Page 60 of Chasing Luna

My eyebrows furrow in confusion. “For what?” I ask.

“Whenever we wanted to uh… impress girls. We made this made-up company, complete with a fake website and everything,” he explains, voice lowering in volume as he finishes his sentence. “I don’t do that anymore. Just so you know, I don’t care about anyone else—” I put a hand up to make him stop talking.

“I get it. Just… shh.” I shake my head. “Well, that’s good then. I hope you’re all ready for what’s going to happen.”

They nod. “Yes. We saw also what happened earlier,” Luca chimes in.

“How? I didn’t see anyone of you there earlier.”

“We snuck in, stayed in the shadows. Then went back here.” Luca points at Lisa as I look on in stunned silence.

Wow. Even fooling me?“I’m thoroughly impressed.”

“We saw Katarina pass through the back, by the cemetery. She was followed by a couple of pack members outside,” Tommy reports.

“It seems that some members are completely loyal to her,” Vera chimes in, too.

“Well, I figured it would happen,” I mention, knowing full well that others will always follow her no matter how crazy she got. “For now, keep safe and keep your ears peeled for any information about her whereabouts. She might have spies inside this family. And another thing, on the night of my coronation, I need you to make a distraction away from the estate. I need to do something for him.” I gesture to Gregory. “Just a couple of minutes of distraction will suffice.”

Hope it’s not overwhelming him badly at this point.

They all nod in response as I finish up my reminders. I look at Gregory, who seems resolved to finish this madness once and for all. “It’s now or never,” I whisper to him as we make our way back into the main house.

Chapter Fifty-Six

“Happy birthday, my princess.”I looked up to see the smiling face of my dad, as he pushed a gift into my hands.

“Oh, what is this?”I heard myself say.

“Open it! I think you’ll like it.”He pinched my cheek lovingly. I unwrapped the neat gift and came face to face with theheadof my sister: Katarina.

Just then, the picture-perfect scene I had with my father turned into something grotesque.

“You better hide,”Katarina’s disembodied head said.“I’m coming after you!”She smirked.

I wake up in my bed, startled and close to tears.

“Well, that’s not a good omen,” I mention, rubbing my chest in an attempt to calm myself down. It’s been a week since my sister left the house and was banished from the family. It’s been quiet. Peaceful, even. Without the constant need to look over my shoulder to see if anyone’s after me, I’m actually enjoying myself at home. A knock on my door startles me. “Eliza,” I greet as I open the door.

“Happy birthday, Isabela,” she says and hands me my breakfast.

“Oh, breakfast in bed? How kind of you,” I tease and she rolls her eyes.

“Don’t get used to it. It’s just to greet you a happy birthday.” She smiles.

“It’s not until later,” I note as I take a sip of the coffee in front of me.

“Well, I might not get a chance to greet you again. Today’s going to be quite busy. I heard there are tons of people coming over tomorrow to greet the new Queen.” She nudges my knee. “Speaking of, are you ready to take your throne?”

I immediately shake my head no. “Absolutely not. But I don’t have a choice. Besides, there’s still a lot for me to learn. Maybe, I can learn on the go.”

She sighs. “I don’t like how you’re treating this as if it’s a role-playing game.”

“Well, what do you want me to say? I literally have no clue what to do. My grandmother never said anything about being a Queen. She never gave me any of her wise teachings, she just focused on my sisters. And look at how that backfired on her.” I shrug, taking a bite of the croissant. “Now, I don’t want to embarrass myself in front of everyone, much less the pack members I’m about to look after. But I have no choice but to learn as I go about my days. I’ll definitely stumble, but,” I gulp down the breakfast pastry and take another swig of coffee, “I trust myself more than anyone else in this world. I’ll be fine,” I say, and take another bite.

Eliza nods. “And what about Gregory?”

I freeze. “What about him?” I ask and she shrugs.

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