#Chapter 25 Dreamland

Olivia’s POV

My wolf has thankfully stuck with me through the shift in identity, but I still feel hints of the Queen Luna’s wolf within me. She controls the mind link and even the dreams I have at night, the floating feeling of her memories washing through me at the depths of my slumber.

I see her old flashbacks and recall her old emotions. It’s perplexing to be apart of, seeing her stalk through the hallway toward her mate’s office, her well-manicured hand pressing on the door to see Gabriel bent over some paperwork, muttering restlessly as he skims through it all.

“Darling,” she breathes, something so sad in her tone. “Are you coming to bed tonight?”

Gabriel looks stark in comparison. He holds no semblance of a grin, not even a hint of life twinkling in his eyes as her barley glances up, his eyes pacing down the exterior of his wife, his entire persona cold and unwelcoming.

“Are we going to act like nothing happened?” he huffs.

The Queen Luna clenches a hand over her racing heart. “I didn’t want to argue, Gabriel, it just happened that way.”

“You went through my phone and accused me of infidelity,” he snaps, hitting his hand on his desktop. “You yelled at me at the diner table with my advisories all in attendance. Do you know how demeaning it is for the King Alpha to have his Queen barking at him while we’re in a business ordeal?”

“It’s the only time you talk to me!” she hollers back, her voice breaking. “I can’t bring it up any other time because you won’t talk to me about anything at all!”

“So you go through my phone?!”

He’s standing now and even if the Queen Luna’s wolf is petrified in her memory, she doesn’t seem to fear any sort of violence from him. Even as myself, I know he would never harm us. I try to reassure my own wolf, shaking at the sight of him so furious in this flashback.

“You will stoop to any level to have a reason to divorce me,” Gabriel murmurs.

The Queen Luna seems content with that remark. “I just don’t think you have the amount of time and attention needed to be married to anyone, Gabriel. You never want to be around me; we never have dates or affectionate kisses anymore. Sometimes I wonder if you’re cheating because it’s the only way any of this makes sense.”

Gabriel picks up his cellphone and throws it across the room, the scream braking on impact of the shelves nearby. “You are the one who cut off affection, Rebecca. You decided to halt having sex and to turn your back to me any chance you get. I’m not going to be blamed for cheating while I’ve done everything I can to put up with your mood swings!”

I personally flinch, feeling those words sting. It feels oddly familiar of Herold and I barking in an argument. I always was the demure one, I would never fight him back when he would start blaming me for something until he would push every button he could to infuriate me.

I see a lot of my anguish and exhaustion in Gabriel.

Cheating rumors and distancing yourself from the coldness of your partner who still fights for some form of affection but then squanders it the first moment they get it. I see the parallels in Herold and myself play out before me with different names and faces.

I refuse to live through this a second time. I throw the memory away, forcing myself awake. I jolt upright, my body laid out in bed but still wearing my attire that I had slipped into yesterday. I take in the sight of the bedroom, of the King Alpha sleeping peacefully nearby, and I question how he managed to get into the office that I locked myself inside last night.

I let him sleep, slipping out of bed slowly and creeping down the hallway until I’m out of his earshot. Crossing the hall to the office, I see the doorknob on the ground, the inside frame of the doorway split into varying splinters. I shake my head at the sight. Of course he kicked down the door to get inside.

I check on my laptop and files, seeing them stowed away to the side, something else of importance laid out on the desk where Gabriel must have done a little work after putting me to bed. I can’t help my curiosity, opening the file slow and reading the information.

“Oakridge pack,” I breath, confused. “Partridge pack, Canine pack…”

I read through the list of packs I have never even heard of before, seeing the top of the page written with invitation list, as though there is some kind of event I don’t know about. Of course, I haven’t been all that focused on Gabriel’s work, far too concerned with my own.

“My dear,” Gabriel says, in the doorway now and startling me. I drop his paperwork but he hardly seems offended by my snooping. If anything, by that dream of a memory I had, he might be used to such behavior. “It would go by faster if you just asked questions so I could tell you the answers instead of digging through my stuff.”

I give in to my curious woos. “What are all these packs invited to? I haven’t even heard of most of them, Gabriel. They could really help my charity if I could just give them a call or have a meeting with them.”

“They’re invited to tonight’s gala, my dear.” He ignores my charity comment, looking at me thoroughly. “I thought I mentioned it to you earlier but with Reese’s health and that Alpha Herold coming by last night, it may have been lost in the shuffle.”

I groan internally. “Another gala?”

He nods, smiling wide in some false form of pride. “Yes, of course. You know the good publicity a gala brings to the news so you don’t have to worry about those stupid gossip columns weighting more false news about you being pregnant.”

I reply, “well, that’s true. And if these packs show up, I can pitch them my charity.”

“Always looking for new donors,” Gabriel says with a hint of a grin. “Well, do whatever your business you like tonight, my dear. Something tells me they will be very willing to give to your fantastic charity.”

I’m slightly confused by his enthusiasm for the prospect of me working at his gala but I can’t question it. We split apart for now and I focus on my work, only leaving the desk for some lunch and the later to get dressed in my new ballgown. It’s tight around my hips and flares at my feet, hiding the sight of my short heels.

Gabriel had left hours ago to setup for the gala and I am glad to arrive by myself, only gloomy when I walk through the venue doors, the attendees all bowing their heads in respect to me, including three eagerly wandering sets of eyes before me.

Eugene, Alpha Herold and Gabriel are all dressed up, looking at me expectantly like I owe them all a personal greeting but I ignore each of them, making my way to the ballroom. I ponder the reason for this party tonight, unsure why there needs to be a gala for every issue to ever arise through packs but when I turn toward the champagne table, I stop hard in my tracks.

There’s a picture of Reese propped up next to a donation box.

The sign overhead reads, Support the Queen Luna’s charity to save terminally ill wolves.