Revelations
Lilith’s POV;
Maya Crane was an interesting woman. Turns out that she was the daughter of a member of the council and had been in another pack far away.
I still couldn’t tell if she was an Ally or a foe. But she did say that she wanted to be close and, as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t ask her why she was staying in the mansion instead of at her family’s house.
“Your Highness, it’s time for breakfast,” Julia said, breaking my string of thoughts. A small sigh expelled from my lips as I stood up.
As usual, she walked with me to the dining area. As I approached the dining area, I resisted the urge to show how confused I was at the sight of the scene before me.
There, on the dining table were Maya Crane and the Alpha king, my husband. They were engrossed in a conversation and whatever Adams was saying seemed funny as she was giggling.
“You’re here,” she said in between laughter and I nodded as I sat down opposite both of them. She had sat on the seat I normally sat.
I shouldn’t care about him liking her or not, but the sight of the both of them as they continued talking made my heart clench tightly, and I felt I was going to die due to the pain.
“How was your night?” He asked and I nodded without looking at him.
“Fine.” I hadn’t seen him since he had left angrily due to the way I had replied to him.
I felt bad for him. He had been nothing short of nice and all I had done was treat him so badly. I made a mental note to see him immediately after breakfast.
He didn’t say a word to me again and occasionally exchanged words with Maya. It seemed as though Maya noticed how I felt as she turned to me, her brows furrowed.
“Are you okay? You’re not saying anything, and you look so dull.”
I shook my head, feeling the urge to fake a smile, but not knowing how to actually do that, so I instead kept my expression neutral as I nodded.
After breakfast, I walked to my room, ignoring Maya’s suggestion for us to hang out. I didn’t understand the sudden jealousy I felt towards her and I didn’t want to be in her presence. It was like being in her presence worsened the pain I felt.
I stood still, turned around slowly and frowned. It was just as I had thought. Julia wasn’t following me. I was so used to her walking with me that it felt weird that she wasn’t there anymore.
“…. I feel for her, though,” a voice spoke, and I halted in my tracks. I knew it was a maid, and they must be in a group, gossiping as they always did.
“She has no idea at all! I heard they met last night, and they’re now having breakfast together.”
“What do you think will happen? Will she become our new Queen?”Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.
“The entire council is in support of her becoming Queen.”
Their voices became distant, and I heard footsteps and realized that they must’ve seen someone. I didn’t wait to see who it was and walked to my room briskly.
There was a gentle knock on the door, then I sat up on the bed, wondering who it could be, as Julia was the only one who frequented my room, and she never bothered to knock.
Just then, the door opened and Maya walked in, a smile etched on her face.
“Lilith!” She said as she approached me and sat on the bed beside me.
“It’s alright if I call you by your hand since we’re friends now, right?” Her eyes lit up as she spoke and I nodded.
“Perfect! Why did you leave the dining table like that? Are you having problems with the King?”
I shook my head, but still felt her eyes on me.
“You know, we’re friends now. You can tell me anything.”
I wanted to ask her if she wanted to be Queen. I had the urge to confirm what the maids were saying. If indeed the entire council was supporting her, then there was no stopping it from happening. She was going to become Queen.
What about Adams? Did he really want her to be his queen? And is that why she was there in the mansion? Plus, they had seemed very close.
“You know, I never thought I’d ever be back here….”
There was a knock again, and she stood up and walked to the door.
The door opened and Ben entered, a smile on his face and I became uncomfortable. What could have brought him here?
“You’re here,” he said as he glanced at Maya.
“How have you been, Ben?” She said, and I watched her face to see if her expression was going to show that she supported him.
She was smiling, but it was the same smile she always had on whenever she looked at me.
“Your Highness, may I speak to you alone?” For the first time ever, he had a serious expression etched on his face and I glanced at Maya.
“You want me to leave?” Her lips pouted as she faked being hurt and then smiled and began to walk out of the room.
“I’ll see you later, Lilith.
As soon as the door shut, leaving us both in the room, I glanced at him to see his brows tired together in confusion.
“You let her call you by your name?”
I nodded and he shook his head. “That’s not good. No matter who it is, they’re not supposed to call you by your name. You’re not just anybody! You’re the Queen!” He sat down on the only sofa in the room.
“Look, I just want to get closer to you. Not because you’re my brother’s wife, but because I feel for you as a person. You’ve been through a lot and people might just want to use you because of your vulnerability!”
I said nothing, my expression remaining neutral, and I thought about whether he wasn’t the one who wanted to use me.
“Please, just trust me.”
He sounded so sincere that I began to think whether he was really as evil as Julia had said he was.
“Look, I didn’t want to say this earlier, but I think this is what is happening right here. My brother married you because he has some grudges against Alpha River, and he wants to use you to get to him. He wants to conquer Green Forest and nobody knows the pack more than you do. You were an elite warrior and, even more, the supposed future beta before everything happened. You’re useful to him,” he bit his lower lips before continuing.
“You are very useful to him and that’s the only reason he married you. He doesn’t love you. The woman he loves is-” he sighed deeply.
“Maya Crane. They’re both using you. Perhaps they’re laughing behind your back right now. I can’t just sit and watch all of these things happen to you. You seem like a good person and I want to help you.”
My heart clenched painfully with his sudden revelation and I didn’t understand why, as I obviously wasn’t in love with Adams. But still, it hurts to be used like this. And I thought Maya was a friend when the only person who truly cared about me was the one I had been pushing away.
“If you think I’m lying to you, ask him if he wasn’t previously engaged to her.”
I glanced at him sharply, surprise visible on my face, before regaining my composure.
“They were engaged,” it wasn’t a question and I did my best to prevent my voice from betraying my expression.
“I’m sorry, you had to hear of it like that. I intended to have kept it since nobody said anything to you,” he said, and I nodded.
“Recently, the members of the council called for an emergency meeting. It was about your dethronement. They said you were unfit to become Queen. I believe he wanted to appease them and that was why he brought his first love back.”
“Just, let me help you, make you the queen you’re meant to be,” he sounded so convincing, but I didn’t want to be a Queen. I didn’t care about anything. Lexi would’ve wanted this, but I didn’t, and it was a good thing that I had already shut her off.
“Take this and keep it in his room, here,” he said, handing me a small device of some sort, and I glanced at it and then up at him.
“What is this?”
“It’s going to help you hear what conversation goes on between him and Maya when you’re not there. Aren’t you curious to know what they’re always talking about?”
I took it from him and nodded, inwardly thinking about whether I was going to do what he had said or not.
There was also the possibility of Ben telling a lie, but there was only one way to find out.