I Was Only His Backup Mate, His Second Choice Luna Chapter 03

I Was Only His Backup Mate, His Second Choice Luna Chapter 03

Seven full days passed before Magnus came home.

He arrived with an armful of red roses and takeout boxes from three restaurants that require reservations weeks out.

Aelia trailed in behind him.

None of this was new. We fought over her, we stopped speaking, he let me sit in silence for a few days, then he showed up with presents and acted as though the fight had happened to other people.

“I brought Aelia so she could apologize to your face.”

He gave her a look.

She wasn’t happy about it, but she managed a shallow bend at the waist.

“Last time was my fault. I shouldn’t have called you a mistress and I shouldn’t have thrown the coffee. It was a joke. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Are we done?”

Not a trace of apology anywhere near her eyes. While Magnus was turned away, she mouthed one word at me.

Bitch.

Magnus pushed the roses into my arms. “There. She apologized. It was a little scuffle, and you’ve had a week to cool off. Go revoke the Petition this afternoon.”

I didn’t raise my voice. I moved the roses aside.

“I hate roses.”

Red roses are Aelia’s favorite flower.

I got a thorn deep into my palm when I was small and I’ve hated them ever since. He knows that. He’s known it for years.

I watched him remember. His face shifted, then closed again into that same flat impatience.

“They’re flowers, Estella. You’re going to hold a grudge over flowers?”

I didn’t argue. I pointed at the pile on the table and said to the housekeeper, “Throw it out.”

She didn’t dare touch it. Magnus’s expression went to stone.

“Are you determined to keep this going?”

I’d seen enough of both of them. I turned to leave.

His voice followed me across the room, cold all the way through.

“I’m giving you one last chance. Take the flowers, revoke the Petition, and I’ll pretend none of this happened. Otherwise, when you finally want a way down off this ledge, there won’t be one.”

I didn’t stop walking. “Thank you, Alpha. Save the ladder for someone who needs it.”

Behind me, he laughed. It was the sound of a man past the edge of his temper.

Then he turned to Aelia. “The Thorn family dinner is tonight. Come with me.”

“Me?” She sounded genuinely thrown. “Magnus, it’s a family dinner. In what capacity?”

He reached out and smoothed a hand over her hair.

“As the Luna, obviously.”

I turned around before I could stop myself.

He wasn’t looking at me. He hadn’t looked at me once.

“Aelia. Estella and I will be unbonded soon. Do you want to be the new Luna?”

She threw me a glance so pleased it was almost obscene, and practically shouted it. “Yes! Yes, I do!”

Then he looked back at me, at my white face.

“You’re the one who wanted out. Who I marry afterward is none of your business.”

My voice came out rough. “That’s right. It’s your business and I don’t want any part of it.”

He stared at me for a long moment. Then he seized Aelia’s arm and strode out.

The last thing he threw over his shoulder was, “Don’t come crying about this later, Estella.”