Moonveil Academy: Trapped With The Five Kings

Chapter 68: Call from Home

Reign:

The moment my phone started buzzing, I knew whatever little peace I’d managed to find was over.

I pulled it from my pocket and glanced at the screen, and the name flashing across it confirmed exactly what I had already suspected.

It was my stepmother.

I let out a slow, irritated breath before answering, pushing away the girl who had been clinging to my arm. She barely moved, only shifting closer again as though she hadn’t noticed the warning in my expression, making sure her almost spilling out boobs were pressed against my arm.

I ignored her and pressed the phone to my ear. "What?" I muttered.

There wasn’t even a greeting on the other end. There never was. My stepmother immediately informed me that my father had heard about the display I’d made of the Valemont name at the academy today and wanted me home tonight. Before I could ask anything else, the call ended.

For several seconds, I stared at the blank screen. The irritation rolling through me was enough to make the atmosphere around me feel heavier, and the girl beside me finally seemed to realize that whatever mood I’d been in before the call was gone. She slipped away without another word, leaving me surrounded by people who suddenly seemed very interested in pretending they hadn’t been watching me.

Everyone except Liliana.

She settled beside me with an ease that would have irritated me even on a good day and crossed one leg over the other. "You should let us help you relax," she said, her voice deliberately light. "You have been thinking too much about that slut. If you want I can take care of her-"

My gaze snapped toward her. "Don’t."

She either didn’t hear the warning or decided she was brave enough to ignore it. "I’m serious, Reign. You have been acting strange for weeks. You barely come here anymore, you don’t join us as often, and you have stopped-" She paused, studying me before giving me a knowing look. "You’ve stopped enjoying yourself."

I almost laughed.

If only she knew.

The truth was that I hadn’t touched anyone since the night I’d discovered Elara was my mate. Not because I suddenly had some newfound interest in being virtuous, but because once the bond had awakened, the idea of being with anyone else had become unbearable. My wolf rejected it instinctively, and I wasn’t about to betray a bond I had no intention of breaking.

Worse, I couldn’t even explain why the thought of Elara finding out about me being with someone else made something savage twist inside my chest. She had been driving me insane since the day she arrived, and somehow that had become enough to occupy far too much of my mind.

But tonight was no longer about her.

Tonight, my father wanted me home.

I pushed myself to my feet, only for Liliana to move before I could take a step. She shifted directly into my path and tried to stop me, insisting that I needed to stay and let them take my mind off everything.

I stared down at her in disbelief. "Move."

She didn’t. Instead, she made another comment about how I’d become increasingly difficult lately and how perhaps I simply needed to stop pretending I didn’t miss the way things used to be.

That was enough.

I didn’t care that Liliana Everhart was the cherished daughter of Evan Everhart, my father’s closest ally. I didn’t care about the influence her family held or the number of times I’d been reminded that keeping her happy was politically convenient. I had no patience left for political convenience tonight. I stood up with enough force that she lost her balance and landed hard on the floor beside me.

A chorus of shocked gasps filled the room.

I didn’t turn around.

Alaric’s confused voice followed me. "Reign?"

I kept walking.

The basement belonged to us - me, Alaric, Kairo, Esmeray and Lorien. It had always been our private territory, a place where we could escape the world’s endless eyes and expectations. We had allowed a handful of people inside over the years, but that didn’t mean anyone had forgotten the rules. Tonight had reminded me that perhaps I’d been too careless about who was allowed through those doors.

I reached the stairs without sparing Liliana another glance.

Maybe I needed to remind everyone that being close to the Valemonts didn’t give someone permission to treat my territory like their personal playground.

Ten minutes later, I was behind the wheel of my car, the academy disappearing behind me as I accelerated down the mountain road toward the Valemont estate. My father’s summons wasn’t something I could ignore, no matter how much I wanted to. And judging by the tone of my stepmother’s voice, tonight wasn’t going to be a pleasant family visit.

I tightened my grip around the steering wheel.

The road ahead blurred beneath the headlights as I drove deeper into the mountains, my mind already running through every possible reason my father had summoned me. His anger wasn’t unusual. Neither was his obsession with the Valemont name. What was unusual was calling me home over something that had happened at the academy. Maybe it was because Elara slapped me. But somehow that still didn’t sound a big enough matter for him to call me home.

I just hoped that it had nothing to do with Elara and he just wanted to give me another reminder of the responsibilities and expectations I carried.

I slowed when the familiar gates of the Valemont estate appeared ahead. They opened before I even reached them, recognizing the car, and I drove through without stopping. The estate looked exactly as it always had - massive, imposing, and cold. It had never felt like a home to me, not since my mother passed away. To me, now it was just a monument to the family name, nothing more.

I parked outside the main entrance and stepped out, barely waiting for the engine to settle before walking inside. The moment I entered, one of the servants bowed and informed me that my father was waiting in his study.

Of course he was.

I climbed the stairs without answering and stopped outside the familiar wooden doors. For a second, I simply stared at them.

Then I knocked.

"Come in."

I pushed the door open and stepped inside.