THE ALPHA'S SILENT BETRAYAL

Chapter 2: What The Pack Forgets

Devlin’s POV

The heat in my chest vanished almost as quickly as it had appeared, leaving behind a faint pulse deep in my veins. I stayed still for a moment, my fingers pressed against my chest, waiting for the strange sensation to return, but it didn't. All I could hear was my own heartbeat. I told myself it was exhaustion. Jason's attitude had kept me on edge lately, and maybe I was even coming down with an illness. Whatever it was, I couldn't afford to dwell on it. Not when my mate was quietly slipping away from me.

I shoved the strange feeling aside, slipped into a beautiful yellow dress, and headed downstairs for breakfast. Everyone was already seated at the table: Charles, Isabelle, and Chloe. The sight of Chloe sitting so comfortably in my home made a knot of bitterness rise in my throat. This was my home. My table. My family. Yet lately, I was beginning to feel like an unwanted guest in my own house.

“Good morning, Devlin,” Chloe cooed, her eyes gleaming with barely contained malice. “You look exhausted. Did you sleep poorly? Or were you simply waiting up for Jason while he was busy with me... I mean, with pack affairs?”

I bristled at the blatant disrespect. Isabelle smirked into her teacup while Charles didn't even bother looking at me. I placed my hands on the table and pinned Chloe with an icy stare.

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

Chloe gasped, and her face went pale so quickly that I almost smiled. The arrogance in her eyes disappeared for a second, replaced by something that looked dangerously close to fear. Then she covered it just as quickly.

Jason entered the dining room at that exact moment. His gaze moved from Chloe's flustered expression to me, and his brows drew together.

“What is going on here?”

“Your Luna is attacking guests,” Isabelle snapped.

Then she switched smoothly into French.

“Elle devient agressive. Regarde-la.”

Chloe joined in, her voice sweet with mockery. “Une Luna sans loup ne peut rien faire.”

They both smiled, waiting for me to look confused, just as they had always expected me to.

Instead, I picked up my fork and calmly looked down at my plate. The late-night lessons were still fresh in my mind. I didn't understand every word yet, but I caught pieces of what they were saying.

Sans loup.

Without a wolf.

Regarde-la.

Look at her.

I didn't need a full translation to understand the contempt in their voices. I forced a pleasant smile at Isabelle.

“Did you enjoy your coffee?”

She blinked, clearly caught off guard by my calmness. Then her lips curled into a cruel smile.

“I would enjoy it more if my son had an heir.”

Jason sat beside me as though he hadn't heard the insult.

“Pass the cream, Devlin,” he said.

I stared at him for a second, waiting for him to say something, but he never uttered a word. Not even a glance in my direction. I reached for the cream and passed it to him, careful not to let our fingers touch.

Once, that tiny contact would have sent warmth through my entire body. Once, I would have looked into his eyes and remembered the man who promised me that being wolfless would never change the way he loved me. Now I couldn't even tell which parts of those memories were real anymore.

I lowered my eyes to my plate and forced myself to keep eating. I wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing me break. Breakfast continued in an uncomfortable silence. Charles spoke about border reports, Isabelle complained about the declining number of warriors, and Chloe laughed occasionally at something Jason said, acting as though she belonged beside him more than I did. So I listened. I watched. And I remembered every word, every glance, and every insult.

After breakfast, I returned to my office and buried myself in pack duties. Northern territory patrols, southern food supplies, medical requests, training schedules, and family disputes waited for me. The stack of paperwork seemed endless. I had barely slept, but the pack still needed me, so I worked, just like I always did.

I reached for the latest patrol reports and immediately frowned. Three border patrols had been reassigned. I hadn't authorized any of them. I checked the documents again, but the changes were already signed and stamped. Someone had made decisions concerning the territory without consulting me. Was it Jason? I wondered.

I wrote down the names of the patrol units and set the reports aside as another thing to remember.

A soft knock sounded at the door, and Hailey, my assistant, stepped inside. She looked nervous enough that I immediately put down my pen.

“Luna... there's something you should know.”

I looked up. “What is it, Hailey?”

“Rumors are spreading through the pack house.”

“Speak.”

She lowered her voice. “They're saying Alpha Jason and his parents held a private meeting with the pack elders last night. They say the council is reviewing the pack's future bloodline.”

My hand stopped over the paperwork. So it wasn't just something whispered behind closed doors anymore. People were starting to talk.

“Who's spreading these rumors?”

Hailey hesitated. “I don't know, Luna.”

“Find out.”

Her eyes widened slightly. I rarely spoke to her that sharply, and I could see the worry on her face. I softened my expression.

“Quietly. I don't want anyone punished for repeating gossip. I just want to know where it started.”

She nodded. “Of course, Luna.”

She turned toward the door, then stopped.

“There is one more thing.”

“What?”

“They're saying Chloe has been seen meeting with some of the elders.”

My stomach twisted. Of course.

“Let them talk,” I said quietly. “Rumors are cheap. Action is not.”

Hailey nodded and left.

I stared at the closed door, my mind going back to the three patrols that had been changed without my permission. This wasn't simply about Chloe trying to steal my mate anymore. Something larger was happening, and I intended to find out exactly what it was.

A few minutes later, I heard voices outside my office. When I opened the door, Isabelle stood in the corridor with two guards behind her. She didn't look surprised to see me.

“I had the northern patrols reassigned,” she said.

I stared at her. “You did?”

“Yes.”

“But you're not the Luna. Why would you do that without discussing it with me first?”

Her eyes hardened. “I was Luna of this pack for twenty-six years, Devlin. I know this pack better than you ever will, and I certainly do not need permission from a fruitless and wolfless little girl to do as I please.”

I stepped into the hallway.

“Fine. I might be a little girl, but I'm the Luna now. The younger the better they say, ain't that right, Former Luna Isabelle?”

She flinched in shock.

I had emphasized the word former deliberately. If she thought she could throw insults at me about my inability to conceive or my lack of a wolf, then she shouldn't be surprised when I reminded her that her time as Luna was over too. Mother-in-law or not, I wasn't going to stand there and let her walk all over me.

The guards lowered their eyes. Isabelle's mouth tightened, then she briefly straightened her dress.

“I changed it because that border had been neglected.”

“No. The patrol schedule was reviewed yesterday. Those territories were already covered.”

“Then consider my changes an improvement.”

“They weren't your decisions to make.”

Her gaze sharpened. “You're being difficult, Devlin.”

“Am I? Or do you just want to trample on my authority as the Luna of this pack?”

For a moment, neither of us moved. Then Isabelle gave me a thin smile.

“You should learn to accept help, Devlin.”

“I accept help when I ask for it.”

Her expression darkened. “Perhaps that is part of your problem.”

She turned and walked away before I could respond.

I stood there watching her disappear down the corridor. That was when I understood this wasn't just about disrespect anymore. They were testing how much authority I still had, and Isabelle was already willing to act as though my position no longer mattered.

Later that afternoon, I saw Chloe in the gardens with Isabelle. The garden had once been my favorite part of the estate. I had spent countless mornings there, tending to the roses and drinking tea beneath the old oak trees. Today, even the weather seemed cold.

As I approached, Isabelle looked me up and down with open disgust.

“Une coquille vide.”

An empty shell.

Chloe giggled and tossed her hair over her shoulder. I didn't stop. I simply looked at them with a cold, steady stare and continued walking.

Chloe's laughter faded behind me. I reached the end of the garden before stopping to glance back. She was still watching me, but there was something strange in her expression. She wasn't simply enjoying my humiliation anymore. She was studying me, as if she suspected I knew more than I was letting them believe.

A small smile touched my lips.

Good, let her wonder.

That night, while Jason showered, I sat on the edge of the bed with my phone and notebook. The sound of running water filled the room as I searched the phrase I'd memorized from the garden earlier.

I wrote all of it down, then added the other words I'd heard over the past few days.

I stared at the list. Piece by piece, the words were forming a picture, and I didn't like what I was beginning to see. But at least I could finally see it.

This was really happening, and I was in the center of it all. I closed the notebook, but before I could put it down, my phone buzzed.

I frowned at the screen. It was an internal pack message, but a council notice, so I opened it.

My breath caught.

RED MOON PACK COUNCIL

SPECIAL SESSION

Subject: Future of the Luna

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

Luna Devlin Heath — Required Attendance

I read it twice. My fingers tightened around the phone.

So this was what they had been planning.

It wasn't gossip anymore. It wasn't some whispered rumor. It was a formal meeting. A discussion about my position as Luna.

I slowly lifted my eyes toward the bathroom door as the shower continued running. Jason was only a few feet away, completely unaware that I was staring at a notice that could change everything.

Apparently, everyone except me already knew what was coming.

I looked back at the notice. My heart was pounding, but this time, I wasn't afraid. If they wanted to discuss the future of the Luna, then they were going to have that discussion with the Luna sitting across from them. I had spent enough time reacting to their whispers and watching them move pieces around me.

Tomorrow, I would walk into that council chamber knowing exactly what they were trying to take from me.

And I was done walking into their traps unprepared.