Two Unfathomable Doubts

Chapter Forty Two Unfathomable Doubts

It was…. fortunate that the poison wasn't as strong as the curse marked on Varick during that day. Yet, I was so exhausted that I almost dropped my knees or faint from weariness.

Panting, I tried to catch my breath as I stared at Magellan in the eye, without an ounce of fear ingrained in my eyes.

However Magellan's burly face turned pink as his eyes were visibly wide.

With his shaky accusing finger, he pointed at me. "A DEVIL! The Luna is a bloody devil in disguise!"

Oh Hati. I couldn't believe this dreadful beta male—!

The guards harshly pushed my wobbly, weakened body on the ground as my arms were forcibly held tight by them.

Now, my face kissed on the cold, dirty pavement. And it only brought a sinister laughter from him.

"This woman shall be executed this instant!" He bellowed.

"Don't hurt her!" The child grabbed the leg of the guard. "She saved my papa! You can't do that to her!"

The male wolf I saved kneeled before Magellan.

"It is true that I am against their religion…" His voice trailed as he lowered his head.

"...but she saved my life, our Chancellor. I wouldn't continue living knowing she will be executed because of me."

More loud whispers around the vicinity. I forcibly lifted my head despite the large hand pressing my head to the ground, so I could see a better view before me.

The man I saved was bowing before Magellan and the crowd grew larger—most likely from the bright light earlier.

A part of me was feeling hopeful that the pack had finally acknowledged Hati through his miracles.

And that his spells were nothing but to protect, not to harm.

"Have you forgotten why we were in this war in the first place?" Magellan turned to the crowd.

"The moon goddess was eaten by the Sun god, Hati. We, the wolves, her children, were weakened and almost at the brink of extinction due to her hatred! Some went rogue and succumbed to their canine instincts! All because of the Sun God these cultists followed!"

His voice was loud and convincing and he made sure each of the bystanders listened to every word he said.

"Because of these Hatist worshippers we lost our place as the most respectable pack! Hunted by other wolves, seeking revenge for the moon goddess!"

He turned back to the wolf on the ground.

"Now, tell me…do you wish to stand by a follower of this forsaken god?"

"I…" The father remained reluctant. His son was about to speak up but he held his shoulder and the father shook his head.

I gritted my teeth and felt offended and tired of all of these accusations!

"How can wolves assume it was truly Hati when it happened during the Forgotten Century?!" I bellowed. "That time no one remembered the exact details of how we lost our abilities!"

The pack ignored my words as they averted my eyes. I knew that fighting for Hati won't solve anything. I wasn't exactly vocal of my feelings before as Father Gossep warned me to understand their side of the situation.

But now, I couldn't let it slide.

"You could see that none of Hati's spells show any harm to us! It was in his own scriptures that he would return and save us all!"

I was only greeted by silence as they didn't look at me. Even the father on his knees couldn't even turn.

I felt foolish, acting like a madwolf and seeing that I was still on the ground while the guards were still holding my arms worsened the situation.

"What's going on?" Varick's loud, authoritative voice echoed the deafening, tense atmosphere.

Varick walked with confident strides amongst the crowd, giving him a leeway by moving away from his path.

Behind him, Phineas, in his bright purple cloak, tried to conceal his lips as he acted…well-behaved in the crowd.

When Varick saw me on the ground with guards locking my arms, his onyx eyes flared and the guards immediately released me.

"Ah, Alpha!" Magellan forced a smile while patting Varick's shoulder. "I thought you were busy interrogating the prisoners."

Varick ignored him as his eyes never left mine.

"Stand up, Rosaria."

I wasn't sure if that anger was directly towards me.

I attempted to stand up, my legs almost gave in from the exhaustion of my body when I casted that spell.

When I almost dropped, a hand grabbed my arm before I dropped again. Varick was now by my side and we stared at each other once more, no words exchanged as I wasn't sure what to say.

Then, he broke our gaze before turning to Magellan.

"And to whom did you get the right to execute the Luna of the pack, Magellan?"

"My lord, I did as a law-abiding member of the pack! She used Hatiism, a spell that is forbidden here!"

Varick raised his brow as his frown deepened.

"But she did it to save a dying wolf, Lord Varick," Phineas intervened. "If she didn't, his son would be fatherless by now."

He turned and gave Magellan a glare. "Either way, you have no right to murder any of the wolves here as you please!"

Magellan gave him a look of annoyance and clearly, neither of them enjoy being each other's company.

Then, my husband turned to me and I flinched at his sudden diversion. I felt the nostalgic anger seething through him and I unconsciously shuddered before averting my eyes from him.

I knew I angered him. He hated Hati and the memory of his outrage was still fresh in my memory.

"If it were any other Hatiist follower, I would have killed without a moment of hesitation."

My eyes grew and I wasn't sure what to say.

Yet, his hand raised as he gently trailed the locks of my hair. "However, you are my mate, regardless of your position before this…" This only made the pack whisper behind as they were taken back from his words.

I felt my body heat up and weakened by his stare. Again, was this because I didn't experience fear from being with him for a long time? Was it a natural response of a mate?

He then gave Magellan a deathly glare. "So, you should have known when not to anger me, Magellan."

The older official's cheeks reddened in fury.

"My lord, are you truly in a position to threaten any of us with your power? When many of our fallen victims were killed by the invasion for the first time in history?!"

"Uh-oh…" Phineas said out loud as he sighed.

But Magellan knew he couldn’t win Varick with his words, as I was his mate, so he resorted to shifting the blame directly to him.

My husband didn’t say a word as he glowered.

Magellan turned to the audience. “You’ve heard me! You were talking behind the Alpha’s back not too long ago! We were all left in the dark about the truth behind this invasion! Why would you do that, Lord Varick?”

He gestured to the audience. “All of us were worried…incredibly worried about what was in your mind, Alpha! First with the case of the Hatiist follower as our Luna which you could just reject her and get another call from the moon goddess, then we recently knew that you were poisoned by the Dark Elves and you allowed the Luna to heal you with her witchcraft! And now, the invasion unbeknownst to us?”

Each time he speaks, Magellan’s voice becomes an octave higher. “ADMIT IT, LORD VARICK! YOU WERE PROTECTING YOUR LUNA AND PRIORITIZED HER MORE THAN THE PACK THAT YOU HAD SWORN TO PROTECT BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE!”

He sighed and the words left made the crowd had grown silent.

“Perhaps… I had been comparing you often to your father, the great Alpha Agathon. We always felt safe when he was alive.”

It was as if Magellan’s words resonated with the entire pack and none were there to defend the leader who was being criticized by a beta.

At that moment, I felt the pack was more divided than what I thought.

Doubts and suspicions were now cast upon the Alpha King for the first time, and Phineas and I knew if we made a single mistake, it would break their trust in their leader.

“You are as impatient as ever, Magellan. You love to test my patience with your impertinence. I would like to speak to you after this,” Varick said calmly, then he walked to the center, facing the crowd.

“I believe all of you alive are here, then I shall announce what needed to be said: After the interrogation with the last rogue, it confirmed what I needed to know: they were sent here to capture my Luna and their goal was to send her to the Red Moon Pack.”

“As for the one pulling the strings…” I caught a glimpse of him staring at me. “...we don’t know who is behind it until now.”

I’ve realized… how much of a terrible liar Varick was. The way he averted his eyes from the crowd would make it more suspicious.

Fortunately, none had realized his bluff.

“But one thing I assure all of you is that I won’t just back down and pretend none of this happened.” He clenched his fists. “My men and I are preparing for another war against the Red Moon Pack.”

“And if you had doubts of my return, an heir will be born soon to rule over here in my stead.” He held my hand. “My Luna is pregnant with our child.”

Now the pack was all caught off-guard with his announcement of my pregnancy, the revelation of the invasion and their plans for another battle.

The news of my pregnancy made the crowd more interested, diverted from their attention to a potential heir of the pack now. Although they weren't showing signs of excitement but the announcement helped to avoid more doubt.

After that revelation, Magellan's eyes widened before he regained his composure. He then conceded when he called his men back to him.

He turned to me and gave me an indescribable look. "The moon goddess smiles upon you, Luna. Hopefully you will give birth to a son who will be just like his father, Agathon."

"After all, out of all of Skolls' descendants, Agathon was the kindest Alpha of them all..." he muttered before leaving.

As much as I was glad that Magellan’s plan to foil Varick failed, I couldn’t help but wonder, and despite the achievement he gained to avoid their distrust—

—Why was it that the hand he held mine was shaking as if he was afraid?