Hunter winked at her and then left the room even before all other women could see him. River knew that he had come there only to encourage her and was sure he noticed what all went through. River was sure of one thing – she wasn’t going to become a doormat. If these women thought of sweeping her under a rug and walking over, then they were in for a big surprise.
All the ladies got up and went to sit on their chairs after River went back to sit on the couch. She knew that she had made her first move of showing her mark to the she-Lycans in the meeting over tea. These women were influential in the Dark Moon pack because of their husbands and River had no intention of showing her displeasure towards them. At least not now. She was going to handle them one by one later, if need arose.
One of the women asked, “We heard that you are also the Alpha of the Crescent Moon pack.”
River smiled at her and nodded. “Yes, I am the Alpha of that pack but currently my Beta, Lena, is looking after it in my absence.” She glanced at Rosalie to see her reaction. She looked stunned. River continued, “So you see, my duties not only stop at being a Luna, I have to be in constant touch with my pack to know about their activities on a daily basis as their Alpha.”
“You are truly very efficient, Luna River,” the lady remarked. “It would be an honor to run with you in the forests.” “Of course,” River replied. “I will certainly love that too.”
River had to handle the second situation in which Rosalie made it quite clear to her that she was not groomed as a Luna while Rosalie was. One by one she roamed her gaze over all the women. She nodded at Faria who was waiting on her, standing behind her couch like a mother protecting her baby from the vultures.
Faria made way out where she ordered the servants to bring in the snacks for the party. Soon there were a dozen servants serving all the women with red velvet pastries, melon ***, Russian salad, grilled
veg salad, fish in lemon butter sauce and various wines and beverages. All the servants were very politely serving them with a smile on their lips. They looked so…. relaxed.
As the servants served snacks to the guests, Rosalie recalled that when she threw the parties, the servants were always extremely under pressure. They were constantly making mistakes. She was sure that again they would make mistakes. She said, “In the last party I threw for Alpha Hunter, there were so many things that I had to take care of. Right from the dinner menu to the decorations, things were overseen. Trust me, I didn’t have a minute to look up. Everything was so perfect!”
River quipped. “Oh yes, I remember that party. You sent me the wrong invitation in which the venue was printed wrong.” She looked at other women. “Did you all also get the wrong venue?*
When they shook their heads, River glanced at Rosalie who was noticeably flushed. Her eyes darted around as she licked her lips. River couldn’t help feeling disgusted about it. She said, “Really? Because the invitation that I got said that the Emerald Hall was on the outskirts of the castle!” River laughed softly. “But I found the way to Emerald Hall easily.” Rosalie was highly embarrassed. All the other women looked at her with shock and surprise in their eyes. Some were even enraged. Lisa was particularly looking disturbed. It was her who had got that special card printed for River that would have led her outside the castle where she would have met demons.
The women remarked:
“Rosalie, have you forgotten where the Hall was?”
“Did you not want Luna River to come?”
“Oh maybe, because she was a breeder that time.”
“But too low for her standards. Rosalie should have acted wisely.”
“I agree. So ***.”
Rosalie was feeling highly embarrassed now. Her mother shot her a look as to why she came up with that topic. In her defense, she said, “At that time, things were different. A breeder wasn’t allowed in the parties of the Lycans!” There was a collective gasp when the word ‘breeder’ got out. Lisa winced seeing her daughter’s verbal diarrhea. River chuckled as if it was nothing. She brushed an invisible piece of lint on her dress and said, “I am so glad that I am Alpha Hunter’s breeder.” That statement of hers was enough to bring out giggles from other women. What River meant was that she was also going to produce babies for her husband which Rosalie couldn’t have. “I hope I give pups to him that are as strong as he is.” And that statement was like the nail in the coffin.
Rosalie retreated completely. She lowered her head and looked at the wine that was lying untouched in her hands. She lost all her appetite. She had come here to embarrass River, but she ended up getting humiliated. As if that wasn’t all, River asked Faria, “Isn’t this meeting for the wives of the councilors?”
“It is, m’lady,” Faria replied.
River looked at Rosalie and said, “In that case I will have to ask you to leave the room as I would like to discuss things only with the wives of the councilors and their daughters.”
Rosalie clenched her teeth hard for being dismissed like this. This was so humiliating that she got up and left the room after bowing to her. The servants closed the door behind her.
River’s lips curled up. She knew that River was a viper and she was going to strike her with her poison. River had to be careful. She had to keep a very close watch on Rosalie. As soon as the doors closed, she started addressing the women out there and soon she became familiar.
