To ruin an Omega

Chapter 89: A Luna In the Making

FIA

The dream I was having dissolved into nothing as something bright attacked my closed eyelids. I squeezed them tighter and turned my face into the pillow. The brightness persisted. Insistent and demanding.

“What the hell?” I muttered and opened my eyes.

The room was flooded with morning light. Someone had yanked open the curtains. I blinked against the sudden assault and tried to focus. A figure stood by the window. Silhouetted against the sun.

My eyes adjusted slowly. The figure became clearer. It was Doctor Maren.

But she looked different. Very different.

Maren was young anyway. Maybe late twenties. But right now she looked even younger. Her brunette hair had been straightened to absolute perfection. It fell past her shoulders in a sleek curtain. Light makeup enhanced her features. A touch of blush. Some mascara. A nude lip gloss that caught the light. She wore jeans and a fitted sweater. Boots that looked expensive. She looked like she was about to walk into a magazine shoot instead of making house calls and jabbing needles into veins.

“What is going on?” I asked. My voice was rough from sleep.

Maren walked over to the bed. She grabbed the edge of my blanket and yanked it completely off me. The cold air hit my legs.

“We are going shopping, Luna Fia,” she said.

I sat up quickly. “What? For what?”

“Oh, he hasn’t told you.” She laughed and shook her head. “Of course he hasn’t.”

“Told me what?”

“There is a wedding,” she said. “Skollrend was invited. Which means you are as well. So while Alpha Cian is hunting down the witch who made those alchemised poisons, we get to spend the fuck out of his Amex card.”

She sat down next to me on the bed. Pulled a black card from her pocket and held it up between two fingers. Her eyes were practically glowing.

“Look at this beauty,” she said. She waved it back and forth like it was a winning lottery ticket. “What do you think? Think of all the things we can buy.”

I stared at the card. Then at her face. She looked absolutely elated. Like this was the best day of her life.

“So Cian isn’t in Skollrend at the moment then,” I said.

“That is correct.” Maren tucked the card back into her pocket and patted it fondly. “That means no weight on you. And Thorne has to take over all my business. I haven’t been this free in a long while. It helps that I can go wild with money that isn’t mine too.”

She stood up and grabbed my hands. Pulled me toward the edge of the bed.

“So please get your ass off the bed and let’s get to it,” she said.

I resisted slightly. My brain was still trying to catch up. Shopping. A wedding. Cian gone. An Amex card with apparently no limit.

“I don’t know if I want to go shopping,” I said. “I’m sure I have a wardrobe that can work.”

Maren dropped my hands. Her expression turned serious.

“That just will not do,” she said.

“Why not?”

“Alpha Knight is not just any Alpha.” She crossed her arms and looked at me like I was missing something obvious. “Julius has been a thorn in the side of Skollrend for a while. Ever since Cian took power from his father, Knight has been challenging our trade routes. Blocking our access to neutral zone markets. Making new alliances with packs that were traditionally friendly to us. Just when we thought this beef would persist until it breaks into a full blown war, he stops. And now he is getting married. For the second time, might I add.”

I did not know any of this. Politics between packs were not something I had paid much attention to in Silver Creek. We were too small to matter.

“It is supposed to be a white flag,” Maren continued. “But I do think it is mostly because you are now in the picture. A random marriage to a small pack. Skollrend’s uniting with Silver Creek wasn’t grand like most would expect. The big dogs weren’t invited.”

Her words hit harder than I expected. She was right. The wedding had been quiet. Almost secretive. No grand ceremony. No celebration. Just a small gathering and a ritual that the goddess happened to bless.

“There is also the scandal of why you are his Luna,” Maren said. Her voice was gentle now. Not cruel. Just honest. “I’m sure they want to see. And they want to talk. They must also think this is a political plot of sort. Why else would Skollrend be involved with your father’s pack? So if those two must happen, you must be the diamond in that room. You have to shine. Even brighter than the bride.”

She leaned forward. Her eyes locked on mine.

“And I, Maren, love shiny things,” she said. “And I can make shiny things. So if you like the small peace that is slowly befalling you in Skollrend, I suggest you stop being meek and let us spend this money.”

She paused. A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.

“You don’t even have to like what you buy,” she added. “It will be revenge for the way he has treated you so far.”

That caught my attention. Revenge. Spending Cian’s money on things I might not even want. Just because I could. Just because he had left me alone in this massive pack house without telling me about a wedding I was expected to attend. Without preparing me for anything.

My eyes must have lit up because Maren’s smile grew wider.

“I see how your eyes are shining,” she said. “Don’t let that go.”

I thought about it for another second. Then I nodded.

“Fine,” I said.

Maren squealed. Actually squealed. She grabbed my hands again and squeezed them.

“Yes,” she said. “This is going to be so good.”

“You’re different,” I said.

“I just aren’t in my professional mode.” She let go of my hands and stood up. “Get a shower. I’ll go to your suite and bring something casual. We have a lot of ground to cover today.”

“Okay,” I said.

She practically bounced out of the room. The door closed behind her and I sat there for a moment. Processing. A wedding. A shopping trip. An unlimited Amex card. Cian hunting down a witch somewhere.

I fell back onto the bed. Stared up at the ceiling. I would have to be by Cian’s side at this wedding. Hold his hand probably. Act like we were a real couple. Like our marriage meant something beyond an arrangement and whatever strange pull existed between us.

My cheeks started to heat up. I could picture it. His hand in mine. His presence beside me. The way people would look at us. Judge us. Wonder about us.

I slapped my cheeks lightly. Twice. Trying to snap myself out of it.

“Stop it,” I muttered.

I pushed myself up and walked to the bathroom. The tile was cold under my bare feet. I turned on the shower and let the water heat up. Steam began to fill the space.

I stripped off my sleep clothes and stepped under the spray. The hot water hit my skin and I closed my eyes. Let it wash away the grogginess. The confusion. The weird mix of nervousness and excitement that had settled in my chest.

A wedding. An actual wedding where I would be seen. Where people would stare and whisper and make assumptions. Where I would have to play the role of Luna in a way I had not done before.

I washed my hair. Scrubbed my skin. Took my time because once I stepped out of this bathroom, the day would start for real. And apparently it was going to involve spending an obscene amount of money with a woman I barely knew but who seemed determined to make me shine.

I turned off the water and grabbed a towel. Dried myself off quickly. Wrapped my hair up in another towel and wiped the fog from the mirror.

My reflection stared back at me. Pale skin. Dark eyes.

I heard the bedroom door open. Maren’s voice called out.

“I’m back,” she said. “And I brought options.”

I wrapped the towel tighter around myself and opened the bathroom door. Maren was standing in the middle of the room. She had laid out three different outfits on the bed. Jeans. A sweater dress. Leggings and an oversized top.

“Pick your poison,” she said. “We want comfortable but cute. We are going to be walking a lot.”

I looked at the options. Pointed to the jeans and oversized top.

“Good choice,” Maren said. She gathered up the other clothes and tossed them onto a chair. “Get dressed. I’ll wait out here.”

She turned her back to give me privacy. I dropped the towel and pulled on the clothes. They fit well. Comfortable like she promised. I toweled my hair some more and then ran my fingers through it. Let it air dry.

“Ready,” I said.

Maren turned around. Looked me over and nodded approvingly.

“Perfect,” she said. “Now let’s go make Alpha Cian regret giving me this card.”

She pulled the Amex out again and kissed it dramatically. I laughed. Actually laughed. It felt strange. Good but strange.

“You’re really excited about this,” I said.

“Are you kidding?” Maren grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the door. “I get to dress up a Luna. Spend someone else’s money. And stick it to Cian a little bit for being an emotionally constipated Alpha. This is literally my dream day.”

We walked out of the room together. Down the hallway. The pack house was busy. People nodded as we passed. Some looked curious. Probably wondering why the doctor and the Luna were walking around together looking like they were about to cause trouble.

“Where are we even going?” I asked.

“The city,” Maren said. “There’s a shopping district about an hour away. High end stores. Boutiques. Everything we need.”

An hour away. That meant we would be gone most of the day. Maybe longer. I wondered if Cian knew. If he cared. He had given Maren the card so he must have expected something like this.

We reached the front entrance. A car was already waiting. Black and sleek. The driver who was in sentinel uniform, stood by the door.

“Ready when you are, Doctor Maren,” he said.

“Perfect timing,” Maren said. She gestured for me to get in first.

I slid into the back seat. Maren climbed in after me and the driver closed the door. The engine started and we pulled away from the pack house.

“This is going to be fun,” Maren said. She settled back into her seat and pulled out her phone. Started scrolling through something. “I’ve been making a list of stores we need to hit. And I have some ideas already for the wedding.”

“What kind of ideas?”

“You’ll see.” She glanced at me and smiled. “Trust me. You’re going to look incredible.”

I looked out the window. Watched the trees pass by. The pack lands gave way to open road. To the world beyond Skollrend’s borders.

For the first time since arriving here, I felt something close to excitement. Not because of the shopping. Not really. But because of the possibility. The chance to do something for myself. To take up space in a way I had not been allowed to before.

And maybe, just maybe, to show Cian that I was more than the quiet girl from Silver Creek.