Chapter 10

Charlotte's point of view

“I've mixed up a very simple potion for you,” the witch said as she came out from the private room.

I shuddered back to myself. I had gone far, my thoughts had gone very far. 

She handed the potion to me and I quickly collected it from her.

“Are they instructions that I should know?” I asked the witch as I held the bottle up.  

She put a brownish powder inside her nostrils and sniffed it. She then walked up to the wooden stool she sat on, kicked it out of the way and sat on a snake skin mat.

“Each time you want to meet your partner, the other one you're seeing outside your marriage, drink it.”

“It will help mask your scent after you're done with intimacy. It will also make sure that your husband doesn't receive signs that you're cheating,” the witch said to me and I nodded. 

“Thank you so much.”

“Ummm…can I ask about–” I wanted to ask about Zoey. I wanted to know if she was dangerous and if I should avoid her.

I knew she was a threat but somehow, I still cared about her.

“Your time's up, Luna Charlotte!” The witch mused. This time around she had begun chewing on a strange stick.

“I want to meditate. You can return another day. Then, I'll answer all your questions.”

I took the potion and walked out of the hut as fast as I could.

Once I was out, I tucked it in-between my boobs and headed back to the pack.

*******

I was greatly surprised when I reached the pack and I found out that Clara and Nicholas were cuddling each other in the garden.

They even finished having a picnic and we're both flipping through the pages of a magazine. 

I was shocked. I just stood by the entrance of the garden, watching them with a shocked face. 

The entrance of the garden was like a little gate. It had trees that were sheared into a fence lined up all around the garden, then the gate of a garden had a golden open gate that was lined with peonies and red roses, my favorite.

When Nicholas sighted me, he stopped what he was doing and sat upright. He quickly untangled his hands from Clara's body.

“Baby…”

I ignored him. 

I’ve been searching for you. Where were you?”

When Clara heard him ask me that question, she also sat upright, looking at me. “Good morning, Charlotte.”

He was being too inquisitive about my whereabouts these days.

Other times, he would not bother because he was out there, cheating! It seemed Clara had now come to occupy most of his time.

“I was out to take a walk,” I replied.

Nicholas' eyebrows were lifted. It seemed like he did not believe me. 

I was furious.

“I should be asking you what you were doing with your time when your Luna was out to take a quick walk,” I gave him a deadly stare.

If looks could kill, it would definitely undress Nicholas and Clara and flog them mercilessly.

“Oh…” Nicholas laughed. “About this…”

“What's so funny?” I interjected as I began to walk close to them. 

“Clara said she was sad and she wanted some cuddles in the garden. You know this is my first child, so I had to grant her wishes.” Did Nicholas just spew that rubbish out of his mouth?

Clara rubbed his knee and stared at me. She was purposely provoking me, pushing my buttons. “Oh, I'm sorry Charlotte. The baby said she wanted a picnic, so I asked the father of the child to grant my request.”

“I'm sorry if it hurts you. But I promise, it was solely for the baby this time,”Clara continued. She had a sinister look on her face.

What was she up to? 

“How do you know it's a girl?” Nicholas asked Clara, deliberately ignoring me.

“I know because I feel like she kicks at night. Girls kick at night,” Clara responded and they began to chide each other. 

“I think it's a boy. He's going to be the alpha and take over from me when I die,” Nicholas joked as he poked Clara.

Clara giggled and fell on his lap.

They made jokes about the situation and were rubbing everything in my face. 

“Take over from you? When your wife is still yet to give birth?” I asked Nicholas and they stopped their jokes.

“Errrrmm…” 

“We've been trying for a child and we've not had any success. Don't be harsh now, Charlotte. My child is still your child.” Nicholas just slapped me on both sides of my face.

“Nicholas. This disrespect is beginning to get out of hand. I think I will have to travel for some weeks to see my parents,” I informed him.

“Eloise,” I called my personal maid and in less than a minute, she came to the scene. “Gather my bags. I'm travelling for two weeks.”

Nicholas stood up and walked up to me. “Eloise, come back here. She is going nowhere.”

Eloise stood at the spot, conflicted at who she should obey, her alpha or Luna.

Shock ran through my body and almost made me crippled. “You will stay in this pack and continue your duties. That's final.”

“Okay, Clara!” I commanded Clara and she shook when she heard her name.

“Get up from there and go back to your room. You're not to show your face outside except in the mornings when you're taking a stroll or for medical checkups.”

“I hereby ban you from seeing my husband or being physical with him,” I gave my final order and Nicholas mocked me by laughing.

“I'm your Alpha. You cannot command me. I do the commanding. She's my baby's mother,” he retorted.

“I'm not trying to take that away from you. You will only see her when you're escorted by my beta,” I had to solidify my position in this pack.

Looking at all these, I think my mother was right. She had the right approach on how to deal with these men.

We had begun to argue and our voices were loud. I saw Zoey..

She had come out of her room and she was holding a rag.

It seemed the head maid assigned her to a chore. She was staring at me.. Gosh! I felt so ashamed. 

After the argument had gone on for long, Nicholas decided to threaten me. “One more word from you and I'll lock you up in your room for a week. Do you think it's easy to be an alpha?” 

“It's okay Nicholas. I'll go back to my room. I'm sorry Charlotte,”Clara apologised and made to walk back to her room. I'm sure she was pretending. What she did was fake. 

Nicholas then walked back to Clara. “You're just jealous of Clara. Too bad. She's just a good person and she's tried to be nice with you. Why are you so stuck up?”

Okay…Nicholas. I see you. An old wise man once said that who laughs last laughs the best.

“This thing you're doing, Nicholas,” I wanted him with a straight face. “You're playing with fire. I hope you don't get burned.”

“Luna..please let me walk you to your room,” My handmaiden, Eloise, dragged me away from the scene.

I watched as Zoey continued to clean the outside windows of the administrative block in the pack.

She stopped for a while and stared at me. She had a gloomy look on her face.

I avoided eye contact with her. Goosebumps were already crawling up my skin and I felt so tense. 

If I looked into those eyes…it would remind me of the fiery and intense pleasure I felt that night…..