Chapter 14 – Confirming His Luna by Eyes Novel

Filed to story: Confirming His Luna by Eyes Novel

“Lovers’ quarrel?” Lucy asks suddenly, jolting me out of my thoughts.

I turn to look at her with widening eyes. “Sorry?”

She sips her coffee, exchanging meeting Nico’s curious expression with an innocent shrug. “What? You’re always quiet, and Tristan’s always broody, but this morning when he went downtown with Mark and Amara, he seemed a little extra on edge. I don’t suppose you’d know anything about that, would you, flower?” she says.

I’m not sure if I’m more stunned by her remark or the casual familiarity of the nickname. “I- I don’t- I’m not-” I stutter.

“I’m sure it’s no one’s fault,” Nico chimes in, rescuing me from my flustered muttering. “This whole situation is understandably complicated. I mean, none of us ever expected Tristan to get tangled up with the mating bond, so it’s only natural that he’s a little moody about it.”

Lucy turns to Nico sharply, sucking in a breath in a warning hiss. He’s let something slip. Something I’m not supposed to know.

“What do you mean?” I ask, trying not to sound too obviously intrigued.

“Nothing,” Nico says quickly, seemingly realizing his mistake. Lucy shoots him a disapproving glare. But it’s too late. I’m not sure what or why, but he’s brushed by a sore subject, and I suspect from the way Lucy is frowning that it has something to do with me.

“Is Tristan not… fond of the mating bond?”

There have been snippets of conversations, passing remarks, and stern looks around the subject. Is there something deeper there than the simple strangeness of my situation with their Alpha?

“You could say that,” Lucy says slowly, and I’m suddenly aware of the intensity with which she’s staring at me, monitoring my reaction.

I hold her gaze, trying to remain neutral but not indifferent.

I want to know. I need to know.

“Please,” I say simply. There’s no pretense or ulterior motive behind my plea, and I can only hope it’s apparent in my eyes as Lucy surveys me. “He’s my mate.”

Nico sighs, nudging Lucy softly with a look that says, ‘come on… just tell her.’

I offer him a small smile, which he returns.

“Fine,” Lucy says with a sigh, twirling an ebony curl around her index finger. “Yes, Tristan isn’t fond of the mating bond. In fact, he bloody hates it. Always has.”

“Well, not always,” Nico corrects, and Lucy nods in reluctant agreement. “Just since his father was killed.”

My lips part in surprise. Tristan mentioned things had been complicated after his father’s passing, but there is a big difference between ‘died’ and ‘killed.’

“What happened?”

“His mate happened,” Lucy says gravely, and I feel as if the world around us has gone silent. There are no birds chirping, no piano song, no trickling fountain, no distant chatter—only the horrific, deafening implication of Lucy’s words.

“How much do you know about the Rovers, flower girl?” Nico asks me, and I’m ashamed to answer.

I know that they are a group of outcasts and rogue wolves that became a pack. I know that they’re led by a man known as the Exiled King, who is my mate. I know that my uncle spoke ill of them like they were a lot of rabid mongrels instead of a true pack, and the stories that surround them are not kind.

“I know that the rumors are not to be trusted,” I say at last.

Nico and Lucy look at each other, and I swear there’s a ghost of a smile in their exchange. There’s something else that twinkles in their eyes, something unexpected but not unwelcome.

Pride.

Lucy turns back to me, taking a breath before launching into the history lesson, “So… before there were the Rovers, there was the Albion pack. Tristan’s father, Ector, was a merciful Alpha and a good man.”

“Too good,” Nico chimes in with a bitter little shrug.

“He believed that Omegas, Rogues, and all sort of mutts and runts in the pack should be regarded as equals,” Lucy goes on. “His mate, Elaine, was young when they found each other. They fell in love, and Ector made Elaine his Luna. They seemed like the perfect pair, but years passed, and Elaine was displeased with the disrespect the Albion pack faced from other neighboring packs. Other Alphas viewed Ector as weak, and she was clever enough to notice and ambitious enough to be bothered by it.”

I’d never heard of the Albion pack. I’d never heard about any of this. Then again, my education was a cruel joke, and my knowledge of Silvertooth Peaks is laughable.

“Elaine might have found a way to move past that. She could have helped Ector build a stronger pack, but Joseph had other ideas.”

“Joseph?” I ask.

“The Beta of the Albion pack, Ector’s best friend,” Nico clarifies. “Ector considered him a brother, but where Elaine was cunning, Joseph was cruel. He played the part of the loyal Beta, but he seduced Elaine in secret. Ector was too trusting. He couldn’t see what was happening under his nose.”

“Or maybe he didn’t want to,” Lucy adds, a distant sort of sorrow filling her grey eyes. “I heard that he loved Elaine right until the very end.”

There’s a brief, forlorn sort of pause, and I’m filled with a quiet, mournful dread at what comes next.

“Elaine and Joseph plotted to overthrow the Alpha,” Nico goes on, and I get the sense he’s sparing Lucy from the hardest part of this story. “When Ector had to face their betrayal, he was devastated. He had to face Joseph’s challenge while his beloved Luna sided with his opponent, a man who Ector had considered his brother. Who knows who would have won in a fair contest, but Joseph was calculating. He played his cards right so that Ector had to face him at his lowest point.”

“Even the strongest of men can be weakened by heartbreak. Joseph and Elaine’s betrayal destroyed Ector. It cost him his life and his pack,” Lucy says softly. “Sometimes I think that’s why Tristan chose Mark as his Beta. My brother doesn’t hold things back, and he never keeps secrets. It’s not in his nature. Sure, he can be an ass, but he’s an honest ass.”

“And he’s loyal,” I add softly, almost to myself. I’ve been among the Rovers for less than a week, but even I can see it. I have no doubt that if it ever came to it, Mark would take a silver bullet for Tristan. He’s given his life to protect his Alpha. Perhaps that’s part of why he seems to dislike me so much. He doesn’t trust me. I suspect that his hostility toward me is Mark’s own way of protecting his king.

“And he’s loyal,” Lucy echoes with a faint smile. “Even if he’s not the… brightest… of Betas.”

“That’s what we’ve got Amara for,” Nico adds with a smirk.

And him. And Lucy. Whether he did it intentionally or not, Tristan’s little family of misfits is the perfect council. They trust and love each other; anyone could see that.

But there’s a page missing in this tale. How did the Avalon pack become the Rovers pack? And how did the fallen Alpha’s son become king?

**************************************

My mind is reeling with everything I’ve learned, but I’m still missing something. Ector, Elaine, and Joseph aren’t just the characters of some distant tale. They are my mate’s past.

“How old was Tristan when this happened?” I ask, my voice heavy.

A profound sort of sadness fills Nico and Lucy’s eyes. It’s the kind of sorrow that comes when someone you care about has suffered, and no matter how much you wish it, you know that harm cannot be undone.

“He was thirteen when his father died at Joseph’s hands,” Nico says, and the anger behind his words seems mismatched with his usually friendly face. Those lips are meant for crooked grins, not bitter pursing. His bright blue eyes darken like storm clouds, ginger brows furrowing. “Elaine wanted Tristan to stay by her side after that, but he could not forgive her for the affair. He couldn’t forgive her for the part she played in his father’s death, and Joseph knew Ector’s son would pose a threat to his own rule. He banished Tristan from his own pack, though I suspect Tristan would have left the territory of his own accord even if he hadn’t been forced out.”

So he went from being the Alpha’s heir to a Rogue. A lone wolf. An exile. It’s all starting to make sense.

“He did not return when his mother got sick a year later. Tristan was only sixteen when Elaine passed away as well. No one will ever know if she lived to regret what she did to Ector. She died in the bed she made, leaving the Avalon pack in the hands of a tyrant. Without Ector to hold him back and Elaine to soften his temper, Joseph’s cruelty got the better of him. He ruled the Avalon pack with manipulation and greed until Tristan returned.”

“I was only fourteen years old the first time I met Tristan,” Lucy says suddenly. Her expression has darkened as well, but with a different sort of hurt in her eyes. “I was the Omega of my old pack, always picked on and mistreated by those who ranked above me. My brother stuck up for me, but he was reckless about it. He got into too many fights and insulted too many powerful people. I asked him to run away from home with me before he could get himself killed. Tristan was three years older than me when he found us wandering around the highlands on our own. He’d been living as a lone wolf for longer, and he knew how to survive without a pack. He’d made allies across different territories and found friends in kindred outcasts, but he never stayed still. Even when he wasn’t alone, he always seemed lonely. He helped us.”

I can’t decide whether it’s nostalgia or regret that washes over her soft features. In the Bane pack, I’d ranked even lower than the Omegas, and I remember how they would use me. I was the only thing beneath them, and when all the worst labor of the pack fell on their hands, they dumped it onto mine. But the idea of bright, charming, gossip-loving Lucy treated like a disposable lackey, forced to rely on her brother to punch their way out of abuse and hardship… it makes me sick.

Nico slides a cup of coffee across the table to Lucy with an encouraging smile. When she takes it from him with a grateful nod, I can’t help but notice the way his hand lingers over hers just a moment too long.

Lucy takes a long sip and sighs before continuing, “When Tristan turned eighteen, he returned to the Albion territory to reclaim his title. Mark and I went with him. We followed him back from exile and stood by while he challenged the man who killed his father. He fought fair and square against Joseph, and he killed him with more honor than he deserved. By then, the Avalon pack had grown far and few under Joseph’s selfishness. Tristan didn’t want to rebuild what his own mother had destroyed, so he started from scratch. He opened his territory to rogues, lone wolves, outcasts, misfits, and all those who did not feel at home. The Albion pack died with Joseph, and Tristan buried the past along with his parents.”

“And now you’re the Rovers,” I mumble softly, wrapping up the story with a neat little bow that ties all the loose threads of this mysterious pack together.

“And now we’re the Rovers,” Nico echoes, but his eyes shift to me with a strange look when he says ‘we.’

I suppose he’s right. Whether it’s as a guest, captive, or bride, I am a part of this.

“So you see, we were all surprised when Tristan disappeared overnight only to return with his fated mate,” Lucy explains, her attention turning to me as the narrative returns to the present. “Because even with a Seer’s vision, no one expected him to seek you out. He watched a broken mating bond destroy his parents and everything they ever built, and he does not trust it. He doesn’t believe in it the way most wolves do.”

For good reason.

The mating bond blinded Tristan’s father to his Luna’s betrayal. They said Ector loved Elaine right up to the end, until the heartbreak of it killed him. I can only imagine what seeing that must have done to his son.

“I always thought he hated the idea of mates entirely,” Nico says, surveying me with a sincere sort of confusion.

“No, I don’t think he hates it,” Lucy says with a frown. “He just… fears it. He doesn’t want it, or at least he never did.”

Honestly, it’s no wonder Tristan doesn’t trust me, and Mark doesn’t like me. I represent the same fateful power that led to his family’s demise.

I’ve been pushing him away when he’s the one who has every reason to be wary of me.

Destined or not, prophecy or not, Bane or not… he does not want me to be his mate. After all, how could he? I told Tristan that I agreed to go with him because it was my only option. But what if he’s the one who had no choice?

What am I even doing here?

---