Thalia's POV
I was a bit confused by the question, but had a feeling that I knew what she was asking.
Since I didn't want to jump the gun and play know-it-all, I decided to play stupid.
"Huh?" I mumbled, pretending that I completely didn't understand the context of what she was asking.
The elder stared at me for a second, and even though it was almost impossible to read their faces, I could somehow tell that she was not buying the act.
But was I going to give up so fast?
Absolutely not.
I was committed to the act and continued looking at her like I was some clueless dumb bitch.
"She's asking...." Cassian tried to explain to me, but he was cut off by the elder when she raised her hand right in front of his face.
He stopped talking, and that's when the elder went ahead and said,
"She knows exactly what I'm asking."
Her tone wasn't that of someone that was pleased. But like I said before, I was going to make sure that I die with the clueless act for as long as I could.
So, instead of acting like I was about to give the elder exactly what she wanted to hear, I just stared at her like a clueless person.
This seemed to further agitate her and the other elders.
I even heard one of them comment,
"Is she serious?"
"She's supposed to be the Luna of the pack. And this is what we get?"
They weren't impressed, but that was their damn problem.
Last time I checked, I wasn't there to impress them.
Especially since the elder was trying to go down a rabbit hole that I wasn't eager to go down.
If I needed to agitate them even longer so that they could drop the matter, I was up for it.
But from the looks on their faces, they weren't up for it.
It's as if the matter was something huge to them, and it was.
"Vale, daughter of the Shadowmoon Pack, I advise you to stop with the act and answer my damn question!" The female elder hissed, looking at me intensely as if she wanted to see my soul.
If they thought that I was going to be pushed around by them and their demands just because they were used to people bowing at their every demand, they were in for a surprise.
Cassian on the other hand looked like he was confused between whether to stand with me or with the elders.
Little did he know that I was about to make it twice as hard for him in a few seconds.
After taking in a deep breath, I decided that it was time to drop the act, and unleash myself.
I started with something mild enough to set the tone for what was about to follow.
"You got it wrong." I said calmly to the elder.
Her immediate reaction was her brows raised the moment the words were out of my mouth.
I could tell that she wasn't expecting that from me, especially that fast.
Even the other elders looked surprised, but not as much as the one that was right in front of me.
Looking at each other, I could tell they were trying to figure out what I meant by that.
I mean, as elders, they were almost immune to being wrong.
So, I guess they were all wondering since when do they have anything wrong.
And that's when the female elder decided to speak up again.
Clearly displeased with me and not being a big fan,she went ahead and asked me,
"What in the hell are you talking about?"
I waited for a few seconds, just for the tension that had been building to become even more stressing, before I went ahead and said,
"You are wrong about me."
I was remembering all that Cassian had told me before, and I was going to show them exactly why I was selected by the judges to become Alpha Kade's Luna.
"My name is Thalia Enisa Vale, former daughter of the Shadowmoon Pack, and current Luna of the Obsidian Howl Pack.
I can already tell that it will be ages before we ever see eye to eye, but one thing is for sure.
I am not a nobody anymore. Therefore you'll show me the respect that I deserve!"
I didn't even know where I got that courage to say all of that, but it was laid out within seconds.
Even some of the people that were around us and didn't even care about what was happening before, started to turn and their eyes were on us.
I didn't look at Cassian, but I could feel his glare on me.
I didn't feel like he was angered or anything like that.
In fact, from the glare that I was feeling, it was as if he was more shocked than surprised.
The elders on the other hand seemed to have been rocked from their little pedestal, and it was taking them forever to pick up their jaws from the floor.
None of them looked at each other as all of them stared at me in disbelief.
You'd think that I had said that genocide isn't that bad.
I know. Crazy. Right.
However, it seemed like the female elder was ready for something like that because she immediately clapped back with,
"Don't get ahead of yourself you wolfless mutt!" Her voice was laced with venom and it burned as she spat those words.
They cut deeper than I thought they would, and she wasn't even done.
"You have emerged as the winner of the Luna trials. But you are yet to be officially coronated.
Therefore you still aren't Luna."
I could feel the intensity behind every single word.
And with Cassian silent, the eyes that were staring increasing, and the urge to fire back at her, I couldn't resist it.
I took a step forward and got in front of the elder, my face inches away from hers.
Like my body was possessed and I was moving out of instinct, I leaned in close to her right side and said,
"Twenty four hours ago, I know for a fact, you would have never thought that a wolfless nobody would be crowned Luna.
You probably had high hopes for an Alpha's daughter clinching the number one spot.
But now, I am the one that stands on top of the mountain. I am the mountain.
I have made the impossible, possible.
And you really think that if I did that, I won't be able to make it till the coronation?"
The question was rhetorical. And my voice was just low enough that everyone, especially the elders and Cassian heard me.
When I leaned back, I was quick to notice that her eyes had widened even more, and she was completely speechless for a couple of seconds.
Cassian's hand on my shoulder was like a spell, breaking the silence and tension that had been built up over the few seconds that the elders and I were exchanging words.
I guess he wanted to pull me back, because I knew that I had stepped over a line as well.
But before he could say anything, the elder was already preparing herself to say something.
'You are not going to back down easily?' I asked myself as I prepared for whatever was about to come out of the woman's mouth.
I was ready.
However, the series of events that followed were nothing I could have prepared myself for.
Before she spoke, she looked down at my hand. The same one that she had read twice.
And in a flash of an eye, she had my hand in hers. This time, she was holding me by my wrist.
I could feel the pressure that she was applying around it start to increase and in a matter of seconds, it started to turn from a firm grip to hurting me.
When I looked up into her eyes, she was clearly not happy.
In fact, she wasn't just angry. She was deranged. And the more time flew, the more she was hurting me.
I wasn't dumb enough to think that I could yank my hand out of hers in an instant, just like that.
Well, especially not with that kind of grip around my hand.
If anything, she was going to break my hand if she would continue holding me for more than five minutes that's for sure.
I tugged my hand, letting her know that I wanted her to let me go.
As expected, it didn't happen, and she didn't seem bothered by it.
Instead of panicking and wanting her to let go of my hand, I was feeling strangely relaxed.
I didn't know why that was happening, but I got a feeling that I was about to understand why.
"Let go of me!" I finally hissed at her.
Cassian was probably once again on the fence.
I knew that it was going to be hard for him to pick a side.
It's not like he was going to snap at the elders, and it's not as if he was going to side with them.
"I'll let go of your hand when you tell me what happened to you!" The elder hissed as the others watched on.
There was absolutely no way that I was going to answer that question.
"We don't lose our wolves like a cold that passes. So Thalia, what the hell happened to you?" She demanded, her voice getting louder and her grip getting tighter.
I was certain that I was already bruised and if she was going to keep at it, my wrist was going to be broken.
However, this was nothing compared to the shock and fear that ran down our spines when a thunderous voice beamed from behind me,
"AND WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING HERE!!!"