The Rejected Luna’s Prince By Aurora Archer
Chapter 63 – The Prisoner
(Willa)
“She’s here,” Griffen came into Caspiens’s office without knocking, which seemed unnatural for him.
“How is she?” Caspien asked, not bothering to look up.
“P.issed,” A slow smile spread across Griffen’s face, “Already made a lot of enemies and threatened a few deaths.”
“I figured as much,” Caspien looked up towards where I was standing next to him, “Camilla is in the basement; you can decide her fate.” He said as if he were letting me decide what to order for lunch.
My mouth hung open, “Me?” I repeated.
“If you want,” Caspien shrugged, “Think of it as an early wedding present,” He smiled at me, but it was wicked.
“I don’t know if I want that.” I knew being Luna would be a big responsibility, but deciding someone’s fate didn’t feel right. I was too close to the situation I wanted to make sure that it was an unbiased and fair decision.
“Take your time, she can rot there for all I care,” Caspien said, going back to his work, “You don’t have to make the decision alone,”
“I’m sure Nolan will try to come back with some legal c.rap, but he has no leg to stand on,” Griffen said.
“How did he take it?” Caspien asked the question I was dying to know.
“Better than I expected,” Griffen said, rubbing his chin, “He fought it, of course, but didn’t try anything s.tupid. I was mildly impressed.”
“Maybe he’s finally maturing,” Caspien muttered.
“I want to see her,” I said, and Griffen’s dark eyes met mine before looking toward Caspien.
“You don’t have to ask me for permission; she’s the boss,” Caspien said, going back to his work.
“Allow me to escort you then, Luna.” Griffen nodded to me.
“Don’t start that,” I rolled my eyes, following him out.
I don’t know exactly what I wanted to see or what I didn’t. Call it instinct, curiosity, whatever. I just felt the need to see her, especially if her fate was in my hands.
Give her fate to me
Iris – I chided – We’re supposed to be fair
You can be fair; I can be your voice of reason
I shook my head. She held grudges like Caspien apparently.
Griffen didn’t say anything as we descended before leading me through a brightly lit concrete maze that was the cells.
“What do you usually do with these people?” My voice felt small. This felt too real.
The Silent a*s*sasin and Alpha Jasper were different. I didn’t really know Camilla, but I felt close to the situation; it felt too real.
I think I built up the others in my mind as villains. Camilla was a villain in my story, but not the kill-a-kid kind of villain, just a vindictive ex-kind, and I didn’t think they held the same company.
“Depends on the severity of their transgressions, Caspien doesn’t do second chances.” He said, not needing to elaborate, I could guess their fate.
He scanned his finger and held another door open for me, “She’s the second on the right.” I glanced back at Griffen, who paused in the doorway, “You can go on alone. I’ll be waiting here when you’re done.”
I nodded my thanks and swallowed, nervous for some reason. I held my head high and focused on my steps.
I don’t know what I expected, but the word basement seemed more stone, damp, moldy. This place looked new-age, like I got lost on a spaceship.
I paused outside Camilla’s cell, it was glass, but I knew better than to think it was anything even a dragon could penetrate through.
Her eyes shot to mine, widening for a moment before turning into slits. Mascara ran down her face, and her hair looked like she had been running her hand through it.
“You,” She seethed.
Yes? I didn’t know what to say. We barely had a conversation before, and none were polite from her end. She didn’t even try to pretend with me. This seemed like a mistake, I should have had a plan maybe even a single question, before I stood tall and proud before her.
“Camilla,” I stated.
“What do you want with me?” She stepped towards the door, towering over me. I forgot how tall she was, but a quick glance down confirmed she was wearing heels.
“I just wanted to see how you were doing,” It wasn’t a lie. I still didn’t know why I was down here.
“You wanted to revel in my misery more like it?” She scoffed.
“Actually, no,” That was the truth. I was surprised to find I didn’t take p.leasure in this. Not because of what she did with Nolan, “Well, maybe a little,” I amended, shrugging when it crossed my mind the danger she put Caspien in.
She glared at me, her lips puckered.
“Do you have a problem with me?” I asked.
“Obivously,” She flipped her unruly hair over her shoulder.
“It’s not that obvious,” I genuinely couldn’t understand what she had against me, “I don’t even know you.”
She rolled her eyes, “You were mated to my boyfriend,” She said matter-of-factly.
“You broke up before we found out we were mates,” At least from what I heard and Nolan told me they were broken up, not that I would put cheating past him.
“You didn’t deserve him,” She almost shouted. She was shaking now, “He chose you, you of all people.”
“The Moon Goddess chose me for him. She thought that I did,” I corrected her, “Or do you think you know better than her?”
I didn’t think that she always made the right choice, I don’t know why I was mated to Nolan, but I was lucky that I was because I had Emmett. I was glad to be mated to him because of it, and that was a freeing thought.
Camilla rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, “I am better suited for him.”
“I don’t disagree. You both are very good for each other.” I met her eyes, “You would have hated anyone that Nolan was mated to, don’t make this about me personally.”
Was she really this obtuse?
“Maybe, and I would have taken him back. It was just easy to take him from you.” She seethed, her face was turning red.
“And now, why are you still mad at me? You have Nolan. I have my mate, my family. Why still go after Caspien? Now that is making it personal. I need to know why.” My voice was hard; my anger flared in each word.
“Because you have it all. You’ve always had it all.” She said through her teeth.
“Camilla,” I took a breath trying to explain something so basic to her it almost pained me, “I was mated to someone you dated, someone that you coveted; you can’t truly blame me for that.” Her eyes told me that she could.
“You still want him,”
I laughed despite myself, “I have my true mate. Nolan isn’t a thought; I have moved past that; why haven’t you?”
“That’s why you showed up in the dress you stole from me and paraded yourself around?” Her nostrils were flaring.
Stolen dress? I ignored that comment.
“I would hardly call that parading. I showed up to a conference I was invited to. You, like your chosen mate, are speaking from your own insecurities and projecting them on me.” I shook my head, “This conversation is going nowhere. I was just trying to make you seem like a person and see why you would go after my mate, your Prince. Are you really that s.tupid, or have you lived a life so devoid of all consequences that you don’t even think of them anymore?”
“You deserved it, so did he.” She almost cut me off.
There was no talking to her.
I gave her a tight smile, “So be it,” I turned my back on her.
“Wait!”
“What?” I studied her with an impassive difference I borrowed from Griffen.
“What do you want me to say? That I’m sorry? Because I’m not.”
“I don’t care about your apology. It means nothing to me. It won’t change anything, even if it were true.” I shrugged.
That truth was almost as empowering as when I said it to Nolan. Their apologies meant nothing to me, they wouldn’t change anything, and I didn’t need the validation.
“He deserved to die,” She said, her lips pulled over her teeth.
I closed the space that I created between us. I looked up at her, not breaking eye c.ontact. Now I was mad. Really mad, but it fueled me.
She glared smugly down at me.
“He didn’t die,” I whispered, the recent memory still piercing me, “I’m choosing your fate. Let’s call this a trial of sorts.”My voice was harder now, “I’m trying to be fair, wait. No, I was trying to be fair. But you made it really difficult.” I tilted my head and fixed her with a sick smile Cali would have been proud of.
Her eyes widened, “They can’t, you can’t.”
“We can,” I leaned forward as close to the door separating us, “Strike two, Camilla.” I turned on my heel and walked away.
There was so much I wanted to say, but I couldn’t get through to her. I wanted her to understand, to get it through her thick skull that what she did to Caspien wasn’t justified. But I understood now that there was no talking to people like that. We were just talking at each other, and it wasn’t worth my time.
Griffen held the door open, his face neutral.
“How did it go?”
“As expected,” I grumbled.
I wanted her to be human, apologetic, and show some sign of remorse for what she almost did to Caspien.
Not because her fate was because of it but to show that she wasn’t a completely horrible person. But maybe some people weren’t redeemable.
“She seems really dense,” Griffen admitted, “The little I saw of her. No moral compass.”
“Not that I’ve seen, at least.” I unclenched my fist when I realized my nails were digging into my palm.
She wasn’t making this easy. Now I needed to decide if she was enough of a threat to be able to walk out of here alive.
“It doesn’t get easier. I wish I could say it does.” Griffen said when we got back to the elevator. His voice was brittle, emotionless, and yet filled with bottled pain.
“What part of it?” I asked.
“All of it,” He sighed, “But especially the decisions like this. Nothing is as black and white as you would hope for, and you will have death on your hands whether their blood actually stains you or not.” He looked forward.
His words weighed on me, and I felt myself starting to crumble under them.
I wasn’t even officially Luna yet, and the title felt heavy.
I wanted this, though. I didn’t want to be in the other room party planning when my mate made decisions. I had to accept the raw, real parts of this, not just the conferences and parties. Before becoming Luna, I think I had my fair share of hardships at this pack and knew I would be well-equipped with all of them by my side.
“I’m lucky to have you,” I nudged Griffen, and he smiled widely nudging me back.
“The feeling is mutual, Luna.”