– Chapter 124

Arabella

Looking around my opulent suite in the Calypso pack house, I decide that a girl could get used to this kind of pampering. The rooms are ten times nicer than my apartment back in Elysium, and even bigger than the private apartment Bastien renovated when he married the halfling.

Blaise must like me very much indeed to afford me such an honor, though I am a bit disappointed he hasn’t invited me to share his bed yet.

Either way, I have to revel in the knowledge that I’m living better here in Tartarus than Bastien ever will in Elysium. In fact, if Flynn’s memory wasn’t driving me forward, I’m so content here that I might consider abandoning my mission.

Blaise can offer me more wealth and power than I ever dreamed of possessing, but no amount of luxury can avenge my brother’s death.

Still, it’s tempting to give in to the creature comforts surrounding me and call off my vendetta. I’ve been fighting this shadow war for more than a decade, and I’m no closer to destroying the Durand family than I was when I started. It’s exhausting work, plotting all this subterfuge, scheming and deceiving everyone around me. I hardly ever have time for the things I truly enjoy – it’s been months since I set foot on my yacht or went to the spa.

The good news is that things are going extremely well here; I’ve got Blaise wrapped around my little finger. The big Alpha doesn’t know what hit him. I catch him staring at me all the time, and as tough as he acts, I’m certain it’s only a matter of time before he makes his move. I want to tell him to hurry up and get on with it, but I know better than to push an Alpha.

I learned the hard way with Bastien – Blaise has to think our relationship is his idea. If I come on to him, he’ll see it as a challenge to his dominance. Men are so foolish. Do they really think that the only kind of power is overt? Don’t they realize how much of what they do is by a woman’s design? I suppose Alpha’s like Blaise assume we’re all spineless wretches like Selene, too weak to stand on our own two feet.

Rolling my eyes, I stride to my closet and peruse my options for the day. I only managed to bring one suitcase of my favorite designer frocks when I fled Elysium, but Blaise has been only too generous helping me replenish my wardrobe. It’s true he looked like he wanted to slap me when I suggested he come shopping with me, but he gave me the money anyway.

It’s a good thing too. I need to look perfect tonight. I think I’ve persuaded Blaise to take on Bastien, but I’ve yet to secure my position in his pack. The wealthiest and most beautiful she-wolves in Tartarus will be present at this evening’s state dinner, and I need to outshine them all.

First I’ll conquer Blaise, then I’ll conquer Elysium. Nothing can stop me now.

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Frederic

“You were sighted!” I roar, slamming my fist down on the kitchen counter, “What the hell were you thinking? I told you to stay in the house!”

My mother cowers away from me, lowering her gaze in submission, “They can’t be sure it was me. You said yourself they found nothing when they searched, there’s no evidence to back up Odette’s word. Bastien will have to assume she imagined it.”

“Unlike you, Odette is no fool.” I snap. “They won’t discount her word so easily.”

“I’m sorry, Frederic.” Defiance flashes in my mother’s eye, sparking a fresh burst of anger. She would never have dared to speak to my father this way. Does she think she is permitted to condescend to me simply because she raised me? “But you can’t expect me to stay cooped up in the house all day long.”

“I can and I do.” I growl, catching her chin in my hand. “I did not ask you to come here, you did that on your own and you can sure as hell pay the consequences for your short-sightedness. You should have known better.”

“I’m still your mother.” She bites back, “don’t speak to me as if I’m that exiled whore.”

“That whore was of more use to me than you’ll ever be.” I thunder, “You might have a few good ideas, but you’re useless when it comes to putting my plans in place.

I need someone who can move through the city without causing suspicion.”

“So what do you plan on doing now?” She questions sulkily.

Scowling down at the she-wolf, I ask, “Do you remember what you said to me after Dad died?” Bending down and glaring into her green eyes, I continue, “When I wanted to know how we were going to make Gabriel and Bastien pay for his death?”

Looking wary now, Mom answers, “No.”

“You told me to sit down, shut up and just do what I was told.” I remind me, “now it’s your turn. I don’t owe you any explanations, especially not when you almost ruined everything.”

“That isn’t fair!” My mother argues hotly.

Fury pulses through my body, and before I can stop myself, I lash out with the back of my hand, catching her square in the face. Mom yelps and crumples to the ground, but I don’t feel guilty. She earned her punishment with her insolence.

“I am your Alpha.” A trickle of blood trails from the corner of her mouth, the scent triggering my prey drive. “I don’t owe you fairness. I don’t owe you anything at all. Now you can fall in line or you can get out of my city.”

Staring at the ground, she nods meekly, and I storm out without another word. Honestly, I think in exasperation. The nerve of that woman. It wasn’t so very long ago that I revered my mother, thinking she was the ideal Luna. Now I see her for the vain, impudent woman she is. Without my father around to keep her in line, she clearly forgot her place.

I should have taken charge a long time ago, but I suppose I needed a push to finally get out from under her heel. Of course once I did, I realized just how brazen she’d become: manipulating me, trying to tell me what to do long after I reached maturity – it was as if she thought she could rule by using me as a puppet. The idea is preposterous, there’s a reason women aren’t permitted to rule. They possess neither the brains nor the brawn required to lead.

Heading for my office, I try to calm my raging temper, thinking of my own future Luna. Selene would never dream of being so disrespectful. She would never talk back, never defy my orders or undermine me.

She is too sweet, so perfectly submissive I can’t help but fantasize about all the ways I’ll have her serve me when I finally claim her as my own.

Bastien’s departure is nothing short of a blessing. Now that he’s gone, I’ll have unlimited access to Selene. I can continue wreaking havoc in the pack and woo her at the same time. The best part is that my cousin doesn’t suspect a thing.

Even when he figures out some piece of my past schemes, by the time he catches up it’s too late. I’m always five steps ahead, and that means I can keep him looking in all the wrong places for as long as I wish.

Though I must admit, his sudden absence is making me question my current strategy. I’d wanted to destroy Bastien in person, to steal all his power and take away everything he loves, ensuring he knows I am the one responsible for his downfall. I wanted to see the pain in his eyes, I wanted him to suffer as I have all these years.

Of course, that was before he thwarted my efforts so easily – before I wasted years running down dead end roads and lost my closest ally; before he found Selene and became stronger than ever. I’d be a fool not to consider taking advantage of the opportunity his travel provides.

Bastien is alone and out of sight, I could hire a pack of rogues to kill him in neutral territory and no one would be any the wiser. It would take a large number of shifters to bring him down, but everyone knows how dangerous the lands between protected territories are. It would never be traced back to me.

If the Alpha doesn’t return to the pack, I’d be free to challenge his current Betas for the position without ever raising anyone’s suspicions. Selene would mourn for a while, but I’m ideally situated to offer her a shoulder to cry on. She would be blessedly vulnerable to my advances: lonely and hurting, in need of a new, powerful protector.

The more I think about it, the better the idea sounds. It would be so much faster than the gradual fall from grace I’m currently trying to engineer. Besides, I can always request that the men I hire deliver a message from me before landing the killing blow. I can make sure he knows who is responsible for his death, after all – dead men can’t talk.

I snatch up my phone, deciding in a split second that this inspired idea is truly the best course of action. Goddess, by this time next week I could have the entire pack kneeling at my feet, and Selene naked in my bed.

Dialing one of the mercenaries I hired to set up the safe house outside of Asphodel, I impatiently listen to the line’s steady ring, willing him to answer. A moment later a click signals his answer, and a gruff voice says, “Yes?”

Triumph surges through my veins. “I have a job for you.”

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