Chapter 67 - The Threat

CELESTINA VILLARAMA'S POV

Time seemed to have stopped the second that Siege pulled me around to force me to face him. I knew that the spotlight was directed towards my sister at the stage, who was still giving out her speech, but for the very first time in my life, I felt as if the entire crowd had their eyes set on me and nobody else.

I could barely see his face, but I can't be mistaken that it was the alpha who was in front of me. "Why did you agree to have Stella as the Crimson Moon Pack's Luna, Siege? This wasn't included in any of our previous conversations at all. We still have to return to our world, right? You're just toying with Stella's heart, right?" I consecutively questioned him, letting my vision get blurry with all of the tears that gathered in my eyes.

Siege asked me to let go of him, so I released my hold on his wrists. "You're still not ready to be on the same level as me, Celestina," he said, comparing me with my sister. "I finally saw the full potential of Stella, unlike you, who's still in the development stage," he added, just to make me feel worse.

I thought that I would be thankful that I got to see him tonight and be alone with him, away from Stella, but I was utterly mistaken. If only I had known in advance that the alpha would just ridicule me, I wouldn't have gone here in a rush.

"Why couldn't you just wait for my curse to be removed, Siege? Why are you trying to find a replacement for me already?" I held on to the hem of his suit, bowing my head down to avoid letting him witness my tears that were endlessly flowing to my cheeks. "This is all my fault. I should've been born stronger."

Siege placed his hand on my head, slowly ruffling my hair as if he wanted to console me with such a gentle gesture. "You're not the one at fault here, Celestina. Don't blame yourself. I'll wrap things up as soon as I confirm that you're my fated mate," he replied. "For now, play along with Stella acting as my partner, hmm?" His voice was soothing to my ears, so even if I wanted to show him my disapproval, I couldn't.

"If my sister is your fake Luna, then does that mean the rumor about her being pregnant with your child is also fake?" I wiped the tears off of my face to clearly see the reaction of the alpha.

Siege's eyebrows furrowed. "How did you..." He covered his mouth, contemplating how I knew about it.

I hissed, faking a laugh. "So you're planning to raise a family with Stella, then take me as your next Luna once my curse is revoked?" I looked elsewhere, scoffing as I couldn't believe that Siege really got my sister pregnant.

Out of all the rumors I heard, I still chose not to believe them, as long as I still haven't heard Siege's response. But now that I saw how he acted like he was meaning to hide the truth from me and sweep it under the rug, I knew that I'd only end up hurting myself in the end.

"Why did I even go here?" I tilted my head upwards, stopping my tears from further streaming down my face, as I didn't want him to see me getting emotional.

After all, Siege wanted a woman who's strong enough, not just physically.

"We were never meant to be, Celestina. If that damn Moon Goddess finally favors us someday, then I'm sure that we'd get to accept each other without any issues, no matter what," Siege muttered in such a calming way.

I repetitively shook my head. "No thanks, Siege. I'd rather take the risk of the portal, lose my memories for good, or die, than continue living with the fact that you're the father of my sister's pups," I said.

"You're not in a position to reject me either way," Siege proudly replied, along with a short sigh.

The crowd stopped with their applause when the alpha was the one being called on stage. All of them seemed to be searching for Siege's whereabouts, and they have completely no idea that he's currently with me.

"Alpha Siege Wong?" Stella called out to the alpha, finally making use of the microphone. "I think he's still sleeping." My sister chuckled to make the crowd follow her laugh, unable to find the right excuse why Siege didn't show up on stage beside her.

I pointed to my sister in the center. "You're being summoned by Stella. Shouldn't you get going now?" I asked, hoping that he'd stay and choose to escape this hell of a practice.

Even if what I thought was quite impossible, Siege still gave me the benefit of the doubt. He held the tips of my fingers as he pulled me with him outside of the main lobby. He didn't look like he had any other ulterior motive, but he brought me to a spot where there was rarely anyone in sight.

"S-stop running." My lips parted as I caught my breath. "Does this mean that you're going to cancel the Luna ceremony with Stella?" I questioned him after I removed his grip on mine.

The alpha shook his head. "I have no intention to break the promise I made with your sister, Stella. All of this is for your own good as well, Celestina. She's the only one capable of being the pack's Luna," he responded with a frown. "Even if you continue to train for a decade, or even a whole century, you would never stand a chance against her," he added.

Siege further told me that Stella was only after the title, the Crimson Moon Pack's Luna, and nothing else. She just doesn't want to live her life as an Omega of the Silver Moon Pack, and seducing Siege was the only option she saw.

"Why did Stella choose you? She could've just easily swooned Lucas and been the Luna there instead," I asked out of pure curiosity.

"She wants to be the Luna of a strong one, not a pack who has no stable plan for the future. I heard from her that Lucas got cursed," Siege answered.

"That reached you too?"

The alpha nodded his head, crossing both of his arms as he leaned the side of his body against the wall. "Stella was the one who begged the greedy Moon Goddess for Lucas to be cursed. Stella knew that Lucas would definitely be numb, so there's no way that you wouldn't go there and tend to their alpha. It was only an excuse if you heard that you're the reason why Lucas got cursed," he explained.

I couldn't quite process everything I figured out. All of it makes sense now. It would be meaningless for the moon goddess to curse an alpha just because an omega from their pack went astray for some time.

Forming my fists into tight balls, I walked ahead of Siege, but he held my arm from behind to stop my tracks.

"Where are you going?" Siege asked. His concern was written all over his face.

"I'm going to let Stella have a taste of her own medicine. She deserves to be beaten real good," I said with a blank stare before I advanced.

However, my plan to launch a strike on my sister was immediately put on hold when I heard the alpha's message.

"If you dare to lay a finger on Stella Villarama, I won't ever think twice about initiating a war between our packs, Celestina," Siege coldly warned, threatening to cause my feet to be frozen on the ground. "Stop acting like you're stronger than her. You know the difference between the level of your strengths and experience. You can't beat her," he added.

I bit my lower lip out of frustration. Just when I finally thought that I had a concise plan to do, Siege would just straight up prevent me from taking action.

There's nothing else I can do in this state...