3. Open Threat

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“I am going to vomit.” Gwen rubbed her chest, feeling all the coffee she drank through the night churn around in her stomach and come back up her food pipe.

“What do you mean, Matilda?” Caddie was pacing the couple’s tiny living room. “How is that even possible? I was there when it happened. That fool made a joke of my pup in front of all those wolves and rejected her.” 

It was not just the rejection that was painful. It was also the fact that he humiliated and undermined her in front of all the werewolves attending the council meeting.

And the knowledge that the one thing she was looking forward to in her life, the Crowning Flame couldn’t spare her even that. 

“What is our Alpha’s name?” Gerald asked. 

“Alpha Gwendolyn Radcliffe,” Caddie replied. 

“Alpha Naturale Gwendolyn Radcliffe,” Oliver corrected. All of them looked over at him. “She is not some ordinary Alpha. She is the boon of this pack, the one who took all the curses on her shoulders.” 

“Exactly.” Matilda nodded. “The rejection is not complete.”

“Just because he didn’t say ‘Naturale’, I have to go and stand in front of him and be humiliated again?” Gwen whined as she plopped back on the couch, resting her head. “I am so done with the misfortunes of my life!” 

“It doesn’t have to be that way-” Gerald started but Matilda cut him off. 

“Of course, it has to be that way.” She said. “What are you suggesting, Ger? You want our pup to stay mated to that horrendous wolf?” 

Gwen did not like the stupid ache in her chest that she felt when someone else said anything against her mate. 

He was an asshole. 

It was the truth. 

She had no ground to contradict that. 

“So what do we do?” She asked. “What do I do? Why did I feel this pain out of nowhere? Just because I am mated to him? Is it because it has been exactly a year?” 

Gerald and Matilda looked at each other. 

“You tell her.” Gerald sighed, leaving the responsibility to his wife. He gestured to Caddie and Oliver to leave the room as well. 

“Is he dying?” Was the only question that Gwen could think of. 

Matilda smiled. “No. You and him, both have long lives. And both of you will achieve a lot in your lives.”  

“That’s nice.” Gwen snorted. “At least I know my misfortune won’t take my life early. It is going to thoroughly wring me dry before it drops me off in the afterlife, huh?” 

Matilda smiled sadly. “Come here.” She held her arms out. 

Gwen bit her lip as she got up, closing the small distance as Matilda got up to her feet to hug the poor girl. “It must be so hard on you, my darling little pup. Life has been unfair to you for far too long now.” 

Maybe it was the lack of a mother or grandmother in her life, but every time a she-wolf of the pack hugged her, she tore up. “It’s been fourteen long years, Matilda. Whoever said it said it right. Heavy is the head that wears the crown.” She pulled away and chuckled, “Or in my case, heavy is the heart that houses the crowning flame.” 

“The day you became Alpha Naturale. The day your fate was wretchedly rewritten. Gerald and I had a single prayer - a good mate for our Alpha, a just mate who would treat her like an equal. That was the only prayer, the only wish that we had for you. Alas, our prayers fell short.” Matilda was crying. 

Gwen didn’t understand what was there to cry about. 

“Matilda, it’s been a year. I am over it.” She shrugged. 

Was she really? 

“But it’s not over yet,” Matilda said. 

“Well, it will be. So, he got to know that the bond is not broken? And he tried to break it? That’s why I felt the pain?” Gwen asked. 

Matilda shook her head as she looked away. 

“Then?” 

Matilda didn’t reply for a moment but then sighed and looked back at her Alpha. “He tried to mark another female.” 

For a moment, Gwen thought the pain in her chest was back. There was a jolt of pure agony, just for a second, but then she reined control over herself, over her emotions. 

She gave Matilda a forced smile, one that the senile lady saw through right away. 

“Well,” She croaked out, immediately clearing her throat. “Well, it was over a year ago. It was supposed to be. I hope he too knows. We can end it once and for all.” She gave a mischievous grin for Matilda’s sake. “I am looking forward to seeing his face when he has to call me Alpha Naturale.” 

Matilda returned her smile and nodded, running her wrinkled hands over the Alpha’s arms. “That’s right. I wish you would show him what he has lost.” 

Gwen shook her head. “I don’t have enough time in the day to take care of my pack, as it is. I don’t want more on my plate.”

The door opened and Caddie walked in, her eyes wide. 

“What is it?” Gwen was immediately in Alpha mode. Well, she always was. 

“It's Alpha Lorde. He openly proclaimed to the were-council that he is going to take over Crescent Moon.” 

Gwen tilted her head. “Proclaimed that he is going to take over? Not that he is going to attack?” 

Caddie sighed. “He thinks you will bow down and let him take the pack without a fight.” 

Gwen scoffed. 

It was so like that misogynistic prick to just assume that she would give in without a fight. 

She was the Alpha Naturale of the Crescent Moon Pack. She took on a curse on herself for fourteen whole years to keep this pack protected. She was not going to let her sacrifice go in vain. 

Mate or no mate. 

She was going to drag his ego in the dirt. 

He thought she would simply bow down, huh? 

“Let's see who is going to bow down in front of whom!” Gwen smirked. 

Caddie nodded. 

The stupid Alpha male had no idea who he was messing with. 

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