Caleb walked back to his room and Pia followed him. She was furious at him for not standing up for her when his father slapped her tight across her face. Her cheek was still stinging with pain. The anger boiled her up on the inside to the extent that it poured like hot as lava. She had carefully connived. A day before she had carefully leaked the information about Dawn's pregnancy to a faction of werewolves who never supported Daryn. They were all furious and now that they had a point to score against Daryn, they spread the information, which in turn propagated faster than fire. By the time it was afternoon, some of the senior members actually coaxed her to call the Lunar Council and tell them about this abnormality.

According to them she was only doing her duty. Like a good Luna that she wanted to project herself, Pia went on to call the Council and that too with a heavy heart, because she didn't want them to show that she was going against her family. At the same time she didn't want to show them that she was going against their wishes. All she was doing was something out of protocol, something that a pureblooded was supposed to do. The Lunar Council was enraged. They had called Gayle to set up the meeting instantly. And they even said that a complaint had been received from none other than his elder daughter-in-law, Pia.

Pia's eyes had gleaned an evening before when she saw Gayle's droopy face. She had sent Caleb to them to explain everything and also tell them as to why she was forced to complain to the council. It was none of her fault. She had told Caleb to point it out to Gayle that she was innocent in all this, and that she was goaded by the seniors to call the council members. It was a matter of huge concern after all. However, how could she leave the opportunity to scare Dawn, and so she had gone to her room to insult her and make her feel miserable.

But what followed was simply unbelievable. Her game turned upon her and instead of projecting herself a victim, she was now actually a victim of her own game. She hated Dawn with all her might.

"Caleb!" She shouted and went after him. She grabbed his upper arm and made him turn his face towards her. "You bastard!" she barked. "Your father slapped me and you couldn't even stand up for me?"

Caleb's face was flushed red with all the insult he had to bear. Every time he was inches away from triumph and every time his younger brother snatched it from right under his nose. He growled at her. "You bitch! Your plans are useless. You have never been able to come up with one good plan for both of us. Instead at the end both of us only appeared like fools!" He grasped her hand and removed it from his upper arm.

"It is not me whose plans are bad, Caleb. It is that younger brother of yours who has outsmarted you in every way. Not only he is intelligent, he has that little bitch, that neotide as his Luna. If it were for me to choose between you and Daryn, I would have gone for Daryn, but then you were the elder one and my family told me that you would be the Silver Crescent Prince. Who knew that you would only remain in the shadows even though you are the elder one? Why the fuck did I choose you? Daryn was way better than you. At Ulfric, when I saw the two of you together in the ring, I was enthralled by the sheer display of Daryn's power. By Skadi! I was attracted to him. However, I had to fake it till you make it! I had to make you believe that I was in love with you," she said with hate emanating from her eyes. "Only I know how much I disapprove of you!"

She turned her face to the left and spat on the floor. Before she could turn her face back to her husband, another slap fell on her cheek and then one more. The force of the slap was so hard that she was almost thrown across the floor and hit the wall behind. Caleb lunged at her before she could even get up from there. He curled his hands around her neck. His rage was uncontrollable. His claws were jutting out and his fangs had started to grow. Caleb growled, "You are out of your sanity, bitch. Good that you told me about your viciousness now. I am going to enjoy breaking you piece by piece – not physically, but emotionally. You have messed with the wrong Lykae here. I am not my brother. I am Caleb and I will make sure that you deal with my loathe for the rest of your life."

Pia grabbed his arms. "Leave me!" she said getting choked. Her eyes had begun to bulge. She had always thought that Caleb was a wussy and that he was cuckolded. But she had never seen this side of her husband. "Leave me, else I am going to call my family."

Another slap across her face made her quiet. Her lips split and they started bleeding. Tears formed in her eyes and she looked at him, bewildered.

He picked her up from the floor and then charged out of the house, in the garden and to the forests.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked, trying to free herself. But her struggle was futile. Caleb was a strong werewolf. After all he was the elder brother of Daryn Silver.

"Somewhere where I can punish you for manipulating me," he hissed and loped with her in the darkness of the night.

---

Dawn was so exhausted after the whole ordeal that she had closed her eyes and taken a small nap. When she woke up, she found Daryn sitting in front of her on a chair staring at her, waiting for her to wake up. Her tensions had frizzled out and she felt lighter. Her lips curled on the sides and she said, "How long have I been out?"