NOVEL NEXT Chapter 22: Surprise
Riannon walked into the kitchen to check if her assumption was correct. And it
was. Roxy was giggling and eating her cereal in the company of Dean, Maya’s
brother. The young man was blushing and his freckles were becoming more
obvious on his face. This was bad. He was still young and one of the guys who
were easy to impress. And manipulate.
“You are not serious!” He chuckled, not even sensing his Luna’s arrival. He was
too engrossed in the conversation he had with the cure redhead omega.
“But I am!” Roxanne placed her hand on his, “I was working at the stables in my
previous pack for many years! There isn’t a single thing that I don’t know about
horses. I loved taking care of them.”
“And I thought that you were only treated as a slave in your old pack,” Riannon
scoffed,“ Werewolves don’t let omegas take care of the horses. They are afraid of
us and if we keep one, we need to take care of it ourselves to create a bond. For
omega to take care of a horse would be a luxury.”
For the first time, Roxy did not burst into tears in her presence while being
confronted. Neither did she shake or tremble. Ria wondered if having s*x with her
husband gave her newfound confidence and she wanted to laugh at that.
“Our pack was different,” Roxanne smiled sweetly and took her hand off Dean’s,
making the guy even more flustered. “Not every pack has an Alpha as amazing
as Alpha Brayden. My previous Alpha thought that it was beneath him to take
care of a horse. He kept them just for show and omegas had to do the dirty work.
But you are right, it was amazing and felt like a gift,
“I see,” Riannon went to the coffee station and started preparing herself a cup.
“Luna,” Roxy’s voice was overly sweet, “I can make you a cup. After all, I am the
omega and you are the Luna.”
Riannon rolled her eyes while she was facing the wall. She would take a cup of
coffee from Roxanne’s hands only if she was suicidal and wanted an easy way
out.
“As you just said,” she remained calm as she loaded the coffee machine, “This
pack is very different from yours. I can make my own coffee, thanks.”
“Ria,” Dean stuttered slightly, “I will go. I have battle practice soon. It was nice to
see you. And nice to finally meet you, Roxy.”
“I’ll see you around, Dean,” Riannon turned just in time to see the omega brush
her palm over her friend’s arm and tilting her head, making him leave even
As soon as Maya’s brother was gone, the two women left in the room locked their
eyes.
The smile on Roxy’s face faded. Did she decide to stop pretending?
“What,” Ria couldn’t help herself, sipping her coffee and taking a seat at the head
of the table, “No tears today?”
“You don’t like them, do you? I don’t want to offend you with them,” a smile
spread over the omega’s face.
This was new. She didn’t behave like that before she had Brayden’s affections
secured in the past life. And right now they just had their first night together and
she was already so brazen. What was that about?
Riannon tensed inside but did her best not to show that, continuing with her
drink.
“You are only having coffee?” Roxy almost sang the words with a smirk on her
face, “A sleepless night, perhaps?”
“Not really,” Ria mimicked her, “Actually, I slept like a baby. And I always start my
day with a cup of coffee. So do millions of people. Don’t read too much into it.”
“I have to give it to you,” Roxanne scoffed, “You are holding up just great.”
Yes. This was definitely new. They never talked like that in the past. It was
refreshing but at the same time, it worried Riannon. What was that woman up to?
. “Can’t say the same about you,” Ria said calmly, tempted to go on, “All that
crying... It gets repetitive, you know. And Brayden gets tired of repetitive things
very fast.”
“That’s great advice actually,” Roxy grinned, “I guess it’s coming from your
experience? Anyway, you underestimate the power of mate’s tears. Probably
because you don’t have one.”
That was a low blow. And if Onyx was there, she would tear her apart for that.
That was when it hit her. What if this was exactly the purpose of all that? Roxy
was provoking her to be able to play the victim again after the Luna lost her
patience. There wouldn’t be a more perfect opportunity than that.
Right now Riannon was supposed to be in deepest pain and depression. Back in
her past life, the first time she felt Brayden being intimate with his mate, her mark
was hurting her like hell and Onyx was going crazy inside of their shared mine
from all the pain. It was incredibly hard to deal with it and the first day, she simply
stayed in her bed, stating that she was sick. She only left her bedroom when she
was feeling better and could control Onyx again. Hence...they never met like
that. understandable, considering the circumstances. Ria was hardly the only
her. And it sure as hell would earn some points for the omega.
“Nice try,” Ria chuckled softly and took another sip, making Roxanne frown. She
was not going to give her enemy the satisfaction of humiliating herself like that.
“I think you misread what I was trying to say,” Roxanne looked at her again with
some kind of new determination, “What I really meant to let you know is that you
can go to the lycans and work as long as you want there. I will take care of
Brayden. Just like I did the last night.”
“I am sure of that,” Ria snorted but just then her opponent’s face changes to the
grimace of horror.
“I am sorry, Luna! This was so insolent of me! I should choose my words
properly, you are absolutely right, I am just a piece of lowly trash!” the omega had
tears in her eyes again and had her head lowered in submission, showing off her
neck.
Ria stared at her in shock. What was she doing now? There were no witnesses...
But it was right then that she sensed the pack’s chef walking in. The woman
looked at the two of them, taking the whole scene in, and then mumbled an
apology and left abruptly.
Did Roxy sense her before she did? Was that even possible? Did her not having
Onyx presence make her weaker now?
She concealed her worries again. This wasn’t the time.
“Seriously?” Riannon put her cup of coffee away. This was getting annoying. “It’s
nothing personal,” Roxanne stood up, “A girl has to do what a girl has to do.” She
looked at her rival and then with all the force that she could master, she hit her
head over the table, making Luna gasp.
“What are you...” Ria almost choked on her own breath when she saw Roxy
smiling at her with a face covered in blood. She broke one of the plates and there
were a few pieces of glass poking out.
What was that woman? The devil?!
“You are crazy!” Riannon hissed. “On the contrary,” Roxy smirked, “I am the
sanest person you would meet.” And with that, she threw herself through the
French windows, breaking them, and into the garden running in the distance with
a worried face and a few other people with him.
A loud growl emerged not too far from them and Ria recognised her husband. He
was the first to reach Roxanne, who was now properly injured and bleeding in
several places.
“It was my fault,” she whispered loudly so that every werewolf around could hear
her, “All me. My fault. I was too... too... disrespectful. The Luna did not want
to...”
Brayden’s head snapped in Riannon’s direction at once and she knew that the
omega managed to set her up again...