GRANDFATHER RAGNAR'S ESTATE, 9AM
Aria's POV
I arrived at Grandfather Ragnar's estate exactly at 9 AM, dressed in a black power suit that hugged my curves in all the right places and made me look like I owned the damn world. The guards at the entrance bowed as I passed and I walked through those massive doors with my head held so high you'd think I was royalty instead of a rejected Luna.
Grandfather Ragnar was sitting at the head of this long ass dining table looking older than I remembered, but that wasn't what made my steps falter when I entered the room.
Jeffrey was there. Mateo's father, sitting with his hands folded like he was about to deliver some kind of sermon, and right across from him was Jonas, Mateo's snake of a cousin, smirking at me like Christmas came early and I was the present he'd been waiting for.
This wasn't a breakfast invitation. This was a f**king ambush.
I straightened my shoulders and walked to the empty seat like I owned the place, sitting down with so much grace that even the omega serving tea looked impressed. If these men wanted to play games, I'd play, but I'd make sure I won.
"Aria," Grandfather Ragnar started and his voice had that disappointed tone that used to make me feel guilty back when I actually gave a sh*t about disappointing people. "You've been like a granddaughter to me for years and this rebellion you're staging right now, it's beneath you, child."
Rebellion? I almost laughed right in his face.
"Rebellion?" I said and my voice was so cool and collected it could've frozen the tea in their cups. "That's an interesting way to describe self-respect, Grandfather, but I guess when you've been teaching your grandson that women are disposable for years, the concept must be foreign to you."
The room went dead silent and I could see Jeffrey's face turning red while Jonas tried to hide his grin behind his coffee cup.
Jeffrey cleared his throat and leaned forward with that fake gentle expression he always wore when he wanted something. "Aria, let's be reasonable here and think about what's best for the pack's stability, you can't just—"
"I've thought about nothing except what's best for this pack for four years straight," I cut him off and my voice was sharp enough to draw blood. "Four years of putting Silvermoon first, of sacrificing my happiness, of watching my husband f**k around with his mistress while I smiled and played the perfect Luna, so don't you dare sit there and lecture me about thinking of the pack when none of you ever thought about me."
Jonas chose that moment to speak up, that smirk still plastered on his face like he was enjoying dinner theater. "Speaking of which, I heard some interesting news this morning and word is that Bella's moving into the Luna's quarters officially, Mateo's even giving her the title of Assistant Luna, which is funny because I didn't know we were running a brothel instead of a pack."
He was trying to provoke me and get me angry enough to do something stupid, but I'd learned my lesson about letting these men manipulate my emotions.
"Then she can have all my duties along with the workload that comes with them," I said and kept my expression bored like we were discussing the weather instead of my replacement. "Let's see how long the poor girl lasts when she actually has to work instead of just warming Mateo's bed, I give her three days before she's crying to daddy about how hard being Luna actually is."
Jeffrey's face got even redder but Grandfather Ragnar did something I didn't expect. He almost smiled and for a second, I saw a flash of respect in those old eyes before it disappeared.
"The Council hearing," Ragnar said and now his voice was serious. "You need to understand that we have considerable influence there, Aria, and if you push this rejection through publicly, it's going to make Silvermoon look weak to the other territories and alphas will start circling like sharks smelling blood in the water."
I leaned forward and placed my hands flat on the table, meeting his eyes without flinching even a little bit. "Are you threatening me right now, Grandfather? Because it sure sounds like you're threatening me."
The silence stretched between us for what felt like forever and I watched something shift in Ragnar's expression, something that looked almost like shame.
"I'm the one who pushed Mateo to marry you in the first place," he admitted quietly and his voice had lost that commanding tone. "I thought you'd be good for him, thought you'd balance out his rougher edges and make him a better alpha, but I was wrong to force it and I can see that now, but Aria, if you go through with this rejection in front of the entire Council, every pack in the region is going to see it as instability and they'll use it against us."
"Then maybe Mateo should've thought about pack stability before he decided to humiliate me in front of everyone repeatedly," I shot back and stood up from my chair because I was done with this conversation. "Before he stripped me of every responsibility I had just to punish me for having a backbone, before he moved his mistress into our home and expected me to smile about it."
Jonas let out a low whistle. "She's got more fire than I gave her credit for and I'm starting to understand why Mateo's losing his mind trying to get her back."
"Shut your mouth, Jonas," Jeffrey snapped at his nephew and then turned back to me with desperation creeping into his voice. "Aria, please, just think about what you're doing here and the consequences—"
"I have thought about it," I interrupted him and started walking toward the door. "I've thought about nothing else actually, and you know what I realized? That for four years, I've been the only one in this family who cared about consequences while Mateo did whatever the hell he wanted without considering how it would affect me or the pack or anyone else."
I reached the door and then turned back to look at all three of them sitting there. "I loved your grandson, Grandfather and I would've done anything for him, given up anything, sacrificed everything, but he chose someone else and now I'm choosing myself."
I walked out before any of them could say another word and left them sitting there with their mouths hanging open.