Alpha’s Betrayal
Chapter 19

Luna

Claw Mansion

Woodward County, Oklahoma

I sat on the bed, cradling the mirror Tala had given me. I hadn't moved much since my return. The run in the woods had been invigorating, and the swim in the pool had been... Erm... Enlightening. Hell. Who am I kidding?

I had no idea what to make of the swim. The pool itself was nice - certainly a little hiding spot worth remembering (once Remus went back to Texas, it would be mine, and mine alone) - but what had happened there... My wolf still insisted that Marnet was our mate. He was the only choice. It mattered not to her that we had been summarily rejected in front of t re pack (as well as several high-ranking members from other packs, of course). It didn't occur to her, either, that our mate had left us to die when he'd closed the trap door to his secret passage.

He had no way of knowing Remus would spare me. I still wasn't entirely sure why he had; I had thought he wanted me to seek Marnet out for him, but when we swam together in the pool... It was like he'd forgotten about the Lupus Claw alpha entirely. His eyes, his attention, they were only for me. I had no idea what to do with that reality.

On some level, it was strangely enticing. Marnet had often seemed distracted when we were together, especially over the last year - or maybe two. I had been willing to accept the explanation that taking over from his father was worrying him, and then that the role was quite difficult, once the transition had actually happened. But given how quickly he'd traded me i at blonde? Maybe his mind had been on her the whole time.

raised my hands, l!ps curving down. The shift - or rather, shifts, I supposed - had done a lot to heal some of the deep bruises. The aches. But there had

I looked back down and caught a glance of my own reflection in the small hand mirror. I tipped my he been far too many injuries to be healed by one short run through the forest; the purple on my jaw ha The thought made my stomach turn. It was a good thing I hadn't eaten in a few days, or I might have g I set the mirror back down and tried to shake off the deeply unsettled feeling. I had been sitting in this bedong enough. The last thing I needed was Remus getting into my head. You're such a mess, Luna. C'mon, get it together. The door opened and Tala stepped inside. "Oh, good, you're still awake," she chirped, offering me a small smile. "I ran a hot bath for you. No ensuite, though I'm sort of surprised with the size of this place, you know?" For a moment, her smile flickered to something a little more judgmental, perhaps. I didn't get a chance to put my finger on it, because it only lasted a moment. I blinked, and her smile was back. "C'mon, you don't want it to get cold. I grabbed some clothes from one of the closets for you. I just guessed your size."

to that awful jaundiced yellow instead. The searing pain had faded to a dull throb, but I could still feel the mark Marnet's knuckles had left against my skin.

I forced myself to smile back and slowly got to my feet. "Thank you," I replied quietly, dipping my head in a little nod. "You really-You really didn't need to do that." I hardly knew what to say. The cruelty Marnet had offered a few days prior made the kindness a sharp contrast; it was almost overwhelming. "I really appreciate it, though," I added in a rush. The last needed was for Tala to think I was ungrateful; at the moment, she seemed like the only friendly face (I certainly wouldn't fool myself into calling her a

friend) around this place.

Tala followed me out of the room. Part of me wanted to insist I didn't need a chaperone to take a bath, but I also wasn't 100 percent confident that my knees wouldn't suddenly give out on me. Though I was feeling better, I certainly wasn't feeling like the picture of health, either. It took me a moment to realize she was still speaking to me.

"-oh! And I added lavender. Well, lavender Epsom salts, but I got a few sprigs of lavender from the garden, too. Who do you think gardened here? Certainly wasn't Marnet - and Kate doesn't look like the kind of woman who'd suffer dirty nails, either." There are gardens here? My brow furrowed slightly. I supposed that showed how often I'd been invited to Marnet's home. Withholding a sigh, I opened the door and stepped into the bathroom, greeting by a wall of warmth and the smell of lavender warmed by sunshine. Almost instinctively, I exhaled, shoulders dropping by a few degrees.

"This is really nice," I said There were a few flickering candles placed around the room, on the marble countertop, perched on little nooks above the tub. If I hadn't known better, I could have sworn I'd just stepped into a spa, not a shared bathroom at Marnet's mansion - or, former mansion, I supposed.

Tala hummed, fluffing a towel to leave near the bath. "Yes, well, you've had a lot to deal with the past few days, haven't you? I thought it might be nice." She shrugged. "I would treat myself to a glass of wine or several! - and a healing bath after a breakup, so, it seemed right."

I didn't know what to say to that, either. A breakup sounded so minor, as compared to what had happened at the Moonmate ceremony a few days ago. I sighed, staring at the bath water.

Tala cleared her throat when the silence stretched on too long. "Well, I'll step out. I'll be right down the hall so just shout if you need anything, okay?"

I barely registered the other woman as she turned to reach for the door. The water rippled quietly, and I was brought back to the pool for a moment, the memory so vivid it almost stole my breath away - and the memory was followed immediately by the thought of pushing back. The thought of Marnet. The hollow, empty feeling the man had left me with.

I jerked my chin up. "Tala?"

"Hm?" She paused with her delicate fingers on the door, glancing over her shoulder.

I forced myself to keep talking, no matter how awkward I felt. "Would you would you mind staying? I just...this is a big house. It's sort of lonely, you know?"

The urge to cringe was growing by the second. Thankfully, Tala brightened almost immediately. "I'd love to! Why don't I give you a minute to change and get settled in the bath, and I'll come back with something to drink? I could go for some more coffee, honestly. Do you want any?"

I paused; her smile was almost contagious. "I think just some water, if that's okay?"

"Of course!" she replied. "I won't be more than a minute."

What a strange thing, I thought, gingerly stripping out of my clothes. Having a coffee date in the bathroom.

Tala did most of the talking while I sat in the bath, but I didn't really mind. My throat was still a bit sore - and my jaw a bit more than sore, truth be told - so I was perfectly content to listen. Maybe she had mentioned it before, but I hadn't entirely realized that Tala was Remus' cousin. It must have been on her mother's side, because Tanner did not sound anything like Silverstreak. If I was honest, it sounded positively mundane...but I knew some wolves were like that, especially older families that didn't contain any alphas in immediate history.

They thought it was safer to be mistaken for humans, and I couldn't entirely blame them for that. Living without the protection of a pack as a terrifying proposition. I had wondered how Tala's family had become part of the Silverstreak pack, but I didn't have to ask, because she was already launching into the story. She'd taken a left turn into Silverstreak Motors. If I was honest, I wasn't sure I'd ever seen one of their cars in the wild. One of those cars was as expensive as a Lamborghini, or maybe more so. Regardless of price, they weren't the type of car you drove down a dusty back country road, not unless you'd stolen it and were hoping to hide it in the last place anyone might look.

"I'd love to see one someday," I said, almost dreamy in my imagination. I couldn't even picture what that kind of motor might feel like beneath my fingers. It had been a while since I'd worked on any cars at all. I grimaced. Guess it's a good thing I'm just an assistant at the garage. Where was my phone? Fvck. Had the garage manager been texting me? I had taken the day of the Moonmate ceremony and the day after off, but it had been more than a few days since then. Man, if I had lost my job... There weren't that many garages in this town, and while I didn't have to pay rent, I still tried to remain as independent as possible.

"See what? One of the cars?"

Tala's question interrupted my impending anxiety spiral. I glanced over, aware of the heat rising to my cheeks. Hopefully, she would just assume it was the heat of the bath, not the embarrassment. "Yeah. Not a lot of sports cars out here." "Oh, I know," Tala laughed. "Trucks and Jeeps as far as the eye can see! I'm just surprised - no offense, but you don't exactly look like a gearhead."

I snorted. "I get that sometimes. My mom owned a garage when I was younger."

"Oh, really? That's something, isn't it? My mother, well." She paused, pursing her l!ps. "She wasn't good with money at all. Which is why I made it my goal to be better with finance than anyone else in whatever room I'm standing in." "And did you manage that?" I asked, surprised that I was actually curious.

She winked. "I'm not Silverstreak Motors' chief financial officer because I'm Remus' cousin. The man likes me well enough, but he doesn't like me so well as to let nepotism ruin his business. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but he's a bit... strict in his planning." "That's one way of putting it," I replied, tracing my fingers over the surface of the water.

Tala sipped her coffee. "The pack means everything to him, and the company is a close second. It funds just about everything, you know?"

I didn't know. Now that she mentioned it, I had no idea what Marnet did - or what the Claw family did - to provide financial support for the Lupus Claw pack. Despite the fact that I was supposed to be his mate - despite the fact that he had promised me, over and over and over again, that he would publicly claim me one day he'd never mentioned any of the pack specifics to me. It was like it was some big grand secret. Like either he didn't trust me enough to share, or he thought I was too stupid to understand the machinations. Honestly, I wasn't sure which thought hurt worse.

"I don't think he's ever had a relationship that lasted more than a month. More than a weekend, even," Tala was saying as I tuned back in.

I blinked and glanced over. "Hm?"

She flushed and cleared her throat. "Sorry. Got a bit carried away there. It's not really for me to speculate on Remus' dating life, is it?"

Huh, I thought. I wasn't entirely uninterested in Tala's speculation. Unfortunately, she changed topics, shifting back to life in Texas - something about the city Silverstreak Motors was headquartered in. My mind started to drift, and I made no effort to reclaim it, closing my eyes as I started to sink into the water. The soothing tone of Tala's voice gave way to memories of my earlier swim, a stark contrast of the bath. The pool had been cold and earthy where this was warm and floral.

I wonder if Remus takes baths, I thought, feeling weightless in the water. My lashes fluttered and I did not open them. Would he have kept me company, if I had asked? Would he lean in and-

No!

My eyes flashed open and I sat up too abruptly, startling Tala into silence as the water sloshed against the sides of the tub. "I think I'm ready to get out," I said, praying she wouldn't ask for an explanation.

Tala gave me a funny look, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she got back to her feet, gathering up the empty cups. "No problem," she said, her voice carrying a cheerfulness I couldn't pin as forced or real. "The towel's there. There are a few dresses hung for you - we're having dinner in about an hour. I'll meet you downstairs in the dining room, so feel free to take your time getting ready."

"Thanks," I managed to croak out, feeling impossibly small as Tala swished out, every inch the confident businesswoman. Sh!t, what am I even doing here? I wondered, not for the first time. I felt like a country bumpkin compared to the Silverstreak wolves. Well, you aren't going to make any good impressions naked, I thought to myself, and leaned forward to drain the tub. Or as a wrinkly prune. C'mon, girl. Let's get it together.

Once I had toweled myself off and procured a blow dryer for my hair, I finally padded over to the rack where Tala had hung three dresses. I had no idea where she'd gotten them, but I knew if I thought about that for too long, I'd end up wearing nothing at all. It would have been nice to get something more comfortable, I thought with a sigh, grimacing as I peeked at the tags. They would all fit, but they weren't going to leave anything to the imagination. Why do I need to wear a damn cocktail dress for dinner? My irritation gave way to something cooler, more uncomfortable. Tala hadn't mentioned how many others would be at dinner. I assumed she would be there, of course, and probably her cousin, the alpha...but if the alpha was there, his mother was likely going to be there. Maybe his beta. How many other Silverstreak pack members would be there? Would any Lupus Claw - er - former Lupus Claw wolves be there? Would my family be there?

Unexpectedly, my chest felt tight, as if someone had cinched the towel currently wrapped around my skin. My father had been an important member of Lupus Claw - had he submitted to Remus, or tried to fight the man's claim over the territory?

My eyes stung at the idea. No, don't do that. I would hope for the best, and that meant I'd see my father downstairs, and it wouldn't do to be wobbling around like a fawn or something. I took a shaky breath and stared at the dresses, not having a clue which of them to pick. The grimace worked its way back onto my lips like a stubborn stain. Well, what do you think would have happened if Marnet had taken you as his mate, Luna? You would be asked to dinner every night; who knows how often he was entertaining? The last thought made my mouth twist further, the idea sourer than any lemon. For all I knew, Marnet Claw had a different guest over almost every night of the week We rarely spent evenings together, instead meeting in mid-morning, early afternoon, or well, well after any sort of respectable hour. It all seems kind of obvious now, doesn't it?

If he'd really planned to claim me, he would've taken me out to a real dinner, at a real restaurant, instead of bringing upscale Chinese takeout from Oklahoma City when I was getting sick of his behavior. He would've invited me over to his house to eat with his family rather than invite me to his love nest for a quick fvck and a snack after. I could count the number of times I'd woken up next to Marnet on one hand.

Stop that,I scolded myself, reaching for a deep navy dress. I wouldn't have called it 'mid-length' by any stretch of the imagination, but it seemed the most middling between my three choices. The forest green might have looked nice, too, but I didn't want to spend most of the night tugging my dress down my thighs. I had no idea who I was going to be meeting downstairs, after all.

Shedding the fluffy towel, I got dressed. Tala had thought of everything, from what to wear underneath to the shoes that matched each individual dress. I was a little impressed. This house is practically a shopping mall. Again, I almost caught myself wondering who this dress belonged to. Sophia? Kate? The bl- Get a grip, girl. It doesn't belong to any of them, not now. Besides, you're only borrowing it.

The only thing Tala hadn't supplied was any sort of makeup. I didn't tend to wear a lot, but if I was going to make a good impression, I usually tried to put on a neutral shade of eye shadow - maybe some eyeliner, if I was feeling really spicy. Even some l!p balm would have been acceptable.

Maybe there's something in the bedroom.I hadn't exactly been in the state of mind to go rummaging around the various pieces of furniture.

I had almost coaxed a smile to my face as I walked out of the bathroom, my dark hair falling in gentle waves and my shoes hanging from my fingers. The carpet runner felt as plush as a verdant forest floor this really was more luxurious than anything I could have imagined. And it was almost yours, Luna.

I shook my head; no, it wasn't. I didn't even know what was here, not really. And it was never mine; it was never going to be mine. Marnet didn't even struggle with his decision at the Moonmate ceremony. It couldn't have meant much of anything to him, if anything at all. He always did tell you he wasn't much for tradition. Should have listened.

My wolf stirred and I braced myself for her discontent. I almost didn't notice Fiona Silverstreak in the hallway until it was too late. I managed to step to the side, dipping in what I was sure was the most awkward bow the woman had ever seen. As I straightened, I paused. What was I supposed to say to the mother of the man who had destroyed my pack?

Fiona broke the awkward silence, clearly unaffected by what might have been uncomfortable for others (including me, thank you very much). "How are you feeling, Luna?" she asked, her voice crisp. She reminded me of a school librarian, if a librarian wore heels and sapphire earrings to a Thursday night dinner. Wait, not just earrings. That pendent...her bracelet!

I swallowed before I could say something stupid. "Much better," I said instead, allowing my gaze to flicker down. The last thing I needed was for any Silverstreak wolf to think I was challenging them, much less the alpha's mother. "Thank you for asking." The air seemed to warm up by a degree. "You do look much better," she noted. I didn't need to look at the older woman to know she was sizing me up - it had happened so often over my lifetime. "Now that you are regaining your health, it is time you pay your respects to Remus and help him locate Marnet."

Pay my respects...? My gaze jerked up as my nostrils flared, and I fought the sharp inhale of breath. Oh, she wants me to submit- I couldn't finish the thought. Blinking rapidly, I looked away.

Fiona growled softly and I cringed, realizing a moment too late she might interpret the aversion as disobedience. The Silverstreak matriarch took one step towards me, and I fought the tremble threatening my spine; even if I wanted to move, my feet were rooted to the hardwood floor. She didn't have to so much as lay a finger of me; the simple power of her stare had me pinned to the floor. And she's not even an alpha- no wonder Remus is so arresting. It was bred into him.

"You've had a very trying few days, young lady, so I will allow you some grace. However, it would be in your best interest to thoroughly consider your words and actions over the next few days. Silverstreak is nothing like Lupus Claw, and neither disloyalty nor disrespect will be tolerated by myself or by Remus. Do you understand?"

She said the last bit as if I were a particularly slow child. Unfortunately, I felt like a particularly small child, caught playing in my mother's heels because she wanted to be a grownup. I tilted my head, trying to formulate some response that wouldn't get me into any deeper trouble when the sound of footsteps rounded the far corner of the hallway.

"Mother!"

Remus?I glanced up suddenly, but I didn't miss the way Fiona's hazel eyes narrowed and her finely manicured brows pinched closer together. It was an expression I saw frequently.

The man approached us with long strides, not hurried but efficient. He dipped his head towards his mother, and she pivoted on one foot, wrapping her slender arms around him in a short embrace. I blinked and glanced away, shocked by the affection she offered the man so freely-in front of someone who was two steps away from a stranger, no less. I had never seen Lynn embrace any of her children in public, not even her sons.

What do I do? I needed to get to the bedroom I'd been staying in- or even just the dining room - but the pair of shifters was between me and the end of the hallway. I'd have to squeeze myself past them to get by, and there was no way I was coming within three feet of them. Especially Remus.

When I allowed myself a quick glance, Remus was staring at me, even as he untangled himself from his mother's embrace.

"Luna," he murmured. I hated the way chills ran down my spine when he said my name. Luna. Like I was something expensive. Luxurious. "Join me for dinner."

I glanced up, trying not to look surprised. "Oh, uh, yes. I was just on my way down to the dining room. Tala told me "

Remus shook his head, a lazy smile tipping up one side of his mouth. I bit my l!p, lest I start frowning right in front of his mother. (Her watchful gaze had never left my face once Remus had addressed me, and I had no desire to give her any ammunition against me.) "No," he said, "on the balcony." "What?" I blinked, quickly losing the battle against my bewilderment. "Oh, that's okay, I-"

Fiona's eyes narrowed by a fraction and the words died in my throat. Even my wolf seemed to take notice, whining softly. Was this part of what she considered disrespect? I inhaled and straightened my spine. Fine. If this woman thinks I have no idea how to play along with an egomaniac, she has another thing coming. I had lived under Lynn Highborn's roof for more than the last decade, after all. Smiling and nodding was the language in which I was the most fluent.

"I insist," Remus said.

I cleared my throat, reaching up to brush my fingers over my skin and the bruises I knew were still speckled there. "Sorry," I murmured, dipping my head gracefully. "Some of the injuries still hurt a bit. I was just going to finish getting ready in my room; I would love to join you after?" I smiled pleasantly. Fiona's expression faltered and for a moment, the smile almost felt real.

"Perfect." Remus turned to head in the direction he'd come from. "See you soon." His mother trailed after him, their arms looped lazily together as she leaned in to whisper something.

I stared at their backs for a moment, mother and son. I wonder what Josephine Ulfric would have to say about this. I allowed myself one wistful moment, and then shook myself. There was no time the mope. I'd bought myself a few minutes before having to have dinner with the alpha who had overthrown mine, and I wasn't going to waste them dwelling on such morbid thoughts.