31 Now show some respect will ya

The car was so silent you could hear if a pin drops, only I can't though.

I am currently lost in my thoughts, thinking of how things would go and how I would take care of this situation, partially hoping it's not too late to back out.

I mean I don't know these people I'm about to go face, what if they're not as much human as the people I've seen?

I kept reassuring myself with Selene's words though.

I'm strong, brave, funny, and smart. It was like I never knew until she told me whereas, at a point in my life, I was more than aware, those points were my stronghold.

"Layla," Damien said as we parked in front of the hall that shielded the field behind and his face was asking me if I had any change of mind but even if I do, I know this is a must, at least that's if I want to survive.

"Let's go," I said opening the door myself and climbing out just as the rest of us did.

"Layla, are you sure about this?" Claire asked with concern on her face and I smiled

"Common, you were the one telling me to take action yesterday, are you doubting me now?" I said and Damien gave me a confused look

"Telling you to..." he started before Claire cut him off

"But still, isn't it too early?" she asked and I was happy that she was concerned about me

"It's now or never," I said with a reassuring smile before leading the way into the double doors of TG

Damien then led me through another entrance other than the one I knew. The entrance led to a podium backstage and from the murmurs, I was hearing, I could tell a lot of people were gathered there

"All those people are against me being Luna?!" I exclaimed

"No not all, those people are the decision-making members of this pack and by decision-making, I mean men over the age of thirty and have accomplished one or two things," he said smiling as I exhaled in relief, for a moment there I thought I had the whole town against me

"That's a relief," I said facing the door that led to the stage

"Let's do this" and without wasting another second as I might have to change my mind, I opened the door to the podium, the silence that followed was ear-shattering and the number of people here is mind-blowing.

I could roughly count forty men sitting and staring at me like I'm some Zombie dropped by mistake

"Good morning," Damien said as he appeared beside me and broke the silence with his booming voice

"Good morning Alpha" they all replied in unison while bowing their heads

"So I'll take it we all know why we're here," he said once again gaining a nod from each head in the room and the action looked and felt rhythmic

"So then I'll go straight to the point, who was behind the attempt?" he ask in a rather cold voice which sent a shiver down my spine

Earning no reply from anyone Damien's face fell into anger rapidly and I could sense the trouble brewing so I placed a hand on his chest making him look at me before saying with a smile

"Why don't I take it from here?" and without waiting for his reply I faced the crowd

"Good morning to you all," I said sweetly and nicely while pasting a bright smile to my face

"Good morning Luna" some replied while the others just greeted 'Good morning' back and let me say, that hit a nerve, they are all well aware I am the Luna and some still acted as if they don't? Hiding my emotion behind my smile I continued

"Sorry about Damien's behavior, he's a little on the edge as his mate was almost killed last night," I said slowly, stressing on the word 'mate' and 'almost killed' and that made the people who had turned their faces away from me bring it back, probably because it's their first time of hearing it or because of the way I said it as if I was joking

"You know it's surprising how y'all can hear me even though I'm not stressing my vocal cords or using a microphone," I said and some of them rolled their eyes

"I learned it's one of the perks of being a werewolf, amazing ability I must say," I said still acting indifferent and I could hear some faint scoff from the people right in front of me but decided to overlook it, at least for now

"Now don't you think it'll be so absurd and silly if y'all deny the fact that you didn't hear anything about what happened last night?" I said and I guess it struck a nerve seeing as some of them had a scowl on their face

"Now common, you people aren't mute, are you?" I said with a scoff of my own, letting my intention surface a little bit

"And how dare you speak to us that way" I heard someone say and looking in the direction where the voice came from I saw a group of old men mixed with some younger ones, sitting and gracing their faces with an animal-like scowl

"And how..." Damien started before I cut him off with a glare

"Now show some respect will ya," I said moving toward the man

"How impudent, just who do you think you are?" he said growling this time while standing up and if not for the raised podium I was standing on, we'd be staring right at each other's eyes but instead I was looking down on him, laughing.

"Common old man, we both know who I am," I said sarcastically before walking to the middle of the stage

"And for those who don't know, I am Layla Thomas, the mate to your Alpha, the Luna to your pack, and the person whom some set of people attempted to eradicate last night," I said in a cold and authoritative voice, making it known to all that I wasn't there to play, laugh or smile with anybody, I meant business and only business

"And you are?" I asked looking right into the old man's blazing gold eyes and I could feel the anger burning in them but I shunned it

"Montero, Richardo Montero," he said menacingly and I felt a little bit scared, I could tell if not for Damien's presence beside me, he would have attacked me without second thoughts

"Now Richardo, I can already tell you are behind all this," I said with a smile earning a gasp from everyone present.

I think they were shocked at the way I was direct with this man. I could tell he's one of the Elders with his face but him mentioning his name confirmed this. He's Rebecca's father and the leader of the group that wanted me gone but then I decided to act as if I didn't know.

"Why the gasp, I'm correct right?" I said looking into the people's eye

"Of course I'm right, I mean what else could explain the audacity you have to look at me with such eyes and act rudely"

"What right do you think you have to talk to him like that? To talk to us like that? It's like you're forgetting something here, you're just a human and you can't stand against us" the younger man to Montero's left said as he stood beside him

"Now this is how y'all decide to show your faces" I started with a hint of anger "now do me the honors of standing up one by one and identifying yourselves," I said menacingly

"How..." one other man started before I cut him off

"But before you start, I'll like you to take into consideration these simple facts" I stated coldly

"Firstly, I have every right as I am the Luna of this pack, the Queen of this land. Secondly, as you are standing up, please put in mind that you are identifying yourselves as what is it called again?" I said looking around for fake assistance before saying "traitors, yes traitors to this pack. I mean what else can trying to kill your Queen signify if not treason?" I finished and I could see the shock on everyone's face.

Common I wasn't even that harsh, I wasn't even bitchy at all, I just stated facts and they are surprised?

"You can never be my Queen," Montero said with a venom laced voice and I smirked

"Well now Elder Richardo Montero, be my guest," I said and before I knew it, two guards were beside him holding him down.

That wasn't in my plan though, I looked at Damien, using my eyes to ask for what's going on and he just tilted his head to the crowd while looking at me, telling me to continue

"You cunt! How dare you! You are well aware that I am an Elder in this pack and you are acting so impudently?! Who do you think you are?!" he screamed as he tried to remove himself from the guards' hold

"And once again I'll repeat myself, but this would be the last time," I said tiredly "I am your Luna," I said raising my voice in anger

"And you ask how dare me? How dare you?" I roared, anger visible on my face

"You bastard! Who do you think you are?! You are well aware I am your Luna and you dare act rudely towards me! All because you're a motherfucking Elder?!" I questioned while replying his

And by now I could see the respect and fear visible on some of their faces including his.

Visibly taking a deep breath to calm down I continued "Now Ric, I'll be nice to you and your people" I started

"I'll give you a chance to select your punishment, I mean common isn't that nice of me? You didn't even give me a chance to show my face to you or for you to see what I'm made of before you jumped to a conclusion and decided to kill me but now I'm giving you a chance, proving to you how nice I am"

"Any objections?" I asked with a smile

"Fuck you, no way in hell am I going to bow to you" I heard someone say from the left side but his face was hidden from my sight.

Irritated by this I commanded "Grab him" and in a blink of an eye, he was dragged out.

I had to question why these guards are super fast though, they move like lightning

"Well, we'll cut the formalities since you don't like me," I said nonchalantly "when you get to hell, you'll eat your words and in the hopes that you get reincarnated, please make sure you be obedient to your superiors as untimely death is not so nice," I said and the shock on his face which he tried so hard to hide but couldn't make me laugh

"Kill him" I commanded and a gasp of horror filled the hall as some people looked away from the gory scene which is about to unfold.

I felt like a different me right at this moment. Yes, I was just joking and didn't mean the command I gave but still, I couldn't believe I could say such a thing without flinching.

These people most likely would see me as food on a normal day but here I am, acting all bossy and controlling over them as if they are my school mate and I am the campus president.

I even forgot all of them are way older than I am and just went full Luna on them, but as shocking as it is, I won't deny the thrill I felt as I saw their horror-filled face, respect-filled face, and shocked filled face. I would forever remember this day as every moment is being imprinted in my memory.

"On second thoughts don't," I said in a calm voice just as his head was about to be removed from his body.

The way this man fell on his knees trembling got me weak and I felt pity for him.

I understand where he is coming from and even if I were the one, I bet I'll act the same way. I mean I'm a strong person and then all of a sudden some weakling from nowhere appears all of a sudden and wants to rule over me? I wouldn't even think before refusing but still, attempting to murder me is just out of it.

"Are you mated?" I asked with a curiosity filled face "of course you are, I bet you have kids too" I said with a wicked glint in my eyes

"Bring them here" I commanded

"No!" he shrieked as he crawled to the base of the podium "don't touch them, they did nothing wrong, how can you be so heartless?" he said in disbelief and I had to suppress the urge to slap him

"Heartless?" I stated as if the words were strange to my mouth "so I am the heartless one here" I said looking around making sure to look my eyes with every single one of them

"Why didn't you stop Elder Montero as he schemed my demise?" I questioned looking at the face with the said man

"Why didn't you think of the pain Damien would have to go through if I died, at least I didn't do anything wrong, neither did he," I said in a pained voice.

"You all never gave me a chance, you never even thought about why it had to be me Selene chose for Damien, you just concluded you didn't want me, and seeing that Damien didn't cave in you decided to take matters into your hands and here you are asking me how I can be so heartless?" I said disbelief, anger, and pain lacing my voice

"Bring them here?" I roared in anger

"No! Please no! Luna don't, I bet of you! Please!" he cried as he kept screaming but there was only one thing I deduced from all this

The greatest weakness of a werewolf is their mate, seeing as pity and resignation lied on their faces as they all took in the intensity of my words and action

"Please" he begged and I crouched

"Your name?" I asked and he looked up into my eyes with his teary brown one

"Lucas, Lucas Armand" he whispered

"Well Lucas, I didn't mean any of my threats, not even one of them," I said smiling and I could see he still couldn't comprehend my statement.

Giving him some seconds to let it sink in, I laughed at his expression, It was relief laced with shock

"What?!" I heard the people present say and I smiled before standing up and moving closer to my mate whose face showed just how proud he felt with the smile that was engraved on it.

"I just want you all to give me a chance, give us a chance. Common can't you see the relationship we already have? Because I can. I can see us laughing and eating together while getting about this day already" I said with a pleading face

"I want you all to trust me and I want to trust you all, I want us to work hand in hand and make this place a more lively place for us all" I concluded

"But..." Elder Montero started and I had to cut him off

"Now no more buts Elder, just agree already," I said earning a laugh from everyone

After some seconds of silence and small talks between themselves, they smiled and faced me again.

I could already see it in their faces that they had accepted me and I couldn't be more proud of myself

"Now let's forget about our differences, including the fact that I'm human and you guys tried to kill me and start afresh," I said earning a nod of approval from everyone including Elder Montero who was now smiling at me

It felt funny to think minutes ago, he wanted to kill me with his eye

"Welcome Luna," they all said bowing and turning me around to hug me tightly, Damien whispered into my ears

"Welcome home my love, I love you with all my heart," he said with so much pride lacing his voice that I felt complete

I'm happy I decided to listen to Selene after all, I don't think I could feel more complete than I am right now