Chapter 2

ALISHA’S POV

Calum was burning with rage. I could feel it erupt from him like a volcano, but he managed to turn it into a series of waves coming off of him as he stood, facing my cheating husband.

Lucien stared back at him, unashamed that he had just been caught in the act of cheating.

I stood straight, holding my chest. Trying to dumb down the pain. It was hard. But, I proved stronger. In a minute, I was standing straight, chin up, facing Lucien too.

"What's wrong?" Lucien drawled out. He even had the audacity to look puzzled. Like he didn't know why we were staring at him with both a mixture of rage and pain.

Calum swallowed hard. I watched his Adam apple bob as he did. Then he answered coolly, the opposite of how he was feeling, I could tell. "We're here to discuss some important matters with you." He looked at Camilla with irritation. "In private."

Camilla stood quietly beside Lucien, pretending to be oblivious to what was happening and trying to smoothen her rumpled dress.

"I want to be by your side," she whispered in Lucien's ear.

We all heard her. It was pointless trying to whisper when we had our heightened hearing on. It was part of our werewolf abilities, after all.

Lucien smiled slightly and the sight made my stomach flutter a little even though I knew so well that the smile wasn't directed at me. "She stays. By my side." To emphasize his point, he grabbed her hand in his.

I took a deep breath to steady myself. As he squeezed her hand, something squeezed in my chest. Did he know how his actions affected me or did he enjoy doing it?

"She can't stay," I said before I could stop myself.

Now that I'd let it out, I had no option than to continue. So I did. "She's not a ranked member and as such she is not eligible to participate in this discussion."

Lucien glared angrily at me and it felt so strange that he was looking at me so intensely.

"You will obey your Alpha," he commanded.

The intensity of his voice made my knees wobble. Even Calum was affected. Lucien was effecting his Alpha tone and it was working.

It was every bit unfair that he was using it for the wrong reasons, but I could do nothing about it. I was forced to obey, and even though I could feel Calum trying to counter Lucien’s words, I reached out and took his hands, giving him a little squeeze, conveying words I rather not say.

Calm.

Steady.

Not now. Not here.

Calum wasn't ready to let it go easily this time.

"There's a letter for you," he said. "I was going to inform you in private, but since you want her to be here, I'll go ahead."

He grabbed the phone from me and showed Lucien the anonymous letter which contained the dreadful message—the pack wolves needed a new Alpha. This was an insult to Lucien and just as I expected when Lucien read through, instantly he flared up

Eyes clouding with the intensity of another kind of anger, he barked out. “Find whoever did this! They will be punished! How dare they?"

I glared at Calum, now irritated that he had not listened to my sign for him to calm down.

Lucien went on ranting in anger.

When he paused to take in air, I saw it as an opportunity to try to chip in a few words. "Maybe you shouldn't punish them."

He turned to look at me, eyes burning.

I flinched a little, but I continued, "I think you should reflect on whether your. . . our management is truly wrong. Maybe we're being too hasty with our decisions."

As soon as the words left my lips, I could tell that I had done the worst. Lucien left Camilla’s hands and took long strides towards me.

My heart began to pound.

'what's happening?'

'run!'

My mind was going off with signals and I wanted to run. But, I couldn't move.

Lucien stopped right in front of me and raised his hand so high in the air, the palm coming down hard, slapping the breath and words out of me.

My mouth fell open instantly and I could almost swear that the slap had left me deaf for a second there. My hands found a way to go over my face in an instant, covering myself with hands for shields. Tears threatened to fall as I did that, but I held it in.

Not yet. Not in front of them.

Everything happened so fast.

Instantly, Calum came to stand in front me, glaring at Lucien and blocking him off. I could see his clenched fists hanging by his sides and I could tell that he was still holding himself back.

He made to say something, but Camilla interrupted him and said, "Before you speak, I just want to point out that she deserved what she got. She doesn't have any respect for her Alpha. That's why she can talk to him anyhow. Don't even go on trying to defend her. It won't bode well for you, too."

Calum seethed at her and opened his mouth to speak, but I quickly grabbed his hands to prevent him from doing something stupid just because he wanted to protect me.

'Don't speak. Please.'

Teary eyed but looking as strong as I could be, I went in front of Calum and bowed in shame.

"I'm sorry I spoke to you that way, Alpha Lucien. I'll let you decide what to do. I won't interfere anymore."

With that, I turned to leave, pulling Calum along with me.

We got to the door before Lucien spoke. "Wait."

I paused.

"Go home first and prepare dinner. I'll soon come back."

This aggravated Calum further, but I squeezed his hand in mine to calm him down.

As soon as we made it out of the office, Calum turned to me and began to point out ways he could have helped me end this misery once and for all. But, I smiled bitterly and watched him.

"It doesn't matter, Calum. Let it go. I'm already used to this."

His eyes shone with fury. "Well, I'm not used to it. I can't watch you take all that and do nothing. Just accept his rejection and move on."

Accept his rejection and move on. Like it were that easy.

As soon as I heard the word rejection, it took me back in time. Back to the beginning.

It was the day after my—mine and Lucien's—wedding day. We had a fight. He'd outrightly refused to consummate our mate bond on our wedding night. There was no bond if we didn't mate, after all. And that meant he actually intended to reject me.

That was the first time I felt the pain. So intense I could hardly breathe.

My wolf whimpered within me, the rejection instantly throwing her into a state of sadness that would eventually lead to an even deeper depression. The one whom she'd looked forward to having didn't want her back in return.

After Lucien rejected me in person , it became so intense, I fell on my knees from the agony. But, instead of accepting it right there, I managed to find my way out of the room, completely and boldly moving past the pain.

I'd felt powerful that day. I was sweating and in so much pain, but I was standing tall. And, back then, that was all that mattered. That I'd fallen on my knees and stood up even stronger.

This was for the greater good. I would still serve for the greater good. I had to be Luna, whether Lucien loved and accepted me or not.

The pack was counting on me. My father and even his father—they were all counting on me. I was going to be the strongest Luna I could be. I just had to suffer in silence with a smile on my face.

As the flashback ended, I looked at Calum, wanting him to feel what I was feeling. "If I accept the rejection and leave, what will happen to the rest of the pack members? Their rights can only be safeguarded by me."

Calum didn't say anything in return, but he sighed and nodded in resignation. He was one to know that when my mind was made up, there was no going back.

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice breaking. "I apologize for what we did. Our family caused you to go into this loveless marriage. We're the ones responsible for your pain. Please forgive me, Alisha."

"Shhh. Don't say that."

I held him and pulled him in for a hug. Just like old times.

When we broke apart, we said our goodbyes and he went off to perform his duties while I went on to do mine.

"Take care of yourself," he said before disappearing into the distance.

With that, I went towards the direction of my home.

***

Home used to mean something warm and cozy, but in the days that followed being married to Lucien and in his bid to punish me for something greater than us both, he had fired all our servants and even our butler. He claimed he didn't like their services. So, automatically, all the household chores fell on me.

Soon enough, I got dinner going. After that, I began to clean up the house . It was hard to combine my Luna duties with house chores, but I had no say in this.

I got to my room to clean it up, but the sight both shocked and enraged me. My room reeked of sex and I could tell that it was Lucien and Camilla's doing. Both of their underwear were lying around.

So, they were now messing around in my room?

To make matters worse, I looked around and I spotted a used condom wrap on the floor. This was another evidence that they'd gotten together.

How could I ever get rid of this stain? How could I ever forget this? 

My stomach churned. What if there were more wraps? A lot more. I knew that I wouldn't last the rest of the afternoon without getting sick. With that thought, my legs gave way under me and I hit the ground heavily.

A cry of agony escaped me and as I covered my head with my hands, tears streamed down my cheeks freely.