THE ALPHA'S SILENT BETRAYAL

Chapter 2: What The Pack Forgets

Devlin’s POV

The strange heat in my chest disappeared as quickly as it came. I kept my hand flat over my chest for a few seconds, waiting to see if it would return, but there was nothing unusual about my heartbeat.

I'm just exhausted, I told myself. Dealing with Jason was draining me, but I couldn't stop now. Not while my marriage was falling apart right in front of me.

I put on a simple yellow dress and headed downstairs for breakfast.

Charles was already seated at the end of the dining table, his attention fixed on his tablet. Isabelle sipped her tea while Chloe sat in my usual seat beside Jason's empty chair.

“Good morning, Devlin,” Chloe said, smiling as I approached. “You look tired. Did you sleep at all, or were you up waiting for Jason while he was busy with me… I mean, with pack affairs?”

Charles didn't look up from his tablet. Isabelle smirked behind her cup.

I stopped beside Chloe's chair and looked directly at her. “Tell me, Chloe, shouldn't you be spending your ‘study break’ at our parents' house? Because lately, you're all over my home and all over my mate. You look absolutely desperate. Is there something you'd like to confess to the Alpha's face?”

Her smile faltered. For a moment, she looked genuinely frightened.

Before she could answer, the dining room door opened, and Jason walked in. His gaze moved between us, settling on Chloe's pale face.

“What's going on?”

“Your Luna is picking fights,” Isabelle said before switching to French. “Elle devient agressive. Regarde-la.”

Chloe joined in almost immediately. “Une Luna sans loup ne peut rien faire.”

They waited for me to look confused, as I usually did when they spoke French around me.

Instead, I pulled out my chair and sat down.

I'd been secretly studying French on my phone every night for weeks. I wasn't fluent, but I had learned enough to recognize some of the phrases they used when they thought I couldn't understand them.

Sans loup.

Without a wolf.

Regarde-la.

Look at her.

I picked up my fork, swallowing the anger rising in my throat. “How's your coffee, Isabelle?”

She blinked at me, caught off guard by my calm response. Then her expression hardened.

“It would taste better if my son had an heir on the way.”

Jason sat beside me as though he hadn't heard his mother's insult. “Pass the cream, Devlin.”

I looked at him, waiting for something. A word in my defense. Even a small acknowledgment that what his mother had said was cruel.

He offered me nothing.

I handed him the cream, careful not to let our fingers touch. There had been a time when the slightest brush of his hand sent butterflies through me. Back then, he had promised that being wolfless would never change how much he loved me.

Now, I struggled to remember what it had felt like to believe him.

Breakfast continued around me. Charles discussed pack business, Isabelle made occasional comments, and Chloe laughed at Jason's remarks as though she belonged at his side. I finished my meal without saying another word.

By nine o'clock, I was in my office reviewing supply orders, patrol schedules, medical requests, and training arrangements for the younger wolves. There were also disputes between families waiting for my attention.

These were part of my Luna duties, and I took them seriously. Jason was responsible for leading the pack, but I supported him by making sure its daily needs were handled. I might not have a wolf, but I knew how to do my job.

That was why the patrol schedule caught my attention.

Three border routes had been reassigned. The changes were already signed and stamped, but I hadn't been consulted or informed about them.

I checked the document again, hoping I had overlooked something. I hadn't.

Before I could ask who had authorized the changes, my assistant, Hailey, entered and quietly shut the door behind her. She looked nervous.

“Luna, there's something you need to know.”

I put the schedule down. “What is it?”

“People are talking about a private meeting last night. Alpha Jason and his parents met with some of the pack elders. Apparently, they were discussing the future of the pack's bloodline.”

My chest tightened. “Who told you?”

“I don't know exactly where it started. I've heard it from more than one person.”

“Then find out where the rumor began. Quietly. Don't threaten anyone or start accusing people just because they're talking.”

Hailey nodded, but she hesitated before turning toward the door.

“There's something else. Chloe was seen meeting with some of the elders.”

I leaned back in my chair.

Chloe had always enjoyed making me uncomfortable, but meeting with elders was different. It didn't prove she was plotting against me, yet it was difficult to ignore the timing, especially with the patrol changes sitting on my desk.

“Keep your ears open,” I told Hailey. “I want to know what's happening, not what people imagine is happening.”

She hurried out, leaving me alone with the documents.

The rumors might have been nothing more than gossip, but the patrol changes were real. Someone had altered the schedule without consulting me, and I intended to find out why.

I was still examining the documents when heavy footsteps stopped outside my office.

Isabelle entered with two guards behind her.

“I changed the northern patrols,” she announced.

I placed my pen on the desk. “You should have discussed that with me first.”

Her expression barely changed. “The northern border needed attention.”

“And you decided that without consulting the Luna?”

“I ran this pack for twenty-six years. I know what I'm doing.”

“You're no longer the Luna, Isabelle. If you have concerns about the patrol schedules, you should bring them to Jason or discuss them with me instead of making changes behind our backs.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Don't forget what you are, Devlin. You're a fruitless, wolfless little girl who can't even give my son a child.”

The guards remained silent, staring straight ahead.

I stood and walked around my desk until I was facing her.

“Then let me remind you of something, Former Luna Isabelle. I am the Luna now. You retired, remember?”

Her face flushed with anger.

“The northern border was neglected,” she insisted.

“No, it wasn't. The patrol schedule had been reviewed, and the territory was covered. If you had concerns, you could have raised them instead of making changes without informing anyone.”

“You're making a huge mistake, Devlin.”

I held her gaze. “I have work to do, Isabelle. Unless there's something else you came here to discuss, I'd appreciate it if you let me get back to it.”

For a moment, I thought she might say something worse. Instead, a small, unpleasant smile appeared on her face. She turned and walked out, her guards following.

That smile bothered me more than her insults.

She didn't look like someone who had lost an argument. She looked like someone who believed the argument wouldn't matter for much longer.

I returned to my desk, but it was harder to concentrate. Between the patrol changes, the rumors, and Isabelle's behavior, I couldn't shake the feeling that several things were happening at once.

I just didn't know how they were connected.

After working for long hours, I decided to take a break and go for a walk in the garden. I spotted Isabelle standing with Chloe near the flower beds. They hadn't noticed me at first. Then I heard them.

“Une coquille vide,” Isabelle murmured.

An empty shell.

Chloe giggled.

I kept walking as if I hadn't heard them. There was no point giving them the satisfaction of seeing me react.

Still, I felt Chloe's gaze follow me. When I glanced back, she was watching me with an expression I couldn't quite read. She seemed to be wondering whether I understood more than I let on.

I gave her a small smile before turning away.

Good. Let her wonder.

That evening, I sat on the edge of the bed with my phone and notebook while Jason showered. I searched for the phrase I'd heard in the garden and added it to the French words I'd been collecting over the past few weeks.

The insults were beginning to form a pattern. They weren't simply making fun of me for being wolfless. They spoke about me as if I were an inconvenience they wanted removed from their lives.

I couldn't prove that was what they intended, but I wasn't going to dismiss the possibility either.

My phone buzzed on the nightstand.

An alert from the pack's private council network appeared on the screen.

I unlocked it and read the notice.

RED MOON PACK COUNCIL

SPECIAL SESSION

Subject: Removal of Luna Title and Severing the Mating Bond

Attendance: Alpha Jason Heath, Former Luna Isabelle Heath, Charles Heath, Pack Elders

Luna Devlin Heath — Required Attendance.