Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen
She walks in elegantly, sliding and smiling elegantly.

She was the late alpha favorite concubine and the only concubine to have a child for him,but unfortunately despite adrain being older than maximusit was against tradition for a child born of anyone other than the Luna to be king.

Rumor has it that when the king has no other child , she was happy but after the Luna got pregnant, she tries to kill her repeatedly but it didn't work, but there was no evidence then and now.

She walked towards me smiling, and I bowed desperate to tear my eyes away from her evil presence.

“So your the king's new Luna, how pretty”

Her voice was beautiful as always, calm, soft like the one of snow white's evil step mother, I guess evil had a nice voice then.

I rose, but keep my head down, something about making eye contact with her made me feel like she could read my mind.

“Greetings, grand Queen Trinity, what do we owe such a wonderful visit”

Her smile was still there, her pretty face looked like it hadn't been touched by the hands of time at all despite her being 72.

When the former king died, she left to her home town up in the hills, where is treated like royal, she has control and actual power and she loved it.

In my past life, she was the one who introduced Maximus to Sarah, and again that bought more questions, if she wants her sone to be king, why let another king take over from within.

Except he wasn't actually going to take over perhaps he just wanted something, or someone then he would hand it over to Adrian.

That was the only logical explanation.

After circling me for what felt like 5 minutes, she finally stopped directly in front of me, and raised my face up with a finger, leaning into me, “ my son Adrian says alot of good things about you, I can't wait to find out if it's true or not.

Her breath smell like a mixture between garlic and wine, and her words carried hidden meaning, I knew Adrian didn't say normal good things, he was plotting with his mum.

Which means he wanted to use me before he knew that I was an achiemt,bit for what.

Her finger slid away from my chin, slowly, as if she had just marked me with something invisible.

A warning.

The king stepped forward immediately, jaw tight.

“Grand Queen Trinity,” he said politely, “it is really so wonderful to have you back mother, but may I ask what brings you back.”

He even called her mother, but he didn't look so excited to see it, maybe he was scared too

She didn’t look at him.

Not at first.

Her eyes remained on me, cold, , dissecting me like a lab rat.

Finally, she moved her gaze to the king.

“Oh, I have business,” she said sweetly. “Don’t worry, Your Majesty. I won’t keep you long. I simply wished to… observe.”

Her eyes turned back to me.

“The new Luna.”

Something in the way she said new made my spine tense.

The Elders exchanged uneasy glances. They respected her. They feared her. And they didn’t dare tell her to leave.

She began walking gracefully toward Adrian’s side, her silk gown rustling softly.
He bowed his head once.

She placed a hand on his shoulder.

“My son wrote to me,” she said casually, “insisting I return sooner than planned. He claims the kingdom is… shifting.”

Her gaze cut back to me.

“And that the new Luna is… special.”

My breath caught.

Adrian hadn’t told her about my abilities yet, he couldn’t have. He didn’t even fully believe it himself, he just found out.

So why did she look at me like she already knew?

Adrian smiled politely. “Mother, I said the Luna shows potential. I did not say anything extraordinary.”

“Yes, you did,” she murmured. “You just didn’t use those words.”

The king stepped between us, shielding me with his body.

“What exactly did he tell you? Mother” he asked.

“That he cannot read her.”

The room went still.

Adrian’s expression darkened.
The king looked confused.
The Elders exchanged more uneasy glances.

But I understood.

Adrian was a skilled wolf.
He could read intentions. Expressions. Lies.

And in my past life… he always did.

But this time…

He couldn’t.

Because I wasn’t the same Annabelle.

And now his mother sensed it too.

Grand Queen Trinity circled the council table like a predator just like she didn't with me.

“Tell me, Luna,” she said, voice soft, “what is it that you want?”

The king tensed.

Adrian watched closely.

The Elders leaned in.

I swallowed.

“I want to serve the kingdom,” I answered carefully. “I want to help make decisions. I want to understand”

“No,” she cut in, waving her hand.

“I asked,” she repeated slowly, “what you want.”

Not the kingdom.
Not the palace.
Not the people.

Me.

The question wasn’t harmless.

She wanted to hear my ambition, to measure it, to weigh it, to twist it.

To use it against me later.

Before I could speak, the unhinged’s words flashed through my mind:

“Do not trust the one who smiles the most.”

Trinity’s smile was carved onto her face like a mask, Adrian's smile darkening once in a while, but she was completely perfect in always keeping a fake smile.

So I answered carefully.

“I want… stability in the kingdom,” I said. “For everyone.”

Adrian’s mother tilted her head.

“A safe answer,” she whispered. “But a lie.”

My heart skipped.

“I can smell ambition,” she continued. “It runs around you.

She stepped closer.

“Tell me, child… why did you truly come to this meeting?”

The king moved instantly.

“She is with me,” he said firmly. “She is learning. That is all.”

Trinity smiled at him, amused.

“And since when,” she murmured, “do you bring your Luna to a private council meeting? Don’t insult me with excuses, boy.”

The Elders looked away, pretending not to hear her disrespect.

The king clenched his jaw.

Adrian’s smirk returned.

He loved this.

He loved watching his mother tear into me and the king.

Trinity’s attention turned back to me.

“Luna Annabelle,” she said softly. “Let me give you one piece of advice.”

She leaned in again, lips brushing my ear.

“Everything you think you are hiding…”
“…is written all over you.”

I froze.

She stepped back and smiled.

And then

“And as for your little alchemist powers…”

My blood went cold.

The king was shocked, Adrian stiffened, the Elders froze.

I hadn’t revealed anything.
No one had told her.

Yet she knew.

She knew.

Trinity smiled wider.

“Yes,” she purred. “I knew the moment I stepped into the room.”

Adrian whipped around to stare at her, shocked, confused, almost betrayed.

“How?” he began.

She cut him off without looking.

“Magic has a smell, darling.”

Her eyes locked onto mine.

“And you,” she whispered, “reek of it.”

The king walked to her

“What exactly do you want, Grand Queen Trinity?”

She smiled.

“Oh, nothing,” she said lightly. “I only came to welcome the new Luna.”

“And to warn her.”

A chill seeped into my bones.

“Be careful,” she whispered.

Her smile vanished.

“Being… special… tends to make people disappear.”

The king’s wolves bristled.

Adrian didn’t move.

The Elders looked terrified,