Chapter 199

Theodore’s POV

Eva hadn’t said anything to me the entire way to the new town Abigail and Ben had agreed to name Mel Rimanea. In fact, she’d hardly said anything to me for three days – ever since she’d first heard the rumor that Violet was pregnant.

The rumors on social media pointed out that all of this past week, Violet had been wearing clothes that concealed her stomach more than she usually did.

I couldn’t wait to see evidence of our child’s growth. The prospect of it kept me breathing, kept me sane.

Not long now.

Social media also speculated as to the father. Surprisingly, most theories didn’t involve me. Instead, they hypothesized that there was already someone new in Violet’s life, which was one of the reasons she was handling the mate rejection so well.

As if Violet needed a man to be as strong as she was.

We had arrived early in Mel Rimanea for Dahlia and Kincaid’s wedding for a few reasons, the following of which Eva was aware.

First, to avoid the traffic; there was only one road in, and it would eventually get clogged up. However, the road to Mel Rimanea had been paved, thanks to some help from our iron ore-rich friends in Dark Forest. We wanted to make sure everyone could make it here.

Second, I wanted to make sure everything was ready for the wedding, though Eva felt I should have hired someone else for that job. Third, and this was the reason Eva was most fond of, so that we could be at the gates to greet every guest to the newest town in Midnight’s territory.

The secret reason for our early arrival was so that I could watch from the hill on which Mel Rimanea was being built as every guest passed by the rogue settlement on their way in, so I could gauge their reactions to it.

Once I was satisfied with the wedding preparations, I settled in next to Eva at the front gates. I had set up a couple chairs for us as the guest list was extensive. As soon as the announcement had been made that Dahlia and Kincaid’s wedding would be held in the new town created as part of the Shelter Project, RSVPs had come pouring in.

It seemed as though everyone was curious to find out what exactly we were building here. The guest list was thrice that of Lucas and Nora’s wedding. Every Alpha and most noble people would be here as the witnesses we needed.

“You look beautiful today,” I told Eva. It was partially an attempt to smooth things over enough to avoid her bad mood on an already very important day. But it was also true.

She would never look as beautiful to me as she looked today, on one of the last days I would ever see her.

Maybe it was the authenticity in my compliment that caught Eva off-guard as she muttered, “Thank you.” A tense beat followed, all her unsaid words weighing heavily between us.

Finally, she turned to me, the first few carriages appearing in the distance. “Is it true?” she asked.

I was glad we were finally addressing this. “Is what true?” I asked, even though I knew the answer.

Eva stared off toward the incoming carriages and cars. “Is she pregnant?”

“Does it matter if she is?” I replied. Of course, the answer was yes, nothing mattered more. But my tone made it sound like it didn’t.

Eva was pleased with that, and she smiled, reaching over to take my hand. It wasn’t a come on, and I didn’t even recoil. It was an affectionate way to tell she was with me.

I would never be on her side, but her being on mine would make today a hell of a lot easier. So I held her hand in return.

Then, in true Eva fashion, she took out her phone with her other hand and began scrolling through social media.

Nice moment over.

I took out my phone as well, and our intertwined hands fell away naturally. While she doomscrolled, I pulled up the press release Violet had publicized the day after her hallucination, informing the press and the country that her unusual behavior at the Vainthott Estate had been a symptom of the mate rejection. It was a bargain to lie to them like that but allowing them to come to their own conclusions would likely end worse.

I scrolled through the comments and responses to the press release. They ranged from understanding, reminding people of what the reporter had brought up about the two percent of werewolves surviving a double mate rejection turning out to be great leaders, to condemning, with people determining she was unfit to lead.

Violet’s press team was doing a pretty good job replying to the comments, reminding people of all the strides Violet had taken toward rebuilding Darkmoon and that the High Priestess continued to confirm Violet’s clean bill of health. Though some were dumb enough to claim with no evidence that Violet’s symptoms were keeping her from working even harder for Darkmoon, no one questioned the High Priestess’ declaration.

“Alpha.” I looked up from my phone to Colby, Dahlia’s second who was taking her place while she was technically off on her wedding day. “They’re arriving,” he told me.

And so it began. A couple hours of greeting every single guest and thanking them for attending, of welcoming them to Mel Rimanea and assuring them we would be offering tours once everyone had arrived.

Between guests being dropped off in carriages and cars, I kept checking down the hill to the rogue settlement. Alphas and noble people were visibly gaping at it in shock, pointing, and even pulling over to take a better look. The little camp had become woefully run down since I’d transferred all my resources into Mel Rimanea.

But the best part of all were the settlement’s residents, who had all been invited to the wedding at Dahlia’s request. Dressed in their very best outfits, which were practically rags compared to the noble people, they traveled on foot from the camp up the hill, alongside the road. They walked with dignity and poise, chins held high and smiles on their faces on their way to the first country-wide event they had been invited to since being exiled from their original packs.

About 85 percent of them were women and children.

This was exactly what we had planned. All noble people and most werewolves knew about rogues was what Owen paid the news to tell them: that they were dangerous enemies who deserved hate instead of help. For the first time, we were showing them so they could see with their own eyes that all of that was a lie.

Eva didn’t seem to notice what was happening when I glanced over at her. But Riley and company, standing dutifully behind her despite the chairs I’d also had brought over for them, clearly weren’t missing anything.

I continued greeting the seemingly never-ending line of guests, including those from the camp, looking on in satisfaction at the minds I was watching actively change before me.

What I didn’t expect though, and what choked me up, was when the noble people in their opulent carriages and luxurious cars began to offer rides to the previous rogues turned Midnight pack members walking up the hill beside them.

Maybe, just maybe, our plan would work. Maybe there was hope for this country after all.