804 I Don’t Need Another Suitor
Hayley’s POV:
“That’s right,” I sneered, my tone dripping with sarcasm. “I’m not as bold as you. You’re the kind that dreams recklessly and acts without restraint.”
Freya’s expression darkened at that, but with Truman and all the guests watching, she didn’t have the guts to lash out at me.
The thought of it made me want to laugh.
Despite whatever crossed her mind, she quickly switched back to her eager, expectant self and turned to Truman with bright enthusiasm. “Truman, this is my sister Michelle’s big day. Let’s head into one of the rooms to talk.”
As she spoke, she stepped forward to take Truman’s arm.
But before she could touch him, Truman casually lifted his arm, evading her with practiced ease.
“Ms. Freya, please have some self-respect.” Truman’s expression turned cold.
Freya’s hand froze awkwardly in mid-air, and the smile on her face stiffened. She forced a laugh and tried to play it off. “Truman, you’re such a tease.”
“Who says I’m joking?” Truman looked at her blankly. “Do I know you?”
Freya’s voice trembled. “You just told my father you wanted me to be your Luna…”
“Oh.” Truman gave a light, indifferent nod, as if something finally clicked. “I thought the Sanders only had one daughter–and that is Michelle. I didn’t realize adopted daughters count, too.”
The moment he said that, a collective gasp rippled through the crowd.
As Freya lowered her head in shame, I let out a quiet, mocking laugh.
As much as Truman annoyed me, seeing him put a devil like Freya in her place wasn’t entirely a bad thing.
After a moment of silence, Freya flew into a rage, eyes brimming with tears. “If you look down on me so much, why did you show up with a gift asking for my hand in marriage?”
“Who said I was proposing to you?” Truman gave her a cold, mocking smile. “You really think too highly of yourself.”
Truman was an Alpha on the same level as me. In that very instant, the overwhelming aura radiating from him made Freya instinctively shrink back several steps. Her mouth hung open, but she was too intimidated to speak a word.
He fixed her with a cold, cutting stare for less than two seconds before suddenly turning to me with a look of deep affection. “I want Ms. Michelle to be my Luna!” he announced boldly.
A wave of gasps rippled through the crowd, followed by a flurry of chatter.
“Oh my god, how humiliating is that?”
“Did you see Freya just now?”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk, a woman who moves on right after her fiancé dies… There was no way Mr. White could ever be interested in her!”
“Exactly. She’s just an adopted daughter of the Sanders, yet she thinks she can end up with Truman. He’s the kind of man every elite she-wolf dreams of claiming as their mate. Why would he ever choose her?”
“Serves her right. I’ve had it with Freya’s arrogance. She’s just another high-ranking werewolf like the rest of us, yet she always acts like she’s above everyone else, strutting around like she’s an Alpha. It’s about time she tasted what it’s like to be looked down on!”
All around me, ridicule aimed at Freya rang out nonstop. Her wolf-like eyes flashed with fury, but she didn’t have the guts to let her wolf take over and punish those mocking her.
I couldn’t be bothered to keep watching her get humiliated. My eyes were locked on Truman, glaring at him in frustration.
I remembered how clearly I’d told him back at the Cyclone Pack–there was no way I’d ever accept him as my mate in this lifetime.
So why wouldn’t he let it go?
Or maybe, for all his fame and power, was Truman actually a masochist who enjoyed being rejected again and again?
Just as I was about to speak, Alan cut in, “Mr. White, you should know that my younger daughter is already engaged. Her fiancé is the Alpha of the Midnight Pack, Benjamin Southwell.”
“I know,” Truman said, still gazing at me with that unwavering tenderness. “But it’s just an engagement. She hasn’t become Benjamin’s Luna yet. As long as they haven’t received the Moon Goddess’s blessing and bonded as mates, I still have a fair shot, don’t I?”
“But I don’t need that.”
I rejected him again without hesitation. “Benjamin and I are deeply in love. I don’t need another suitor.”