Chapter 0004

After I argued with Zell, I shut myself in my office. I keep asking myself where we went wrong. I never meant to disrespect her like that. I have been so angry lately. Zell and I had a perfect life. She came in a put her all into saving my pack. We were struggling for so long. There were times when I didn’t know how I was going to feed the pack. We had to depend on hunting for most of our meat. Zell was so dedicated to me and making our pack great. I didn’t know what to think when Khalis first came to me and told me that Zell was cheating on me. What reason would Zell have to cheat? We had everything. I scented her when I was 16. She was just 11. I didn’t tell anyone until she was 16. I am the only male she has known. Khalis said that Zell had boyfriends, but I know she was a virgin when we mated. I didn’t want to believe that the little girl who followed me around would ever want anyone but me once we were mated. Khalis kept pointing out all the late-night and long meetings with unmated alphas. I understand the need for that when she first came. We were broke, and we needed to work all the time to support the pack, but we have been doing better. The pack is starting to enjoy a lot of luxuries now. There shouldn’t be a need to work as much anymore, and why are all the meetings with unmated alphas? Don’t we do business with mated alphas? Then there are all these long phone calls with who knows who. Khalis has called me several times to come listen in on the calls. I come to listen through the door. The calls seem normal but always end soon after I get there.

Since Zell has been here, we have had so many new alliances with a lot of the unmated alphas we do business with. Some of them I reached out to before Zell came, but they were not willing to work with me. Zell negotiated better terms than I initially offered. Khalis asked me what Zel was offering these males to get the terms we wanted. After so many offers, I began to wonder the same thing. Was she really that good at negotiating, or was there more to the story? I mean, why would her best friend come to me with this if there was nothing there? I honestly would not have suspected anything if Khalis had not come to me. I asked why she would tell me something like this about her friend. Khalis said that she has always covered for Zell. She said she gets the bad rap, while Zel always comes out looking innocent and she does not want me to be fooled by her innocent act. It’s so confusing. I know that Khalis sleeps around and Zell was pure when we mated, but things are not adding up. Khalis makes it sound like Zell is the one having all the relationships and she gets blamed for it. While I know Zell has not slept with anyone else, Khalis makes a valid argument. Maybe Zell is not as honest as she pretends to be.

“Why would you think something like that about our mate? Zell and Sapphire would never cheat on us. They love us.” Emil whins.

“How do you know? Her friend has no reason to lie to us? What if Khalis is right? What if Zel is pregnant and trying to pass some bastard off on us?” Kosta said.

“Do you hear yourself?” Emil asked, “You know for a fact mate has not had sex with anyone else. If she is pregnant, the pup is ours. Did you forget that we were trying to have a pup with our mate for the past few months until you let that evil woman pull us away from our mate? I miss mate. I want to be with her, but I don’t think they will ever be with us again after what you did.”

“If that is true, why was she begging us to have sex with her for the last three weeks?” Kosta asked.

“Maybe because you suddenly stopped making love to our mate, and she still wanted us. What would you have done if she suddenly stopped making love to us?”

“I wouldn’t beg,” I huffed.

“You are impossible. You are such an idiot. I don’t know why I got paired with you. You are going to cause us to lose our mate,” Emil whined.

“What if the pup is not ours? How are you going to feel about someone else’s pup being your heir?”

“I don’t have to worry about that because mate would never do that. We would feel it if our mate ever cheated on us. Why are you so dumb?”

“Khalis said that Zell had a way around the mate bond so we wouldn’t be able to feel it,” Kosta said.

“It sounds like you are looking for a reason to be mad at her. I can feel our bond weakening from the things you have been doing. It’s like you want her to leave us. You might just get your wish. I can’t believe you would treat our mate like this after everything she has done to make us and our pack better. If I lose Sapphire, I will never speak to you again. Let’s see what kind of alpha you will be without your wolf.”

“Zell would never leave us. She loves us too much. Besides, where would she go? She is not a child anymore. She can’t just run back to mommy and daddy.”

“Now I know you are stupid. Have you forgotten that our mate is the daughter of an alpha and the niece of the next alpha king? She has plenty of places to go. Besides that, our mate is a billionaire. She can literally buy herself a pack if she wanted.” Emil said in exasperation.

“Go back to your corner. I don’t want to talk to you anymore.”

Emil huffed and blocked me.

Good, just one more person mad at me. Why can’t everyone see that I am hurting? My life was not supposed to be like this. I gave up being with different women when Zell became old enough to feel it when I was with someone else. I never wanted to cause her pain. I don’t want to believe the things that Khalis said, but no one is as perfect as Zell seems. I just don’t want to think about this anymore. I’ll worry about this tomorrow. Tonight I just want to rest. I pour myself a drink and sit at my desk. A couple minutes later, my beta walks in. I can see the disappointment in his eyes. I don’t need this tonight.

“Alpha, what was this tonight? I thought we agreed to let me do a full investigation before you made a move against Luna Zell. Why would you rely on Khalis? You know what type of person Khalis is. We all know she cannot be trusted. She will do and say anything to get what she wants. We all know that she wants you, or rather, she wants the power she feels she can get from being mated to you. Luna Zell has not given you any reason to doubt her.” Beta James said.

Beta, are you questioning me? Zell is not you luna anymore and will not be until I say otherwise. I will not be made a fool of in my own pack.”

“You are looking like a fool all by yourself,” Emil said.

“Shut it, mutt.” I Huffed.

“Kosta, you are my alpha and one of my best friends. I would be less than a friend if I did not tell you when you were making a big mistake. Khalis cannot be trusted. Don’t let her and your insecurities ruin the best thing that ever happened to you. Khalis has an agenda. You and the entire pack will suffer from her scheming. I don’t understand why you can’t see that. Between me and you alpha, if you just want to get rid of Zell, just send her home to her parents. Don’t do this. You know Zach is not going to let this go if you continue hurting Zell this way. You don’t have to do this. Just let her go and move on with whatever it is you want to do with your life. We both know Zel would never cheat on you. You are just using this as an excuse to end things.”

“Zell cheated on me and I’m going to prove it, then kick her out of my pack.” I said through gritted teeth.

“So you are going to drag our pack into a war with the two most powerful packs in the nation and maybe the king himself over the word of a whore?” Beta James asked.

“Why would they go to war over a cheater? It’s not just Khalis words. There have been some omegas who have witnessed things. Khalis has had them come to me and tell me what they saw.” I said.

“So we are going to war for Khalis and her flunkies. Kosta, you are my best friend, but you are wrong and if this goes to war, I will not sit back and watch all our families die for your craziness and the word of a whore. I just have two last questions. Did you feel any betrayal pains? And did you alpha order them to tell you the truth?”

“I keep telling you all that Khalis said she could get around the bond, so why would I order them to tell the truth when they know lying on their Luna is treason and punishable by death?” I asked.

“I see. Well, this is very convenient for you and Khalis. Khalis did not come to you with her concerns until the hard work that you and she are complaining about got this pack out of the hole and helped you build a powerful alliance. Where was her concern for you when the pack was struggling? Where was her concern when you had nothing and will she still have the same concern when Zell leaves and take all her financial support with her? Zell came to you when she was still a pup. Zach and Alpha Z entrusted Zell to you. They expected you to care for her. You promised them you would take good care of her and because they knew you, they let her come to you before she turned 18. They even forgave you for mating her before her 18th birthday because they believed you would take care of her and protect her. Now I wonder if you pushed to have her here before she came of age to help get the pack out of financial trouble. Is she really your fated mate? Is that why you say you will not feel it if she cheats?” Beta James asked.

“Of course, she is my fated mate. I begged Alpha Z to let her come to me early because I could no longer stand to be away from her. I loved her more than my own life. I knew she was mine since I was 16. I waited five years before telling you all.” I said.

“Kosta, you didn’t actually wait for her. How was it possible for you to be with other females knowing she was your mate? You knowingly cheated on her for years before admitting that she was your mate. You only stopped when she had her wolf. I also noticed you said you loved her as if past tense. That’s not how the mate bond works. None of this is how the mate bond work. There is no way you should have been able to sleep with all those girls knowing she was your mate. How could you spend all those years seeing her cry over you time and time again and not do everything to make her feel protected and happy. I’m really having a difficult time believing that she is your fated mate. I always knew that she loved you beyond reason. I can’t understand how you can just fall out of love if the two of you are truly fated. Maybe you need to go to a seer and figure out if you really are fated mates and, if not, just let her go. Let her find her true mate and be happy.” Beta James said.

“I don’t need to go to the seer. She is my fated. I didn’t just fall out of love with her. Her cheating on me killed all the love I had.” I said.

“You, me, and almost everyone in this pack know that Zell would never cheat on you. It is physically impossible for her to cheat. Sapphire would kill any male who tried to touch her, but I can see your mind is made up and you are determined to go this route. I really hope you know what you are doing.” Beta James said.

“You are my beta, you are supposed to always be on my side.”

“Kosta, I was your friend before I became your beta. You, me, and Zach have been best buds since we were in diapers. You of all people know how he feels about his baby sister and the lengths he will go to for her. This could lead to war. Is this what you really want?” Beta James asked.

“I want to expose her for the liar and cheater she is. I want my pack and the other alphas to see her for who she is. There won’t be a war because our allies will back me if they knew the truth.” I say.

“You are worrying me. There is not an unmated alpha alive that would jump at the opportunity to be with Zell. There are only a few pure-blooded alpha females as powerful and wealthy as her. Do you really think they would stand with you and miss the opportunity of being her second chance or chosen mate when you royally mess this up? And who do you think will stand against the alpha king himself, or did you forget she is his granddaughter?” Beta Jame said.

“This has nothing to do with them. I don’t believe the alpha king would even be involved in this. He is a righteous king. He would not support his granddaughter in this.”

“Kosta, you are delusional if you think her family will not retaliate against you for hurting her. At any rate, you seem sure that Khalis will be able to get evidence against Zell. Just be sure of that evidence because it will take more than the word of a whore and her flunkies and you know the high general, the princess, or the crown prince will definitely command all of them to tell the truth if they attempt to bare witness against Zell.” Beta James sighed. “I see that you are set on this course for whatever reason. I will go on record saying that you are wrong and I truly believe that you know it. I don’t know why you are trying to hurt Zell, but with both know she never cheated on you and all the plotting you are doing with that whore will backfire on the both of you. I just hope you don’t take the pack down with you and cause unnecessary loss of life over your personal demons.” Beta James said.

My beta walked away from me. Zell seems to have everyone fooled, but I know the truth and she will be exposed. I am the victim here. Why can’t they all see it? I was the one who had to give up my life at an early age to be a mate and alpha. I wasn’t ready to settle down, but I did, and she still cheated on me.

“Human, you know that I feel what you feel and know your inner thoughts. You are not fooling anyone but yourself. You want Zell to be guilty so you can go back to your old ways. You just needed our mate to help you get there again because no females wanted a failing alpha. If I had known your plan back then, I would have warned Sapphire so that she and Zell would have been safe from you,” Emil say and then blocked me.

I get up and walk upstairs to go to bed. I have been dreading going to bed since our argument earlier. I am not looking forward to sharing a bed with Zell, but I really hate sleeping without her. Having her there makes me sleep better at night.