Page 26 of The Careless Alpha

Scarlett stood up from her table, a small smile playing at her lips. "It's true. Marshall and I had a wonderful evening together."

I nodded firmly, remembering waking up next to her the morning after. Annalise's face went white as she realized what was happening. I expected her to fight, to scream, to deny it with more force. Instead, she just looked... broken. A part of me registered the depth of her despair, the absolute devastation in her eyes, but the fury was a roaring fire that consumed everything else. She had made me a fool. She would pay for it.

"So you see," I continued, "our future Luna is not only unfaithful, she's also a liar. She's trying to pass off another man's child as mine."

"I'm not lying," Annalise said, but her voice was barely audible over the murmurs spreading through the room.

"You're a whore," I said coldly, and the room went completely silent. "You're not worthy to be a pack member, let alone a Luna."

"Marshall!" Luna Etta gasped in horror. "You cannot speak to her that way—"

"I can speak to her however I want," I snapped. "She's betrayed the mate bond, betrayed this pack, and betrayed me personally."

I turned back to Annalise, who was now sobbing openly. The words came out of my mouth before I could stop them, fueled by rage and humiliation.

"I, Marshall Kane, Alpha of the Cascade Pack, reject you, Annalise Sloane, as my mate and Luna."

The formal rejection hit the room like a physical force. Gasps echoed from every corner, and I heard Luna Etta cry out in horror. Annalise staggered as if I'd struck her, her hand flying to her chest where the mate bond was severing with agonizing precision.

"No," she whispered, her face going deathly pale. "Marshall, please—"

But the bond was already snapping, the invisible thread that connected us fraying and breaking apart. I felt it too—a sharp, tearing pain in my chest that made me grit my teeth.

"By the laws of this pack, I banish you from our territory," I continued, my voice hard despite the pain. "You have thirty minutes to gather whatever you can carry and get out of my sight."

"No," My mother said firmly, stepping forward. "Marshall, you can't just—"

"I can and I will," I roared, my Alpha command echoing through the room. "Another word from you, Mother, and you can join her in exile."

My mother's mouth snapped shut, but her eyes blazed with fury and disappointment.

"Thirty minutes," I repeated to Annalise. "If you're still on pack grounds after that, I'll set the warriors on you. And trust me when I say they won't be gentle."

Annalise looked at me for one more moment, her eyes full of heartbreak and something that might have been pity. Then she turned and ran from the room, her sobs echoing down the hallway.

My mother gave me a look of such profound disappointment that it almost made me flinch. Then she followed Annalise out of the room without a word.

The silence stretched for a moment before the whispers started. Pack members leaned toward each other, gossiping and speculating about what they'd just witnessed. Some were giggling behind their hands, clearly enjoying the drama.

"SILENCE!" I roared, unleashing my Alpha command across the room. The effect was immediate and absolute—every mouth snapped shut, every whisper died, every movement ceased. The pack sat frozen in their chairs, unable to speak or move without my permission.

I took a deep breath, surveying the room of motionless faces. "Good. Now finish your meals."

The command released them just enough to eat, but they remained unable to speak. I sat down at the head table, cutting into my steak with deliberate precision. The only sounds in the room were the quiet clinks of silverware against plates and the occasional nervous swallow.

The silence stretched on. Minutes turned into an hour as I forced myself to eat slowly, methodically, refusing toacknowledge the weight of dozens of eyes watching my every move. I could feel their judgment, their confusion, their fear—but none of them could voice it.

My mother's chair remained empty. She hadn't returned.

I was contemplating a second helping when the dining room doors opened and Jackson walked in. He stopped just inside the doorway, his eyes sweeping over the unnaturally quiet room, taking in the tense faces of pack members who sat like statues.

"Jesus," he said, looking around the room. "Who died?"

I looked up from my plate, meeting his dark eyes. The question hung in the air with unintended accuracy.

"It’s nothing that concerns you," I said finally.

Jackson's gaze moved around the room again, and I saw understanding dawn on his face. He'd recognized the lingering effects of an Alpha command.