Kidnapped and Rejected The Return of Alpha’s Luna (Janet and Daran) novel Chapter 98

Chapter 98
Harper clamped her mouth shut to stifle a scream.
Veronica’s dead body was lying on the ground, right in front of her eyes. Blood was pooling. Harper stepped back urgently to avoid her shoes being tainted.
And she was shaking violently in fear. It took her almost a minute to utter, “Y-You killed her…”
“Yeah so?”
Lance shrugged. He took a towel that Layla just handed him and wiped Veronica’s blood on it.
Neither of them seemed to find this a big deal. They reacted as though Lance just killed a fly and not a human being.
Lance turned around to look at Harper and smiled, “Don’t tell me that this is the first time that you ever see a dead body.”
“I…I saw dead bodies on the battlefield before… But never this close…” Harper stuttered.
“Well then, you must be one lucky little princess.” Lance chuckled, “But if you want to be
my mate, as the Rogue Queen, you have to get used to this kind of thing fast.”
The Rogue Queen.
Harper was dazzled by that title.
She was going to be Queen one day…And how awesome was that!
Her fear at heart was quickly replaced by excitement and thrill.
“You are right. I over-reacted.” Harper took a deep breath and said, “Sorry. It won’t happen again.”
“There is my girl.”
Lance applauded her with a smile.
“You handled this very neatly. So, is there anything else that you want to tell me?”
“Yeah, there is one more thing.” Harper said, “Today I overheard Janet asking Angelina about the Great Canyon and if they can access it without the rogues. noticing. So do you think they will-”
“-try to sneak in there? Yes, they definitely will. Daran is desperate to find out more about me. Sneaking into my kingdom is the exact thing he will do.’
Lance paced back and forth in the room with his eyes blazing with crazy enthusiasm. “And this is great…you know? Having them there in my territory…It works out perfectly. Isn’t this great, Layla?”
Layla bowed humbly, “It is great, my King.”
Harper didn’t understand why they were both so excited. From her perspective, the alliance was already at the front door of Lance’s headquarters. It would only be days before the alliance took down the Grace Ruin.
So Lance should be anxious right now, not happy.
“I don’t understand. Why is this great again? You already lost the Crimson Fortress to Daran. If he attacked the Great Canyon-”
“No. He won’t attack the Great Canyon.”
Lance shook his head with a mysterious smile.
“The alliance has just been through a brutal war. Daran is too nice an Alpha to force his soldiers to go to another war soon. The thing that he most likely will do is to sneak into the Great Canyon himself with Janet and try to dig out more dirt about me.”
Lance spread his arms and laughed, “We can’t compete with Daran on the battlefield. But we can-and WE WILL-overpower him in my territory.”
Harper nodded hastily.
Now she was excited as well.
She couldn’t wait for the day when Daran was overpowered when he was brought down onto his knees and begged for her and Lance’s mercy.
A chill of excitement was sent through her whole body just picturing that.
“So what now? We will just wait for them to go to the Great Canyon?” Harper asked eagerly. “And what about Veronica’s body? We have to bury it.”
“We never wait for anything. We MAKE that happen,” Lance smiled.
Harper wanted to ask more.
Yet Lance waved his hands at her dismissively.
“You should go. You are gone for too long already. Let me worry about Veronica’s body.”
“But-”
“GO.”
Lances strengthened, in a final sort of way.
“Make yourself seen. You will need an alibi for what happens next.”
Janet and Angelina spent the entire day in the shelter checking on those injured soldiers and civilians.
When it was almost dusk, Harper came over to the shelter to help them out.
“Where is Veronica?” Janet asked when she saw Harper come by herself.
“She was still in the office doing the bookkeeping work,” Harper replied with a sweet smile. “She is a bit slow with the math. So she asked me to give her some time alone. to finish the rest of the work.”
“Has she been helpful? Do you like having her around?” Angelina asked.
“Oh yes. Very helpful. And I like her a lot!” Harper nodded. “She told me how hard it was to live with the rogues. Poor girl, she has been through a lot. I am really glad that she is starting a new life right now.”
Janet and Angelina exchanged a look of delight.
Both of them were pleased to see Harper make new friends.
“That is wonderful,” Janet softened her tone and said to Harper. “Veronica was on the wrong path, and she made some mistakes. But she corrected it in time, just like you. I am happy to see you two connect to each other.”
“A new life, a new chapter, for the both of you,” Angelina added.
Harper smiled sheepishly.
“Thank you so much for your nice words,” she said. “In fact, I have a little suggestion. Why don’t we throw a party and celebrate everything? We did just win a battle. And everyone is recovering. I think we deserve a night to have some fun.”
“It is actually not a bad idea,” Janet pondered. “We were so caught up in everything that we never really had time to celebrate our triumph.”
Angelina agreed, “And Alpha Daran will be back soon. He can join the party later on.”
“Great. It is settled then. Let’s have the party in the City Hall. I think they have a large enough banquet hall to fit all of us. I will let everyone know. Angelina, can you and Harper prepare the food?”
“Sure thing!”
Janet went outside to call everyone about the party. Harper followed her and said, “Janet, congratulations.”
Janet was bemused, “What for?”
“I heard someone talking about it…They said that Alpha Daran wants you back as his
Luna. I am so happy for you,” Harper smiled.
Janet felt a bit awkward. Daran’s proposal was supposed to be a secret. She didn’t know how Harper found out about this, probably from Jared, or one of the Gammas.
“I…haven’t made up my mind about it yet.” Janet paused, “But it is nice to hear you say that…especially given our history.”
“Oh, you meant my old crush on Daran? Please, it is ancient history already. I don’t have any feelings for him anymore.”
“You will find the love of your life one day, Harper. And I bet he is just as great as Daran.”
“Oh, I certainly will. And I know that I will be so happy with him…So much happier than when I was with Daran.”
There was something weird about Harper’s tone. But Janet couldn’t quite put a finger on it.
Harper gave Janet a meaningful smile and waved her goodbye, “I need to help Angelina with the food. See you at the party, Janet!”
Janet made a few calls to let everyone know that there was going to be a party at the City Hall. Then she joined Angelina and Harper in the kitchen. Together, they made stews, grilled ribs, stakes, and pies. It would be a feast.
When they brought all the prepared foods to the City Hall, there was already a crowd
gathered outside.
All the Gammas, soldiers, Balvina, Kass, Glen…Everyone was here.
1 Clan arkead as soon as Tapet arrived.
“Hey, where is Veronica? I didn’t see her,” Glen asked as soon as Janet arrived.
“Harper said that she was still in the market’s office. Don’t worry. I will go and get her later myself.”
“Let’s set the food in the dining hall first. And I will go with you,” Angelina said.
They entered the City Hall together as one large group. When they reached the dining hall, Harper stepped up and pushed the door open.
The dining hall was spacious, and its decoration was exquisite. Towering, vaulted ceilings adorned with chandeliers cast a warm, ambient glow over one large oak table.
It wouldn’t be hard to imagine how hectic this place used to be before the war.
Harper was the first to step into this room.
She suddenly let out a sharp cry the next second. Staggering back, her back bumped with Janet.
“What happened?” Janet asked with a frown.
She followed Harper’s horrified gaze and saw what Harper was staring at.
There was a dead body lying on that oak table.
It was Veronica, with her chest ripped apart and her eyes wide open even after death. And there was something written on the linen tablecloth, in Veronica’s blood:
A gift from the Rogue King.