Page 175 of His Fated Luna
"You finally figured it out.” Alistair grinned maliciously.
"It didn't hit me until you issued the challenge,” Aiden admitted, hands in the pockets of his black cargo pants.
Despite the early January chill, he wore a flimsy t-shirt considering he'd need to shift soon.
"We pieced it together on our way here,” Dylan snarled, hands fisted by his sides and cast a harsh gaze to Lexia and I didn't understand why he did so.
"I didn't know. You guys have to believe me. I didn't know any of this,” Lexia choked out in a whisper.
"You think anyone's going to believe a word you say?" spat Aiden, leveling his glare on Lexia. "You've been scheming with Jake for goddess knows how long, trying to get him to challenge me. Was that the plan? If Jake doesn't overthrow me, then your father will do it?"
Alistair gave out a bark of laughter that didn't reach his cruel eyes. "You've got it all wrong. This was never so Lexia could be Luna. This” —he bared his teeth— “was all so I could merge the two lands under the banner of my pack! How was I supposed to know back when Lexia was a toddler that she would be my only child?" Alistair cast a withering glance towards his daughter and his glance was telling everyone that as if Lexia'sgender was entirely her fault. Then he looked back at Aiden.
“I knew that the alpha only held power if Rose was the luna. My wife was a member of your pack. She told me everything, albeit she didn’t know what I'd use this information for. So Iplanned, I plotted. I had hoped to have a son one day. A son this luna” —Alistair gestured towards me— “would mate with and he could claim the land, merging our two territories together.” Alistair spoke almost nostalgically of his nefarious plans. “But it wasn’t to be. My wife was weak, and we could only have one child.”
Alistair motioned to his daughter bitterly, who looked as if she was seeing her father for the first time. Lexia’s face was full of shock and disbelief. “Then…then she began dating Aiden. I encouraged the relationship. See, maybe I would get both lands through my daughter. After all, what better way to secure it all for my child and future descendants than to let her marry the alpha. Austin…he wasn’t completely sure, but he had a feeling something was up. He was on to me. I knew Aiden and Lexia had taken their relationship to the next level. It was fine by me. It meant Lexia’s scent wouldn’t be out of the ordinary aroundAustin’s car. I turned into my wolf and used her scent to sneak onto your territory and cut the wires to Austin’s brakes in the middle of the night. He never saw it coming.” Alistair laughed over his deviousness.
Dylan let out a strangled sound, aghast that this man before them was responsible for his father's death. Alistair continued to speak. I looked toward Aiden and found him in deathly silence. I noticed a terrible energy emanating in waves off his body and I knew it was because he was the son who desperately wanted to avenge his father.
“It even brought Aiden and Lexia closer because she was a source of comfort for Aiden after his father’s demise. Then you showed up!" Alistair looked accusingly at me and sighed. "I thought to myself 'no matter, Lexia and Aiden are still going strong.' Then Lexia came home from her time abroad ranting about how her boyfriend had called you his mate. I knew that now I had to figure out a new plan. Either I had to get rid of youso Lexia could be with Aiden, or I had to get rid of Aiden and take over his pack! One way or another, I was going to get those lands!” Alistair declared.
“Did you…Dad, did you have anything to do with Mom’s death?” gasped Lexia.
The blonde girl was shaking from anger and in that moment I realized then that Lexia definitely had nothing to do with her father’s plot. She’d been a pawn in it just like the rest of them.
“No. How could you even think I would harm the mother of my child?” Alistair said sharply. “It was just pure dumb luck that she died recently!”
“Mom dying is not dumb luck!” Lexia yelled angrily, tears welling up in her eyes. I suddenly felt pity for Lexia being raised by such a callous man who couldn't even respect his dead mate.
“It is when you decide you need a young she-wolf to bear your sons,” Alistair flung back and looked at me lewdly.
I felt the pit of my stomach twist in disgust and revulsion.
Oh no…
Chapter 54
"...You might meet someone who was exactly right for you. Not because he was perfect, or because you were, but because your combined flaws were arranged in a way that allowed two separate beings to hinge together.” ? Lisa Kleypas, Blue-Eyed Devil
Rose’s POV
Aiden, who’d been listening to everything with cold fury barreling down our bond, finally shifted with a mighty roar, jumping towards Alistair. Alistair turned into his wolf as well and I now knew for a fact that Alistair was bigger than Aiden. He was definitely the wolf that had attacked me when I’d had a flat tire! Old he may be, but he was a full-grown alpha with decades of training on him. Aiden was only twenty-two, turning twenty-three tomorrow, and I couldn't help but think how differentlytonight would have gone if I’d just stayed home. Never in my wildest imaginings had I thought Alistair would pull a stunt like this. He'd operated covertly until now. I'd counted on him being intimidated by the fact that he'd been found out.
When I confronted Lexia, I expected her to beg me to keep it a secret. But I had been so wrong!
The two alphas jumped towards each other. Alistair’s paw met Aiden’s eye, scratching him effectively. Aiden opened his jaw, aiming for Alistair’s jugular. Alistair moved at the last minute and Aiden snapped at air. I noticed the way Aiden favored his right front leg. He was still weak; his back leg was suffering from muscle burns which hadn't healed completely yet. He was still recovering from his previous injuries while Alistair had seemed to be training day and night for the chance to defeat Aiden. My mind was screaming at me to put a stop to this. But how?
The two alphas pawed each other, Aiden’s silvery gray wolf snarling furiously. Alistair’s huge brown wolf rammed into Aiden from the side, firmly pummeling Aiden into the ground. Alistair then scratched down the side of Aiden’s flank with a loud snarl. Aiden’s canines aimed for Alistair’s neck and missed him by a hairsbreadth as the older alpha feinted to the left before pouncing on top of Aiden, bashing his head into the ground.
My lower lip trembled. No, no, no…. Aiden was younger, he was supposed to be stronger. And he would have been if he hadn’t recently nearly been burned to death. What was I supposed to do? What good were my books and education and these damn powers if I couldn’t help my mate now when it really mattered? When he’d been challenged all because of my stupidity?
Alistair drove Aiden back by sheer force, but Aiden suddenly lunged, successfully digging his claws into Alistair’s snout. The brown wolf howled in pain, stumbling back as his blood reddened the dirt beneath him. Aiden circled in on his opponent,waiting for an opening to go straight for the final blow. But Alistair had his own dirty tricks to rely on. When Aiden was close enough, Alistair used his paws to kick up the dirt under him, sending it flying into Aiden’s eyes, effectively blinding him. And in that moment, Alistair saw his opening and tackled Aiden to the ground, paws beating away at Aiden, jaws biting the head of the younger alpha wolf so desperate to protect his mate and pack. Someone was screaming. I didn’t realize until I stopped to take in big gasping gulps of air that it was me!
The rabid growling of Alistair ceased as Aiden managed to jolt underneath Alistair, shoving him off. I held my breath. Please goddess. Let him win.
Aiden could barely stand and when the two alphas began to circle each other lethally, my heart shattered at the sight of Aiden limping even more than before. And the way the gray wolf kept shaking his head, it seemed he wasn't entirely lucid anymore either. He was completely drained of energy, stumbling when he tried to lunge. Alistair jumped, smashing Aiden’s head into the tree behind him before retreating smartly since the older wolf knew that fighting Aiden in close quarters wasn’t a good idea.
Aiden stood from the ground on wobbly legs before falling to the floor again in a heap, exhausted. My alpha’s body twitched in an attempt to stand but he couldn’t move anymore. Alistair opened his jaws wide, eyes trained on Aiden's neck, finally aiming to kill him. I moved forward at the same time as Dylan. No! He was going to kill Aiden! I struggled against Alistair’s lackeys who had a firm grip on me. I yelled in protest.