Chapter 18
The whole pack was busy with the preparation for our engagement, and my mother had ordered me to deliver a family heirloom to Roxanne.
It was a diamond necklace that had been passed down to the daughters-in-law of our family for generations. I didn’t care much for tradition, but I had agreed, out of respect for my mother and because, deep down, I wanted this to work. I wanted to really make Roxanne happy and show her how much I cared
for her.
I held the small velvet box in my hand as I approached her house. The sun was beginning to set, painting the sky with streaks of orange and purple, but the light did nothing to settle the heaviness that had taken root in my chest.
I knocked but there was no answer.
I frowned and knocked again, louder this time. Still nothing.
I reached for the doorknob out of instinct and stilled when it turned easily under my grip. They forgot to
lock the door.
That was odd.
I stepped inside, hesitating for a brief second before closing the door behind me. The house was quiet…..too quiet. No footsteps, no laughter, no signs of anyone downstairs. Where was everyone? What were they doing? Had they gone out and forgot to lock the door?
“Roxanne?” I called out cautiously.
Nothing. I waited for some moments.
Then I heard voices. They were coming from upstairs.
I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but something about the tension in those voices made me freeze.
I stepped to the foot of the stairs, staying just out of view. The box was still clutched in my hand.
“This is what I really want!” Roxanne’s voice was sharp and breathless. “I don’t care if I have to stay with a man I don’t love. Becoming the Luna is the most important thing to me.”
My breath caught in my throat.
The words hit me like a punch to the gut.
What?
“But what about your fated mate?” her mother asked, her voice filled with concern.
“To hell with him,” Roxanne snapped. “He can find someone else.”
I leaned against the wall, my fingers tightening around the box. My jaw clenched as her mother gasped.
“The poor guy is madly in love with you, Roxanne. And you didn’t even tell him you were planning to marry
someone else?”
“Alex is not an Alpha,” she said dismissively. “And even if he is my fated mate, I don’t care. From now on, we will never speak of him again. No one else should know that I have already met my true mate.”
My vision blurred for a second. Blood pounded in my ears.
Alex is her true mate.
She knew but she did not tell me about this.
And she still agreed to marry me.
“Maybe you don’t see it now,” her mother whispered, “but you won’t be happy with Kael. You don’t even love him. You’re just pretending for the title.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Roxanne replied coldly. “As long as I reach my goal. I want power. I want status. And I’ll
get it when I become Luna.”
A silence followed. It was thick and uncomfortable.
I didn’t wait to hear more. I turned and left the way I came, quiet as a shadow, but the storm inside me
was anything but silent.
As soon as I stepped outside, I slammed the door behind me. The sound echoed in the evening stillness. My hands trembled as I got into the car and started the engine.
I didn’t even know where I was going. I just needed to drive. To move. To breathe.
“She never loved us,” I muttered aloud.
“I told you,” my wolf, Valric, growled, his voice laced with fury. “I told you something was off. But you
refused to listen.”
“I wanted to believe in her,” I snapped.
“You wanted to believe in the lie,” he said bitterly. “You let your heart cloud your instincts. Look where that
got us.”
I gripped the steering wheel tighter as I took a sharp turn out of her street. The sky was darker now, like it had swallowed the last bit of warmth, matching the chill spreading through me.
“I feel like a fool,” I admitted, my voice low. “She used me. The whole time.”
“She played her part well. Too well,” Valric muttered. “She smiled, she touched, she said the right words
but it was never real.”
My hands slammed against the steering wheel. A honk blared as I nearly swerved off the road.
“Damn it!” I shouted, trying to calm the storm within me. My pulse was racing, and my wolf was pacing
restlessly inside.
“We should confront her and tear down the mask which she wears,” Valric growled.
“No,” I said tightly. “Not now. Not when I am this angry.”
“So you’re just going to let her continue this game?”
“No. But if I speak now, I won’t stop. I’ll ruin everything. I need to think. I need to breathe.”
+25 Points
I pulled the car over near the edge of the forest. I cut the engine and stepped out. The cool night air slapped my face. I closed my eyes and leaned against the car. I was taking deep breaths.
Everything inside me was unraveling.
The necklace box was still in my hand. I looked down at it and laughed. A gift for a woman who never wanted me. If only my mother knew for what kind of woman she had sent that gift.
This was a promise that meant nothing.
I opened the box, stared at the shimmering diamond nestled inside, and then threw it.
It hit the ground with a soft thud, half-buried in dirt and leaves.
Good.
Let it rot.
“We gave her everything,” I whispered.
“And she spit on it,” Valric replied. “You were ready to make her Luna. And she would’ve taken the title with
a smile, knowing that her heart belonged to someone else.”
“I’ll never forgive her. She didn’t just betray me, she betrayed the pack. The future.”
Silence stretched between me and Valric for a few moments. Then, softly:
“So what now?”
I looked up at the moon peeking through the clouds. Its pale light was cold and distant, just like the heart of the woman I had nearly given mine to.
“Now?” I exhaled slowly, bitterness curling on my tongue. “Now, we play her game.”
Valric stilled.
“What do you mean?”
“She wanted to use me. Marry me for power. She pretended to love me, made me believe that I was her choice, when all along, I was just a stepping stone.” My voice darkened, my hands curling into fists. “Fine. Let her get everything she wished for. Let her have the wedding. Let her become my wife.”
I paused, my eyes burning as I stared into the shadows between the trees.
3/4
< Chantre 18
$25 Points
“But she will never rule as my Luna. She’ll wear the title, sure, but only in name. Behind closed doors, she’ll be nothing more than a puppet. A pawn. A slave to the choices she made.”
Valric growled. “You’ll make her regret it.”
“No.” My lips twisted into a cold smile. “I’ll make her wish she had chosen her mate instead. I’ll show her what it feels like to be caged, to be powerless. To be used.”
“Cruel,” Valric said, a note of approval in his tone.
“Necessary,” I replied.
I turned back toward the car. Roxanne thought she had won. But the real game was just beginning.
And this time, I would be the one holding the strings.
