Chapter 15 Selena's POV
I stood in the main hall of the pack house, watching the staff hang white and gold decorations from the ceiling. The Luna coronation was in nine days, and everything had to be perfect.
"No, not there," I snapped at a young omega struggling with a banner.
"Move it three feet to the left. Are you blind? It's completely uneven."
The girl flinched and quickly adjusted the banner, her hands shaking. I smiled. Fear was good. It kept them obedient.
I was going to be Luna of the Blue Moon Pack. The most powerful female wolf in the territory. And everyone needed to understand what that meant.
"Selena?" One of the event coordinators approached me nervously.
"We need your approval on the floral arrangements."
I looked at the samples she showed me. Roses, lilies, orchids. All white and gold to match the pack colors.
"These are acceptable," I said.
"But I want twice as many. I want the hall drowning in flowers. I want every other pack to see this and know they could never compete."
"That will significantly increase the cost-"
"Do I look like I care about cost? This is my coronation. It will be the most magnificent event this pack has ever seen. Now go make it happen or I'll find someone who can."
She scurried away like the pathetic mouse she was.
I continued my inspection, my heels clicking sharply against the marble floors. Everything had to be flawless.
The catering menu and the seating arrangements. The orchestra. This coronation would cement my position, and I wouldn't tolerate a single flaw.
I'd worked too hard, planned too carefully, to let anything ruin this.
Especially not some weak omega who didn't know her place.
Elara the name alone made my blood boil.
She should have been nothing but an insignificant wolf who would accept her rejection and disappear quietly. But instead, she had managed to burrow under Kaden's skin, made him obsessed, made him weak.
I'd seen it happening and watched him fall apart over her disappearance. The searching, the instability, the rage. All for a wolf who meant nothing.
So I handled it the way I handled all problems.
The rogues I'd hired were supposed to be the best. Ruthless, efficient, discreet. I'd given them clear instructions.
To find Elara, make sure she never came back, and make it look like an accident. A tragic death in the forest. Something no one could trace back to me.
I'd paid them half upfront a substantial amount. The other half would come when they provided proof of her death.
That was six days ago and I had heard nothing.
I pulled out my phone as I walked toward my private office, checking for the hundredth time today there were no messages, there were no calls, there was nothing.
This wasn't right the rogues were supposed to confirm within twenty-four hours. Forty-eight at most if there were complications.
But six days of silence?
I closed the office door behind me and immediately dialed the number they'd given me.
It rang and rang and rang, there was no answer. I hung up and tried again, there was still nothing.
Anger flared hot in my chest. These incompetent fools. I had paid them a fortune, and they couldn't even do one simple job?
I sent a text.
‘I need confirmation now or you won't get the rest of your payment.’
I stared at my phone, waiting for the response that should come immediately. Any professional would respond to a threat about payment.
But minutes passed then an hour nothing. I paced aShawn my office, my mind racing through possibilities.
Maybe they had killed her and taken off with just the half payment. Maybe they had gotten caught by pack patrols. Maybe Elara had somehow escaped.
Or maybe and this was the possibility that made my stomach twist. Maybe they'd failed completely and were too cowardly to admit it.
"Selena?" A knock at my door interrupted my thoughts.
"What?" I snapped.
A young staff member peeked her head in. "Alpha Kaden is asking for you. He says it's important."
"Tell him I'm busy with coronation preparations."
"He seemed quite insistent-"
"I don't care how he seems to tell him I'll see him when I'm finished here."
The girl nodded quickly and disappeared.
Kaden could wait right now, I had a bigger problem.
I tried calling the rogues again. This time, the phone didn't even ring. Just went straight to a recorded message.
“The number you have dialed is no longer in service."
My blood ran cold, the number was disconnected, completely gone.bI threw my phone aShawn the room, watching it hit the wall with a satisfying crack.
This was bad, very bad.
If the rogues had failed, if Elara was still alive somewhere, she could come back and tell Kaden what happened and could ruin everything.
No. I took a deep breath, forcing myself to calm down. I was being paranoid. The rogues had probably killed her and then disappeared to avoid any connection to the crime that would be the smart thing to do.
Elara was dead she had to be but the lack of confirmation gnawed at me.
I picked up my phone from where it had fallen, relieved to see the screen was only cracked, not shattered. I scrolled through my contacts until I found another number, a different contact from someone who owed me favors.
I sent a message. Need information on five rogues operating near Blue Moon territory. Find them find out what happened to their target.'
The response came quickly. 'Will cost you.’
'I don't care, get me answers.’
'Two days.'
The coronation was in nine days. I could wait two days.
I had to wait.
Because if Elara was still alive, if she came back before the coronation, everything I had worked for would crumble.
Kaden was already unstable. Already obsessed with finding her. If she reappeared, if she told him about the mate bond, about what really happened...
No. I wouldn't let that happen.
I had worked too hard to become Luna, had manipulated, schemed, and eliminated every obstacle in my path.
I had gotten rid of the other females who'd caught Kaden's eye over the years. Had positioned myself perfectly as the ideal choice for Luna had convinced the pack elders that I was exactly what Blue Moon needed.
One weak omega wasn't going to destroy all of that.
I smoothed my hair and checked my reflection in the mirror on the wall. Perfect. Composed. Every inch the future Luna.
Whatever was happening with those rogues, I'd handle it. Just like I handled everything else.
And if Elara was somehow still alive? Then I'd just have to make sure she died. Permanently this time.
I left my office and returned to overseeing the coronation preparations. But the whole time, I kept checking my phone.
Waiting for a response that never came, the rogues' silence was deafening.
And it terrified me.