Cinderluna: The Alpha's Dirty Secret

Claire’s POV. My eyes fluttered to the bright light of the morning sun, I could still feel the warmth of my husband’s tongue between my legs, his hands when he fiddled with my breast, the rough demanding kiss on my lips, and how he held me to himself last night. The sexiness of his voice and how much he needed me, I didn’t want him to stop. I turned on the side of the bed and saw a bouquet of deep red roses, nestled between the stems was a card with his handwriting. I smiled softly and picked up the flowers. The card on the bouquet read: Happy Anniversary My Sweetheart. Tonight was my first wedding anniversary with Rory. To outsiders, I was the envy of everyone, a once wanderer like me with no pack or roots married to one of the most powerful Alphas in North America. I was treated with courtesy and respect by the pack members the second I was brought to the pack as the Alpha’s mate. He held a mating ceremony and made me his Luna. When I met Rory a year ago, it felt like a dream. I was attending a charity event in a remote town where I was studying on scholarship, and I saw him. Alpha Rory, the high-flying Alpha who had recently lost his Luna. That was when I felt the mate bond with him, and he didn’t think twice before claiming me as his mate. He pursued me relentlessly, and eventually I got married into the wealthy Alpha family of North. I was often asked what it felt like to go from being a street kid to marrying one of the most powerful Alphas. I could only smile and change the subject because inside the pack house, it wasn’t just the omegas who cooked and cleaned but also the pack members who lived there. They were all devoted to their Alpha. But gradually I noticed how controlling Rory was, it became more apparent after we got married, he knew where I went, he knew who I was with, and what I was doing at a particular time or day. I never got to arrange my own schedule and everything was done by Danielle, Rory’s trusted Beta. He was obsessed with me as his mate, and how much he tries to show that he loves me. It was normal for wolves to be that obsessed with their mate. And I love Rory just like that. ‘Rory loves me so much,’ I said to my wolf Anne, through the mind link, persuading her to see Rory’s gesture towards me, and how he is willing to do anything for me. ‘He is healing us, Anne.’ I heard her weak growls from within, there was no movement from her, she was just still before the door opened. “You got the flowers?” My head tilted to the side of the door, and Rory was just coming in, he was brunette, muscular, and around six feet three tall. His hair was a bit messy, and his black t-shirt clung to his body, showing his muscular features. He hand ruffled through his hair, and he smiled. I showed him the flowers. “I got them.” I returned his smile. He strode towards me and kissed the top of my hair. His blank pants were a bit stained, and his shoes were still on. “Are you still feeling weak?” His hand held my face, staring at me intently. I grew increasingly tired, and my wolf, Anne, went silent. I tried talking to her but she didn't respond, and sometimes I heard her whimpers and painful howls and my wolf stopped responding to me. “I don’t know what to do Rory.” “It’s okay,” He coothed. “I tried talking to her earlier but…” My voice croaked, and he pulled me into his chest. “It’s weighing you down because of our bond and your wolf has to submit to me, but she will be fine as long as you keep taking your medication. Anne will be okay again.” He cupped my face in his hands. I believed him, because he was right. “You need to take more blood tonic, I made it specially for you. You know how worried I am.” Rory has a drink session with me every night, he said it was a pack tradition and essential for our bond and for strength. So every night, he urged me to take the blood-tonic he had prepared himself. Since I became weaker, he served the blood tonic sometimes twice in a day, because he was worried about me being sick. “I’m leaving for training with the soldiers we need to secure the borders,” Rory said. There was a rogue found in the pack two days ago, and Rory had given orders to tighten the security in the pack, mostly around the border. He said it might be a threat to him by sending rogues disguised as spies. “I’ll be back before 7pm,” He held my hands and kissed them affectionately. “I will be waiting for you.” “I don’t want you stressing over dinner tonight, everything is going to be sorted out, you just need to rest.” He placed another kiss on my cheek. I was supposed to sort out what the omegas needed for the month, the ones that worked in the pack house, check their supplies, and the storage rooms making sure we never run out of supplies which was my responsibility as Luna. “You are unwell, and it’s my duty to take care of you. Get some rest,” He let go of my hand, and I couldn’t argue with him, Rory's words were final. I nodded curtly. “Be home soon.” “I will.” He went out through the door. I was changing my dress by noon before I would be served lunch when I noticed a tiny red spot on the back of my neck as I looked in the mirror. I touched it with my finger, it didn’t hurt, nor was there any discomfort so I thought it was probably a mosquito bite. I let down my hair and wore my dress. “I want everything prepared before the Alpha comes,” I ordered the servants. “Yes, Luna.” Rory came back home three hours late, and the first thing he did was to hurriedly get the tonic for me to drink. He didn’t apologize that he kept me waiting on the night of our anniversary, we didn’t even get a meal together. Before I woke up the next morning, he was gone. I doubt if he slept next to me last night, after taking the blood tonic I could barely remember what happened after. There was another red spot, in the same place I had seen it yesterday. I started to take notice of it. Every few days, a red dot the size of a pinprick would appear on my neck. It would fade and then reappear as if it were following a pattern. I wanted to talk to Rory about it, why there was a red dot that kept appearing on my neck, and if it was all part of the mating bond between us. But at the same time, I noticed that my husband’s Beta Danielle, seemed to be watching me. So I let down my hair and never mentioned it. “How are you feeling, my love?” I turned on the bed and saw my husband, his brown eyes staring at me calmly while he stroked my hair. “I brought the blood tonic for you.” He whispered. His fingers were brushing through my hair. “You should take them so you can feel better tomorrow.” He muttered. His free hand held the blood tonic. I lifted my head from the bed and took them from his hand. His phone rang, and he glanced at it. “Give me a minute.” He got up and left the side of the bed. I drank only half of it and poured out the rest while Rory wasn’t looking. Rory came back with a smile on his face, and the smile suddenly felt like he was wearing a mask to me. When the clock struck one in the middle of the night, I was awake instead of falling into a deep sleep as usual, and had no idea what had happened during the night. I lay in a half awake, half asleep state, I heard the door creak open, the tiptoe into the room, and hushed voices. Then I felt it, the sharp sting of a needle piercing the back of my neck. Someone was drawing my blood. I bit my lower lip, tried so hard not to make a sound, was this the reason for the blood tonic? Were they meant to replenish the blood drawn from me every night? “I think we have gotten enough blood for the night…” The voice. “She‘s getting weaker, I need her to hold out long enough. I don’t want her to be entirely useless.” I saw his face right before I passed out. Rory, my mate. He was the one taking my blood. But why?