Chapter 4

Nicholas & Kayla

Nicholas

As I drove, my thoughts drifted back to Kayla. She was easily the hottest woman I had ever met, with beautiful red hair that fell down her back in soft waves, big green eyes, pale skin dotted with freckles, and the sort of slender yet curvy build that was enough to make any man’s knees go weak.

But she was also the most infuriating woman I had ever met. I wouldn’t soon forget the way she had suddenly shoved me away, refusing to finish what we had started in the bedroom. And yet… Her fiery spirit, the way she stood up to Liam… And I had seen how she handled the media with such poise as I drove away—it was intriguing, to say the least.

Liam, my half-brother, had been constantly praised by the Elders and the werewolf guild as the most qualified to become Alpha out of the two of us. Many believed that after he inherited Kayla’s pack, he could take Nightshade from me.

Of course, I felt nothing but disdain for this notion. A man who couldn’t even pull off a wedding with a woman like that—what kind of career could he possibly build?

I scoffed aloud. “Fool,” I muttered, thinking of Liam. Throwing away a good Luna like Kayla—it was his loss.

Suddenly, my mind buzzed, and I felt my Mindlink spring to life.

“Nicholas, where are you?” came the voice of my Beta, Marcus.

“On my way back,” I replied.

“We need to talk. The Elders are concerned.”

“Let me guess,” I said dryly. “It’s about the ceremony.”

“Exactly. Tomorrow night is the Alpha ceremony. If Liam still has Bluemoon pack’s support, it’s going to be difficult for us...”

“As far as I know, Kayla Sterling won’t be helping Liam anymore,” I interjected.

“Are you certain?”

“Quite.”

“Regardless, you still haven’t found a suitable Luna,” Marcus pressed. “Those chairmen won’t be easy on you.”

I sneered. “Tell them I’ll announce my Luna tomorrow at my Alpha ceremony.”

There was a pause. “You will?”

“Yes.”

“Who is she?”

“You’ll find out tomorrow. Just make sure everything is in order.”

Ending the Mindlink, I felt a smirk stretch across my lips. I was already looking forward to seeing the stunned expressions on their faces tomorrow.

…

Kayla

“There’s nothing between me and him.”

I was getting pretty fed up with these reporters, always getting in the way of the important stuff I needed to do.

I kept my mouth shut and ignored them, until Henry’s wife, Ava, showed up and stepped in to help me out.

When I got home, Henry emerged from a side hallway, a grimace etched into his face and a bandage wrapped around his forearm.

“Henry!” I hurried toward him, concerned. “What the hell happened?”

He gave a weary smile. “It’s nothing. Just a misunderstanding.”

“Don’t lie to me,” I insisted. “Tell me what happened.”

He sighed and lowered his voice. “The werewolf guild sent some men. They demanded I hand over the pack’s authority since the wedding was called off. When I refused, things got... physical.”

My fists clenched at my sides. “Those arrogant fools. Are you alright?”

“I’ll be fine,” he assured me. “But now the Elders are—”

Just then, two Elders flanked by a couple of burly guildsmen entered the foyer, likely having heard the whole exchange. I pulled my shoulders back, glaring at them. “How dare you—”

“Miss Kayla,” Elder Connor, a man with wiry graying hair and a stern look about him, interrupted, “your decision to call off the wedding was utterly foolish. We won’t stand for it. You must get back together with Liam, or we will have no choice but to hand the pack over to another, more capable, leader.”

I lifted my chin. “I will not hand over our pack to someone like Liam. Nor will I marry him. He’s a cheater and a liar.”

Elder Sophia, a woman with a neat bun tied at the nape of her neck, shook her head. “Be that as it may, your personal feelings are jeopardizing the safety of Bluemoon. Sometimes, a true leader must put aside her own—”

“Her own happiness for the sake of tradition?” I bit out. “No, I won’t marry a cheater. A man like Liam would only ruin the pack with his lies.”

The Elders exchanged wary glances, clearly exasperated. The guildsmen beside them, big hulking brutes of men, just stood there and glared at me. I ignored them.

Finally, Elder Connor sighed. “Your father was—”

“Is,” I corrected, narrowing my eyes. My father wasn’t dead. He was just… sick.

“My apologies. Your father is a strong and well-respected Alpha,” Connor continued with a huff. “But how he produced an insolent, wolfless child like you is beyond me.”

His words made it feel like a knife had run through me. I had heard it all before, of course, but it stung just the same every time anyone mentioned it.

I was the daughter of a strong Alpha wolf, and yet I was wolfless. At ten, I had named my wolf Abby, but when I turned fifteen and my peers found their wolves, mine never appeared.

Twelve years I had waited, and still nothing. And apparently, that made me undeserving of respect. It also meant that I couldn’t take over as Alpha of Bluemoon myself, which I would have done in a heartbeat instead of all this nonsense. But the damned guild wouldn’t allow it.

“H-How dare you,” I said, but my voice sounded far smaller and weaker than I meant it to.

Elder Sophia scoffed and turned to Henry. “The girl can hardly speak without stumbling over her words. Perhaps if she had a wolf, she would not be such a weakling. But as she is now, she is not fit to run a household, let alone a pack.”

I looked away, clenching my jaw. My eyes filled with tears, but I refused to let them fall.

Before either of us could say anything, Ava appeared from around the corner. “That is uncalled for, Sophia. Luna Kayla has only ever thought of Bluemoon’s well-being. If she believes that Liam would not make a suitable Alpha, then we should trust her.”

The Elders exchanged glances. “Every pack needs an Alpha,” Elder Sophia insisted.

“And we will find a suitable one,” Ava argued. “But in the meantime, it will do you well to speak with respect when referring to the Luna of Bluemoon. And not show up unannounced and threaten us.”

I shot her a grateful look. With my mother dead and my father in a coma, Henry and Ava were my only true allies. If it weren’t for them, I would be utterly alone. Once I thought that I had Liam and Vanessa, but no more. Now, it was just us.

The Elders murmured among themselves before Elder Connor spoke again. “This matter isn’t settled. We expect a resolution soon.”

With that, they turned and left. When the door shut behind them, I let out a sigh of relief.

Ava squeezed my shoulder gently. “Don’t let them get to you.”

I forced a smile, even though I wanted to cry. “It’s fine. I’m used to it.”

Ava and Henry exchanged glances, clearly not believing me. But they didn’t press the matter further.

With the confrontation over, I made my way up the grand staircase to my room. But no matter how high I held my chin, the Elders’ words still stung. Was I really the useless person they accused me of being, simply because I had no wolf?

And most of all, was my happiness so insignificant that I must marry a cheater because I was wolfless?

Shaking my head to dispel the thoughts, I sat at my desk and opened my laptop. I began drafting emails to my father’s old allies, other pack Alphas who might lend their support. Message after message, I pleaded for assistance. Anything. A good word for the guild, potential support if the guild tried to take my pack again.

But each email quickly came with a refusal to help.

“Regretfully, we cannot involve ourselves in this matter...”

“Given Liam’s connections with the guild, it is too risky...”

“My apologies, but we must decline...”

I rubbed my temples, frustrated. None were willing to offend Liam, especially since his biological mother was the sister of Darkwood pack’s Alpha. And besides, I was just a wolfless little girl who, in their eyes, was unfit to lead. Perhaps many of them would have preferred to see the guild take my pack from me.

I was stuck between a rock and a hard place, and with the guild’s signature impatience, they’d likely return within days to try and take Bluemoon from me again.

Unless a miracle in the form of a suitable Alpha suddenly appeared out of thin air.

But then, a new email notification caught my eye. Opening it, I was surprised to see an email from Nightshade pack. It was an invitation to Nicholas’s Alpha ceremony tomorrow. But there was another message at the bottom.

The email read: “Please attend, as a repayment for the help I gave you today. -Nicholas”