130

130
Ryker's POV

I didn't confront them about the gossip that they were having with one another, but I went to find another group of people. Only after seeing that these ladies were also talking about the same issue did I feel seriously, completely alarmed.

"Excuse me. What are you talking about? What do you mean by Luna and child?" I questioned.

They looked at me for a couple of seconds, but one of them seemed to recognize me. Her jaw dropped, eyes wide in shock. "He's Riker himself," she said. The other lady looked at me with disbelief. And for a while there, it seemed like they were running away.

"You don't need to be afraid of me," I said, making enough amends. And it was true, there was no need for me to deny my identity since they had already pretty much found me out. "I have no wish to bite. I have never punished anyone," I said. "Just tell me what I need and we'll all be fine," I said.

The lady before me now was trembling. I didn't know that I had such an effect until now, and I wasn't proud of it. But maybe they were simply trembling not because of me, but because of what they were doing, because they knew it was not right for them to be gossiping like they were about palace issues. Especially when the person in question was so important.

"We heard that the woman has a child, and it might not be from the Alpha," she said, finally giving in and telling me what I wanted to know.

My eyes widened as my hands clenched into fists beside me. "And who might the other father be? Who dares accuse the Queen and Luna of treason and treachery?" I questioned.

She looked even more afraid now. "I don't know," she said.

I took in a breath. Since I hadn't started off by scaring them, I probably shouldn't try to continue by scaring them either, since it was already turning out to be counterproductive. We should do this another way, I thought to myself, taking another deep breath and composing myself completely before I spoke again.

"Who does the rumor say to be the second dad?" I questioned. "Who is the second option for the father of the child?" I asked once again.

She glanced at her counterparts, a question in her eyes. I already knew the answer, I just needed confirmation. But this look in their eyes, it was confirmation enough. And it was very annoying and also shocking to me to think that there would be such rumors at all.

"It said that it's you," she said finally, before cowering as if she was about to be hit.

"Like I would ever do such a thing," I whispered to myself, referring to both hitting her and getting Luna pregnant. Well, for the second one, I might just do something like that if I was unable to control myself in time. I would never hit a lady, never ever.

"I'm sorry," she was saying. I was simply turning around, with a frown on my face.

As I thought about it, these rumors couldn't be allowed to spread. Because without a doubt, if I did allow them, it was going to end up catastrophic. However, even as I thought of my problem and tried to figure out a suitable way to solve it, I had to also consider that my problem was being caused by someone, and it was not simply causing itself. Someone was deliberately spreading those rumors; if not, they wouldn't go this far. And it was already very far at this point in time.

I frowned, wondering how the person had known about it in the first place. "Who told you?" I questioned.

"Just some ladies, you wouldn't know them," she replied.

Her words cut into me as the typical words of a gossip that never verified information before brazenly and blatantly talking about it.

I let out a deep sigh. "Thank you," I said. They looked seriously afraid now, but I was being sincere. "Thanks," I added once again.

But I didn't remain. I turned around to leave. I had some investigation to do. Whoever put all this dirt on me needed to be brought to book. But more than that, I needed to talk with Luna before an issue arose in our relationship with each other and she stopped trusting me.

I knocked on her door quickly, finally kept on knocking on her room, and I waited apprehensively for her response. There was nothing for a while, and it was starting to stretch out longer and longer until there it was. After a couple more knocks from me, she showed up in a simple dress.

"Please, I'm ready. I'm ready to talk," I told her.

She looked surprised now. "What's up with the urgency?" she questioned. "And also, you suddenly think we need to talk after you left me at the garden, after you postponed our last conversation with each other so easily without any regret whatsoever?" she questioned.

"Things," I said, the word being the only one in my mouth I could use to communicate right now. "It's a very serious issue. We don't want to put off this conversation," I told her.

She frowned for a second before opening the door, and I walked in. Grateful that she trusted me enough for this, but also feeling a lot of pressure and wishing that I could simply have the solution to all these problems without having to stress her about it.

"There's someone in this palace spreading rumors," I said. "I didn't tell anyone, believe me," I continued as she would know. "Since we came back at almost the same period of time, once more I don't even have people here," I continued, explaining myself for a crime I didn't commit at first before she would suspect anything.

She was frowning now. "What on earth are you talking about?" she questioned.

"Calm down." I took in a deep breath. Calm down was a good idea, but I wasn't sure how capable I was of doing that. At the same time, I also wasn't sure if it was beneficial to me because she simply had to understand and it was serious. Somehow I thought that she would take me more seriously if I added enough pressure and desperation to my words.

"They know," I said slowly, trying to let the information drop slowly and softly. How I wished I could shield her from the truth of the matter. But the point remained that that was something impossible, at least for me.

She raised an eyebrow at me, her eyes knitted into brows. "They know what?" she questioned.

I simply wished she would understand and stop asking me about it. She was not making this any easier for me. But personally, I understood that she would naturally be in a state of disbelief even if she probably understood what I was trying to imply.

"They know that you are pregnant," I said.

Her eyes widened now in pure disbelief. If I had it my way, it wouldn't be like this between the both of us. I understood the importance of communication in a friendship. I didn't let her find out all on her own. I needed to tell her by myself; that way it was much more genuine and also much more effective.

"How do they know?" she asked.

The way she looked at me, I never wanted her to look at me like that. And right now, it was cutting me through from the inside out.

"I didn't tell anyone, that's what I've been trying to say," I responded. "I remained silent, and I must have had an alibi as you can see. I'm still in my clothes. I haven't even been to my room to have a shower or anything refreshing like that," I told her in explanation, wishing she would easily believe me, even when she didn't have much reason to.

She observed my expression carefully before nodding slightly. "Then who did?" she asked.

It wasn't an accusing question, just a curious question, though there was some level of hurt in it that I'd rather wasn't there. She was planning to hide it, planning to stage an abortion maybe, but now if people knew about it, then she no longer had that choice in her hands because people would know that she had a baby in the first place and it would then be forbidden.

"I have no idea how they knew," I told her, sitting on the bed beside her. I felt the frustration she felt also was palpable.