The Alpha's Powerful Luna

Chapter 3

**Victor POV**

The last 2 days had gone off without any problems from Andrew. I was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t have to alpha command him to stay away from the young omega he’d taken a liking to. After a short conversation about rank and finding a mate that makes more economic sense for our pack, he’d snapped right into place. I did catch him stealing a few glances toward her, but he’d really taken our conversations about being more subtle with indiscretions to heart. I was sure that even if he simply had to have this omega girl, he would at least be able to exercise restraint until our high ranked guests left, which was a charming change of pace considering his unceremonious removal from training school last year after several overdramatic she wolves claimed “harassment”.

The planning of this event had really gotten away from me. Krista, my Luna, had taken over and in her obsession with being the brightest and best pack, she’d gone way over budget. We were nearing bankruptcy, it was getting to be crunch time for finding our children some high ranking mates with cash to knowingly— or unwittingly— float us until I found a new way to funnel some cash in. This was a task I was not particularly thrilled to begin the process of doing, given that my son was honestly not the brightest wolf, and my daughter took the meaning of the word “shrill” to new levels. I’d always heard that children were a blessing, but honestly, I failed to see how that description could possibly cover how I felt about MY children.

Things simply weren’t the same in the last 12 years since we lost our top trade partners at Mystic moon. They’d loaned us money when we were in a spot and even helped us to create several successful businesses outside of the pack. The only problem was the business savvy of my beta was nothing compared to the beta of mystic moon and those were soon run into the ground without his direction, a problem made only worse by my high maintenance luna and her commitment to turn our daughter into a miniature version of her.

I walked down the hall toward my office. If I was to be kissing this much ass once the other alphas arrived, I’d surely need a drink or two and I kept the bar in the office plenty stocked. If you had the overbearing wife and absolutely rotten children that I had, you’d understand. I downed the first glass as I thought about the decision to take on a chosen mate. Sure, I needed Krista’s bloodline and my omega mate could’ve never competed with that, but I just wondered if I would have felt more than apathetic disdain for my children with her had I not rejected her for Krista. I poured myself one more double glass, slamming it down after polishing it off in only 2 drinks. I figured I’d hide out in here a little while, hoping I wouldn’t see or hear anything to kill my buzz but knowing better than to count on it.

On my way down the hall, I couldn’t help but cringe as I heard my daughter, Amelia squealing at decibels that actually pained my wolf hearing about her dress for the party this evening. She was absolutely sure she’d be bagging an alpha at some pack or another, and all her little friends were assuring her that this dress would do the trick. As long as the poor sob had deep pockets I can’t say I’d have a problem with letting her go and drain money elsewhere.

I was considering going for another refill when the door practically fell off the hinges as my worse half slammed open the door. “Victor, the omegas have completely ruined everything! I must insist that you do something to punish them before this event to make sure they toe the line.” Krista’s blonde hair was slicked back perfectly and her blue eyes burned with absolute rage. It was amazing how she could look so similar to my son, who couldn’t intimidate me if he made it his life’s purpose, and yet Krista was someone I’d grown to genuinely fear. I could swear there was steam coming out of her ears for something that was no doubt a minor infraction, but it was, after all, her world and we were all just living in it.

“What’s happened now, darling?” I said through gritted teeth, trying to contain my hatred for her. It was something about her that I just felt averted to ever since we’d been together. Our courtship had been fast and mostly arranged by our fathers, so I didn’t exactly notice how much of a chore of a woman she was until I’d brought her home. By then, we’d already mated and marked each other and she was quickly pregnant with Andrew. There would be no escape for me, and I’d spent the almost two decades following trying to accept that.

“One of the serving platters is cracked, the finger sandwiches look sloppy for high tea, and they haven’t even started on dinner yet!” She shouted with her shrill, irritating voice which sounded shockingly similar to our teenage daughter’s.

“It’s only noon, darling. They still have plenty of time.” I tried to reason with her, but I knew there’d be no point.

“If we’re going to have everything ready in time, they should be moving a hell of a lot faster than they are right now! I want you to go and talk to them. Maybe take one of them and make an example out of them. Just do SOMETHING! I won’t have this night ruined and have everyone know what a pathetic excuse for an alpha you really are. I’ve gone to all of this trouble to hide your impotence, so you would do well to make sure my well laid plans are executed to perfection.” She had made her way around my desk and stood over me, preventing me from getting up and moving. She looked at me with as much disdain as I felt in my heart for her. She always had a way of reminding me how very little good I had done for my pack and made sure I left each and every interaction we had feeling about one inch tall. Sure, I was the most powerful wolf in this pack house but at this very moment, Krista had all the power.

“Whatever you want, darling.” I uttered barely above a whisper, refusing to fully make eye contact with her for fear she’d see just how much I both loathed and envied the power with which she was able to carry herself. I just wanted her out of my office and I’d do anything to make that happen. I heard the clicking and clacking of her heals and the slamming of the door and knew I was alone. With a resigned sigh, I decided to go and get that refill after all. After realizing I was kidding absolutely no one—not even myself— I threw the glass at the wall, watching it shatter before me and took one long swig of scotch straight from the bottle before I prepared to go and take my rage out on someone who really deserved it: my inferiors.

**Jade POV**

The conversation I had been hoping to have with Emma after we’d finished everything was still not to be had. After making and cleaning up dinner, Luna Krista had made her way down to the kitchen, making sure to look at all of us as if we were the dirt beneath her high priced shoes, and told us we hadn’t “earned” sleep because we’d clearly “half assed” our way through our responsibilities, and she demanded we clean the entire pack house all over again. That took several hours, and since then we’d been hard at work in the kitchen to make the perfect scones for breakfast, the perfect 5 tier cake for the party, to fold the napkins perfectly into swans, to polish the silverware perfectly, and above all to make our pack house appear grander than it really was. It was just past lunch time and quite honestly I wasn’t sure how we were going to get through the next several hours. We were all running on crappy coffee and adrenaline from Luna Krista periodically bursting in to scream at us about productivity and doing our jobs. We’d probably work faster if she’d stop scaring the life out of everyone, but I guess she didn’t have much else to do.

Emma and I were bringing bottles of wine and champagne up from the cellar when the kitchen door swung open to reveal alpha Victor this time. We all came to a complete and utter stop, unsure what would happen next.

“It’s come to my attention that you all have seen fit to make our pack a laughing stock by doing as minimal work as possible on the night of a very important celebration. Every time I think the lot of you can’t sink any lower, can’t disgust me any more, you all find a way to do it.” He sneered, turning his gaze all over the room and making a moment of eye contact with each and every one of us. I watched as everyone else seemed to avert their eyes, and I wondered why I couldn’t do it too. It was like something inside of me was literally refusing to allow me to do that now. Alpha Victor lingered for one moment as he looked at me before turning his attention to someone else.

“Here’s the good news: I’m willing to be a merciful alpha and only punish one of you today. I will let one serve as an example for the rest that if you don’t work to the standards of this pack, there will be hell to pay tonight. Understood?”

“Yes, alpha” we all said in unison. I could feel the fear creeping overall of us. It filled the atmosphere so quickly that you could cut it with a knife, each of us quickly losing sight of how exhausted we were and only able to look around at each other in pure terror. I watched in horror as alpha Victor searched the crowd to look for a suitable victim.

“Let’s see, who of you is most deserving of punishment,” he continued to scan the room and seemed to land on Chelsea, a pregnant omega who’d been an unlucky victim of a wolf she didn’t dare to name to any of us. “You. Two for the price of one I see. Come here, omega.” Victor’s lips turned up smugly and I began to sweat. I couldn’t imagine what he was getting ready to put her through especially with her being pregnant. I began to think about her poor pup just trying to survive. Just like their mother. Just like all of us.

“I know that look and whatever you’re thinking, it’s a bad idea.” Emma whispered out of the side of her mouth.

Maybe it was the lack of sleep. Maybe it was that we all hadn’t eaten since we’d been given a roll each after dinner. Maybe it was the leftover pain after Andrew had attacked me for no reason. Maybe it was the way Victor…. “Alpha” Victor had watched this happen and his only concern was his breakfast being late. I couldn’t honestly say which factor caused the rage to build up until I could feel it in my chest, burning all the way up to my throat and practically demanding that I do something.

I couldn’t do this anymore. I was DONE with all of this. Without even so much as taking another breath, I took the champagne bottle in my hand and threw it to the ground. It smashed into 100 pieces. I heard terrified gasps fill the room and I was suddenly fueled by my rage in a way that I’d never been before. “Get off Chelsea this instant!” I yelled, fire burning in my chest as I watched Victor’s black eyes focus on me. “You starve us, you belittle us, you give us backbreaking labor and when we don’t do it to the speed you deem acceptable you beat us as well. Unacceptable!”

Rumbles of agreement began to filter in. Whispers of affirmation.

“You steal away childhoods and force your orphans into slavery. You allow your wife and your daughter and your weak, disgusting, VILE son defile us. You yourself take advantage of our women and you kill our men, thinking we forget them the next day. We don’t forget and I don’t fear you! But trust me when I say that you should fear me. You should fear me to your dying breath. Your undoing is imminent and it will be those you stepped on who deliver your reckoning!” I realized halfway through that my wolf, Astrid had taken over for me. She had spoken the words that I could not and revealed a future for Victor that I had not seen.

For a split second, Victor actually looked frightened. His sadistic grin had faded and his eyes were wide and unblinking. He looked like a child afraid of timeout. As quickly as his face had fallen, it changed back to the cold and deadly alpha I had grown to hate. This time, his venom was aimed straight at me. Emma gripped my arm, digging her nails into me almost willing herself to not let me go when he inevitably came for me.

Quicker than I imagined was possible, Victor stalked over to me and ripped me off the floor. He slung me over his shoulder and easily flung open the back door. Once we were outside, he threw me to the ground as hard as he could. I coughed from the impact, feeling the wind fully knocked out of me. “I’ll teach you to speak to me that way, you little mutt!” He shouted as his foot crushed one of my ribs. I rolled onto my stomach to try and protect myself but that only made him angrier. He grabbed me up by my hair, flipped me over, and threw me back to the ground, punching me in the nose, the eye, and the throat in rapid fire movements.

It felt like hours laying there in the cold autumn rain as Victor continued to hit and kick me. I began to see a light but then everything went dark.