Werewolf





Cara

The apartment Alaric and I shared looks the same as it did a few days ago, but somehow everything has changed.

“You’ve changed,” my wolf Lucy says gently in my head.

“I had no choice.”

Grabbing my suitcases, I look through the items deciding what to take. The expensive clothes, designer watches and jewelry, lavish gifts…, Alaric can have it all.

Apparently, that’s all he thought I wanted from him. Oh, how wrong he was.

And how wrong I was.

Even this apartment, I thought it was our place. Our safe haven away from prying eyes, where we could be alone together. Where we could truly be ourselves.

It was the only home I’d ever called mine.

But I realize now that it was never mine. And it was just one of many homes that Alaric owns. This was just where he kept his “gold-digging low-born” a secret. A fresh sting hits me, recalling Alaric’s words from earlier.

Now that Lilia w





Alaric



A few days later.



“I have news about Cara Wilson, sir.” 

My Gamma, George knocks on my office door. I gesture for him to enter and close the door behind him.

 “Well? Have you heard who fathered her child?” I return to signing the documents in front of me while he speaks.

“Not exactly. I have it on good authority that Eamon Auburn is also investigating her, though.”

The pen in my hand snaps in half. I’m irked by this news, and my muscles tense tightly, too tightly, before I can control myself.

“That’s not all.” George clears his throat. “She’s not pregnant, sir. Her friend is an obstetrician at the hospital. Cara was there for a social visit.”

I let out an exhale through my nose.

“Relieved? Or disappointed she wasn’t carrying your young?” Grey mocks inside my head.

“You know damn well it would spell nothing but doom and misfortune for her and the baby if that were





Cara



Alaric’s face is a thundercloud, his brows knitted in a scowl that speaks of a tempest of emotions raging within. His eyes, usually so composed, are now a stormy mix of confusion and… something else.

It looks like…Could it be jealousy?

It’s a side of him I’ve never seen before. A shiver zaps down my spine.

Alaric grabs my shoulders, pulling me away from the red-headed male’s grasp.

My heart leaps at the contact with my former Fate Mate. My traitorous, stupid heart. Even without the mate bond, my heart still jumps for Alaric.

The sear of the cleaving of the bond is still too fresh, the hurt still too great to bear.

He rejected me. He rejected our future. Without knowing it, he rejected our child.

I need to get over this. And fast.

“Couldn’t keep your hands to yourself, Eamon?” I hear the bitterness in Alaric’s tone.

Clearly they know each other. As Alpha Kings of neighboring packs, that’s not surprising, but even as the pack’s Agent Luna, I’d never encountered another Alpha King.

I guess I wasn’t important enough for Alaric to introduce us.

“And who is this?” Eamon gestures to me.

“No one. A Beta. None of your concern,” Alaric’s voice was clipped. He didn’t want to say any more than he had to.

Eamon chuckled, “’No one’ or a Beta? Which is it? Because she seems pretty important to you…” He gestured to Alaric’s powerful hands, still firmly planted on my shoulders.

For only the briefest moment, Alaric’s face twitches in what looks like discomfort before he smoothly masks himself with an unemotional blankness.

Alaric’s tone is clipped, “She’s a low-born she-wolf who was happy to serve her Alpha King, but that’s all over now. She’s been handsomely compensated. Not that this is any of your concern.”

“I take it your engagement to my sister has something to do with that?” Eamon raised an eyebrow at me, ignoring Alaric’s last comment.

There’s no mockery in his voice, only curiosity.

I could feel the tension radiating between the three of us the longer this conversation continued.

Alaric nods, “I’ve found my Luna. I have no need for gold-digging low-borns anymore.”

I want to interrupt. I want to defend myself, my reputation within the pack, but I can’t find the words. Alaric seems so on edge, to step in now would risk setting him off and making things even worse.

I’m suddenly very aware that I’m situated between two very powerful Alpha Kings in a very public hospital hallway. One wrong move and the consequences could be dire. Not just for me, but for both packs.

And what was point of speaking up now anyway? What would it change?

There was so much to say about our relationship that it felt like I had nothing to say. The history between Alaric and I was so complicated, so fraught with passion, and misery, and lust, and confusion…

No one else would understand it. I could barely understand it myself.

But like Alaric said, that’s all over now. He had found his Luna. The girl that had saved him all those years ago when they were kids.

I had merely gotten in between them, interrupting their love story. I’m nothing more than an interloper.

The longer the silence goes on, the tighter I feel Alaric’s hold on my shoulders. The tighter I feel his hold on my heart, leaving me no room to breathe. Choking me.

But that’s how I ended up here in this hospital. I didn’t come here for me. I came for my baby, to ensure his or her safety.

No matter what, I could never allow Alaric to get a hold on this baby.

A surge of adrenaline coursed through my veins, inspired by my natural instinct to protect my young. There’s only one way out of this.

I ran. Sheer surprise was the only way to break free from Alaric’s grip.

...One thing had become crystal clear to me: 

I had to get away from Alpha King Alaric.



Alaric

I almost ran after her.

My wolf, Grey, was screaming at me to follow her. A big part of me wanted to, but a much larger part knew it’d be suicide for the pack if I did.

I’d risk ending the years-long stability of the alliance between our packs if I appeared to pick a low-born mistress over my fiancée, Alpha King Eamon’s only baby sister.

I made my choice, now I needed to stick with it. For the good of the pack.

And my wolf was NOT helping.

“You can’t do this!! We NEED her! You son-of-a-bitch!” Grey was giving me a real headache. His desire for Cara was relentless.

He couldn’t understand. He didn’t want to understand. I couldn’t love Cara.

He just needed a few days to recover from the breaking of the mate bond. After that, he’d come around.

He’d have to.

“Do you talk so nicely about all of your concubines?” 

Eamon asked me sarcastically. “What’d this one ever do to you?”

Eamon’s tone was casual enough, but I sensed he was fishing for information. Fishing for a weakness that could be exploited. I wouldn’t fall for it.

“If you must know, she asked to leave the pack. I don’t care for deserters,” I replied. That was the most important part of the truth anyway, as far as Eamon was concerned.

“She’s shopping around for a new pack, then?” Eamon showed his hand, his eagerness to grow his own pack all too obvious.

I pursed my lips and shook my head, “Word of advice: that’s not a she-wolf you want on your side. We took her in as a pup, a foundling with no family or history. No questions asked, we fed her, clothed her, promoted her…” My jaw clenched.

“And this is the thanks she gives you?” Eamon’s tone is friendly, but his face is distracted. There’s a faraway look in his eye, as if he’s lost in thought.

I watch him for just a moment before interrupting his thoughts, “But you came here to see your sister.”

Eamon’s eyes snap back to mine.

I motion for him to follow me; her room was at the far end of the hall for privacy. “She can’t wait to start a family. It’s all she’s been talking about. Well, that and the wedding, of course.”

Eamon’s fiery red hair shakes as he lets out a deep laugh, “That sounds like her, alright. Eyes always firmly fixed on the prize.”

We chat easily as we navigate through the hospital. Eamon’s a good guy. Even though we’ve always had a natural competition due to our Alpha status, I’ve always respected his maturity and steadfastness.

He’s exactly the kind of leader I try to be.

It’s how I’d want my son to be…

Lilia could get pregnant any day now, if she had her way. I might end up with a family sooner than I thought. Hopefully this check up with the obstetrics department goes well.

Wait a minute.

Why was Cara in the obstetrics department? Is she pregnant?

It couldn’t be mine… We always used protection. ALWAYS. I insisted upon it.

I motioned for Eamon to go into Lilia’s room while I stayed in the hall and pulled out my phone.

“George,” my Gamma answered right away, as usual. “I need you to look into something for me, and keep it quiet. I think someone may have gotten Cara Wilson pregnant …”




Cara
The apartment Alaric and I shared looks the same as it did a few days ago, but somehow everything has changed.
“You’ve changed,” my wolf Lucy says gently in my head.
“I had no choice.”
Grabbing my suitcases, I look through the items deciding what to take. The expensive clothes, designer watches and jewelry, lavish gifts…, Alaric can have it all.
Apparently, that’s all he thought I wanted from him. Oh, how wrong he was.
And how wrong I was.
Even this apartment, I thought it was our place. Our safe haven away from prying eyes, where we could be alone together. Where we could truly be ourselves.
It was the only home I’d ever called mine.
But I realize now that it was never mine. And it was just one of many homes that Alaric owns. This was just where he kept his “gold-digging low-born” a secret. A fresh sting hits me, recalling Alaric’s words from earlier.
Now that Lilia was moving into the Alpha family mansion, I doubt Alaric would ever need to come back here agai

#Chapter7: A Lost Sister