Divorcing My Alpha Husband For His Uncle

His Luna Claim

~Alaric

I should have gone straight to my study after overseeing security panels.

That was the plan. Review the border reports, map out a response to Nolan's little stunt, and sleep at a reasonable hour for once.

Instead, I'd walked to the east wing, to her corridor specifically. And then knocked on her door like an i***t with no clear reason beyond the one I wasn't going to name.

I dragged a hand over my face as I walked back, my jaw tight. The image of her sitting up on that bed, her robe slipping off her shoulders, eyes wide and startled, was doing things to my concentration that I had absolutely no patience for right now. She'd yanked that robe back up so fast and then tried to look composed, like she hadn't just nearly stopped my heart in my chest.

Damn, I exhaled loudly. I needed a drink.

"You've been standing in front of your own door for exactly two minutes now."

My head snapped sideways immediately to the voice.

Sera leaned against the corridor wall, arms crossed, watching me with that sharp, flat look she reserved for when she thought I was being stupid.

I pushed my study door open, walking in before calling over my shoulder. "Come in."

She did, closing it behind her. I sat on my desk, poured two glasses of whiskey out of habit, and pushed one toward her side of the desk.

She stared long at her drink, not touching it. "Why did you claim her?" Sera asked. Straight to it, as always. "As your Luna."

"I needed a bride." I sat back, taking a sip. "You know what the council has been breathing down my neck about. She solved the problem." I responded matter-of-factly.

Sera's eyes stayed on me, flat and unconvinced. "You don't act on impulse, Alaric. In the entire time I've known you, you have never once done something without calculating it six different ways first." She paused, now twirling her drink with the tip of her finger. "You don't even like people."

I scoffed. That last part was fair.

I turned the glass slowly in my hand. Outside, the wind picked up, rattling the window frame once before settling again.

My mind circled back to Althea, "She's…" I stopped, unable to look for the right words. I could see Sera waiting, her brows creased a little, and I knew she might be thinking I made a crazy decision, but to hell with that.

I exhaled through my nose. This was the part I didn't have clean words for, and I wasn't the kind of man who spoke on things he didn't have clean words for.

But it had been sitting in my chest since the night I found her at the border, bleeding and unconscious, and it hadn't moved since.

"Since I brought her here," I tried again, carefully, "she's been something I can't explain."

The room went quiet for a second. And I could tell she was still waiting for more, but that was as much as she was getting.

Sera studied me for a long moment, something moving behind her eyes that I didn't bother trying to read. Then she set her untouched glass down.

"She's trouble," she murmured, her face tense. "Nolan won't let this go. You know that."

I shot her a look, arching a brow at her. "Since when has any pack intimidated me? Talk more of that little brat."

Her lips pursed, and she let out a little sigh, "Okay."

The way she said it was so stiff. That one word, flat and contained in a way that sat differently than her usual tone. I watched her straighten up and noticed something was off. Sera was always sharp and direct with me, always had been; it was why I trusted her above everyone else.

But tonight there was a tightness to her that hadn't been there before, and it was kind of concerning.

"You good?" I asked her, letting my tone fall into something softer.

She looked at me then. Straight at me, for just a beat too long. Then she gave me a tight smile, nodding once. "I'm good."

She moved toward the door, and I watched her silently, trying to figure out what it was that made her shoulders stiff and tense, but I wasn't quite getting there.

Before she reached the handle, she stopped, looking back over her shoulder, "You know what baffles me?" She asked, and I shook my head. "You have an entire pack of women who would fall over themselves for your attention. You've never had to look far."

"But you picked her." After that, she left. The door opened and closed behind her, leaving me in the quiet confinement of my study.

I sat there with her words hanging in the air.

She's not wrong. I could have picked anyone. Hell, I've had countless women with me almost every night.

I could have just made a clean, strategic choice that didn't come with Nolan Darkmoon's obsession attached to it or a pack watching to see if I'd made a mistake.

But when I found Althea at that border, broken and bleeding and still somehow not completely defeated, something in me had just… snapped.

I picked up my glass, taking a slow sip.

This was going to be a long, frustrating night.