Page 49

I t feels so weird to have a huge Alpha Rogue Prince in my childhood room, where I was dreaming about killing him one day, now that we are married and get along in our own twisted way. It feels kind of like dating your old crush.

“I don’t get why they are getting married. They are already marked and mated. Why didn’t they wait to mark each other until after the ceremony?” Cain is pacing around my room while I sit on my bed and observe him with curiosity.

And that feels like being a fifteen-year-old with a crush all over again.

“Okay, Grandpa,” I laugh inwardly at him, “The wedding is for us to celebrate them and for them to officially start their adult lives together. Legally. They marked each other when they found out they were mates, at, I don’t know, sixteen? Seventeen maybe? It was super early. They were still in high school.”

“Sixteen?” He stops pacing. “Aren’t you supposed to be mature for that crap?”

“Mature enough for maintaining the relationship, yes. But they have a very healthy union if I can say so myself, always had. Big on communication.”

“So, we are the only toxic pair here?”

I smirk at him, “Yeah, I guess.”

“Hey! You like me!” he points an accusatory finger at me.

“I do, Cain, I do like you.” I sigh and decide to tease him. “Sometimes, I don’t get why you can’t feel the true mate bond connection yet… But then I remember, you plan to kill her as soon as you know who she is, so maybe you really are not a good fit for a strong relationship, hm?”

“Oh, because you never lost the ability to feel your true mate after you already had it for years,” sarcasm is dripping from his tone while he starts browsing my drawers.

“You will keep it over my head for the rest of our lives, won’t you?”

He grins and slowly pulls out one of my bullet vibrators, along with some dirty ideas, I’m sure.

“Your Highnesses, I have questions,” Beta Lucifer bursts in without knocking. “Oh, Claudia always loved it when you used that on her.”

Cain shoots him a death stare and throws the vibrator back inside my drawer, mouthing ironic ‘thanks’ at his Beta. He opens another one.

Full of hunter-green sweat suits I used to wear at work.

“You know, Luna. When you said a true mate bond is similar to an Alpha bond. It’s not exactly, but… it makes me think. Is that why you two can mind link?”

Is he outing me?

“Excuse me?” I decide to act stupid on purpose, to save my life.

“I mean, is that why true mates can mind-link even in their human forms? You know, like normally only Alpha can, because it works like a bond with Alpha?”

Uf, what a relief, he meant generally not us two!

“Um, not exactly. Mates can mind-link after they strengthen their bond by marking each other and nurturing the relationship,” I repeat a lie I heard all my life.

I could mind-link Cain long before he marked me because he is my true mate, right? There’s no more use in denying it. I mean, lying to myself, because I do have to deny it in front of everyone else.

Maybe it came to us quicker, and despite the fact he doesn’t know the truth, because we are both strong royal wolves, and we were getting along in all that nonsense drama…

I look up and notice them both staring at me with crossed arms. Does Beta even know I could mind-link Cain before the marking?

“What?” I shrug my shoulders.

“Chosen, yes, but how many not marked true mates do you know to repeat that bullshit of a lie?” Beta asks bluntly.

“Well… can you mind-link my brother?”

He scoffs. “I met him once weeks ago, I wouldn’t even know where to start. How did you mind-link Alpha over here before the marking?”

So, they do share everything.

“I have no idea, but you are both alpha-blooded, too, so you can certainly try,” I try to steer his suspicion into the safer waters.

“If that was—”

“Lucifer, that’s enough,” Cain stops him while fishing his vibrating phone out.

“It’s Atlas.” He picks it up, “Gamma? Yes… Mhm… okay, I understand… see you.”

I don’t know how low he has his settings on, but I couldn’t hear a thing from where I’m sitting on the bed.

“Okay, you will have that break from me after all. I have to get back as soon as possible.”

What happened to ‘you won’t go to any wedding without your fucking husband’ or whatever he shouted at me when I tried to ask for that break over a week ago?

“Pack always comes first,” I say instead, and stand up to start packing what little I already unpacked. “I can go back with you.”

“No, that’s your family and it’s not that important,” he waves his hand and starts to pack his things back. “You will stay with my Beta.”

I glance at Lucifer, and he looks pissed.

“Okay, fine. But let’s not pretend you don’t want me to know what’s really going on. You would not be coming back if it wasn’t that important. ”

He ignores my comment, of course.

“Don’t fucking dare leave his sight, and I mean it. Wedding? Beta. Avocado toast breakfast? Beta. Restroom—”

“Beta,” I roll my eyes. “I’ve got it.”

“No, you haven’t. Changing clothes with Ella? Beta. Secret meetings with Greg? Beta. A fucking twin-sized bed? Beta.”

“I’m not sleeping on the same bed as a guy who exposed my cleavage with a knife for fun!”

Cain rolls his eyes at me and turns to Lucifer.

“Do you want to fuck my wife or any other woman on this planet?” he asks him with a smirk and probably with an alpha command.

Lucifer shakes his head ‘no’ immediately.

“And what do you think about my wife?”

“She has good moments, but generally, she’s an entitled little bitch, Alpha,” he answers plainly.

I growl. Great, just great.

“Can you please stop compelling people to say what they really think about me in front of me?”

“He wasn’t under the command,” Cain says bluntly and turns to the doors with his weekend bag and no goodbye.

“Alpha?” I pathetically try to stop him, feeling this sudden emptiness, I have an urge to fill.

Damn mate bond.

“What, Ash?” He turns to me still grabbing the golden doorknob.

“Um, nothing—” I sit on the bed again. “See you soon, I guess.”

“Oh, she wanted a goodbye kiss,” Lucifer laughs coldly .

“Well, I’m a great kisser,” Cain winks at me and takes a step to his Beta before the poor guy can even react.

Cain kisses him on the mouth, which looks way hotter than it should, with a possible tongue and fingers pulling Lucifer by the shirt.

“Thank you, Alpha,” that is all that Lucifer can mutter with a straight expression when Cain is done. He’s shaken.

I laugh, “It hurt me a little but was still worth that face.”

Cain comes onto me, pushing me back on the bed, covering my body with his, catching my jaw in his strong fingers. I wrap my hands around his torso, glad he came back for a proper goodbye after all because without it, arranged marriage or not, it felt so weird.

‘Sorry, I forgot you would feel it,’ he mind-links me, while making me moan lightly by dragging his tongue from the top of my neck—right below his clenched hand, down, until he reaches the biting mark he permanently left on my skin to bond us forever and show everyone I’m his.

I get weirdly hot at the thought of being owned by him.

Beta clears his throat, and Cain breaks away to tell him, “Stay where you are.”

He pulls my face to his and bites my lower lip before giving me a chaste but sweet kiss. He leans to smell my scent, right between my breasts, and I go rigid.

Please, Moon Goddess, don’t let him know I’m his true mate.

“You can start negotiating with your father on my behalf,” Cain stands up, looking at me with a hint of a smile that feels calculated.

I nod.

As soon as the doors close behind him, I look at the Beta.

“He totally wants me to stay here longer, right?”

“Yup. And I did stand close enough to hear what Gamma said to him, but you won’t take it out of me. ”

The arrogance… you would think he’s one of Cain’s brothers.

Well, they are both half-white—

“Hey, are you cousins?” I narrow my eyes at him, and he is taken aback.

“Do you think I wouldn’t deepen that searing kiss if we weren’t related? Of course, we are cousins! My mom had me before her brother, the current Rogue King, killed her for the throne.”

I stare at him waiting for the joke admission, but apparently, he’s as honest as always.

“You are telling me you are the Rogue Alpha Prince’s cousin?”

“What did you not understand in what I said, Luna?” He rolls his eyes at me.

“You are Rogue King’s nephew? An alpha-blooded… Royal?”

“And part Lycan , yes.”

I’m taken aback.

“And who is your father?”

“I don’t know… some handsome black Alpha from your Kingdom, I guess.”

“The Rogues are my Kingdom,” I huff in annoyance.

I’m their Luna for fuck’s sake and they keep talking to me like I came there for just a short vacation.

“Whatever. Luna.”

I growl at his disrespect and angrily stomp toward the bathroom.

“Shower? Beta.” I mutter under my nose, mimicking Cain’s tone from before.

Beta follows me to the bathroom, but fortunately, only to check for possible escape routes like windows, I suppose.

Smart men. I would escape just for fun if he would leave me alone with any window.

“Content?” I ask, and he gives me an annoyed stare before taking a few steps back to lie down on my queen-sized bed.

“Don’t close the doors,” he tries to stop me from slamming them in his face, but I have none of it.

I keep muttering all kinds of Cain’s style commands as a joke. Styling my hair? Beta. Restroom? Beta.

He is clearly annoyed, and when I try to make one up about putting on a dress, he strides to me and forcefully closes my mouth with his palm before I have a chance to say his pack title again.

Someone knocks at the door at this moment.

“Shit,” he whispers. “That’s your brother.”

He can smell his true mate's scent from behind the doors? Fucking Lycans.

I drag his hand down my face. There is the knock again, so I shout back, “Just a minute!”

“Do you still want to ignore him?” I’m mouthing at Beta, and he nods. “Okay, wait in the bathroom. WiFi password is Ashisbest, together, capital A.”

He doesn’t hide the suspicion in his eyes.

“Just go!” I hiss and go to the door.

I open them to Greg dressed in a custom-tailored tuxedo with an indigo bowtie.

“Where’s your date?”

“We are meeting later. Why are you still in a towel, sis?” he asks and walks in, passing me with a bump of the elbow. “And why was your sexy husband seen leaving the premises?”

Should I make a lie? Can I tell the truth?

He reads my hesitation wrong because he comes to rub my arm in a comforting manner.

I clear my throat.

“He had to. Pack business. Can you help me with my dress?” I show him the tight, strapless navy-blue gown made with sequins that he has already helped me pull on several occasions.

“Oh, hell no. I’m calling back up.” He goes back to the doors, “MOM! COME TO ASHER’S ROOM!”

I burst out laughing. “It’s not that bad, and we could have called Claudia, not the Queen of the Werewolves.”

“I just saw Claudia, and she’s still working on her makeup. But I bet you that it’s exactly what Mom will say when she comes here,” he rolls his eyes theatrically.

“No way.” I pick up the sparkling dress. “She will only growl at us and help without a single word.”

“Fine, but the loser doesn’t eat dessert at the wedding.”

Shit. The stakes are high… but only for me.

“And no alcohol for the whole wedding,” I propose to even it out.

He smacks his lips with a grimace.

“Deal,” we shake hands at the same time my mom comes in.

She gives us a stern stare before walking to us with an outreached hand. I put my dress in it and try not to beam in victory. Not a word!

I put on high-waisted Spanx-type panties, take off a towel, and stand with my arms up. She huffs every few seconds while she helps Greg pull down on the dress so it would pass my shoulders.

“Asking the Queen of the Werewolves for this ,” she shakes her head when the dress gets stuck on my hips, and my face falls because I officially lose.

No desserts for me, I guess.

Greg can’t help but grin from ear to ear, so I slap him in the back of the head.

They both leave me shortly after, so I open the bathroom doors with a simple “Makeup? Beta.”

I almost get hit in the eye with a toothbrush. “Hey!”

But I still help Lucifer out, and do whatever I can to keep him out of my oldest brother's reach.

I know how it feels to want to ignore your true mate, and even though my case is lost, I want to make it easier for both of them if I can. Even if that means I have to ignore Greg and his boyfriend for the whole night…

I observe my brother dancing with his hot date on another side of the wedding tent. The guy is very handsome, indeed, but looks nothing like Simu Liu. Except in ethnicity. And the black hair color that is practically given with said ethnicity . My sweet mom .

She’s a great, loving Luna with so many fantastic qualities, but remembering the faces of anyone outside of her Kingdom, even popular actors, is not one of them.. Hmm, speaking of which, how come someone with Jax’s ethnicity became a werewolf in the first place? It’s unusual.

Still, I wish I wasn’t officially the wife of the enemy, and I could actually talk with my parents at this party. All I get are some discreet looks from my father, who is clearly disturbed by the fact I am already marked.

It makes me feel… ashamed.

I almost jump in my seat when my purse vibrates in the middle of the wedding reception. No one could call me in a month, and to be honest, I took my new phone with me only to take a picture or two and have something to fill my cute gold purse. It matches the pendant from my grandmother.

The one with a ruby stone and thin gold chain long enough to wear it while shifting into the werewolf .

I fish the phone out of the purse, and I am surprised to see the video call from the number I recently saved as Cain’s. I show it to Claudia, just to warn her, and pick it up.

“Hi, little wolf,” he says with a husky voice, and I can see from his background that he’s in his office. “I just made it back and wanted to see how you all are doing.”

His handsome, God-chiseled face makes me speechless for a moment.

“Um, hi… Alpha. Your Beta is watching over me as if I was his favorite pet, and Claudia is already drunk,” I show both of them, sitting on my sides.

“What about you? You are always a cute drunk.”

Cute? Is he making fun of me?

“I lost a bet. Anyway, I’m better with wolfsbane now,” I say with a frown.

I don’t care about drinks, but losing the desserts, too?!

Claudia pulls the phone from my hand, “Atlas was gradually decreasing Luna’s proportions to make her think she’s getting better.”

“Hey!” I’m so disappointed that I'm not making any progress after all.

“I know, I asked him to,” Cain chuckles, and I can’t help but swoon over his dimples even if I’m mad. My wolf must miss him. “Claudia, go dance this slurring out, Alpha’s orders!”

Claudia gives me the phone back with a pout and gets up. “I feel weird,” she mumbles quietly to herself, not the first time tonight.

“I’ll go with her. They are giving desserts soon, and I lost that in the bet, too.”

I can see my brother going back to the next table with his very hot date, and they are seated too close to us for Lycan Beta’s comfort—so I always happen to need to go somewhere when they want to rest.

“Okay, I won’t call again. I have to go up north to meet with my mom,” Cain says before taking a big sip of his amber drink.

“Oh, okay, see you when we’ll be back. ”

We spend the rest of the night dancing our hearts out. I’m mostly entertained by the grumpy but very grateful Beta. Claudia, however, says yes to anyone who asks for a dance, which is every single straight guy and a few girls, until she ultimately fools around with my cousin Ella.

No one asks me, but I guess all the werewolves present know that I’m marked by the Rogue Alpha Prince—and all the unaware humans are being scared off by the huge, brooding man shadowing me even into the restroom.

“I miss my wolf. I haven’t shifted in ages!” Claudia whispers into my ear when all adult royals are invited to the intimate post-wedding ceremony, where the bride and groom shift to their wolf forms for the first time as a married couple.

I smuggled Claudia because I knew she would be interested in different traditions. Beta followed because he had to.

“We can shift together in the morning if you want, in the mansion’s gardens. They are beautiful, a lot of fragrant flowers."

“Atlas used to smell like roses before he rejected me,” she says sadly and rests her head on my shoulders while we watch the married couple untying their robes in the middle of the meadow.

I embrace her and pat her shoulder.

When we get back to the mansion after the short but sweet ceremony, Claudia is so tired that Beta loses his patience and just throws her over his shoulder.

“You are the only man in the packhouse I never fucked,” she says, slurring when we climb the stairs.

“Why is she still drunk?” Beta asks me with annoyance.

Well, she’s not alpha-blooded, and she did drink a lot, constantly mumbling something about a weird feeling, but…

“She said she hadn’t shifted in ages, whatever that means. Maybe her healing abilities are off? ”

“Ages probably mean a week or two, but you might be right. Let’s make her shift, it should accelerate stuff.”

I open Claudia’s room door for them, and then close it behind us as Beta throws her onto her guest bed. I help her stand up.

“We have to shift you. Can you do that without breaking all the things here?” I ask gently.

“Yes, Luna,” she giggles, looking like she will break them anyway, even without shifting into a big drunk wolf creature.

“Okay, let’s do it together,” I drag her between the sofa and a flat screen TV where there’s the most amount of space to do that.

I help her undress.

“Okay, I’m out,” Beta says.

“Don’t you have to be everywhere I am?”

“Are you stupid enough to run from the Beta of Rogue Alpha Prince?”

“Not when you put it like that.”

“That’s what I thought. Come to your bed when you are done,” he grabs the doorknob, but I stop him.

“Wait, I need help with my dress.”

“I can call your mom,” he says with sarcasm, but comes to me and rips it in half until it falls to the floor with a thud.

“Hey!”

“I heard you already wore it a couple of times too many,” he snickers at me then adds, “You are lucky I’m too gay to ever be questioned about seeing you naked, but still, I’m not taking any chances, so. See. You. In. Ten. Minutes.”

“Yes, sir,” I salute and take off my shoes.

He leaves slamming the door, and I take off my unsexy underwear too .

“Okay, come on,” I clap my hands at Claudia in a fighting stance.

“I’m not gonna fight you,” she squeals, but then laughs taking her lacy thong off. “I’m joking, I’m not that drunk, I promise.”

I reach into my inner wolf powers and elongate my claws and canines with ease. I scratch at the air before her face, and that gets her moving.

She follows with her claws, and we smirk at each other. She shakes her shoulders with closed eyes as if she is concentrating on the task. Finally.

I close mine and draw on my powers again, ready to shift into my beautiful gray beast. I feel my every claw and every fang. I feel all the power sitting in me, simmering, waiting, healing…

There is a deep growl when Claudia manages to stand on all four paws before me in all her white wolf glory. She’s much smaller than all the adult werewolves I used to work with but beautiful, nonetheless.

But my shift never comes.

I stand in front of Claudia’s wolf form, naked and confused.

As soon as she notices my face, that I’m too numb to control, she shifts back into a human.

“Luna?” she asks with a surprisingly sober voice.

“I can’t shift,” I say blankly while staring at my claws and feeling all that undeniable power stretching from my core to all my fingertips.

She bites her lip and looks at me, waiting for my reaction or maybe wondering if I know what it means.

Of course, I know what it means. Every werewolf knows what it means to not be able to shift when your wolf powers are up and running.

I’m fucking pregnant.

“I think… I think I need to go back to Beta before he starts looking for me and asking questions,” I say, retracting my claws and fangs back.

She brings me a robe in complete silence .

“Don’t say a word to anyone.”

“Yes, Luna,” she bows her head in submission, looking even more stressed than I am.

“Don’t worry, I’ll inform Cain as soon as I can, you won’t have to keep it from your Alpha for long,” I assure her.

She looks up at me and keeps opening and closing her mouth until she gathers enough courage to say what she thinks.

“That was a very Luna-like thing to say. You don’t have to be so— um, I’m your friend. And you are allowed to think about yourself first in personal situations like this.”

If that was the truth… I wouldn’t be married to her Alpha right now.

I give her a strong smile before going to my room with my head held high and hopes down.

Beta Lucifer is sleeping in sweatpants on my Queen-size bed like a starfish with an eight-pack. I purse my lips knowing he heard me entering because I saw his eye open briefly in my direction.

I feel so hollow inside, I’m not sure how I can manage to walk around the room so proper and alive, long enough to give Lucifer time to turn on his side without purposely waking him. I don’t want to talk to him.

But when I’m done with my old nighttime routine and dressed in a comfy cotton pajama set—as I call my oversize men's t-shirt with hipster panties—he is still a giant seafood.

I push him angrily to the side and quickly climb under the cover before he can roll back. He does it anyway and sleepily wraps his arms around me the same way Cain always does.

Which is fucking weird but comforting at the same time and I start to sob, wondering if that’s hormones already making havoc with my body and mind.