**PRESENT**
The moment I saw Alaia leave the room, I followed a few feet behind. I could feel her anger vibrating off my skin. She was mumbling something I couldn’t quite catch as she disappeared behind her office’s door. I stood by Alaia’s office hoping to get a sense of what she was doing when I felt it. The feeling was heavy around the door, like dread creeping on my skin. I stepped back, trying to catch my breath. She was doing something, something evil. I felt a presence and turned to look down the hallway. There was nothing there, so I went back to the door. After failing to hear anything in Alaia’s room, I went back to the room where the councilman was addressing everyone to signal Zack and we met in the hall.
“Did you find something,” Zack asked.
“No, but whatever she is doing right now, doesn’t feel like anything I’ve ever felt,” I told him while leading him back to her office.
“Don’t worry. I’ll see what I can sense when I go in. I’ll see you in a minute,” he said as he knocked on the door.
I moved away closer to Isabella’s room and watched Zack go inside. It felt like hours waiting for him to come out. I had to sit down on Isabella’s bed just to calm my nerves. I waited for what felt like hours but was actually ten minutes. I half expected him not to come back out as I saw the door to her office open. He made his way to me and we both went inside of Isabella’s room.
“The plan is set to go. She has no idea who Mirja is to me and we have to keep it that way.”
I was a bit nervous about the plan from the start. When I went to Zack about what James told me and how I thought Alaia was using magic, he told me he knew. The day they went to the Wormhole, he caught Alaia’s scent in the basement where his mate was held captive. He knows Alaia was behind the attempted murder of Zira and was working with the rogues. He just didn't have concrete proof. The only person who might know something was his mate, who was trapped to keep her quiet. I didn't want to involve Zira at all. That girl has already been through enough.
“Are you sure Zira is going to be safe from this, Zack?”
Zack stopped me from pacing back and forth.
“Victoria, she will be fine. She will be protected. Isaiah is not going to let her out of his sight. Besides, we only need enough time to get Mirja and nurse her back to health. She’s a witch, so she might know something about Alaia and her dealings with the rogues.”
“We still need concrete proof before going to the Elder Witches.”
“Right,” Zack, looking as if he was trying to think of something. Then he clapped his hands. “Got it! When I was in there, there was a book she quickly tried to hide when I got close. Maybe there was something in it we could use. We just have to find a way to get it. No doubt she’s using something to protect it.”
I was sure he was right, but all this seemed a bit too easy. Going through all of this was like deja vu with James and Maria. The way Maria completely lost it and my cousin following her soon after, shook me to my core. So again, I was waiting for the other shoe to fall, especially since I hadn't told Isabella any of this. I knew it was wrong to keep secrets from her but I’m only doing it to protect her.
“Victoria, are you okay,” Zack asked, looking down at me.
I didn't realize how much I was shaking, but I nodded my head. Zack hugged me saying it was all going to work just as the door opened and in walked Luna Bella.
“What is going on here,” she asked, looking back and forth between us.
I froze as Zach stepped up to speak. “My apologies, Luna Bella. I was just comforting a former pack member. Everyone has been shaken up with everything going on, but I think she’s fine now. We will talk later, Victoria.”
Zack made his way out the door as I tried to follow him but was blocked by Luna Bella’s arm. I backed up back into the room as she glared at me.
“I don't know what’s going on, but I won’t allow you to break my daughter’s heart,” she said accusingly.
I was taken aback. Did she seriously think I had something going on with Zack?
“Luna Bella, I can assure you that…”
“Are you truly my daughter’s mate, Victoria, or is this just something you two made up just to be together?”
Oh she was serious. Fine, I can be too. I straightened my spine and looked her dead in the eye. “I am Isabe…”
She held up her hand to stop me and stepped into the room. “Save it. I've seen this before with your family and I won't let it happen again. Especially with my daughter involved.”
Now I was really confused. “I don't know what you’re talking about.”
She scoffed at me. "That doesn't surprise me. Your family is good at keeping secrets. Especially one concerning Mya and Vera.”
I suddenly remembered what my aunt said in the car. “She mentioned you guys were close.”
“Is that what she said? Ha! Of course that’s what she said. Yeah, we were close but she was closer to Mya,” she said with an emphasis on ‘closer’.
That's when everything started to click in place. Luna Bella’s sister and my aunt were mates. Now I am really surprised.
“They were mates?”
“No. They were married,” Luna Bella snapped at me. “I've never seen Mya so happy when Vera said yes and they planned everything together. It was beautiful, the entire ceremony. After that they were practically inseparable. Until…” Luna Bella stopped as if it hurt to continue, but I knew where this was going.
“Until one day after years of marriage, Vera just left. I knew they were struggling with the whole baby situation. My sister wanted one and Vera didn’t. Mya waited for her to come back and didn’t give up on her until she felt the pain of Vera’s betrayal. She left my sister for someone else. Just like that. Like everything before that day, it didn’t matter.”
I could see telling this story was hard for her. Reliving the past that Isabella never got to hear. I was even holding back tears as she continued, knowing it was going to get worse.
“She made Mya feel worthless, and there was nothing I could do. Everyday I tried to reach her, to make her feel whole again but she kept blaming herself. She accepted the pain Vera put her through every day until it was too much. Not once, not once did Vera apologize or write a letter explaining why.”
She was staring at me when she finished with tears in her eyes and her rage plastered on her face. I could finally understand why she hated the relationship I had with Isabella. It was a constant reminder of her sister and my aunt. Before I could say anything, lavender and vanilla filled my senses and I saw Isabella standing in the doorway behind her mother.
“Are you kidding me, mother?”
Luna Bella turned around when Isabella spoke. I could feel Isabella was angry and sad with a bit of disappointment behind her eyes. She stared down at her mother as if she was the most disgusting thing in the world. Even Luna Bella took a step back.
“That’s why you hate our relationship? So what? You figure forcing me to marry a man is just going to save me from being hurt? Are you listening to yourself right now,” Isabella asked, taking another step towards her mother.
“It’s okay Isa. Your mother’s just expressing past pain. Old wounds are hard to heal, right,” I said, walking over to grab Isabella’s hand to calm her.
“She has no right to throw that hurt onto us,” Isabella said, looking at me for a moment before turning her gaze back to her mother.
“Isabella, I’m just trying to…” Luna Bella started but was cut off.
“We are not Mya and Vera. Vicky and I are true mates. She is a part of me and I her, and if in the future we split ways, then that’s my burden to bear. Not yours.”
We both stood side by side, with our fingers interlaced, staring down Isabella’s mother. She looked back and forth between us, nodded.
“So be it. If you insist, I can't stop you, but it doesn't mean I have to be okay with it,” Luna Bella started as she walked by us. She stopped by the door. “Just know I’ll still be here when she breaks your heart.”
With that, Luna Bella slammed the door. Isabella stared at the door with tears in her eyes. I could feel she still wanted her mother’s approval. She looked down at me and a little, just a little. I didn't want her to worry too much about what her mother thought of me, but I knew for some reason she needed her mother to be okay with this.
“Her lost, right,” Isabella said, returning a small smile as a few tears escaped her eyes.
“Right,” I said, kissing the tears from her cheeks. “Don’t worry, Bella. She’ll come around . I just know it.”
“I hate that name Bella,” she said as I continued to clear the tears from her face.
“But you love it when I say it,” I said, placing a small kiss on her lips. “Now there is something else we need to talk about.”