Secret

After Nora left for the hostel, a strange feeling of unease began to take root in Frederick's mind, as he started fearing that his secret would be out, any time from now!

It was not like he did not have any back ups for the eventuality that the particular situation arose, but if everything was to go according to him, he did not wish to let it out so soon. And any outcome other than things going his way was unacceptable to him; therefore, he needed to do something really quick. At the very least, he had to convince the board that she deserved to live only in one of the Alpha palaces, and the place allotted to her was quite inappropriate for her day- to- day. 

And now that she had been assigned a time period of one month for staying in the school premises, he either needed someone to make this sacrifice on her behalf, or he would convince the board for the things he wanted and concede on none of the points.

He had just turned towards his car, busy in his own thoughts, when he heard the voice of Francisco, who was coming towards him after disembarking from his own car. 

But before he could have reached him or said anything beyond 'Hello', Carl Holland, the Alpha of the Orion pack had appeared there, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Seems like a pleasant morning, Frederick. As it stands, I am here to talk to you ab-"

Before he could have proceeded, the pattern of successive interruptions continued when Ryan, who was accompanying his father, nudged his elbow to express his wish and rectify his previous statement.

"About Nora, dad!"

"Of course, I am here to talk to you regarding Nora. Believe you me, I am also disheartened after knowing that she is going to live in the dorms. I also know the reason that you were quiet at the meeting yesterday, but I personally believe that it has been quite a long time. You don't have to feel guilty when it comes to Romera anymore, especially after so many years have passed. It was not your fault in the first place, that her parents died in saving you. They were the omegas of your pack; it was their duty to save you!"

"Oh, Carl. I wasn't aware that you were also going to be here, or else I definitely wouldn't have picked this time to meet Frederick." 

Francisco spoke, interrupting Carl's impassioned speech. He already had two reasons to stop this conversation from continuing, the first one being his long standing dislike of the man whose cunningness was as natural to him as breathing. And secondly, he knew that the reason Frederick never spoke against Romera was just a show of respect and nothing else - it had not only been her parents, but she had also been there to save him.

He pulled the plug on this conversation, hoping that the literal as well as implied meaning of his words together with his body language would succeed in their jobs perfectly well, leading to Ryan and his father leaving the scene without saying anything beyond this. However, this illusion of his broke the moment he heard Ryan's voice piping up with unshakeable optimism, or perhaps it was pure stubbornness driving him forward.

"It's okay, uncle. In fact, I guess we are on the wrong time. But if you two don't mind, why don't we go to my Palace and talk while having something nice as well?"

"Why not, let's go. I also want to see, after all, what you and your father wish to say to me, regarding my daughter."

And before Francisco could have said anything to rid them of the unwelcome interruption, he heard Frederick concede to Ryan's proposal.

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Romera saw Nora rush past her from the corner of her eye, and by the time she could turn and say something to her, she saw Nora hugging Valerie. A jolt of electricity ran down her spine at the sight unfolding in front of her, together with its multiple implications. No matter how the werewolves used to behave outside this territory and what were the power dynamics going on in there, she knew that there was a huge difference that existed between the classes. The exceptions to these rules, especially one involving an Alpha who was a claimant for the throne hugging a random beta of a rival pack, was going to become a sensational piece of gossip within seconds- which, in some ways, was much worse than a forest fire.

But the worst part was that this was not even the main concern in Romera's mind at that moment. She knew that it didn't matter what was going to happen regarding this scandal, the most important catch was that the matter would be handled by Frederick himself. Not only did he have plenty of concerns about the reputation of his daughter, she also had a complete list of deeds done by him, that could quite literally drag him from his throne. This was the reality that had made him seal his mouth in front of her, who was the only living proof of that fake attack in which she had lost her parents. She had promised to keep her mouth shut till she did not see any injustice happening at his hands, and to ensure that the matter stayed under wraps, he would be doing whatever she wished.

But before she could have completed the list of demands she had for him, she heard Valerie's shocked and confused voice coming out in the form of a stuttered statement.

"Alpha, i- is there anything wrong? Is there something I have done… ?"

At these words, Nora took a step back, still holding her arms as she shook her head at the question and continued ;

"Oh no! You haven't done anything wrong, Valerie. It's just… it's just that I am so happy to see you here! But why are you packing up?"

Nora had answered Valerie's question and placed her own, all in the time it took for Romera to process everything that was going on.

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"Enmity is not merely the emotion which leads us to the darkest corners that are known to exist in the universe, it is also the root of half of the problems existing within humankind. Werewolves had seemed to have stayed above them for a very long period of time, but the human factors running in our blood also bind us to those lowly human emotions, and we tend to fight amongst our own kind. Now, I want to end this fight, at least from your end!"

Carl spoke, lifting the cup of tea placed in front of him and waving it animatedly while making eye contact with Frederick, who was glaring at him with questions in his eyes regarding the conversation the three of them had meant to start. After Alpha Holland had finished his long monologue after a rather vague rendition of his wish, the Riverine Alpha finally opened his mouth in reply, scrunching his forehead in confusion.

"I don't understand what exactly you want from me… or should I say, from my daughter -"

"Look Frederick, I know you and Fransisco are planning and wishing for the eventuality that Nora chooses Louis as her mate. It was one of the prophecies that if any of the Alphas of the four packs has a daughter, then her mate shall definitely be one from the offsprings of the remaining three Alphas.

But we don't know specifically who it is going to be yet, apart from the fact that it can't be either of the Matthews, because of the twisted truth of their bloodline! So, I just have a tiny and fruitful offer for both of you."

Carl sipped his tea after throwing a smile at Frederick, as he looked at Francisco with raised eyebrows as if to make a spectacle of what he had done, knowing that he had almost locked the deal without even spilling the real details of the deal - and all just by mentioning the Matthews! Because if there was one thing that was common to all three people sitting at the same table, then it was the hate for the Matthew family and the enmity they had been carrying around for generations. And this time, he wanted to play the game to win against the poison by making use of the poison itself!

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"Nora! You seem to know Valerie, and you are still hugging her? Please step aside and never mention her name, let alone the fact that you know her and hugged her in your enthusiasm. Nothing will happen to you even if you choose to disregard this warning, but she will definitely end up in great trouble. Nobody is going to say anything to you due to the power dynamics that prevail here, but she hails from a lower rank apart from being associated with the pack rival to yours -"

"Do you really believe in this petty pack rivalry, along with the overbearing power dynamics, Romera? I would never have assumed that among all of the people present here, I will be hearing this from you!"

Nora interrupted Romera while she was trying to explain the consequences, unable to hold herself back after she heard her views on the simple act of her hugging Valerie. She only had the patience to restrain herself from telling the girl in front of her that she has already considered her as her own family by placing her at the place of her sister-in-law after Myron had shown his interest in her, and not an iota of patience beyond that! But the things that Romera had just mentioned were enough for her to give her the flashback of the day she had first seen Myron, and how badly he had been treated by the guards due to her having called him 'brother'.

Before she could have gotten the chance to demand an explanation from Romera, she herself was interrupted by Valerie's voice, who had started to speak while addressing her.

"Alpha, I can understand that you are kind, and hence, different from the other Alphas currently fighting for the throne. But still, we can't change the reality that you are allowed to rule us, give commands to us, even abuse that power to bully us and what not; the only thing you all are forbidden from doing is showing your affection towards us. So no matter what your feelings towards me are, I request you to please keep them to yourself and only yourself. I am not interested in any of them, and I am sorry once again if my words have offended you, but they are the only truth in this situation. And I, Valerie James, am a sole believer and supporter of the truth."

After seeing this outspoken display of courage from Valerie, Romera wanted to stop her at the very beginning of her speech, but she paused at that point after thinking that she was probably going to express her gratitude- even though her pitch was taking the expression of gratitude to a little ruder tangent. She had chalked up the rudeness to her being tired due to shifting, but when she heard what she was really saying, she wanted to stop her. Instead, she herself was stopped by Nora silently as she grabbed her wrist and stopped her from moving forward.

Hence when she didn't get any chance to stop her, all she knew that was left as an option to her, were the prayers to Moon Goddess and hoping for a miracle. But neither of those happened before Valerie jad finished her statement, and she saw Nora opening her mouth to speak, when they all heard a new voice, as it echoed from behind them ;

"So! All packed up? Ready to go, Vale?!"

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