Unrelenting Destiny

15. Law and Order

Orianna Reid-Deveraux

The new Luna had been busy fending off questions about Ivan with Embry the entire morning and afternoon. She had excused herself to the pack house to take a break, sitting in her room. Bringing a wine glass to her lips, she swallowed her contraceptive pill. The slight tart taste drowned out by the smooth liquid. The sound of the door opening caused her to turn around, surprised to see her friend at the door, "Monica? What are you doing here?"

Orianna glanced over to her small jar of contraceptives, "Did you bring more? I just stocked up, remember?"

"Alpha Jasper asked for me." Monica fidgeted nervously, sticking her hands into her jean pockets, "Did you tell him about your birth control?"

"No, of course not." Orianna furrowed her brow, slipping the bottle back into her nightstand. She had been thinking about getting off the contraceptive since being named Luna. If there were heirs to be had, she would have to comply. Not that she had talked to Jasper about it.

"Alright," Monica nodded, glancing back towards the hallway, "I just wanted to stop by before seeing him."

"I'll go with you." Orianna volunteered, wanting desperately to see her mate since he had dismissed her the night before. The pair walked through the pack house, descending the stairs to the basement. Orianna was suddenly washed with a feeling of nervousness as they opened the door to darkness.

Inside stood Jasper and Embry, Ivan still in the cell, and the witch Diana that she had seen a few times when visiting Monica. Their expressions were all solemn, "What's going on?"

Jasper shot her a look that she couldn't put her finger on. It looked like a mixture of surprise and a grimace. His Alpha voice filled the space, a tingle in her spine as she took in his astounding, dominant nature, "Monica, thank you for coming. Let me just get right to the point. We performed a ritual on Ivan to delve into his memories of yesterday morning. The results seem to point to your practice of magic."

"What?" Monica furrowed her brow, immediately defensive at the accusation, "I didn't do anything."

Diana inhaled sharply, "The magic that I detected was of natural origin. It seemed to suppress his human attributes and fed his wolf's more carnal desires. You are the only witch in the pack who deals in natural magic."

"That's insane! I didn't do anything to him!" Monica trembled, her lip quivering, "I wasn't even here yesterday. I was with Orianna. Tell them."

Orianna nodded rapidly, "I was with her two nights ago, she never left her house."

Silence filled the room before Monica quietly spoke up, "But you did..."

"What?" Orianna's eyes went wide as she looked over to her friend, "What do you mean?"

"You left the house after I gave you your pills." Monica's mouth twitched, her voice rising, "Around 1 in the morning, I remember. You woke me up when you snuck back in."

Every gaze shifted to Orianna, their expressions rapidly hardening. Jasper's voice was eerily calm as he asked, "What is she talking about, Orianna?"

The interim Luna's back stiffened, waving her hands in front of her as if to clear the air, "I've been taking some daily supplements to help with my migraines. I've been taking them for a couple of years now. They're harmless!"

"She's lying!" Monica suddenly burst, pointing an accusatory finger at her, "Orianna's been taking magical birth control to suppress her wolf because she didn't want to get pregnant."

Caught in her lie, Orianna reeled as she backpedaled, looking to Jasper, "O-okay. Yes, I was taking birth control. But only because I knew you didn't want pups!"