Chapter 167 Truth About Elara

Chapter 167 Truth About Elara

But Elara was already circling them like a hungry predator, raising her voice now for the benefit of nearby ears. “I suppose congratulations are in order, Alpha Alex. Word around the council is that you managed to locate the Aethon Orb.”
The room quickly fell into a hush, and whispers broke out like waves across the ballroom.
Alex’s face remained cold and blank. “Rumors.”
“There is no reason to be shy,” Elara said with a deceptive smile. “We both know it is more than that. Anyone who really knows you can see there has been a few changes since you returned from your mysterious trip, and don't try to deny that either, the entire city knows.”
“You don't know what you are talking about, Elara,” Alex snapped.
Elara chuckled darkly and looked straight into Avery's eyes. “Is that what you think, Alex? Then why is your supposed human plaything attracting magical anomalies?”
Avery straightened in surprise. “Excuse me?”
Elara smiled at her, but it was the kind of smile a predator gives just before the kill.
“You must be very special,” she continued with that evil smile still dancing on her lips. “I wonder what Alex gave you to make you so– captivating. Was it a charm? A bite? A drop of blood? Or perhaps something a little more sacred?”
The implication of the accusations hung heavily in the air.
Avery’s face turned red hot with embarrassment and fury. “Are you seriously accusing me of stealing magical powers?”
“Not stealing,” Elara corrected. “Being gifted with it, or perhaps–infused with it. The Aethon Orb’s properties are mysterious, but giving powers to a human? That would certainly explain your sudden ascent into our world.”
Alex stepped forward, anger already evident in his eyes. “Enough of this nonsense, Elara.”
“Oh, I am only asking what others are wondering,” Elara said, lifting her glass as if in a toast. “If the mighty Alpha, Alex Ravenswood is bending the natural laws of our kind to elevate a human simply because he has access to the orb's powers, what does that mean for the rest of us?”
Avery’s chest began to rise and fall very quickly, with her vision beginning to blur with the red tint of rage. Every eye in the room was on her, dissecting her, judging her.
And Alex–Alex was not putting Elara in her place like she wanted.
“I need some air,” Avery snapped.
She turned and stormed from the ballroom without waiting for a response, trying desperately to keep her wolf from pushing her to tear Elara apart.

When they returned to the estate hours later, Avery was fuming like a wounded tigress. She did not speak as they walked in. Did not even look at Alex.
Simon gave Alex a subtle glance before slipping away with Melora, while Rufus and Jessica also took the hint and melted away also. They all knew better than to stay.
Alex slowly approached. “Avery.”
“I don’t want to hear it,” she snapped. “She humiliated me in front of everyone. And you just stood there like–like a silent statue while she basically accused you of using me as a magical guinea pig.”
Alex sighed in frustration. “She was only trying to provoke you, Avery.”
“Well, she succeeded.” Avery snapped savagely at him. “I felt like a sideshow freak, a magical sample people think you are making to your taste with the Orb's powers.”
“But you know that is not what happened,” he said in surprise. “Why are you even letting it get to you?”
“Because I expected you to really shut her up, fiercely protect my reputation and my identity as a natural supernatural.”
He was quiet for a long time after that outburst, and that was when she saw it–the faint look of guilt in his expression.
“You are hiding something, are you not?” she said quietly. “Something real.”
Alex sat down exhausted, clearly troubled by her reaction. “There is politics at play in these things, Avery. I could not risk us losing the reason why we went there in the first place.”
“And Elara?” she asked, clearly not satisfied with his answer.
He nodded, slowly. “I guess it is time for you to actually know the truth about me and her.”
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, voice distant.
“Years ago, the High Council of the supernaturals were looking to add another elder. Elara’s father, Alpha Cassian was being considered. He had everything they needed, but his alliances were not strong enough. He wanted influence through bloodlines, and my pack was the strongest in the city. He managed to convince my pack’s council of elders to pressure me.”
Avery looked at him curiously. “Pressured you to do what?”
“To take Elara as my Luna.”
Avery said nothing and kept on listening.
“They saw it as a strategic move,” Alex continued. “Her father would gain standing through the union, and my elders thought it would bring stability and prestige to our pack. I was young, and I agreed at first.”
He shook his head sadly. “But I never loved her. When the Lunarium began to affect me too much, I ended the alliance before we could be bonded, and I rejected every effort they made to rebond and mate us. That made enemies for me, including Elara.”
Avery sat down slowly, absorbing the blow.
“And now?”
“She is obviously trying to get revenge for it all. She is using the chaos, the fear, and the orb rumors to paint me as unstable. To ruin my credibility in the supernatural council. And you? You are probably just another pawn to her–A way to question my judgment.”
“So I am just collateral damage.” Avery said in anger.
Alex turned to her, his eyes softer now. “No my love, our relationship may have started as a contract, but you are the one thing in this chaos that is truly real to me.”
That shook her. Because she wanted to believe it.
But she had heard just enough tonight to feel like the ground beneath her feet was cracking.
And Elara had only just begun.