Chapter 3

* Leonora *

I shivered lightly as I clutched my jacket to my chest. Today's weather was exceptionally colder than usual. I don't know why I chose to go for a walk but I needed to clear my head. I didn't want to also admit to myself that I was waiting for another letter. For the past two days, I hadn't received an RCC letter which was strange. They never faulted their time.

I still remember the last thing they wrote. '…before we take matters into our own hands.' It sounded so vague but I didn't expect less from the Council especially with Jax as the King.

I walked along the path that was becoming all too familiar. I take this route a couple of times but I'm smart enough to know not to make it my frequent route. It is quite easy to trail after someone. I wouldn't lie and say I haven't tried it because I have. I noticed that there are people they call regulars. They never change their route. Familiarity was their best friend.

With a bounty on my head, I couldn't afford to be a regular. I learnt to give a nod here and there, smile at little kids as they played around the park and thank the nice man who offered an umbrella when it was raining. But anything more than that would make me noticeable, traceable.

"Leonora." As the wind blew fiercely against my face, I heard my name. I stopped in my walk, trying to listen again but I immediately decided that it was a dumb idea. There are other Leonoras. It's probably a friend calling out to another girl.

"Leonora." I heard again. This time the voice sounded a bit familiar. I picked up my steps in a bid to hurry back to my apartment or at least walk around my block a couple of times to confuse the person.

I felt something touch me and I instinctively used my elbow to hit whoever was behind me. I heard a body drop to the ground with a loud grunt. I turned around and gasped. It wasn't expecting her. It was Bethany, my best friend, writhing in pain on the ground.

"Bethany." I called as I bent to the ground and offered her a hand. She took my hand in hers and pulled herself up. "What are you doing here? Are you being followed?" I asked. That was the most important question. If there was someone else tagging along, I would have to take her to a motel and give her the sob story I had been practicing for over two years now.

"I'm not being followed." She said as she clutched her stomach. "King Jax sent me but I could really use a chair instead of the ground." She said as I pulled her up until she was standing. "You've certainly gotten a bit stronger. That punch was actually painful." She said as she massaged her stomach. If I had known it was her, I certainly wouldn't have hit her like that.

"Well, I practice a lot now." I said as I linked our hands and started walking towards the closest motel. As much as she's my best friend, I couldn't trust that she was alone. Jax is not exactly stupid and I've prepared myself to be ready for his every move.

"I honestly understand why you don't want to come back. I saw that they sell food on the street. That's really cool." She said in a sing song, almost as if she wasn't in pain a few seconds ago. "The kitchen has been boring without you."

"I mean, who would tell you all those jokes. No one can do it like me." I bragged as I pulled her to the path leading to the right. I noticed her glancing towards the left. I didn't want to believe that she wasn't followed. She was my best friend.

Still is. I think.

I didn't really know where we stood especially after all these years. Going no contact with the pack was very necessary but I knew it was going to cost me my best friend. The only person I had left in this world.

"We're still friends right?" I asked her and she nodded gleefully. "Just asking because, you know…" I trailed off, not knowing what else to say to her.

"There's no way we can stop being best friends. We've been through hell together and I don't think anyone would understand me like you do." She said as she leaned closer to me, casually placing her head on my shoulder as we got closer to the motel.

"I missed you so much. I couldn't come back after what happened to Noah." I admitted. "I didn't think I could look at Jax anymore. He's the reason why Noah isn't here." I said as I felt a lump gather in my throat. It has been a long time since I spoke about Noah. There was no one I could talk to. No one would understand. How would I explain that I spent my whole life in a forest working as a kitchen volunteer. The humans would say we were a cult.

And I was starting to believe them.

"It's okay. We mourned for Noah. Well it was just us the 'kitchen volunteers'." She said as she squeezed my hand for comfort. "I hope you're okay though."

There was this thing the humans called therapy. I had contemplated it a couple of times but I couldn't afford to spend my money talking to someone that would understand what I am and where I'm coming from. They would immediately call me a freak of nature.

I couldn't afford to listen to their name calling that's why I opted for my late night walks and the occasional parting with my school mates.

I stopped in front of the motel and sighed. "So here we are." I announced as she pulled away from me. She looked at me with a slight frown.

"You live here?" She asked as she pointed over at the motel and I nodded. "I wasn't told."

"Who told you?" I asked and she looked away from me, not wanting to answer me. "Beth? Who told you!"

"Okay fine! It was Jax. He sent me here." She said and I groaned. All this time I kept thinking that their version of taking matters into their own hands meant they would send warriors after me. I didn't expect Jason would send Bethany to me. For what reason exactly.

"Why?" I asked and she pursed her lips. Why was she being secretive? It reminded me that we've been apart for years now and I couldn't really tell the kind of person she was now. Maybe she was now his loyal follower.

"I think we should just go inside and talk. This place is creepy." She said as she walked towards the front door, gesturing for me to follow her inside.

There was something just odd about Bethany. I was trying not to be suspicious about her reason for coming here but she hadn't given me a reason not to be.

I followed after her and I winked at the front desk attendant, who threw a key at me. I grabbed the key and I led Bethany to my designated room. When I started working, I thought of the idea of having a backup plan. I told the manager about how I had been abused my partner and she fell for it. It wasn't entirely a lie. Jax is my mate. It was the Moon goddess that chose me to be his Queen but he couldn't do it.

To him, I wasn't worthy. I was just his servant.

My job was to serve him till I die. And to top it off, there was also Claire. In my story, she was the woman he was cheating on me with. It was so easy to come up with the story because it was my whole life with a little embellishment.

The manager fell for my story and offered a room for me as my backup plan in case my toxic ex comes to find me. I was honestly grateful for how gullible humans were. If I were to report Jax and Claire to someone like me, they'll only tell me to pray to the moon goddess to soften Jax's heart but they wouldn't advise me to run away unless they were rogues. They'll tell me to endure the abuse and torture. They'll tell me that he's a King and I'm just a lowly Omega. They'll tell me how it was very rare for the Moon goddess to pair an Omega with a King. They'll tell me how I can never be a perfect Queen.

And they were right. I would never be a perfect Queen for Jax.

I opened the door to the room and gestured for Bethany to enter first. This night would definitely be a long night.