MATED TO THE LYCAN MAFIA KING

Lunar Ball

Lia

I arrived at the Lunar Ball later that night, dressed in a tight bodycon gown that clung to me in all the right places. I wanted Luca to see me and realize exactly what he was throwing away. But as I walked through the grand halls, scanning the crowd, he was nowhere to be found.

Suddenly, I picked up a familiar scent that made me stop in my tracks.

Since Luca and I didn't share the mate bond yet, I couldn’t sense his feelings or thoughts, but the smell was unmistakable.

My heart sank as I rounded the hallway corner, only to hear a laugh I knew too well, making me want to puke.

For a moment, I wanted to listen to everything in my body telling me to turn and walk away, but I could not ignore the beckoning to figure out what was going on.

As I moved closer, the scent grew stronger, but I was still in denial.

Luca may have been a cheating bastard, but he wouldn’t be so shameless to hook up with her - my former best friend, Eve.

Still, my feet dragged on the floor the closer I got to them.

But when I heard her voice, there was no denying it anymore.

“I don’t know why you don’t just break up with her and be with me. I’m tired of sneaking around Luca.” I stopped walking and tried to process what Eve had just said.

“We’ve already talked about this Eve, I can’t end things with her before the wedding.” If I wasn’t certain before, I was now. I’d recognized that voice, even when he spoke with a kindness he never used with me.

It was my fiancé, Luca.

“After this wedding, I’ll be recognized as the official Alpha of our pack and can then be free to choose my Luna. I won’t have a need for her anymore. You and I can finally be together.”

Luca’s words hit me like a ton of bricks, my chest rising and falling in anger. I couldn’t believe it, this whole time I’d worked so hard, giving up everything to be with a man whose only intention was to use me and cast me aside like a cheap rag.

Without thinking, I stormed forward, fuming in anger and caught them kissing.

As soon as they saw me, they jumped in fear.

Luca’s eyes widened with panic, “Lia!” He stammered.

“What are you doing here?”

“Is this why you’ve shown no interest in our wedding?” I asked, my anger growing.

“It isn’t what you think Lia.” He stammered, clearly looking for an excuse. “Eve wasn’t feeling well.”

“And you were healing her by shoving your tongue down her throat?” I snapped.

“How could you, Luca? After everything I’ve done for you, for this marriage to work, you throw it all away? And for what? Her?!” My voice shook with anger, and my eyes welled with tears. But I refused to cry.

I did not want to give him the satisfaction of seeing me broken.

Luca approached me slowly, reaching his hands out, but I instinctively stepped back, darting my eyes to Eve.

There was no trace of remorse or fear on her face. She just stood there with her arms crossed like she had nothing to apologize for.

“Come on Luca,” she said with an annoyed sigh, “Why are you even wasting your time on this tramp? She was going to find out soon anyways, what difference does it make now?”

Her arrogance hit me like a slap in the face and made me realise that this wasn’t new. They’d probably been sleeping together for a while now.

The urge to knock that smug look off her face was almost too strong to resist, but i clenched my fist and held back, deciding not to make a scene, not over Luca. He wasn’t just worth it.

Without another word, I turned to walk away but suddenly felt his grip on my arm.

“Lia you have to listen to me,” Luca started, his voice pleading, but I yanked my arm away, harshly cutting him off.

“There’s nothing for us to talk about anymore. You’ve already made your choice.” I said and without waiting for his response, walked away.

I wasn’t going to let Luca’s betrayal ruin my evening. If anything, I’d finally gotten the clarity I needed.

For so long, I’d been holding on, hoping that our marriage could work even when I knew Luca could care less about it, and now… now I didn’t have to worry about any of that anymore.

All I needed now was a drink or two to clear my mind and with that, I headed to the bar, the one place I knew I could find that relief.

One drink turned into two, and then into too many. No matter how much I drank, I couldn’t erase the image of Luca and Eve kissing.

The more drunk I got, the more my anger grew as I realised I’d let Luca walk all over me, taking advantage of my pack, position and loyalty.

As much as I hated him, I couldn’t help but feel I was also partly at fault. I was the one that let this go on for too long, hoping that things between us could change.

‘God! I’m such a fool!’ I groaned inwardly.

At this point, I didn’t care about honouring my father’s wishes anymore. I couldn’t stand Luca’s infidelity and wanted to break off our engagement, but then again it wasn’t that easy.

My father had practically tied me to this marriage with my inheritance, and even if I decided to let my inheritance go, our pack needed an alpha and if I broke off this engagement now, we wouldn’t have one.

‘Why is this so hard?!’ I groaned in frustration and covered my head on the bar bench.

“Rough day?” I suddenly heard a voice, grating on my already raw nerves.

I didn’t have to look up to know who it was – Elena.

She was the Luna of the Yardis Nympho Pack and her voice carried the same condescending tone it always had.

“I wonder if that has anything to do with your fiancé over there with Eve.” Another girl chimed in, followed by mocking laughter.

Slowly, I lifted my gaze toward them, a thick frown appearing on my face.

Standing beside Elena, were Charlotte and Avery, both Lunas from allied packs.

I never liked them, and right now they were the last people I wanted around.

“You shouldn’t be that worried Lia, everyone knows Eve is more fitting to be a Luna than you.” Avery added and they erupted in a taunting laughter.

Hearing her words, a coy smile appeared on my face. “You’re one to talk,” I said, turning towards Avery.

“Didn’t you have to steal your Luna title from your Alpha’s dead mate?”

Her smirk vanished instantly, but I didn’t stop there.

“And you,” I shifted my glare to Charlotte, “I wonder what would happen if your Alpha finds out that you’ve been sneaking around with his Beta.” The smirk on her face immediately faded away.

Elena was about to speak, but I cut her off before she could start, “Ladies,” I said with an icy tone,

“Let me remind you that I know enough about each of you to turn your packs against one another. So how about you show me a little respect.” I said, locking eyes with Elena and for once, she had nothing to say.

They exchanged uneasy glances between each other, as if searching for what to say, but before they could, I’d shifted my gaze back to the shot glass, ignoring them.

However, I could still feel their gazes on me, and so sighed heavily and said,

“If you don't mind, I’d like to go back to drinking without you three hovering around.”