Fake Heiress True Luna (Irina) novel Chapter 19

Chapter 19: A Friend Among Foes

Irina’s POV

The days following the council meeting passed in a tense, brittle blur. The Alpha’s Gathering was winding down, the air thick with the unspoken tension of Aiden’s very public and brutal rejection of Julie and, by extension, Blue Moon’s political standing.

The next meeting in three months would be held back in our pack, and there, all the Alphas

would decide whether to remain neutral friends or become enemies.

I hope what I did by saving the pups will be considered. I don’t want Blue Moon to get annihilated just because Julie was seen as weak.

I kept my head down, my movements automatic as I performed my duties. The bruises from my “lesson” in the kennels had faded to a sickly yellow-green, hidden beneath my long sleeves and high collar. Julie’s cold silence had returned, but it was different now. It was a seething, venomous quiet, a pot waiting to boil over.

I knew once we returned to our pack, that pot would explode and I would get burned.

And through it all, the rumors swirled.

I heard them in snippets, whispered by other maids as I passed, muttered by warriors on patrol.

“…carried her right through the gardens, like she was precious…”

“…never seen the Alpha like that. His eyes were wild, perhaps she slept with her…”

“…must be something special about that Omega, don’t you think? Why else would he…?”

“…she is just a fraud, I’m sure the Alpha just found her as an easy f**k…”

I ignored them. I had to.

Most people agreed on one thing. I was the one who seduced their lovely Alpha, and he reacted that way because we were having s*x.

Aiden still hasn’t rejected me, and I’m not sure if he will because tomorrow is our last day here. I should take the first step, but I’m scared that rejecting him might result in losing Theia

forever.

Whatever had driven him to save me that night was born of duty to the pups, not any care for me. I had to remind myself and Theia so she wouldn’t get her hopes up.

1/5

<Chapter 19: A Friend Among Foes

Claim

One night, exhausted and sore, I was finally in my sparse room, ready to collapse onto the thin cot and escape into oblivion for a few hours. A soft knock at the door made me freeze.

My heart stuttered. Was it them again? Had Julie decided my punishment wasn’t complete?

Cautiously, I approached the door. “Who is it?”

“It’s Cindy,” a familiar, gentle voice called back. “I… I brought some fruit. Thought you might like some company?”

Relief, so potent it made my knees weak, washed over me. I unlocked the door and opened it a crack. Cindy stood there, holding a small woven basket filled with apples, berries, and a few slices of melon. She offered a tentative smile.

“May I come in?”

I stepped back, wordlessly inviting her inside. She looked around the tiny, bleak room, her smile faltering for a moment before she recovered. She placed the basket on the rickety chair -the only piece of furniture besides the cot.

“I know it’s not much,” she said, her voice soft with apology. “But I thought… well, the Gathering is almost over. You’ll be going back soon. I wanted to thank you.”

I blinked, confused. “Thank me? For what?”

“For saving those pups,” she said, her eyes earnest. “My nephew was one of them: the little boy, Leo. My sister… she’s been a wreck since the attack. She wanted to thank you herself, but she’s too shy to approach you. I know we may not be on the same level because you received the education of an Alpha daughter, but I hope you accept our sincere thanks.”

“I’m not an Alpha’s daughter anymore. I’m even worse than a maid or an omega because I enjoyed everything meant for Miss Julie,” I clarified. “You have been the only kind soul who approached me, so please don’t talk badly about yourself.”

Cindy’s eyes softened. “That was not your fault. You were just a baby; if someone says otherwise, they are crazy.”

I wanted to chuckle at her statement, but the truth was… I knew I had enjoyed a life that didn’t

belong to me in the first place.

Does that mean that what they have done to me is right?

No, absolutely not, but… as I said, I have to pay them back and then I’ll leave.

“So, what do you say about our thank-you gift?” she said as she extended the fruit basket

once more.

215

< Chapter 19 A Friend Among Foes

“It was nothing, I murmured, looking away. “Anyone would have done the same.”

Claim

“No,” Cindy said firmly. “They wouldn’t have. Most would have run for the safe room. You ran t oward the danger. For pups that weren’t even from your pack.” She shook her head, a look of awe on her face. “That’s why the rumors are flying, you know. Because what you did… it was Luna-worthy. It’s got people thinking.”

My cheeks heated. “People should not think things that aren’t true. The Alpha made his reasons clear.”

“Did he?” Cindy asked, her head tilting. She lowered her voice conspiratorially. “Between you and me, Alpha Aiden isn’t one for grand gestures of… gratitude. He rewards loyalty, sure. But carrying someone himself? Calling the doctor and making sure he kept you alive? Bringing you into his room? That’s… not normal for him.”

A strange flutter erupted in my chest, which I ruthlessly squashed. “He was ensuring the safety of a valuable witness and preventing a diplomatic incident. He said so himself.”

Cindy gave me a look that was both pitying and exasperated. “If you say so.” She picked up an apple and polished it on her apron before handing it to me. “Here. Eat. You look like you haven’t had a decent meal in weeks.”

I took the apple. It was crisp and sweet, a stark contrast to the bland, functional food I usually subsisted on back at Blue Moon.

“You know,” Cindy said after a while, ‘it’s okay to be confused by him. Everyone is. He’s… complicated. He wasn’t always like this.”

I looked up, intrigued despite myself. “Like what?”

“So cold. So hard.” She sighed. “He was different before his father died. Still serious, still an Alpha through and through, but there was a… warmth there sometimes. It all changed after the chosen mate.”

My interest was piqued. Aiden had mentioned his father’s chosen mate in the council chamber, a mention that had seemed to carry immense weight for him. “What happened?”

“It was a disaster,” Cindy said, her voice dropping. “His father, Alpha Theron, was grief-stricken after his true mate died. The pack was unstable. The council pressured him to

take a chosen mate.

“Luna Sofia was from a neighboring pack. She was kind and gentle. She didn’t deserve what she got.”

“Which was?” I prompted, my apple forgotten in my hand.

3/5

< Chapter 19: A Friend Among Foes

Claim

“Total rejection,” Cindy said bluntly. “Not officially, but in every way that mattered. Alpha Theron could never see her as anything but a political tool. He was courteous in public, coldly indifferent in private. The pack followed his lead. She was never accepted, never loved. She lived here in a gilded cage, lonely and miserable, until she died a few years later. Aiden

watched it all.

“He was young, and she wasn’t his mother, but he still pitied her. He knew our Luna didn’t deserve that treatment, but she eventually snapped like all of us. She cheated on the Alpha, the man wanted her dead, and right after she was executed, he died. Aiden was left alone, he became the Alpha, and you know the rest.”

I hadn’t heard this story because it happened before I was born. I always wondered why Aiden didn’t come with his family to the meeting, and when I asked, I was told they died, nothing else.

Now I understand why he won’t take a chosen mate, but that doesn’t explain why he hates

me so much.

Cindy watched my face, seeing the dawning comprehension. “I’m not making excuses for him. We never understood why he hated you, Miss Irina.”

“Just call me Irina,” I said. The Miss was so foreign that I didn’t want it next to my name

anymore.

“Irina,” she tested the words. “I wish I could help you more. Why don’t you consider leaving

Blue Moon?”

I shook my head. “Don’t worry about me, Cindy. I can handle myself. Regarding Blue Moon… I will leave them, eventually.”

“I hope you do, and whenever you feel ready, I’m here to hear you out and lash about my Alpha,” she teased, and I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Thank you, Cindy. It was nice meeting you.”

“You too, Irina. And just so you know, everyone is questioning whether Alpha Aiden truly hated you.”

Before I could process that, a sharp, authoritative knock echoed through the room-not like Cindy’s soft tap. This was demanding. Impatient.

My blood ran cold. Julie. Or her minions.

I had to get Cindy out of here; I didn’t want her to get caught in the crossfire.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify