Hated By The Alpha Bound To Me (Completed)

Chapter 50- Luna Duties

The sharp knock on her door echoed through the room, pulling Elara from her thoughts.

She gritted her teeth.

Yesterday, she had spent most of the day hiding in her new room. She unpacked the few belongings she had brought from Valamere, arranged them neatly on the shelves, and searched for anything to keep her busy.

Nothing helped.

As night settled over Draegon, memories of Draven crept in one after another, refusing to give her any peace. Long after the territory had fallen silent, she lay awake staring at the ceiling while her thoughts chased each other in endless circles.

The bed didn't help.

It felt too large and, though she hated to admit it, empty.

For hours she tossed and turned, trying to find a comfortable position while convincing herself she had made the right decision.

When the morning birds began chirping outside her window, she finally admitted a truth she desperately wished she could deny.

She couldn't sleep without Thorne.

Somewhere along the way, she had grown accustomed to falling asleep beside him. To his warmth. To the quiet comfort of knowing he was nearby.

The realization irritated her to no end.

After everything she had learned, after all the doubts circling her mind, needing him felt like a betrayal.

Yet the feeling remained.

Unable to endure another minute in bed, she rose before dawn, got dressed, and spent the last hour sitting on the edge of the mattress, lost in thought.

Then the knock came again.

Elara sighed and pushed herself off the bed before crossing the room and pulling the door open.

She wasn't surprised to find Kaia standing on the other side. The Beta had her arms crossed over her chest and one eyebrow raised expectantly.

"You done hiding?"

Elara pursed her lips.

"I wasn't hiding."

Kaia snorted.

"Right."

Her gaze drifted past Elara's shoulder into the room.

"And yesterday?"

Elara shrugged.

"I was unpacking."

The excuse sounded weak even to her own ears.

"Uh-huh." Kaia's expression made it clear she didn't believe a word of it. "Well, your self-imposed exile is over."

Elara frowned.

"My what?"

"Your self-imposed exile," Kaia repeated. "You've had a day to sulk. That's all you're getting."

"I wasn't sulking."

Kaia started walking down the hallway.

"Keep telling yourself that."

Elara rolled her eyes but stepped out of the room and pulled the door shut behind her.

"Where are we going?"

"We have pack matters to deal with."

"What pack matters?"

Kaia glanced at her, a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"Your pack matters."

Elara tilted her head.

"My pack matters?"

"You're the Luna, remember?" Kaia asked dryly. "That comes with responsibilities."

She didn't wait for a response and continued down the hallway.

Elara fought the urge to groan and followed after her.

Kaia led her through the pack house and out into the cool morning air. Pack members were already moving about the territory, some heading to work while others stopped to chat with friends and family.

Elara followed as Kaia headed toward the small cluster of businesses established near the center of the pack grounds.

The same businesses she had stumbled across shortly before discovering the prison.

"Where are we going?" she asked, moving up beside her.

"The stores. We need to check income reports, inventory, and see if anyone needs anything."

Elara frowned.

"Why would we need to do that?"

Kaia sighed as if the answer should have been obvious.

"Because they're part of the pack."

Seeing Elara's confusion, she continued.

"Thorne allows pack members who are too old to work outside the territory to open small businesses here. The pack supports them, they support themselves, and a small portion goes back into pack funds."

She gestured toward the row of buildings ahead.

"It keeps contributions low for everyone while making sure nobody gets left behind."

Kaia glanced at her.

"We may be wolves, but we are also human."

Elara studied the stores as they approached.

There weren't many.

The small herbal shop where she had first met Morna sat near the end of the row. Beside it stood a general store stocked with everyday necessities and a few other modest businesses catering to the pack's needs.

Everything served a purpose.

If someone needed clothes, furniture, or anything specialized, they would still have to leave the territory. Everyday essentials, however, were readily available.

A small community within a larger one.

Elara hated to admit it, but Valamere could have benefited from something similar.

The pack grew much of its own food, but most members still worked outside the territory and contributed a percentage of their income to pack funds.

Draegon felt different.

More connected.

Judging by the number of pack members browsing the stores, the system worked.

Kaia sighed, her shoulders slumping slightly.

"The idea was actually Rose's."

Elara frowned. She had never heard that name before.

"Who is Rose?" she asked.

Kaia's steps slowed. Her gaze remained fixed ahead for a few moments before she came to a stop and turned toward Elara.

Something shifted in her expression before she looked away.

"She was Thorne's sister."

The answer was simple, yet Elara immediately understood the meaning behind it.

The past tense told her everything.

The realization hit heavily in her chest. She knew that look. Knew the hesitation that came before speaking about someone who was gone.

"What happened to her?" she asked quietly.

Silence stretched between them.

When Kaia finally spoke, her voice had lost its usual edge.

"Rose died during one of the attacks from Valamere."

Guilt tightened around Elara's chest.

She had never known Rose and had no connection to her death, yet the name of her pack remained tied to it.

Valamere.

The same way Draegon's name had become tied to Draven's death.

A difficult thought surfaced before she could stop it.

Perhaps Thorne carried the same anger, grief, and unanswered questions she did whenever he looked back on the past.

Elara opened her mouth, only to close it again.

What was she supposed to say?

Sorry your pack lost someone because of mine?

Sorry for a war neither of them had started?

The words felt meaningless.

"Good morning, Beta. Luna."

The familiar voice cut through the heavy silence.

Both women turned.

Morna stood outside her shop, a warm smile on her face.

"Morning, Morna," Kaia greeted.

Elara nodded at the older woman, still unable to form a response after the bomb Kaia had just dropped.

What followed was a seemingly endless stream of questions, explanations, reports, and numbers.

Kaia walked her through everything, from inventory and supply requests to pack contributions and maintenance costs. Every so often, she would stop and ask if Elara understood.

To her surprise, she did.

The information wasn't particularly difficult to grasp.

There was simply a lot of it.

By the time they finished their rounds, her head was spinning.

She had expected Luna duties to involve helping pack members and settling disputes. She hadn't expected quite so much paperwork, planning, and organization.

A low growl came from her stomach.

Elara grimaced.

She had skipped breakfast and judging by the position of the sun overhead, she had likely missed lunch as well.

Kaia glanced over at her.

"Sounds like your stomach is speaking my language."

A reluctant grin tugged at Elara's lips.

"I think it might be. Can we take a break and get some food?"

Kaia nodded, already turning toward the general store.

"Now you're making sense."

A few minutes later, they emerged carrying an assortment of snacks. Kaia led her to an open patch of grass beneath the shade of a large tree, and the two of them settled down on the ground.

Neither bothered with conversation at first.

They were too busy eating.

By the time Elara finished the last of her snack, she felt considerably more human than she had an hour ago.

The knot of exhaustion that had followed her throughout the morning had eased, leaving her more relaxed than she had been since moving into her new room.

For a while, neither of them spoke.

The territory stretched out before them, pack members moving between buildings while children chased each other across the grass.

Beside her, Kaia leaned back on her hands and closed her eyes, enjoying the warm afternoon sun.

The peaceful atmosphere should have been enough to quiet Elara's thoughts.

Instead, her mind wandered back to Rose and the grief she had glimpsed behind Kaia's usual confidence.

The short conversation had raised more questions than it had answered, questions Kaia had clearly not wanted to discuss in the middle of the territory.

Elara glanced sideways at the Beta.

Kaia appeared relaxed, a faint smile resting on her lips as she soaked up the warmth of the afternoon.

A thought occurred to Elara.

If she wanted answers, there was unlikely to be a better opportunity than this.