First

After that night at the secret cave, Tatum has been nothing but sweet to Leila. Not a day has passed since then that she has not received some sort of gift from him

She goes to bed with foot rubs and back massages and this morning, she woke up to breakfast in bed, prepared by him but she suspects Adaline must. have been there to coach him because the food was really delicious.

Right now, she is heading to meet Clayton. He called her and said that he may have some news about Bobby Lister, Carmela’s hit man.

Surprisingly, Clayton has been open about the whole process and isn’t hiding anything from her as she first suspected he would.

The usual scowl on his face when he sees her is gradually becoming a full smile and he even took her out to lunch on one occasion, called it partner bonding as they are now partners working on a case together.

Leila opens the door to his office, somewhere she now enters without permission and the first person she sees is Carmela.

Leila immediately feels uneasy, bitterness and anger twirl in her stomach and upon seeing her, Carmela immediately stands up.

Leila stares at her coldly and as Carmela walks past, she bows quickly to Leila and leaves, giving Clayton one last sullen gaze which Leila does not miss.

Leila squints at Clayton, it is unlike Carmela to show her respect.

“What did she want?” Leila asks in a tone colder than she intends and Clayton smirks at her.

“I know I’m handsome but I’m not Tatum, you don’t need to sound so jealous. over me.”

Leila hisses, making a face at him. “You wish. I’m only worried that she might make you” Leila hesitates.

Clayton has been nothing but honest and open about the process of the investigation with her so far but she cannot forget his weakness for Carmela.

#

Carmela is good at manipulation and she may use Clayton’s soft spot for her to get information of their investigation or worse, sabotage the investigation.

“Might make me what?” Clayton asks in a serious tone, watching Leila calculatingly.

“Never mind,” Leila dismisses him and Clayton frowns.

“You’re afraid she’ll use me to alter the investigation?” He asks in a cold voice.” What do you take me for? A simp who cannot differentiate his duties from other affairs.

“I wouldn’t know Clayton, it’s nothing you haven’t done before,” Leila replies sharply.

Clayton opens his mouth to reply but he stops himself from saying anything, remembering that day at the torture cell.

Even if he was carrying out his duty that day, he did go overboard with the punishment he gave to Leila and she did not even take any actions against him till now.

Guilt and regret overpower his ego and he sighs, leaning back into his seat.

“About that day, let me apologise to you. I’m truly sorry about it, especially now that I know you were with child. What I did was beneath me and I hope we can put it behind us.

gave you my word. This investigation will run as smoothly as it should. No outside force will influence it, it is my promise to you.”

Leila smirks at him. She had long forgotten the incident and holds no grudge against him. She just wants the truth to prevail so she can finally be with Tatum as she wants to be.

“I’ll trust your word head warrior,” she replies monotonously.

“Hmm,” Clayton nods and then he promptly says. “You should never have married Tatum.”

“Excuse me?” Leila’s voice is sharp and cold and her eyes flare with anger.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Clayton replies, leaning closer to her, resting his elbows on the table.

“I’ve been thinking about it lately, why I turned my back on you, treated you like my enemy. Heck, most of us did and it’s all because you married the Alpha.”

“Is there somewhere you’re going with this? Otherwise, you can tell me why you sent for me. I can’t go back and change my decision or yours,” Leila replies coldly.

Clayton wants to say more, to explain to her what the prophecy represented to the people, a symbol of hope and prosperity.

It is bigger than Carmela, it has always been.

The Phoenix Luna.

That is who it is about, the Luna whose reign the pack has waited for, for over a

century.

She suddenly died and her best friend married the Alpha she was supposed to marry after her death, in barely less than a week.

The best friend who also happened to be the last person that saw the phoenix. Owned by NôvelDrama.Org.

Luna alive.

Leila turned Carmela into a martyr by taking her place so willingly and she became the martyr–maker.

That’s why they turned on her but through it all she never fought back, not once.

She went about her duties and the pack has actually prospered. Their economy has grown in the two years of her reign more than it did in the last decade combined.

“Fine. You’ll hear no further from me on the matter but just know that if the Alpha ultimately decides to keep you as the Luna, you will get no trouble from me because you have been one hell of a fine Luna.”

Leila gives him a weird look, feeling surprisingly comforted by his words.

Wasn’t he just berating her for marrying Tatum and now he doesn’t have a