she did not particularly care. Fate, luck, strategy, whatever had aided the girl was irrelevant now.

What mattered was the outcome. In the end, she would have the last laugh at those who had refused her schemes and dismissed her ambitions to remove Sebastian from his seat.

"I like where this is going," Camilla mused. "I am pleased."

Javier was more pleased with the outcome of today’s competition than anyone else. It meant his cousin would likely be tied to a wolfless mate who, if she somehow survived the prophecy, would never pose a true threat to them. Instead, she would unknowingly work in favor of their long-term plans, his plan to rule the Silver Pack in the future and claim what he believed was his rightful place.

Sebastian’s father and Javier’s father had been twin brothers. They had cared for each other deeply, deeply enough that Javier’s father had willingly given up his right to become Alpha without a fight, without even considering the future of his own children and the position they would be born into.

Being twins, his father had not lasted long after the late Alpha died; he had followed him into the grave two years later. Javier still believed it had been unfair of his father not to fight for his birthright and to let it pass so easily to his twin.

Just as Sebastian had fought for the position years later and killed his own twin to secure it after their parents’ tragic accident, Javier believed his father should have done the same.

If he had, Javier would not be sitting here now, plotting and waiting, craving the Alpha seat that he felt should have been his by blood. But then again, if the Kade family did not constantly produce twins in every generation, perhaps none of this would have unfolded this way. Perhaps Sebastian would never have existed, and only his own father would have been born. In that case, Javier believed, he would already be Alpha.

Still, with this new turn of events, Javier had a strong feeling it would not take long for Sebastian to lose his position.

"Mamita, I think you were right when you told me to marry another wife since Sofia has clearly lost her sanity," Javier remarked, his eyes shining like a lightbulb that had just flickered on with inspiration. "Imagine if I marry a shewolf with an Alpha wolf. We would have a son with strong Alpha blood, while Seb ends up with one who is weak in blood because he is stuck with a wolfless."

Camilla glanced at her son and then at his wife, who was sitting silently on the other couch with her hair spilling over her face, obscuring her expression.

"You do realize I made that as a passing comment, don’t you?" Camilla said coolly. "According to our culture, you cannot marry another wife without your current wife’s permission to do so. Is Sofia going to allow that?"

Being dragged into the conversation, Sofia stiffened her spine, her fingers clutching her dress tightly when she felt her husband’s eyes turn toward her.

He scoffed coldly. "You’re kidding, aren’t you? She’s crazy, completely unhinged and senseless. She can barely take care of herself, can barely wash or bathe properly, and you’re telling me I need her permission? When the bitch was cheating on me, did she ask for my permission before opening her legs to other men?"

"Javier," Camilla scolded sharply. "No matter what you do, you must remember our ways. If you want them to choose you as their Alpha, you must do it the right way, even if it means coaxing your unstable wife into making a public announcement supporting your remarriage."

Javier fought the urge to scoff directly in his mother’s face and tell her to hell. He knew he was no longer a pup, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t still hit him with her shoe or the back of her hand if he crossed the line.

Instead, he turned his glare toward his wife, the crazy bitch he had once loved deeply before she betrayed him. He should kill her and hang her body for what she had done, but he still needed her family’s political backing and influence within the pack.

"Don’t worry," he said at last, his voice lowering into something far more dangerous. "I’ll teach her how to agree to my wishes." His gaze lingered on Sofia in a way that made the shewolf want to run away. "And Mami, make sure you openly support the wolfless becoming our Luna during tomorrow’s meeting with the elders. We don’t want Laila. A wolfless is exactly what my cousin needs. Viola all the way."