| Body |
I am the Luna, bound to my husband ever since he found his mate. I tried to escape, but no pack dared take me in, frightened by his warnings. Just as I was about to give up, the strongest and most powerful Alpha appeared.
---
I woke up to a sharp pain in my belly.
I knew what was happening; my husband Ryker was doing it again. He was cheating on me with another woman.
I rolled off the bed, my hands circling around my stomach. The wave of pain passed through me again, and I screamed out, my hands remaining on my stomach as if to shield my unborn child.
A strange kind of fear filled me, one I always felt before things went completely wrong, and I was afraid it would now. My child was only one month old, and he 'knew' I was pre-gnant for him.
The tears streamed down my eyes, and then I felt the wetness between my legs.
My shaky hands found their way to my middle, and I felt the wetness against my finger. Lifting it to my eyes, it was...
Blood.
I panicked.
My silent sobs turned into loud cries.
"Somebody help me; I am losing my baby!" I screamed out, but again, no one came for my aid; my vision blurred, and then the darkness took over. There was only one thought on my mind as I fell deeper into the darkness.
I hate you, Ryker.
I woke up disoriented, I didn't know how long I stayed here on the floor—maybe a little over a day, I walked into the bathroom to wash up; the pain hadn't faded, and there was a slight throb between my legs, but that was nothing compared to the loss I was feeling deep within. I had already grown a bond with my child, even if it was only a month old.
Alpha Ryker walked into the room three hours later. He had spent the whole day with the new girl, whom he had introduced to the whole pack as his mate.
He walked right past me, almost like I was invisible.
"Ryker," I called out, feeling all my pain quickly turning into anger. "Ryker, where were you a night ago?"
"That is none of your business, pup."
My breath came out faster.
"You went to her, didn't you? You slept with her, knowing what it does to me."
"The whole pack sees her as my mate; it is necessary."
"I was in so much pain, and you were the cause. I lost my child because of you. Ryker, how could you do this to me? I am your true mate. How could you betray me?"
"Oh, please shut up," he says, "It is not my fault your weak system couldn't hold him in, so don't you dare blame me for the loss of your child."
My child. Not 'our' child.
And that's all I could take. I had moved fast-- faster than I ever thought possible, and I slapped him as hard as I could, satisfied at the redness of his skin where I had hit him.
He let out a silent sneer, inhaling audibly, and when he looked up and at me, I didn't see Ryker; I saw a beast, the true man behind the fake mask.
"You seem to have forgotten who you are and where you belong. I would give you a little reminder.".
Ryker had never hit me before, so this had been another shock. He hadn't slapped me; no, he had punched me, right to the face, and I lost my balance, falling to the floor.
He walked towards me. "You bit-ch!"
I felt his legs to my side and then my stomach. The beating that followed was merciless. I begged him to stop, but Ryker only sneered. “You seem to have forgotten your place. You’re nothing but a weak, pathetic pup.”
When he finally stopped, he gave me a chilling smile. "I, Alpha Ryker Zeke of the Windborne Pack, reject you, Riley Kaidon, as my fated mate and Luna. "
"I, Riley Kaidon, accept your rejection," I respond, and I felt the pain, just as I had anticipated. It's a different kind of pain, one that is deep within, but what I do not feel is the loss.
That gave him a pause. Of course, he doesn't expect me to accept his rejection so easily; every female is dying to be the Alpha's mate, and I had been one of them till I discovered that he wasn't as charming as my thoughts had painted him to be.
It was over. I couldn't stay in this pack any longer; I had to leave.
"Banish me from this pack; I no longer see the use of remaining."
"Oh no, Riley. I want you here, by my side. Leaving? That wouldn’t be very nice, especially since your mother can't come with you," he says, and everything slows down.
How could I have forgotten?
My mother had been nothing but a slave, treated like dirt. Ryker was the only reason she wasn’t in worse places—how could I have forgotten that? My heart pounded. How did I not consider what Ryker could do to her, especially once I was gone?
"Leave my mother out of this."
“No, Riley,” he said smugly. “Stay, and she’ll remain in her current position. Leave, and I’ll make her life a living he-ll.”
I wiped off the tears. This had been one of the reasons I had hung on to Ryker, too slow to let him go. I knew if I was mated to him, then my mother would be fr-ee. This was what she had wanted for the most part of her life, what she had dreamt of.
"I'll stay, but I refused to be used by you, Ryker."
"We would see about that, and it's no longer Ryker to you; we are no longer mates, remember? It's Alpha now, and I really hope you don't slip on that again." He says, but the smirk on his face tells me his hoping her I slip, just so he could punish me.
"Good," he muttered. "Now I need you to come to the intra-mating ball celebration with me," he says.
"You are to attend the upcoming ball with your luna, Zara; what do you need me there for?"
"You will be there. I want you to watch as I announce to the whole crowd that she is my mate.
I want you to watch me kiss and touch her just as I did you, but she... she would be the Luna. I want you to watch as she takes your place."
---
The ball was held as scheduled.
Ryker sat with his mate, and I was to sit besides him, close enough to hear him whisper the same words he had told me to her, close enough to see him kiss her, close enough to hear her soft moans as his hands disappeared beneath her dress, but that wasn't the worst part of this all; the worst part was having to see my mother, refilling his cup like the servant he wanted everyone to know she was.
All I felt was anger, burning furry.
I turned away from them, focusing on keeping my breath steady.
"You forgot to refill mine," Zara said to my mother, and of course, my mother did refill hers, muttering a silent appology which wasn't even due. Zara held the glass in her slender hand and then her eyes turned to me, a small smirk playing on her li-ps and I watched as she let it go—purposely, the content spilled down my mother's plain blue dress.
"Ooops," Zara says. A hand on her mouth, I had watched her, it was no mistake.
"You did that on purpose." I sneered at her. Zara had an innocent look on her face, which was of course false.
"Sorry, who are you?" she asked, an eyebrow inclined.
"Riley. This is your Luna, and don't you ever speak to her that way?" Ryker warned.
I rose to my feet in an attempt to help my mother clean up the broken pieces of glass. I noticed the few eyes on us already.
"Sit, Riley," the Alpha stated. My eyes blurred, but I never let the tears out. I had promised myself that Alpha Ryker would never see my tears, and I wasn't going to break that promise.
"Would you accompany me for this dance, my love?" Ryker asked Zara, and she gave a little giggle.
"Yes, my Alpha," she said, taking his extended hands, and he led her to dance. He paused, turning to me.
"You could mingle now, Riley, but I doubt there would be a partner available for you," he says before walking off.
My mother was gone; she was somewhere in the crowd working with other omegas.
I pushed past people, heading for the door, which seemed too far away. I was once again jostled to the side, and I started to believe they did that on purpose.
Abruptly, the dance stopped, even if the music kept playing. I stood there puzzled, and that's when I noticed the reason.
Two men had just walked in.
There were a lot of people in the ball; people could go in and come without anyone noticing, but there was something about these two, something that made them... different.
It could be their striking beauty, it was unlike anything I had ever seen, or the aura they carried with them—it seemed to settle over them like an extra layer of clothing. Everyone watched, and so did I.
I had seen this man before, not face-to-face but in a picture.
Alpha Thane of the Nightshade Pack.
The two men towered over almost every single person here, even Ryker, who had an amazing six feet four, couldn't be compared to them.
Everyone parted like the red sea, staying very far away from them, as they walked forward.
"Welcome, Alpha Thane; you didn't inform us that you would be gracing us with your presence." Ryker said, but Thane had walked past him like he was nothing but a shadow, not even giving him the common and expected recognition every Alpha should get.
Alpha Thane walked forward in a straight line to where I stood. I on the other hands was unable to move. Never had I seen a man so alluring, so beautiful, and so enchanting; never had I seen a man that screamed danger and yet drew admiring gazes like a magnet.
I backed away, but he was heading straight to me.
What the he-ll was he doing?. When he was close enough, his scent was all I could perceive; it was a manly scent, se-xual in a way I couldn't even explain. He towered over me.
Finally my brain set into motion and I backed away.
"Mate," he called out, his intense gaze on me.
But that wasn't right; I was no mate of his.
Faster than I would ever thought possible, his hands circled around me, pulling me closer to him, and then his li-ps met mine.
His face was beautifully made, every girl's dream, but shocked as I was, I couldn't make a single move, and I didn't kiss back.
He pulled away, only to whisper in my ear.
"Kiss me back, Riley."
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