For the entire month, as River’s pregnancy progressed, Hunter only grew more impatient
“Baby, why don’t you eat apple pie?” he said as he took a large spoon, dug it into the pie and held it in front of her ***He had this crazy urge to make her eat as much as possible.
River let out an exasperated sigh. If this was how Hunter was going to be for the next few months, she was going to give him a piece of her mind. I don’t feel like having it, Hunter?”
“Baby-*
“Knock it off” she snapped. Her emotions were all over the place. She hated so many kinds of food and she was getting too emotional about everything and anything
Hunter became quiet. He had this sad expression on his face when he said, “I feel I am unable to feed you well, River. You have to think about my pups also. They are the ones who would suffer if you don’t eat well”
Faria, who was standing near the couch and folding some clothes, let out a small laugh. “Alpha Hunter, please don’t worry I am there and I will make sure that our Luna eats well and she eats every nutrient that is necessary for her Faria had become a mother hen to River. She would goad her and coax her into eating everything If River didn’t want to have milk, then she would ensure that she had curd. If River didn’t like plain curd, then she made sure that the chef made flavored curd. Basically, milk had to get inside her in one form or the other And Hunter thanked the Goddess for having Faria next to River. Only she could handle her emotions these days.
Hunter’s face broke into a smile. “You are superb, Faria!” he said. He winked at River. “You are in great hands.”
River shook her head. “You both are going to drive me crazy at the end of the ninth month.”
Hunter kept the bowl with apple pie on the table. He kissed her cheek and said, “I will be going to the human world for a day. There’s been a lead in the case. We are close to the person who supplied drugs to Natalie.”
“Drugs?” River was aghast. Faria stared at Hunter. “Natalie was on drugs? How do you know?” She knew about Natalie’s case and it was very complicated. No one knew who was the older man in her life.
“When Asher probed a little more, these secrets came out. There was a school student who was providing them. At first, he gave roofies and then he started giving meth. Natalie was taking them. That boy broke down after Asher interrogated him harshly. He was calling students at the party and slipping drugs in their drinks to get them addicted to it.”
“Goddess!” River said, feeling a chill run down her spine. “Who is this boy?”
“He is also a high school student. He has a common class with Mia. History.”
“How is Mia holding up?” River was worried about her. Mia has been very quiet these days. “I want to talk to her, but she doesn’t let anyone in her space.”
Hunter rubbed River’s back. “Don’t worry. She will be fine. She must be still reeling under the effect that one of her group girls was murdered.”
River nodded. “I will go and talk to her again. She can’t blame herself for what happened to Natalie. She feels that if she had talked to Natalie then perhaps the tragedy could have been prevented.”
“What do you mean?” Hunter said with his brows furrowed. “Why is she blaming herself? She wasn’t involved in her murder!”
“No, it’s not that, River explained. “It’s just that she feels Natalie had become too withdrawn at times. She would recede in her shell and stop talking to everyone.” She looked down at her fingers in her lap. “She hated that Natalie fancied you, but I know that Natalie’s imagination ran wild because Rosalie gave her hope.”
Hunter closed his eyes and tipped his head up. “Rosalie has become a headache. I wish I had never come across her in the first place.”
“Don’t worry,” River said, rubbing his bicep. “I don’t have any grudges against you.”
Hunter laughed. “I don’t think you can hold grudges against me, love!”
The mood lightened and Hunter left soon. Faria as usual began fussing around River.
It was 11AM when a servant announced that Lady Rosalie had come to meet her. Though River really didn’t want to meet her, the servant informed that it was about Natalie. That piqued her interest. “Please ask Lady Rosalie to sit in the main hall. I will come in a few minutes”
As soon as the servant left, Faria said, “You shouldn’t meet her, Luna. She is too toxic and holds way too many grudges against you.”
“Faria, if I start becoming biased like this, I won’t be a good Luna,” River said as she applied a nude lipstick shade to her lips. “To be honest, I don’t want to meet her.”
“That woman reeks of danger to me!” Faria said with disgust in her voice. She handed melon juice to River and continued to stand there until River gulped it all down. “Better be sharp around that viper!”
River laughed, shaking her head. When she had come, Faria was very scared of Rosalie and would do everything for her, but now that she wasn’t answerable to her, her true feelings for her came out. Faria despised Rosalie. “I will be alert, okay.”
Faria took the empty glass from her and nodded with tight lips.
River went to meet Rosalie who was sitting in the main hall with a magazine in her hand. She was flipping its pages rather too quickly. As soon as River walked in, Rosalie got up, plastered a smile and bowed to her. “I hope Luna is doing well today.”
“I am well,” River replied and waved for her to sit down. She crossed her legs and waited for Rosalie to settle down. “So what brings you here today?” River said, noticing that Rosalie chose to come when Hunter was away.
Rosalie was silent for a moment. She licked her lips and then let out a ragged breath. “I came here to tell you something about Natalie. I just- she closed her shoulders. “I just didn’t know who to mention it but I had waited for a month. I really didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t want to create misunderstandings between you and Alpha Hunter.”
River didn’t like where the conversation was going. There was an awkward silence between them as she waited for Rosalie to speak more.
Rosalie looked into her eyes and said, “Natalie was very close to me. She confided in me. And it wouldn’t be a lie if I said that I thought she would be a good match to Alpha Hunter. She had started fancying him a lot. And she bit her lower lip. “And the older man who Natalie was seeing was none other than…” she stopped as River tensed. “…Alpha Hunter.”
