Samantha led me back into my room afterwards.

Both Sylvester and Christopher had volunteered but I didn't want them starting a war over me. Not this night anyway. So I told them I'd rather Samantha led me back since I had a lot to discuss with her.

I had wanted to talk to Samantha about her husband but immediately I got in and she helped me take off my dress, giving me my pills and a glass of water with which I swallowed them, I fell flat on my bed and slept.

I woke in the early hours of the morning, and found that Samantha was lying on the couch. I sprang to my feet but had to lye back again, holding my head. I had a headache and the sudden movement had made me feel it keenly for a moment.

'What is it?' Samantha asked, coming to the bed to hold me and feel my temperature. I did not know she had woken. My sudden movement must have alerted her to my wakefulness. She had always been a light sleeper.

'Nothing. Just a slight pain in the head brought on by my sudden movement!' I explained.

'You should take it easy. You were not supposed to have stayed at the party that late but I saw that you were enjoying yourself very much and did not want to interrupt you, especially when you had the attention of the two most powerful men in the whole of MoonVille and its environs of course', she smiled.

I sighed and lay back down. 'I must have been very exhausted', I stated. 'I was surprised just now when I woke and saw that it's already morning. I should not disturb you. You should go back to sleep'.

'I am used to keeping awake, you go ahead back to sleep, you need your rest', she advised.

I do not know if it was the tone of her voice or my intuition but I read something in her words that made me ask. 'Samantha, is everything okay?'

'Why wouldn't it be?' she asked smiling but there a slight tremor in her voice.

'Come lie with me on the bed', I said.

'No, Millicent. I couldn't. It would be disrespectful of me. You are the future Luna afterall', she said.

'I am your friend first of all and you mean alot to me', I said feelingly. 'How could you even have waited for me to offer before you slept in the bed with me?'

'I have my own room which Alpha Sylvester asked the maid to make up for me but I wanted to stay with you tonight to ensure you are okay', she said. 'Now that I am sure that you are, I shall go ahead and go back to my room. It is already morning, anyway. Call if you need anything', she concluded, rising from her sitting position at the edge of my bed.

I drew her back. 'Samantha, my position does not change the fact that we are friends. Are you angry with me because of it?' I asked, not comprehending her behaviour.

'No. I am not. I could never be. You deserve it, after all you've been through', she said, nipping my cheek fondly.

'Then stay with me because I need to speak to you', I said gravely.

'About what? Are you okay?' she was all concern.

I raised myself to a sitting position.

'Oh, no, you should lie down', she said, trying to push me back into the bed but I refused, pushing her hand away gently. 'I'm okay, Samantha, really '.

'Alright then, what do you want to talk about?' she asked.

'Since you came here, I have been so absorbed in myself that I have not asked about you!' I started.'I want to know about your life, your husband'.

A sudden clouding of her features, caused me alarm. 'What is it, Samantha?'

'My mate and husband is no more!' she said simply, looking down on her hands, but I could hear the pain and grief in her voice.

'Oh, I'm sorry. What happened?' I asked, shifting close to her and holding her hands.. Then, I modified the question. 'Was he ill or was it during an attack on your pack?'

'He suddenly fell ill', Samantha said with a far away look in her eyes. 'The medical practitioners said it was a genetic disease but if well managed, he was going to live as long as anyone else. That gave us hope and I was determined to do my best to ensure that he lived long and enjoyed his days as well', she said and sniffed.

I squeezed her hands. I knew how hard this was for her but she needed to let it out so that her heart could feel lighter. No one knew better than I the burden and heartache of keeping it all bottled up inside.

'But Fredrick felt he was no longer useful', her voice broke and she started sobbing quietly.

'No longer useful?' I prompted .

'I'm not sure but he felt that he was not as strong as other males and started drinking heavily to drown his pain and the complex he had adopted. I told him he was all the male I needed and that I was lucky to have him. He would smile and we would mate. During which I made sure, each experience was an unforgettable one but he still would not stop drinking and continued deteriorating till one day, he didn't wake from his sleep'.

'Oh, my God', I said, tears stinging my eyes. 'I know how devastating that can be'.

'You know, he probably knew he was going to die because he made sure he mated with me in a way he had never done before. He kept looking at me affectionately and touching my cheek, telling me he was the lucky one between us. We mated thrice and they were all fierce and I thought afterwards that it was as though he was trying to leave his imprint in me and at the same time wish me farewell!' she sobbed harder.

'I never knew you were passing through such trying times and I wondered why you didn't wish to come see me. So inconsiderate of me!'

'You could not have known but I just didn't want to leave him for any long period of time, though he insisted that I lived my life as normal. I knew if I visited, I might need t want to stay for a short period and I couldn't ask you to come visit me. He didn't want people seeing him in that state'.

'That's the reason then, because of you had asked me, I would definitely have come running to you. You did the same for me', I said, smiling at her and squeezing her hands comfortingly.

'He never liked to see me crying and I tried not to when his death was confirmed but couldn't. I felt heartbroken and so alone. I felt that there must be something I hadn't done right because if I had been the perfect wife to him, he probably would have lived'.

Since he hated to see me cry, I asked his corpse why he had ended up making me cry when he didn't like me doing it'.

'He didn't want to be a burden to you. You said it yourself that he wanted you to live your life!' I consoled her.

'He could never be a burden. I loved him for goodness sake', she exclaimed in pain. 'I consoled myself that I might be pregnant with his pup, hoping our last night together had at least produced that, a male or female to remind me of the wonderful mate and husband that he was, a symbol of our mate bond, a pup or pups that would compensate me for my loss but even that was denied me because when I checked, that tiny hope was dashed!'

'Have you thought of the fact that it might be a good thing that you are not pregnant with his pup?'

'How could it possibly be a good thing?' she asked hurt that I could even think that. 'How could having something that he and I produced, something from him, a souvenir from him, be bad?'

'You said yourself that the disease that killed him was genetic. What if it got passed on to his pup?', I asked reasonably. 'Would you be prepared to feel the same pain again, bear to experience that type of loss again?'

She kept quiet staring at me and I knew she had not thought about that. 'So maybe the goddess spared you that pain and will give you another chance at happiness, that I believe'.

Samantha's whimpering reduced till it stopped totally.

'You are really incredible, do you know that?' I asked, filled with genuine admiration for her

'How so?' she asked wiping her eyes, and sneezing into the handkerchief I pulled from my bed drawer and gave to her.

'You were suffering such pain and you gave nobody any indication of what you had been through? You went about smiling and trying to make me feel happy and well', I said.

'But you are also, incredible', she said smiling at me tremulously. 'You endured what you did from a very young age, and didn't even let on'.

'I have apologised, Samantha', I said, sorrowfully.

'I'm not complaining. Far from it! I'm just stating a fact', she said

'Which is?' I asked, sceptically.

'That we're one of a kind. We are brave and woe betide anyone who messes with us!' she said, with an attempt at a joke and we both burst out laughing, hugging and crying all at the same time.

'Okay, enough about me and sad tales', she said wiping her eyes again. 'You have really come a long way from princess to maid and now to Luna'.

'I am not the Luna yet', I protested.

'But you will!' she insisted. 'You have a problem of choice here as I see it. For how long will you keep the both of them fighting over you?' she joked.

'You know that's not it. I would choose Alpha Christopher in an instant but there are alot of things involved.', I said, not knowing to put my feelings into words.

'What things are you talking about?' she asked narrowing her eyes at me. 'Don't tell me you're in love with both of them?'

'Has it not been known to happen?' I asked seriously.

'What?'

'I was pulling your leg. Seriously, I do not feel for Alpha Sylvester what I feel for Alpha Christopher. They look so alike but they are very different!' I said.

'Then it should be easy to make your choice and tell them about it!'

'The council of elders said one of the mates would have to die for the other to live with me and that is why I am hesitant'.

'You must love Sylvester', she said.

'Why do you say that?' I asked amused.

'You claim you want vengeance on Alpha Sylvester and you discover an easy way to make him pay and yet you hesitate!'

'I know if I announced that my choice was Christopher, based on their beliefs, Sylvester would die but I do not want to get my vengeance that way. He has wronged me so much in the past but I do not want to kill him in cold blood!' I do not know if I want to kill him at all. I want to teach him an unforgettable lesson, what lesson, I do not know yet but I surely will', I said and paused for a while. 'Also, I keep having this feeling that I might choose Alpha Christopher and it is he instead of Alpha Sylvester that dies!'

'How can that be? Are you afraid Alpha Sylvester would kill his own brother to be with you?' she asked.

'I am not saying that but fate can be very funny and yes, I wouldn't put it pass Sylvester to do that. Not because of any special feelings he has for me but for his ego!' I said.

'You have decided not to believe that Alpha Sylvester has feelings for you and nothing I say will make you believe', she said resignedly. 'I know that your eyes will soon be opened to the truth of my words'.

'If I didn't know better, I'd say you were in love with Alpha Sylvester', I said, laughing at the incredulous idea.

Samantha was quiet for a while.

'Are you in love with Alpha Sylvester?' I asked, not wanting to believe what her silence was indicating.

She suddenly started laughing. She laughed long and hard and I kept looking at her incredulously. What was so funny?

'Oh, Millicent', she said wiping tears from her eyes, and trying to stop laughing. 'I am a broken bereaved woman and you think I already fell in love with your Alpha?' she asked.

'I do not know what to think', I said.

'Would you be jealous if I were?' she asked suddenly.

'That's a rhetorical question. You're not in love with him and that is that. No need to ask if I'd be jealous when you know I won't be!' I said.

'Ate you sure?'

'I don't have such feelings for him!' I said.

'You know, when we were here, before I met my mate, I had a crush on him, much like almost all the girls, except for you of course', she said. 'And it was the one lady who hated his guts, that he got mated to. Irony of fate! And now, he has fallen in love with that same lady'.

'You are incorrigible', I laughed at her persistence. 'Okay, you'll believe what you will and I'll believe what I will'.

'Will your feelings for him change if he were indeed in love with you?' she asked and I was not sure I liked the question.

'What do you mean?' I asked frowning.

'Will you start liking him at least if his feelings of love for you turns out to be sincere?'

'No!' I said strongly. 'And Samantha, could we drop this topic?'. I felt uneasy and did not know why.

A knock on the door interrupted us.

'Who is it?' I asked, a little harshly.

'Breakfast is served, my Luna - to - be', a maid poked her head in and announced.

'Thank you', I said more gently. There was no need to take out my anger and frustration on her. 'We shall soon be down.

'The Alphas said, they would not start until you joined them', she said.

'We'll be there in no time', I assured the maid, smiling at her, to take the sting from any stinging response I may have given her.

'Time to get out of bed', Samantha said as soon as the maid was gone.

I heaved myself out of bed and we went into the bathroom to clean up quickly, and descended the stairs to have our breakfast.

Alpha Sylvester informed us, a couple of days later, that he had it on good authority that Cathania was coming to visit and that he was going to get the confession from her if she was indeed responsible for poisoning me. We were to stay in another room. A bug and a camera were planted in the room where Alpha Sylvester would be with her and we would hear everything she said, and see all her reaction.

She breezed in, in her normal Lady - of - the - manor, manner and we gathered in the large room we had prepared for this occasion. Alpha Christopher was there with us as well.

'Alpha, you are a marvel. You have not been in contact with the woman you are supposedly engaged with!' she said without preamble when she saw Alpha Sylvester.

'Did I invite you?' Alpha Sylvester asked.

'Do I need any invitation before I can visit you?' Cathania asked, sounding furious. 'I have spent my years loving you, waiting for the day you'll make me your Luna, and you ask me why I have visited you without being invited?'

'Cathania, why did you do it?' he asked, looking piercingly into her eyes, as though she had not spoken.

'Do what?' she asked, and I sensed fear in her voice though I could not be sure. 'You mean visit you without invitation? Do I really need an invitation to visit my fiance?'

'Don't play dumb with me, Cathania. We already know you poisoned Millicent with wolfsbane', Alpha Sylvester said in a very deceptively quiet voice.

'If others suspect me, Sylvester, of such a thing, would you not stand by me, knowing that I couldn't do that?' she asked looking pained. 'Where is Millicent anyway?'

'Cathania, we are alone here and I want to hear it from your mouth so that I can help you the best way I can', Sylvester said, still looking at Cathania in a disquieting manner. 'but if you insist on lying about it, you know there are ways of finding out the truth and making you confess to your crime, and by that time, I will not be able to help you!'

Cathania was quiet for a while and we all though she was not going to respond to it, you know, take the bait.

'Sylvester, I did it! Cathania said furiously and we all exhaled. 'Do you blame me?', she continued. ' I have loved you all my life and you choose to side with a maid whose father murdered your parents, over me? What have I ever done to wrong you? Even now, I was doing it for you. I was doing your work. Something you should have done long ago', she was becoming hysterical. 'I do not know why you did not kill her when you murdered her parents!'. Christopher caught my hands in his, squeezing and his warmth gave me strength.

'When she was supposed to be serving you, you kept ignoring her rebellious attitude', she added. 'and even when you exiled her, you could not bear to be away from her, so, you went and got her back, hiding behind your discussion with the council of elders.

'Cathania, you were saying, you did it for me? What - exactly, did you do for me?' Sylvester asked

'I tried to kill Millicent with wolfsbane, for you, for us, so we could finally be together like we were meant to be', Cathania said. 'But the girl must be a cat with nine lives or a witch and she has refused to die'.

'When did you turn so vengeful and bitter?' Alpha Sylvester asked, shaking his head sadly.

'Since you started ignoring me for your new pet!' she said, laughing hysterically. 'And look who's talking about being vengeful. Were you not vengeful when you murmured her parents and destroyed her pack? Were you not vengeful when you maltreated her when she was a maid here? Are you being hypocritical on me now?'

'I regret all I did against her', Alpha Sylvester said. 'but it's no concern of yours'. Then in a harder tone of voice, his Alpha voice, used in sentencing and giving punishments, he said, 'For the crime of trying to kill the future Luna of the Moon Ville Pack, you shall be kept in custody and I shall decide what punishment will be best to give you. Or better still, Millicent will decide how she would want you to be punished!'

At Alpha Sylvester clap, some warriors came to take her away.

'Take her away and put her in custody, no one is allowed to visit her until she is made to serve the punishment I shall name!'

'You can't be serious, Sylvester!' Cathania shouted, struggling against the hands dragging her away.

The scene that came into my mind unbidden was how I must have looked as I was being dragged away from the corpse of my father.

'I am the daughter of an Alpha too! You can't treat me like a nobody!'

As the guards dragged her away, Cathania looked into the room where we were and saw us all looking at her.

She looked back at Alpha Sylvester with shock. She must have realised that there was no escaping the punishment for her crimes.

'You are starting a war, Sylvester', Cathania said. 'My father will not take kindly to the fact that you are detaining me here!' she said.

'He might change his mind when he hears what your crimes are', Alpha Christopher retorted. 'How could you do that to another? You have no Luna qualities in you at all'.

'It is going to be your word against mine! You cannot prove anything!' she said.

'You have just confessed to your crimes. Your confession was recorded and has been sent to your father. He already knows you are paying for the crimes you committed', Samantha said, the look in her eyes, incredulous.

'Even if your father wants war after seeing what you have been up to, then we shall be happy to oblige him and I promise you, the state he will find his pack would be a joke!' Sylvester said, threateningly, before the door shut behind Cathania and I believed him. Look at the state he left my pack of origin. That reminded me I wanted to ask around and find out what became of my birth pack.