Isabel's Choice

Chapter 14 - Isabel

Place and time: Southern River Border, while Lars is at the Witches' Council

"Looking for anything in particular, Luna?"

My bones dissolve under the angry fire of his voice, hands gripping the edge of the open drawer. I bend my neck, displaying the soft part with pulsating life-carrying vessels, hoping that he will just tear through it and spare me the pain of a summary interrogation.

The floor cracks under his heavy steps and he is standing right beside me, breathing terror in my space.

"Answer me, Isabel."

The roaring is replaced with a neutral tone and for some reason, it scares me even more. I instinctively crouch, trying to minimize the exposed surface of my body - he can have my throat, but without the indignity of torture.

I want to whisper that I don't know and it's not even a lie. I don't know exactly what I am looking for - a list of permissions, a raid notice issued to ranked members, a freaking severed bloodied hand - anything that could help me understand if and why he has been lying to me. Or why is the Gamma lying to his warriors.

"This month's budget sheet. I have misplaced my copy... I am sorry." my pained whisper can be mistaken for an expression of shame at my oversight.

Owen narrows his eyes, and cocks his head, trailing his eyes down my chest. I know he's examining the rhythm of my breath and my pulse, trying to spot any signs of deceit. He shakes his head:

"You are so careless with your records, Isabel. See, this is exactly why I asked you to make copies of everything."

Walking around me, he opens another drawer and extracts the papers I claimed to have been looking for. Handing them to me with a scowl, he adds: "Honestly it's uncanny how much oversight you need. I sometimes feel like I am doing the whole Luna role."

I bow. I will not argue with his perception of my work. Not today. I wait in silence for the dismissal that doesn't come, hearing him instead mutter:

"Speaking of which, I got a call from Luna Irene."

My lips part involuntarily with the surprise of what I am hearing. Lunas never call Alphas, it's just not done. Whatever the matter, they call their female counterparts.

My heart skips a beat, as I am wondering if something happened to the four-pack. But if that would have been the case, Alpha Finn could have relayed that to Owen.

Or Irene could have called me.

And it suddenly dawns on me that maybe I was not the only one deleting the call history on my phone.

Owen was so right, he was doing a big chunk of the Luna work. Like curating female diplomatic relations. And by curating, I mean completely destroying them, by making me look like a complete impolite, antisocial savage who is never returning calls. How many contacts had he denied me?

"She requested that you call her," Owen scowls, "So here." he lays my phone on the table, between us."You have five minutes."

I stare at the device, which he is expecting me to use for straight out lying to my former Luna. I want to push the phone towards him theatrically, with two fingers, and tell him that I refuse.

But even though Owen has done everything in his power to undermine my pack mind, I care about some of the wolves who live at the Southern River Border. Wolves who would suffer if I would insult one of our allies by refusing his mate's request for contact.

I dial Irene's number, but Owen takes the phone from my hand and pushes the speaker button, laying it back on the table. So this is how this will go down.