LUCIEN’S POV
Being Alpha's got to be the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. And, I've done an insane amount of things.
I could still feel the anger pulsing through my veins even after Alisha and her silly, annoying brother I'd been coerced to make my Beta left.
Camilla came forward to try to comfort me. But, as she rubbed my chest, there was a certain irritation that grew even more. I should've been comfortable, but I suddenly wasn't.
Alisha's eyes. They were hunting.
The hurt. The determination mixed in with it.
How did she manage to give a killer stare like that? It was like the more I tried to break her, the stronger she stood back up again.
I knew Alisha. She was the typical perfect girl. Strong. With a good family. She had most of what she needed. Maybe she thought that I was less than important. Maybe that was why she could endure what I threw her way every damn time.
It irked me. The way she constantly looked at me with a combination of both disappointment, but what slightly satisfied me and spurred me on was the helplessness that was there too. Like she was stuck. I was making her stuck.
I used to appreciate her before. In fact, when I first met her, I was attracted to her beauty, but after learning that she was the daughter of the former Beta, I moved back from my affection for her.
My best friend, Kane, had told me that her family looked down on mine even though my family was the leading family and they were only the Beta family. There was also the growing rumour that they thought I wasn't good enough to become the next Alpha.
At first, I'd wanted to believe that Alisha was different. That she wouldn't think that way of me, but after I'd heard her talk about her expectations for the new Alpha and her praise for Arthur in one sentence, I'd had to check myself instantly.
It was a banquet held in my Father's home all those years back, even before we were declared as mates.
I was stalking her, trying to muster up the courage to ask her out when I'd happened upon her discussion with her friend, Arthur.
That had solidified that she didn't think I was good enough. She didn't think I was capable of leading out pack. And, at that time, I felt very uncomfortable.
Back then, I'd been young and foolish. I'd actually wanted to work hard to become more powerful, but thanks to Camilla and Kane, I came to my senses that I didn't have to kill myself to become better for someone.
So when I finally learned that Alisha was my mate, imagine my surprise and sick delight. Then, I remembered what Kane had told me and I instantly pushed her away.
She tried, this Alisha. She constantly tried to win my love by being nice. But, from what they told me, I could see through her act for who she really was. She only tried to get me to mate with her or she was only so nice because of our mate bond. Not because she really liked me.
I bet, if we weren't mates, she would never have been that nice to me.
The more my thoughts strayed to the past, the more aggravated I became.
Camilla was still rubbing my chest.
"Are you better now?" she whispered.
I looked down at her and got even more upset. She looked so much like Alisha, it was so nerve wracking in that moment.
Had she always looked so much like Alisha or were my eyes suddenly playing tricks with me?
I pushed her away.
I needed space. Air.
Something else was bothering me. The anonymous letter. The one Calum had shown me. I could remember the words. He'd given me enough time to read through it.
Was I that bad of a leader? Did my pack members really hate me that much? Of course, I dished out certain impossibly hard instructions, but was it so much that the most of the pack members now hated me?
If they really hated me that much, then I had to change.
Maybe tone down the punishment. And try to do my duties. Not act like I was always competing with my Luna.
I turned to Camilla. "How do you view me?"
"What do you mean?" she asked, twirling a loc of her brown, thick hair around her fingers.
"I mean, how am I as an Alpha? What do you think of my leadership method?"
"Oh, Lucien," she began, "Are you worried about what those two said? You're the best. I know this pack doesn't even deserve a leader like you. You're just the best."
My heart fluttered. My head swelled.
Yes, I was a good Alpha and the pack members were ungrateful werewolves who didn't deserve me at all.
As she spoke on, I grabbed her and silenced her with a long, sloppy kiss. That was the least I could give her.
As I began to explore her body with my hands, someone knocked on the door and entered without waiting for my permission.
It was Calum again.
This was the second time in one day that he was catching me kissing Camilla. What was his deal?
"What's your deal? Huh?"
The amount of joy I'd gotten from Camilla's sweet nothings instantly evaporated.
"What's the matter?" I ask again.
"Alpha Lucien," he said in a way that managed to sound both derogatory and respectful at the same time. "Maybe you should take on the role of a real Alpha and do your duty well instead of constantly flirting and sleeping with women in your office. I came back here because I can’t bear to see my sister enduring pain."
He went on and on, ranting to me about this and that. But, mostly about Alisha.
My anger bloomed into fury and I yelled for the guards.
"Guards?! Come in here and get this motherfucker out of my sight!" I roared. "Take him to the dungeon and keep him locked up until he learns to respect his Alpha."
The guards walked in. But, they didn't move to imprison Calum. Instead, they started to plead on Calum's behalf.
This only made me even more angry.
Only two guards were quiet at the corner and I zeroed in on them.
"You two! Get him and the other cowards away! Tell me, who's your Alpha, huh? Don't you dare disobey your Alpha!"
So furious, I could barely see, I stomped out of my office. My day was officially ruined.
I needed to get home and cool off. Soon, I did.
But, as I sat on the dining table and watched Alisha serve me dinner, it infuriated me even more.
"What's this nasty meal in front of me?" I barked after eating one spoon of it.
I threw all the food on the floor.
"What's wrong?" she murmured.
The flying glass fragment grazed her and she flinched.
I ignored her bleeding leg and directly grabbed her neck. "Do you think I'm not good enough, huh? Do you think I'm an incompetent Alpha just like the pack members?"
She was gasping for air, but she answered me, looking me straight in the eyes.
"I-i have never looked down on you in the past. But, recently, maybe I have. With all the things you've been doing and with the way you're leading the pack, I have no other option than to question your abilities."
Her words cut through something deep within me.
ALISHA’S POVLucien released his grip on my neck as suddenly as he'd grabbed me. As I gasped for breath, the overwhelming urge to leave consumed me. I needed to escape this toxic web I was entangled in. My resolve was slowly beginning to strengthen, forming a wall of succor as I tried to be strong a while long.Camilla walked into the room. I could sense her nasty presence before I laid eyes on her. As soon as she walked in, she examined all the scattered food and broken glass lying around, and it didn't take long for her to deduce that we'd just fought."What's going on?" she asked, her voice dripping with a fake amount of concern, pretending to care like she was a good person would.I didn't reply. Rather, I remained silent, refusing to dignify her questions with a response.Lucien sneered, his dark eyes gleaming with malice as he watched me stay bowed down, fighting the pain.Camilla, undeterred by my silence, grabbed Lucien's hand and asked again, "What's going on?""I only want a
ALISHA’S POVAs Lucien and I locked eyes, the tension between us reached its breaking point. His question cut through the air like a blade, filled with challenge and defiance. "Do you also want to resist me and my rule, Alisha?"I sneered in response, my voice dripping with disdain. "I despise you, Lucien, but there's nothing left for me to resist. I have never truly obeyed you."His fury ignited like a wildfire, consuming him in its flames. He called for someone to detain me, his Alpha authority ringing through the room. "Guards! Come and get her out of here! Take her away now!"As the guards entered in and pulled me all the way to the prison, I held my head high, refusing to let the weight of his dominance break my spirit.When I stepped into the dimly lit confines of the prison, my heart sank as I caught sight of my brother, Calum. Guilt washed over me, and I rushed to his side, a torrent of apologies tumbling from my lips. "I'm sorry, Calum. I haven't been a good Luna neither have
ALISHA’S POVI wiped the final drops of tears from my cheeks, coming face to face with my new reality.I had rejected my mate officially and severed all ties I had with him. So there was no need to feel even the tiniest ounce of emotions towards him anymore.Reminding myself of that fact, I nodded and turned to face my brother and Arthur, a feeling of relief and nervousness immediately washing towards me.“It’s done,” I said to them both. “Let’s leave this god forsaken pack forever.”“What?” Calum immediately said, his expression changing. I mirrored his actions, suddenly confused on why he didn’t seem as excited as I expected him to be. “No, Alisha. I can’t leave the pack just like that. I am the Beta and that means I have a responsibility here so I can’t just leave.”His voice had the same warm and comforting tone it always did but for the first time, it couldn’t comfort me.Instead, I felt my heart shattering, plunging me into another pool of sadness. I didn’t want to leave alone b
LUCIEN’S POV“Like a fool, I did love you.”“I loved you, Lucien.”Fear gripped me as my reality came crashing down on me with a huge force. Alisha loved me. she once loved me.For the years I’d known her for, I never imagined, not even for a second that I’d hear those words come from her. I’d concluded ever having her love me was nothing but a dream. A far fetched dream.But suddenly, that dream was becoming a reality.Maybe things would have turned out differently if she had uttered those words to me a bit earlier. Maybe that way, I’d have been consumed by an emotion totally different from the anger that took over my body and soul.I was hurt and pained, those emotions slowly dissolving into anger and I had no one to blame but Alisha. She brought it all upon herself by accepting my rejection. Though she was far from me, I felt the rejection, a sharp pain piercing my soul as our mate bond went up into smoke.That must have been what birthed my anger. The pent up frustration I felt to
LUCIEN’S POVIt had to be the first time I found myself in Alisha’s room.After our wedding, I never deemed it fit to step into our room, not even once. Not even on our wedding night.And now that I was finally in it, it was coming with a whole lot of realizations.Still in awe, I stared at my reflection in the mirror, checking the new body that seemed to be mine over and over again. Clad in the wedding dress, she looked beautiful. The shimmering white of her dress glowed softly against the candlelit walls, the veil cascading down her back blending into an ethereal blur.I stepped closer to the mirror, taking in every detail carefully. The elegant lines of the dress hugged her slender curves, her hair hung around her shoulders to reveal the graceful slope on her face. Her skin was flawless, beautiful, bright and dazzling, a gasp immediately escaping my lips as I realized it was the first time I was paying that much detail to her.Guilt made its way towards me as I recollected how I ha
ALISHA’S POVI woke up in a daze to the faint sound of my voice alongside Camila’s voice.What was going on? Was I dreaming? Why could I hear Camila’s voice so close to me? And even more weirdly, how could I hear my own voice when I was barely conscious?Pulling myself out of the trance I just had to be in, I opened my eyes and much to my surprise, found Camila next to me, embracing me!I could have sworn it was a dream. What was Camila doing in my room? So close to be and embracing me?“What is-“I didn’t need to think twice as I immediately pushed her away from me, still in shock from it all. However, the shock didn’t end there as literally the next second, I raised my head to try to understand what was going on only to have the the woman who looked so much like me rush towards me to cover my mouth with her hands, sending me a glare immediately.“Shh.”I couldn’t even speak even if I wanted to. What was going on? How was I suddenly in two places? Was I hallucinating?“What are you d
ALISHA’S POV“Do you want to go through all of that pain again?”I watched his face twist into one of anger, pleasure seething through me. He was mad. He was enraged. And I loved to see it.The tides had changed and I was suddenly more powerful than he could ever imagine. Trying to go physical with me would be a foolish decision as I was going to easily overpower him and if he wanted to lash out on me as his way of venting out his anger, then he was free to as I was more than ready to give him befitting replies.“Why aren’t you speaking?” I purposely tried to taunt him. “Since you are now like me, you should act the part! You should endure it all like I had to for all these years. And then try to overcome it! You should fight it! You should feel the torture and try to avoid it! You should spend every second in pain and anger, contemplating between giving up and trying to continue fighting and enduring for your life!”I was boiling with anger, memories of how he had treated me so poorl
ALISHA’S POV“Diana? Is that you?”I blinked as I listened to the voice again. Shock mixed with fear suddenly gripped me, the realization completely settling in.I was listening to my wolf, Diana. My wolf that had completely left me was suddenly back into my life.Her voice grew fainter but it was in every way better than I could have ever imagined. In my previous life, my wolf had gotten weak and only weaker until she completely disappeared from me. And it was all thanks to Lucien. Lucien’s repeated betrayal.It hurt me but it hurt even more when I could no longer feel the presence of my wolf. For the first time, I’d felt really alone and lonely and had no choice but to pretend to be strong despite the continuous feeling of a part of me being missing.It was my secret. My secret that was known to no one other than Lucien and my brother. After all, I couldn’t afford to allow any other person know I had no wolf. What type of Luna would I be if I had no wolf?The news was not only going
ALISHA’S POVA sigh of relief escaped my lips as I watched the sun slowly set, the day finally coming to an end. With a satisfied nod, I stashed the last paperwork I was working on away and rose to my feet, yawning immediately to give my body a good stretch.I was done with the office work I had planned for the day and I automatically knew what was coming next- the date with Lucien I had planned for the evening.A shy smile appeared on my face as I recalled how my day started. How I’d headed over to the office with the plan of doing nothing but work but much to my surprise, Lucien had showed up to ask me out a date later in the evening.The invitation had caught me by surprise I couldn’t deny, my blinking eyes and automatically sweaty palms making it extremely obvious. But at the same time, I found myself unable to resist saying no to him, a positive response quickly escaping my lips. Quickly, I rushed towards the mirror in my office to give myself a quick glance. Retouching my appea
ALISHA’S POV“Focus Alisha! Keep your guard up and anticipate your opponent’s next move! That’s the only way you’ll be at an advantage and you know you need to always be at an advantage if you want to mirror my father’s move. One thing we’ll never not do, is not see a move coming.”“Got it.”I nodded in acknowledgment, my concentration steady as I listened to Lucien. He was a good teacher, urging me to try my best to become even better every day.The atmosphere in the secret training room was charged with energy as we continued to train. Understanding his father’s techniques rather quickly, our movements were fluid and precise as we exchanged blows and practiced every day.“Time out!”With light laughter, he freed me from his grip and I immediately collapsed to the floor, finally catching my breath. In seconds, our laughter grew, the two of us taking as an opportunity to reminisce of how the past couple of days had gone by.With Kane and Camila temporarily out of our sight, we took th
LUCIEN’S POVCamila and Kane had escaped. My eyebrows were furrowed, a frown on my face mirroring the expressions of Alisha and Calum. We were all equally pissed, at a sudden loss for words at the turn things had suddenly taken.Regardless of how much I tried to think things through, it made no sense. Camila and Kane’s behavior was nothing but an attempt to prove their point to us all. To remind us of the fact that they were ready to betray us and the pack at large. “How did it happen?” I demanded from Calum. “What happened to the guards? How could such a thing happen?”“Unknown to us a whole lot of the guards were already on Kane’s side,” he explained, a grunt escaping my lips. “And the ones that weren’t were injured. Severely injured. It was a clean attack from Kane’s side. Well planned at that.”“Well I’m not surprised,” Alisha rolled her eyes as she commented. “That’s what happens when a criminal like Kane is allowed to roam freely for long.”Ignoring her comments, I let out a d
ALISHA’S POV“I-I’m fine, Alisha.”I didn’t want to hear a single word of defiance from Lucien and since he was refused to listen to me, I simply regarded him with nothing but silence. How could he say he was fine? He had played hero, jumped in just as Kane was about to attack me and gotten stabbed right in his stomach.“Not a single word from you Lucien.”He was clearly bleeding yet he dared lie to my face to say he was fine.“Alisha-““Stop talking,” I hissed at him when we finally got to the infirmary. “Just stop.”He must have finally sensed the firmness in my tone as he immediately pressed his lips together, allowing me lay him down carefully on the bed. With him finally cooperating, I was able to get the first aid kit to tend to his wounds. My hands moved with precision, gently cleaning and bandaging the injuries on his side.My touch was gentle, every touch reminding me of the guilt within me. He had gotten injured because of me. All because of me.It was only a graze wound
LUCIEN’S POVFor the years I’ve known Camila, drama was never far from her.She loved the attention, loved the chaos- every bit of it and just particularly loved went things went haywire as to her, they were simply doing “her way.”So it didn’t surprise me much when I heard she was outside at the pack festival, creating a huge commotion.Despite her actions of the past few months doing nothing but disappoint me, I was still disappointed by how far she was willing to go. How unreasonable she was willing to be just to express her displeasure. And of all the places to express such foolishness, she chose the grand Moon Pack Festival.I exchanged quick glances with Alisha, reading worry all over her face. I could only imagine what was running through her mind considering the fact that this was not how our day was supposed to go. But she remained on her feet, eyes fixed on the maid as she tried to get more information from her.“What’s this about?” I took a protective step forward, having A
ALISHA’S POVI stared at my image in the mirror, simply fascinated with what I saw in return.Had Lucien always been that handsome?I held back a giggle, staring at my face more closely until I could take in every single feature. I was particularly dressed up with my hair carefully styled, my outfit delicately chosen. After all, it was finally the pack’s moon festival.The pack’s moon festival had always been a big deal since forever. It was an opportunity for every member of the pack to put on their finest dresses and mingle. It was the day to show off and for some, the day they even found their mates.I wasn’t one of the lucky ones to find my mate on such an auspicious day but I was one of the ones that dreamt of spending the day with my mate. For years, I never got to live that dream but finally, it was becoming a reality.Color spilled on my cheeks as the thought crossed my mind, my eyes traveling towards the mirror to give Lucien’s image another quick glance. He looked absolutel
LUCIEN’S POV“What is going here?”It wasn’t a question directed towards either of them. But a question to myself as I tried to figure out what in the world was happening right in front of me.Alisha might have kissed Camila a couple of times to prove her point to her but she had never gone as far as trying to actually sleep with her. And I trusted Alisha to never go that far. But what was suddenly going on?She barely had any clothes on as she sprawled across the bed. Her legs were spread, her arms parted and her eyes, closed.Her eyes were closed!“Would you leave?” Camila hissed, uselessly trying to cover up the exposed parts of her body. “Don’t you realize what you’re interrupting?”Ignoring her, I gave Alisha a closer look. Her eyes were still closed and by the bed side, was an empty glass of water. And right next to it, was a sachet I immediately recognized.It was the same sachet Camila had in her hands few moments ago. The only difference being the fact that it was now empty.
LUCIEN’S POV A couple of days had passed and I had to admit, it had been nothing but bittersweet.Just like Alisha said, we were able to locate the secret training center she had in mind, leading to us immediately beginning our training. It was a hidden location, free from prying eyes and as a result, we had been able to spend days and days training.It was productive and for the first time in a long while, I felt useful. I felt productive and it was really nice to feel in charge of something important again. Though the weight of our packs future was still partly on my shoulders, training Alisha and seeing visible effects of my training on her gave me the strength and determination to hold on.However, as nice as it felt, the feeling was short lived, lasting only when we were together. Though my plan was good, it wasn’t enough to help completely deflect the rumors, especially since the duel wasn’t to happen until about a month. As a result, she still had to keep contact with Camila,
ALISHA’S POVI stared at the envelope in my hand, my hands almost trembling. I had a dozen thoughts running through my head and twice the amount of emotions flooding my veins.How could Kane send me a letter? How dare he? After illegally breaking from the prison, he dared send me a letter? He wasn’t hiding?I exchanged quick glances with Calum and Lucien, equal bits of confusion on their faces. His confidence was baffling. The thought of whatever the letter could contain even more worrisome.“I knew he wasn’t going to stay still,” Lucien commented, shaking his head. “I just knew it. And now what? A letter. The audacity. It better be a letter of apology alongside him announcing his withdrawal from the pack. He’d better be banishing himself from this pack and promising to never show his face again.”“As if. He’ll never do that.”I agreed with Calum but felt too weak to utter any word in agreement. Instead, I let out an exhale, my curiousity growing and without wasting another second, I