Chapter 57 The Day They Tried to Replace His Luna
Grayson:
The Knight Estate looked different when I walked through it.
The corridors felt hollow,
The marble was colder.
The pillars loomed taller.
Every portrait stared at me like they were expecting me to break apart on the floor.
They weren’t wrong. I was too close to...
My wolf had receded so back in my mind, dealing with the loss of our mate, that I couldn't even feel him.
The council chamber doors loomed ahead... tall, carved, heavy.
The heated discussions among the council members gathered inside could be heard outside, even with the doors closed.
Agitated and busy scheming.
I didn’t wait to be announced.
I shoved the doors open so hard the wood slammed against the stone walls.
Silence fell over the attendees as soon as I entered.
Eight council members, three Elders, two generals, a cluster of scribes with their tablets held tightly in their hands.
Everyone froze.
And at the center of the semicircle, draped in black silk, eyes glistening with practiced grief, was Isabelle Vance.
She rose slowly, placing a delicate hand against her chest.
“Grayson,” she whispered, voice trembling beautifully, “my deepest condolences. We...”
“Sit down,” I said. My voice wasn’t loud. It didn’t have to be. The command was unmistakable.
It sliced through the room like a blade.
Isabelle blinked, as if she had not been expecting that at all. She thought I wouldn't see right through her theatrics. She thought wrong.
The Elders shifted, visibly uncomfortable.
Alpha Marcus stepped silently beside me, arms crossed, stance ready. A father's support loud and clear.
Elder Rowan cleared his throat.
“Alpha Grayson… we were just...”
“Discussing who should replace my Luna.”
I finished for him.
Some gasped.
A scribe dropped her stylus.
Isabelle lowered her eyes delicately.
“Grayson… darling… the pack needs stability.”
My wolf snapped inside my chest. Coming back from the recesses of my mind with such a force that I almost stummbled.
“Do not call me darling,” I said flatly.
She stiffened.
I walked forward, slow, controlled, but radiating a cold fury that filled the room with my oppressive Alpha authority.
“No temporary Luna,” I said quietly. “No vote. No ceremony. No discussion.”
A young councilwoman swallowed. “But Alpha, she’s...”
“Missing,” I snapped. “Not dead.”
Isabelle’s mask cracked for a flicker of annoyance, sharp and ugly, flashed beneath the surface just for a second.
“And yet,” she said softly, “her body has not been recovered. It is... unlikely...”
I moved fast. One second, I was ten feet away. Next, I was in front of her, invading her personal space.
A collective inhale filled the chamber.
Isabelle flinched back, her fingers curling on the table. She could feel the power of my fury that was radiating from me like strong waves.
“Choose your next words carefully,” I whispered.
My voice shook with a hatred so cold even I felt chilled by it.
She recovered quickly, too quickly, mask sliding back over her face like silk.
“I only mean,” she breathed, “that your heart is clouded by grief. You must think of the pack. The Luna’s duties must be fulfilled. The city needs a symbol...”
“My Luna IS the symbol.” The force of those words rattled the pens on the table.
Elder Rowan’s smile tightened.
“Alpha Grayson,” he said gently, “we understand your sorrow. But we cannot risk instability. Wolves need reassurance. Leadership. We must show unity.”
I leaned forward slightly. The bite in my words was unmistakable.
“And you think replacing Evangeline with another woman will reassure them?”
Rowan exhaled. “With the right candidate...”
My father stepped in.
“There is no candidate.”
“But the pack must have...”
“They have an Alpha,” I said. “And until I see a body, this pack, this city HAS A LUNA.”
The tension snapped taut.
Isabelle’s voice softened into fragile mourning. “I adored Evangeline...”
“Don’t.”
I didn’t shout. I didn’t have to. The single syllable cracked like thunder.
Her eyes widened.
I took one deliberate step closer, too close. With a predatory gleam in my eyes, “Do not speak her name as if you ever cared for her,” I said softly. “Do not pretend grief that you do not feel.”
She swallowed hard. And then:
She made a mistake. A tiny, fatal mistake.
She said, “She should never have been on that road.”
The room froze. Marcus’ breath caught. Elder Rowan’s quill slipped from his fingers.
I stared at Isabelle. Slowly. Very slowly.
“How,” I asked, “did you know which road she was on?”
Her lips parted. A flicker of panic crossed her face.
“I... I merely assumed...”
“No,” I said. “You knew.”
“Grayson...”
“You knew the route.” My voice dropped to a low growl that made the table tremble. “You knew where the ambush was. You knew the exact road she would be attacked on.”
The Elders glanced at one another, alarm rising.
Isabelle’s face drained of color. She tried to recover.
“Everyone knows that path is dangerous. I only...”
I slammed my palm onto the table. Wood cracked with the force, the scribes yelped.
“My Luna was attacked,” I said quietly.
“The driver was replaced.”
“The route was changed.”
“The message she received was forged.”
Isabelle’s eyes widened a fraction.
I leaned in, eyes locked on hers.
“Someone planned her death.”
A beat of silence. The entire council held its breath.
“And I,” I whispered, “will find who.”
Isabelle’s throat bobbed. Her wolf scent, usually perfumed and composed, faltered, showing the sour tinge of fear underneath.
Good.
Let her fear.
Let them all fear.
I straightened slowly, spine rigid with a cold, cutting authority no one dared challenge.
“This council will NOT appoint another Luna.”
My voice echoed like a verdict, carrying the Alpha authority I rarely yielded.
“You will NOT speak of succession.”
“You will NOT call for a funeral.”
“You will NOT call for mourning rites.”
I looked around the room.
“Not while I breathe.”
No one argued.
No one moved.
Even the Elders bowed their heads.
I turned toward the door.
Just before leaving, I spoke without looking back:
“Evie is not gone. I would feel it. The bond would break.”
The room remained frozen. And then I walked out...
...not as a grieving Alpha,
But as a man preparing for war.