Chapter 32: The Press Conference

Selene POV

"Are you ready?" the editor assigned to interview us asked.

The press conference was about to begin, and I was carrying a seed inside me. I had to be careful about every word that left my mouth.

A makeup artist was working on my face, preparing me for the scene.

"You have to look your best," she said, pressing foundation and concealer into my skin with practiced hands.

I smiled and said nothing. Lucian was probably getting ready by then, or so I assumed.

It was the two of us doing this press conference together. That still baffled me. Why us two? I had always wondered why they were going to treat us like a couple. We weren’t married. If anything, I was more like his whore ... one who was now carrying his child.

I turned on my internet while the makeup artist worked and saw something that stopped my heart cold.

"Astrid set free for the murder of Zane, the library’s cleaner, while Draven was sent into exile ... did Bloodmoon do justice?"

The headline stared back at me like a slap.

Damn. So the case had been reopened. It meant I had been proven innocent. Finally. After everything.

But nobody had called. Nobody had messaged me saying I was welcome back in Bloodmoon whenever I chose to return. It had to be because I had been claimed by Lucian, the Alpha of Winterwood. In their eyes, I already belonged somewhere else.

Why was Astrid let go? Why didn’t she face the same punishment as Draven ... or worse? I turned the question over in my head, unable to make sense of it.

"There must be something going on behind the scenes," Nara said inside my head.

"Hmm. Yes. Astrid has always been a sneaky bitch. She must have found her way out again."

"That doesn’t mean you’ve been granted amnesty or that you ever will be," Nara continued, pouring cold water on every flicker of relief I felt.

That was what she always did. Every time she spoke, she planted fear and killed whatever confidence I was trying to hold onto. She didn’t feel like a companion. She felt more like an enemy living inside me, sabotaging me from within.

Astrid and Draven’s story only proved one thing to me ... that bad doesn’t go unrewarded forever. We all reap what we sow. Astrid might have gotten away with it for now, but what she deserved would eventually catch up with her. I had decided to be good. To keep being good. That was the only ground I could stand on.

"And who’s going to bring judgment on her? You?" Nara sneered from somewhere deep inside me.

I wanted to mute her. Permanently.

"That’s none of your business, Nara," I nearly said out loud. The makeup artist shot me a look ... are you okay?

"Sorry," I said with a short laugh, lifting my phone. "It’s what I’m reading on my phone."

She relaxed and went back to blending.

Nara was slowly making me look unhinged. Something had to be done about this dead bitch, and fast.

When the makeup artist was done, we were escorted outside to the area set up for the conference. Two guards flanked me on either side. The venue was an open field, and it was packed. It looked like all of Winterwood had turned out in person. Those who hadn’t were probably streaming from home.

Lucian was already seated when I arrived, waiting for it to begin. I took my place beside him.

Cameras and lights were everywhere. The moment the spotlight landed on me, my blood pressure spiked. My eyes began to dilate. I wanted the earth to crack open and swallow me whole.

Tessa stood behind us with Beta Kael.

"Welcome, Ms. Selene. Welcome, Alpha Lucian," the interviewer said, opening the floor.

A second journalist stepped forward and went straight for the throat.

"Let’s get right to the heart of this. When did you confirm you were pregnant, Ms. Selene?"

My shyness must have been painfully obvious, because he followed it up with, "It’s okay. It’s just a press conference. You’re safe. Take a breath and answer when you’re ready."

That helped more than I expected.

"I started feeling uneasy," I said, pulling the mic closer. "I knew something was off with me. It wasn’t until I was tested that it was confirmed ... I was pregnant."

"Alpha Lucian," another journalist called out, "how do you feel about receiving this news from one of your breeders?"

Lucian smiled. "I feel incredible. Beyond what words can capture."

"This means you could be getting an heir. How does that change the trajectory of Winterwood?"

"Getting an heir means the continuation of a legacy," Lucian said. "The fulfillment of dreams that outlast a single life." I thought his answer was beautiful, even if I had no business feeling that way.

"What if it’s not a male?" someone else shot from the crowd.

"It’ll be a male," Lucian said, smiling.

A camera swung toward my face.

"How do we know this child belongs to the Alpha? How can we be sure you’re not an impostor?"

I looked around. They were going off the rails.

"I haven’t been with any other wolf except the Alpha," I said, swallowing hard ... not because I was lying, but because the tension was crushing me.

"No offensive or inappropriate questions, please," Lucian said firmly, cutting the air after I finished.

"Of course, Alpha. Our apologies." The journalist shifted papers. "What does this pregnancy offer as a premise for choosing a Luna? Is she the one? And what happens to the rest of your breeders?"

Lucian leaned forward slightly, scanning the crowd to find the voice.

"The rest of my breeders did not fall pregnant for me. My duty remains to protect them. But for the one who carries my child, it goes beyond protection. I have to take care of her and the seed she carries. So if you’re asking whether there will be favouritism ... yes. There will be. As for who will be my Luna, that is a personal decision. When I am ready, I will choose. Thank you."

Soft applause rippled across the field.

They’re going too personal, I thought. I’m only pregnant. That alone isn’t enough ground to make me his Luna.

"We should be expecting that choice soon, then," a journalist called from the back of the crowd.

Another voice picked up before Lucian could respond.

"Selene ... given what just happened in your home territory of Bloodmoon, you’ve been declared not guilty of a crime they once accused you of. Do you have any plans to return?"

The one question I had been dreading.

It was too personal and now every ear in the field was waiting on my answer. I had to be wise. I lifted the mic.

"Bloodmoon is no longer my home," I said carefully. "I was claimed by the Alpha of Winterwood, and I am now carrying his child. I don’t see a return to Bloodmoon in my near future."

Soft applause came again. Some murmurs. A few boos from further back ... which I had expected. My words were never going to sit well with everyone.

"And finally, Alpha ... the woman standing behind you, Tessa Crane, is your betrothed mate. You haven’t marked her. You haven’t married her. Is she a lost cause now, or does she still have a chance at becoming Luna?"

Lucian’s composure shattered.

"That is way past the line," he said, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous register as he fixed his glare on the journalist who had opened the conference. "Don’t make me come down there and square this with you personally."

"You still have to answer, sir," the journalist pressed.

Lucian slammed his hand on the table. The mic went flying. He stood up and walked off without another word, fury rolling off him in waves.

Silence swallowed the field.

Tessa stepped forward, picked up the fallen mic and said coldly, "That was completely inappropriate." Then she walked away too.

Kael moved to my side and helped me to my feet, steering me toward the Alpha’s chambers as the questions erupted again ... louder, more frenzied than before. Journalists surged forward, cameras thrust in my direction, voices layering over one another in a wall of noise. Kael kept his body between them and me, guiding me firmly through the chaos and safely inside.

The press conference had been a noose dressed up as a platform, and I had a feeling Lucian felt exactly the same.