Chapter 28

I can’t say that I had any fear of Jekia from the day I’d arrived in the Northern Lands. He had always been kind to me, even though it took us a while to meet in person.

I suppose one could argue that it was Rayne’s doing when that happened, but I was moving past any blame games that could arise from what had already transpired. Too much had occurred because of mistakes, and it was time that we acknowledged and stopped repeating them.

Yet, as I walked beside Rayne down the long hallway toward the conservatory, I still felt a twinge of nervousness. It was probably because of the peculiar situation I found myself in.

Well, I could label it peculiar all I wanted. It may have been inevitable.

I couldn’t deny that darker side of me, even if I was determined not to succumb to it. While these horns were disheartening, they shouldn’t define me, even if some might think that at first.

I just hoped it didn’t alter Rayne’s family’s perception of me. I was certain Jekia’s wouldn’t, but I didn’t know about the rest yet.

Rayne stopped at the door, squeezing my hand and looking at me. “It’ll be fine,” he softly reassured me. “We’ll figure out what we can do to help you stay yourself.”

“I know, and I trust you,” I responded, keeping my voice down too.

The door opened quietly, and I followed Rayne inside. The conservatory was as serene as always, radiating the beautiful ambiance of nature that the family seemed to prefer.

We could hear voices as we approached the area where tables had been set up. It sounded like Jekia and Emelio were conversing.

“If that is the only issue then I will leave it for you to deal with. I have enough on my mind, and this is a trivial matter,” Jekia was saying.

“I would agree, sire. I found it rather silly myself that they haven’t worked out the details and expect you to step in and do it for them. But since I am in here, have you decided what you would like to do about the current issues that have arisen? We do have enough to make whatever moves you deem necessary and the Higher Ones have permitted you to move as you see fit,” Emelio responded.

“True, but I do not want to make any decisions in this on my own. It is not my place when it involves my son and his beta,” Jekia told him. “Aside from that, I would rather see both Rayne and Rin take some control now when such situations arise. I may not intend for anything to happen to me, but I also am well aware that I will not be around forever, and I would much prefer knowing that they are capable of handling things on their own.”

I don’t think Rayne was surprised at all to overhear this. I even wondered if Jekia had hesitated some on doing this more than he probably should have.

But then, it couldn’t have been easy to admit that your children were grown, and his family was the most precious thing he had.

“Understood, my lord, and I will support it wholeheartedly,” Emelio agreed. “I do apologize, but I must excuse myself to take care of this current issue. Please call on me if I am needed.”

“I will, and you are excused.”

Rayne kept hold of my hand as the two of us began moving forward again, finally turning the corner shielded by the large plants. Jekia was standing near the tables, a neutral expression on his face.

I wondered if he’d known all along that we were there. Rayne had told me before that his father had an uncanny ability to know whoever was around long before they were spotted.

But Jekia didn’t let on whether or not he did as he turned to face us, only speaking casually. “Ah, there you are. I wondered how much longer you’d be.”

“I apologize for taking a bit of time, but you understand that Luna has just awoken and needed it to pull herself together after everything that occurred,” Rayne responded.

“It doesn’t bother me. I’m well aware of all of that and am willing to give the time that she needs,” Jekia assured us.

His gaze turned to me as Rayne and I came over to stand with him. “You look well compared to when Emelio brought you here yesterday. That is a relief.”

“I do feel more like myself, though not that I quite look it,” I confessed.

“Be not so concerned about your horns. I am certain that Emelio will find a way for you to repress them soon enough,” Jekia assured me.

“Would that be to his own accord or under your orders?” Rayne questioned.

“One could say a bit of both. I would imagine that Luna isn’t feeling that comfortable about this, especially with all that’s already been said, though it is her choice what she wishes to do about them when that time comes,” Jekia answered.

He stepped over to the nearby round table. “That said, I did wish to speak to both of you privately about some things, so let us take a seat.”

Rayne pulled out a chair for me, then sat beside me as Jekia took a seat across from us. My alpha didn’t mince words as he addressed his father.

“I would imagine part of what you wish to speak of is what you’ve learned, and Emelio and you were talking about when we came in here. Am I to assume that you’ve learned information about what has been happening to Luna that you haven’t shared with anyone else yet?” he asked him.

“I knew you’d hear me, and that is what I wished to speak to you about, although I’m still going to remind you that you should not take any rash actions toward this information. You know what I’ve said about doing so,” Jekia answered.

“Yes, I’m well aware, and I take any advice you give seriously when it comes to such things,” Rayne swore.

“Am I to take it that you have learned who has been spreading those vile rumors about me and why?” I spoke up, too curious not to.

“I believe so,” Jekia confirmed. He let out a long breath and closed his eyes for a moment before he continued, “Though I admit that this entire thing wasn’t quite what I was expecting in some ways. I did believe from the start that a lot of it was jealousy, and I was proven partially correct on that.

“However, the other part of it disturbs me a bit, and given what’s recently occurred, we may need to plan our strategies carefully.”

Rayne easily read between the lines. “This has something to do with her father too?”

“Because he wants me to awaken and be like him,” I finished.

Jekia wasn’t the least bit surprised that we’d figured it out so easily. It was almost like he was expecting it.

“I’m certain that neither of you wanted to believe that, but it also isn’t that unusual when it comes to the children of the Fallen Ones,” he noted. “Whether or not they want to be a part of their lives, the Fallen simply cannot resist trying to mold aspects of their children after themselves. Most will do everything they can to resist that side of them.

“I would imagine that you have always wished to deny that part of yourself too, wouldn’t you, Luna?”

“I never wanted to acknowledge it, but you’re right,” I admitted. “It’s like I haven’t been given a choice lately, and I’ve suspected that it could be his doing, even if we’ve never met face-to-face.”

“Tell me something, Father; have you been aware of such a thing for a while?” Rayne inquired.

“No. Only recently, although the possibility was raised to me by Emelio when you first brought Luna here,” Jekia acknowledged.

He was quick to add, “However, do not believe that I have ever felt a true need to be concerned about Luna’s heritage. She is who she is, and I have never had any impression from her that she would become dangerous even with what has recently happened.”

That surprised me a bit. “You have never worried that my father could make it so that I would turn on you or your family?” I had to know.

“Not at all,” Jekia assured me.

“While it is a relief that you wouldn’t, we can’t deny what’s recently happened,” Rayne said. “You mentioned that it may be part of an end goal of what’s been done against Luna. Can you explain that to us now?”

“I intend to,” Jekia answered. He sat up a bit straighter.

“I also wished to do this with just the three of us because I wanted to hand the reins to you and Luna to handle it. While I appreciate that your brother and sister want to help the two of you, I see this as a good opportunity for you to take control of things this time around,” he continued. “As I’m certain you heard me saying to Emelio, while I intend to remain as I am for as long as I can, I know I will not be around forever. For that, I feel it necessary for both you and Rin to begin handling issues here and there, even if I will be watching over you.”

“That’s fair, and it means a lot that you’ll trust me and Luna to do this mostly on our own,” Rayne admitted. “Although I have no intentions of leaving Rin and Selenia out of it completely. I know coming from me this might sound hypocritical given how much I’ve strayed away recently, but I feel like it’s better if we worked together on issues.”

“Ah, so you admit that you’ve been avoiding your family recently,” Jekia noted, not sounding the least bit surprised.

“I do,” Rayne conceded, his ears going back for a few seconds with regret. “Much of what’s happened in the last two years has been on me too. I know that I avoided things when Rin first left, and even more so when the Golden Queen took control of me. I’ve let shame dictate much, and it’s messed up many things, especially with my family and Luna. I need to own up to all of it now before it ruins everything I love.”

I held his hand between us. “No one blames you for those things, Rayne. None of us are perfect, and I can say for certain that I’ve never held anything against you for what’s happened since we met. I don’t doubt that you care about me. You’ve just had as much dragging you down as I have,” I reminded him.

“I believe Luna has put things into perspective far better than I could here, Rayne,” Jekia added. “None of us are perfect, and I’d hope you recall me telling you of my issues when your mother and I first met.

“We cannot change the past, but we can learn from it and move forward for the better.”

“Yes, that is true, and I’ll do my best to do so along with Luna,” Rayne conceded with a serene smile. That faded as he decided to change the subject back to the previous one. “But back to what we spoke of before, have these rumors about Luna all been her father’s doing?”

Jekia’s expression turned more serious as he answered, “In a sense, yes, though he relied on the resentment some would feel against Luna and her position with you to make this scheme of his work.

“But let me start from the beginning. From what we were able to uncover, the rumors did originate from the matchmaking houses, just as we’d suspected; and, as I suspected, ground zero for it appears to be at Madame Lucille’s.”

“So she was putting on an act when I met her that day and she gave me her gift,” I said in realization. It was rather sobering, considering I’d felt flattered by her nice attention.

“Perhaps.” Rayne didn’t look convinced. “Or is this more the work of her mother, Madame Camille?”

“I’ll take it you’ve been doing some digging too,” Jekia noted.

“We can thank Hailia for mentioning it. She was telling Luna about it right before I found them talking the other night,” Rayne responded.

“You overheard more of that than you let on, didn’t you?” I guessed.

“I apologize for eavesdropping, but it did concern me at first that you just happened to run into her out there. It just seemed like too much of a coincidence for me at the time. But I feel satisfied with believing that now that I’ve been able to take an opportunity to speak to Hailia myself, and she did tell me the same thing about Madame Camille. I don’t believe that she thinks that because she may have framed her before either,” Rayne explained.

So, he had taken the time to speak to Hailia one on one. I couldn’t say I was that surprised.

Rayne probably did want to know more about her running into me that night and if she might’ve been involved in what happened.

“Neither do I. Hailia has been back in the Northern Lands for the last two centuries and has always kept quiet and to herself. Her last desire has never been for revenge against them, so I have little doubt that she feels she has much backup to hurl the accusation,” Jekia acknowledged.

“You know for certain that she was the one who framed her?” I asked him.

“I have no concrete proof, but I have suspected it for a long while. Hailia and I have also spoken several times over the years about it, but she insisted that it was better to leave it be, so I honored her wishes.”

“However, what’s been done to you has greatly bothered her, and she’s willing to do whatever needs to be done to help you,” Jekia explained.

“Makes sense. So, what’s the plan for this? Are we going to expose Camille for what she’s done?” Rayne asked him.

“That will be part of it, though I intend to leave the plans to you and Luna. We’ll use whatever you both feel is the right approach,” Jekia answered.

Rayne took a moment to think about it. “Whatever we feel is the right approach. That could be plenty of ways,” he muttered.

“True, but let us not forget the use of tact, Rayne. That tends to go over better with such things, and as much as I hate saying it, we have faced a bit of an uphill battle in some of this,” Jekia reminded him.

“That’s true. Even if most accept me, I’m sure there’s still some who don’t, and she’s only made it worse,” I acknowledged.

“I wonder…” Rayne was already getting an idea. “There is one way to get around some of that. Maybe we could stage a celebration similar to what we did for Rin and Aurora after what happened with the Golden Queen. It would allow us both to let the ones who come meet Luna in person and set things straight.”

Jekia nodded. “Yes, and it would be a convenient way to invite both Camille and Lucille here without it looking suspicious.”

“I understand. It wouldn’t be a good idea to make ourselves look like the bad guys in this, and I wouldn’t doubt that ones like Camille can turn the tables on us to do so if we’re not careful,” Rayne agreed.

“It is possible, at least when it comes to Luna and Aurora, and we shouldn’t take too many chances with it. Both are still quite new and haven’t had much time to prove themselves yet to those who still may have doubts,” Jekia acknowledged.

Rayne became a bit indignant. “It’s still ridiculous that there are some who wouldn’t accept our choices. They know that we’d never take the choice of a beta lightly.”

“Most do,” Jekia agreed. “But there will always be those who question things. Not all completely accept things as they are, and it’s to be expected in our world. There’s simply the need to continue proving them wrong.”

“It sounds as though you’ve encountered this quite a bit,” I noted.

“I expected it from the time I contended to become the ruler here, and I am aware that the other three had the same experiences. There will always be the ones who don’t accept you. You simply must prove these detractors wrong,” Jekia told me.

Those words stuck with me long after the conversation ended. We spent another hour in there with him, discussing how he would support Rayne and I in having a gathering at the palace to celebrate his union with me.

While it would serve as a way to bring Lucille and her mother out and possibly expose what they’d been doing, they also saw this as an opportunity to allow more to get to know me. This would help dispel the rumors completely, not to mention prove who was spreading them.

From what I understood, this was also done for Lana and Aurora after they’d come there, although Jekia confessed that the one for Lana was a bit later than it should’ve been. Rayne and Rin had been five years old at the time.

But both events had been successful in allowing others to get to know them better, and they were mostly accepted now, so he felt that this would be well worth it.

But I still wasn’t that certain and had to ask Rayne about it as the two of us walked the path back to the glen.

“Rayne, do you really think this is going to work to finally get them to accept me?”

Rayne stopped with me as I spoke, turning to face me. He was honest in his answer too.

“I can’t say. The others will do what they will do, and some never change their minds about things no matter how hard you try to get them to. But there’s no need to be concerned about them either. Most do accept you, and more will change their mind as they realize what’s been done.”

“I suppose it’s possible,” I breathed, looking at the ground with my hands clasped in front of me.

It was easy for Rayne to pick up on the root of my apprehension. “You’re concerned about your new horns too, aren’t you?”

“I cannot help it. I never expected to have these, and it makes me look more like the Fallen offspring than a Fae,” I reminded him.

“I don’t see it that way,” Rayne told me. I looked up as he lightly ran his hand over one of my horns. “There are plenty of creatures who have horns, and nothing has been said that we cannot find a way to reverse them. You weren’t born with them, so there’s always that chance.”

“I suppose I can accept that,” I reluctantly agreed.

Rayne chuckled slightly. “You are rather stubborn when it comes to your perception of self, aren’t you?”

I couldn’t stop myself from smiling too, the mood around us lightening slightly. “You should know that by now.”

“True,” Rayne pulled me into a gentle hug. “I’m so sorry too. I never should’ve said what I did, whether or not I was angry and tired. You’re more than a proper beta. You’re the only one I’ll ever want with me for the rest of my existence.”

I definitely wasn’t ready for that one, and it took a lot for me to squeak out a response. “You mean that? I’m not a burden to you?”

“You never have been, and I’m sorry I ever implied that. I know what I felt from the moment I looked into your eyes, and that will never change. We were meant to find each other and be together, and you were born to be mine.”

“I want to always be yours,” I responded, finally able to process things better as I hugged him back. “I won’t lose myself like that again either. I’ll always be your Luna.”

I intended to keep that promise. Perhaps it would even become the grounding to help me fight against what my father wished to do to me.

Whether or not it was, I did believe that Rayne was right. I was born to meet him. All those years of longing for an alpha had to be because I was waiting for him.

“I know you will.” Rayne pulled back and lightly kissed me. “Let us get home and try to rest now. We could both use it to pull ourselves completely together before we take our next steps.”

“Can we do a little more than just rest?” I requested.

Rayne returned my seductive smile. “I’d be more than happy to.”