Chapter 152: The Desperate

“Luna Laurel,” a servant called. “You have visitors in the west parlor.”
Laurel smiled and nodded before rising and following the servant. She had been expecting an alpha-luna pair from a potential noble pack to arrive. She assumed that the people waiting for her were them and looked forward to discussing their pack’s economic position, needs, and testing out their loyalty to the throne.
She didn’t need any other traitors in their midst.
As she reached the room, Alice stirred with apprehension. There was something wrong. The necklace didn’t warm with warning or danger, so it wasn’t a mortal threat.
So what could be wrong?
*What’s wrong?*
Alice growled as the door opened and revealed Laura’s parents. She almost rolled her eyes at how well-dressed they seemed compared to the last time they saw one another when she was Laura, or even when she’d sought them out as Laurel. This had a noble written all over it. What was the plan? Use them to garner sympathy about Laurel taking Laura’s place? Were they seeking protection and sanctuary because their daughter died as the luna?
Nothing on their faces gave it away. Laurel entered and crossed the room to take a seat and eye them.
When the door closed behind her, she sighed, “You are not who I was expecting unless you’re the alpha and luna of the Green Ash pack.”
“Laura,” Colleen said staring at her. “Let’s not play games. We’re alone after all…”
She frowned looking at the two of them. She was certain they could see her confusion. Basil was the only one who had an inkling that she was actually Laura. She didn’t put it past him to tell Gavin. Thus, Gavin had to be behind this, but to what end? Laura’s parents weren’t of much use to Gavin other than to irritate her. They held no standing. They were rogues since the Emerald Twilight pack’s alpha kicked them out and no other pack would take them.
Something was amiss.
“Haven’t you missed your parents?” Henry asked.
“Haven’t you learned to be grateful to us and to right your wrongs after having been granted this second chance?” Colleen continued, “You should apologize and thank us for all that we’ve done for you.”
Money. Of course, it was money. What else could it be with them? It was the only thing they truly cared about.
Laurel shook her head looking at the two of them, “I understand that I bear a striking resemblance to your late daughter, but I am not Laura.”
Not anymore, and she knew they were there for something other than their feigned grief.
Colleen laughed, “Well, of course, you can’t admit it… I can’t imagine what your new husband would think if he knew he’d married his daughter in law… The scandal that would bring to the royal family!”
She laughed, a cold haughty thing, and Laurel looked at them. She remembered all too clearly why she had cut ties with them. She remembered how they had never cared for her. Seeing it so clearly now was just a reminder that she was better off leaving Laura in the grave where she’d been buried.
Laura deserved a better life than to be bartered and traded. She deserved a better death than to be blackmailed as well. They would pay for this, but first, she needed to know everything they knew.
Getting enough information out of them to ensure they died behind bars wouldn’t hurt either.
Whether they realized it or not, they were a danger to her unborn child’s future.
“We’ll start with a simple house in the capital,” Henry said. “Then, twenty percent of your budget as the queen and luna.”
“Don’t you think that’s too low for our silence, dear?” Colleen asked. “I was thinking forty percent.”
Henry hummed and chuckled, “Of course, you’re right, so much time has passed that she needs to make up for.”
Laurel stood and turned, “If you’re done with this nonsense?”
Colleen’s eyes bulged, “We’ll tell everyone!”
Laurel shook her head, “You’re insane.”
Henry growled and lunged for her. She swung out of the way and he lifted his hand to strike her.
“You–!”
In a flash, Laurel pulled out her concealed dagger and brandished it at him, halting him in place. His eyes widened in fear as she stared at him.
“Sam? Lynn.”
The door opened and Sam stormed across the room towards them. Henry paled and shrank back.
“Y-You can’t. She’s our daughter.”
“You’re insane,” Lynn hissed. “And trying to extort the luna is a crime punishable by lifetime incarceration!”
“She is! She is our daughter!” Colleen pleaded. “Our daughter’s a white wolf. She’s the only one!”
She hadn’t known they knew she was a white wolf. She had shifted alone and nearly lost her mind doing it. How had they known that she was a white wolf? Did they know something about her importance to the moon goddess?
She pushed that thought aside. It was unlikely. They would have been being paid to send her to Basil rather than paying to send her if that was the case. Then again, she wasn’t sure how much Gavin knew about the Raymond line’s connection to the temple.
“Luna Laura is dead,” Sam hissed, advancing on them, “And Luna Laurel has no time to entertain greedy fools like you!”
“Hold on,” Laurel said, sheathing her dagger and dusting off her skirt. “I have questions for them.”
Sam growled at them, and they flinched. Henry stumbled back into his seat. Laurel returned to her seat and sighed. She had originally wanted to be done with them, but getting whatever she could out of them was the better option.
“Someone put you up to this nonsense, and I want to know who.”
Henry blinked, wide and guilty.
“I understand that you were caught embezzling from your pack, the Emerald Twilight pack? Under the new laws, your life would be forfeit.” She smiled sweetly. “I’m sure your former alpha would be happy to –”
“It was Minister Mirabelle!” Colleen blurted out.
Henry glared at her, “You idiot, she was–”
“It was all his idea and–”
“How dare you–”
“I’m not dying for you!”
Laurel rolled her eyes, “Minister Mirabelle put you up to what exactly?”
“To blackmail you,” Colleen said stiffly. “He arranged for us to come here. We were at his birthday party too…”
Laurel leaned on her hand and watched them, “Tell me everything from the beginning., and maybe I’ll convince my husband to grant you leniency.”
Henry paled, “It was just a little bit at first… A few coins here and there, but we started taking more….”
Most of the details of their embezzlement, she knew about already. She’d even found out about how they were caught. Though the fact that the money they’d embezzled had also paid for her audience with Basil was a shock. Henry and Colleen confessed to more acts of greed than she ever imagined, including stealing when it suited them.
They hadn’t been under Gavin’s direct control until recently, but they’d found some measure of work destabilizing other packs after they left the Emerald Twilight pack through their continued connections with other nobles who wanted more power.
Sam and Lynn looked horrified and disgusted. She could only imagine what a shock it was to come back from fighting on the border only to learn that the people you fought for were capable of such greed.
They gave names and dates enough to track. Laurel took note of all of it and planned to research it thoroughly in time while encouraging them to think hard about anything else they knew since their lives were hanging in the balance.
When they were done, she couldn’t imagine how they lived with themselves. Laurel shook her head and had Lynn and a few other guards escort them down to the dungeons. They fought and complained, but she ignored them.
“Poor Luna Laura,” Sam said softly, “It’s… almost a blessing that she’s not around to see what her parents have become.”
“Something tells me that she already knew,” Laurel said calmly and looked up at him. “How are you and Sarah?”
Sam grinned, roguish and happy, “Blissful… we’re planning to get married after your child is born. So I hope you will grant her time off for the honeymoon.”
“I promise to force her to take the time off,” Sam chuckled, bobbing his head with a grin. Laurel smiled at him, “I’m happy for you. Really.”
Sam nodded, “I have you to thank for it all, you know?”
She shook her head, “You’re stronger than you think.”
“So are you.”
She froze, meeting his gaze. For a moment, she wondered if Sam knew she was Laura. It was impossible, of course. Sam had been on the front lines. He’d never even met Laura, but the worry was still there.
“You have your father’s strength,” he nodded thoughtfully. “Jack would be… proud to see you like this.”
Her fears eased and she smiled, “Thanks, Sam. Could you send the alpha and luna of the Green Ash pack to this parlor when they arrive?”
“Of course.”