Page 59 of Moon Cursed

I threw up my hands. “What the hell do you want? A video of me expelling her from my fucking womb?!”

“Huh— Actually, yes,” he replied, his volume turning down. “I do want to see that. Alright, Volana, a video of you having a baby, and I’ll believe that you, in fact, had a baby.”

“Well— I—” Frustration choked me. “I don’t have a video of the birth!”

His smug grin made me want to kill him.

“Don’t look at me like that,” I snapped. “I had zero desire to replay, or show everyone, my vagina ripping apart as I pushed a bloody, screaming watermelon out of it. Not every woman does, and that’s not weird!” I tossed my head. “What the fuck are we even talking about? This has nothing to do with anything!

“Badr, I’ve told you what’s at stake. You have to believe me. You have to help me!” I couldn’t believe I was reduced to reasoning with him. Pleading with him. But what choice did I have? I was dying from the broken bond. I didn’t have three months to defeat the alpha council. Going by how quickly my wolf was deteriorating, I’d be lucky if I had a month. “Everything I’m doing is for the good of our world. If Luame could speak to you, she’d tell you the same fucking thing!”

His expression refused to soften. “Luame’s not here, Volana. It’s just you and me, but how about this?” Badr clapped. “I make you a one-time-only offer. Proof,” he growled. “Give me one shred of proof for any of the things you told me that night. I’ll even wait right here and let you go get it if you need to.

“Proof of justoneof your claims,” Badr said, holding up a finger. “Proof that my brother was poisoned, proof that Dagem arranged his murder, proof that half the fucking staff was involved, proof that Rici was murdered too, proof the alpha council somehow figured out the future before you—the child of the moon goddess—did, and that they have been plotting and planning to turn all of Wolf Nation into a nightmarish hellscape of rape and genocide.”

My mind spun. “I— Uh— Nia,” I blurted. “She was there the night Rici was murdered. She’ll tell you everything.”

Badr was shaking his head before I finished. “She’s an omega. She’ll say what she’s told.”

“But not by me! I’m not an alpha. I can’t command her to lie.”

“But all the alphas she witnessed murder Rici would.” Bright, burning eyes saw straight through me. “Seriously, Volana, that was the most ridiculous part of your story. I’m supposed to believe an omega saw Dagem and Sunella murder the most powerful werewolf in Europe, and instead of killing her or commanding her to keep silent, they just let her skip out of the room to tell you all about it?” Badr barked a laugh. “You must really think we’re all empty-headed pussy hounds like the boy toys you’ve got dangling from your fingertips.”

“No, that’s not it.” Anger made my claws sprout. “They didn’t kill her because they were still using her and her power, and they didn’t have to command her because slaughtering her brothers is a pretty effective threat!”

More headshaking. “Give it up, Volana, I’m not buying it. What else you got?”

I let out a scream, wishing I could wrap my clawed hands around his neck and squeeze, but even then, my wolf wanted to rub my naked body all over his muck-covered form. How could I want and hate someone so much and so equally? “Okay, fine. I can show you the web of payments from Sunella to Dagem, and then Dagem to her co-conspirators.”

He waved that away. “That wouldn’t prove anything. You can prove they were paid, you can’t prove what they were paid for.”

“What the hell are you? A lawyer!”

“I would’ve been if a certain psychopath hadn’t murdered my brother.” He smiled mirthlessly at me. “Without the heir, Papa Cygnus turned on the spare to carry on his legacy, and that included protecting Wolf Nation from people like you.”

I balled my fists, ignoring the vicious pain of my own claws piercing my palms. “All right. Fine. I didn’t want to do this but...” I blew out a rough breath. “Hope.”

“I already told you, pictures of some kid aren’t—”

“I’ll show you her powers,” I sliced in, cutting him off. “She really is a prodigy. She’s already started displaying them.” My eyes latched on to his. “And that will convince you, won’t it? A werewolf baby brimming with more than one impossible power, when having more than one was itself believed to be impossible. That will prove that everything I said was true, yes?”

Badr studied me for a long, silent spell. Tipping up his chin, he said, “Yes. That will prove it.”

“Follow me.”

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