From Betrayed Luna to Wolf Queen (Lillian) novel Chapter 7

Lillian's POV:

It wasn't until the sound of their footsteps had completely faded down the hall that Chloe finally let out a breath. "What was she doing here? Does that woman have no sense of shame?

"And her face... you did that?"

I glanced at my own stinging, reddened palm. "She came looking for a scene. I decided to give her a memorable one."

Chloe's expression grew more troubled. "Her mother... That woman is a tyrant. If she finds out you laid a hand on her precious daughter, she'll come after you."

I picked up the water glass from the bedside table and took several long swallows. A deep, throbbing ache had reignited low in my abdomen. The physical toll of the psychic severance was more brutal than I'd anticipated.

Chloe noticed my pallor. "What is it? Are you in pain?"

"Just a cramp. It's nothing."

"Nothing? The doctor said you need to keep your emotions stable to heal! What were you thinking, getting into it with her? You're only punishing your own body!" Chloe scolded, even as she reached for the nurse call button.

The doctor arrived promptly. After a brief examination, he reiterated that while there was no new crisis, maintaining emotional calm was non-negotiable for my recovery.

Once he left, Chloe sank onto the edge of my bed, looking as if she were wrestling with how to phrase something.

"Let me guess," I said, my voice flat. "The gossip in Gilneas has escalated. Now they're saying Julian is going to make an honest woman of Iris and claim the pups as his own."

Those rumors had started as a whisper in the second month after Ethan's death, around the time Iris began appearing consistently at Julian's side at every pack function and territory meeting.

Chloe sighed, her shoulders slumping. "It's worse than that. Some are even whispering... that Ethan's death wasn't an accident. That he was... removed... to clear the path.

"That they've been involved for years, and the pups... are Julian's all along."

I closed my eyes. Such rumors were a lethal poison to a pack's reputation, yet the Graves family seemed utterly unconcerned. Or perhaps, they considered the alliance with the powerful Hayes Pack, standing firmly behind Iris, to be worth the cost.

Chloe squeezed my hand. "Lillian, I know you're furious. But please, don't act rashly. Iris' mother is unhinged. You marked her daughter's face. Margaret will retaliate."

I opened my eyes, a glacial calm settling within them. "Good. I'm counting on her not letting it go. I have no intention of dropping this either."

Hearing the finality in my tone, Chloe's worry spiked. "Lillian, what are you—"

"Weren't you going to get my things from the apartment? You should go," I said, gently cutting her off.

"But you'll be alone here..."

"I'll be fine."

Chloe hesitated, conflict clear on her face, but finally nodded and left the room.

The moment the door clicked shut, silence descended, heavy and complete.

I picked up my phone and scrolled to a number I had saved but never dared to use. My thumb hovered for a second before I pressed call.

It was answered on the second ring.

A deep, calm, and inherently gentle male voice came through. "Lillian?"

That voice alone brought a fleeting sense of warmth to the cold, hollow space behind my ribs.

"Edmund," I said, my own voice quieter than I intended. "I'm in the hospital."

Third-Person POV:

Julian had just returned Iris to her private ward.

Eleanor arrived moments later, carrying an insulated flask. She had brought a nourishing, herbal broth prepared at Graves Estate—a concoction of rare ingredients meant to accelerate the healing of a she-wolf's surgical wounds and replenish depleted psychic energy.

Eleanor swept in, her smile warm and voice sweet. "Iris, darling, the apothecary started this at first light..."

Her sentence died abruptly.

She had caught sight of the vivid, angry marks marring Iris' pale cheeks.

Setting the flask down with a clatter, she hurried over, her hands rising to cradle Iris' face gently. "By the Moon... what happened to you? These are..."

The stark imprints of fingers were unmistakable against Iris' skin.

Iris covered her cheek with a trembling hand, sniffled pitifully, and cast a hesitant, wounded glance toward Julian before looking down.

That single, silent look was all the answer Eleanor needed.

She straightened, whirling on Julian with fury in her eyes. "It was Lillian, wasn't it?

"Has she lost all sense of decency? Iris just underwent major surgery! She's vulnerable! How dare that little viper strike her?"

Eleanor, whose disdain for Lillian was a long-standing flame, was so incensed her own suppressed Luna aura flickered at the edges.

Lillian's POV:

Upon learning I was a patient in the same hospital, Eleanor descended upon my room not long after.

She entered just as I was concluding my phone call.

"Yes, no settlement offers. Proceed directly with filing the lawsuit." My voice was cool and clear.

Seeing Eleanor stride in, I ended the call, my expression not shifting an inch.

"On the phone with your divorce lawyer, I see? Finally come to your senses about leaving my son?" The anticipation in her tone was poorly disguised.

She assumed it was a divorce attorney. In her eyes, still sharp with the authority of a former Luna, a gleam of satisfaction appeared. She had prayed for years for the day I, the orphan Omega, would remove myself from her son's life and the Graves Pack's hierarchy.

I met her gaze with icy detachment, offering no clarification.

Eleanor snorted and dragged a visitor's chair closer, sitting without an invitation. "Severing the bond is the wisest thing you could do. But you'll leave exactly as you came. You brought nothing to this pack, and you'll take nothing from it."

She stated it as immutable fact, embodying the controlling, resource-hoarding instinct of a high-ranking pack matriarch.

A mocking smile touched my lips. "So eager for me to step aside? Anxious to clear the Luna's title for your preferred candidate?"

Eleanor looked as if she'd been slapped. "You—!"

"Of course," I continued, cutting her off. "Right now, all of Gilneas sees Julian playing devoted protector to his brother's widow. No one remembers he has a bonded mate. With this... inconvenient Omega out of the picture, the path clears nicely, doesn't it?"

Hearing the acid in my words, Eleanor didn't even bother to deny it. Instead, she nodded, her tone dripping with a favoritism she never hid. "Yes, Iris is superior to you in every conceivable way! She comes from a powerful, respectable pack. She understands tradition and carries herself with grace. Look at you—a nobody from an orphanage, with the manners of a feral creature!"

I knew the source of her heightened fury. Those handprints on Iris' face, especially on the new mother of the Graves Pack's heirs... If Margaret caught wind of it, the fallout would be severe.

"I don't care what arrangements you and Julian make next," Eleanor stated sharply, every ounce of her former authority settling over her like a mantle. "But this matter of you striking Iris—you will apologize to her. Now. A full, public apology."

The word "apologize" seemed to drain all remaining warmth from the room, deepening the chill in my eyes.

Eleanor shifted slightly under my stare but quickly hardened her expression again. "What is that look? Let me be clear—if you apologize properly, when Margaret returns from the Western Continent, I may even put in a word to temper her anger. If you refuse to see reason... not even Julian, as Alpha, may be able to shield you from her wrath."

As if I needed or wanted his protection.

A derisive sound, full of contempt, escaped me. "Do you have any idea who I was just speaking to on the phone?"