My Step Brother's Claim; The Alpha's Open Marriage

Chapter 5

Greta

By the time I reached the packhouse, Baxter Thorne's face was on every screen in the city.

His morning press conference played on the television in the guard station, his photograph filled the news site open on my phone and even the radio announcer seemed pleased to explain that the Lycan King of Crest Moon had arrived to destroy my husband's company.

I had slept with him. Worse, I had paid him.

I gripped the steering wheel and waited for the iron gates to open, but they didn't. Instead, the guard on duty came out of the station with one hand resting on his belt. He had eaten at my table on Founder's Day, his daughter had cried in my kitchen when she didn't make the junior council and now he wouldn't meet my eyes.

"Alpha's orders," he said through the closed window. "You aren't allowed on the grounds without an escort."

"My son is inside."

"I know, Luna." He let out.

"Then open the gate."

Instead of speaking, he glanced back toward the station. Baxter's voice carried through the open door, smooth and cold as he answered a reporter's question about Geraldine Holdings.

"Please don't make this worse," the guard said.

My wolf hadn't stirred since I left the hotel and the silence inside me felt like a second rejection, as though even she was ashamed of what I'd done.

Without thinking, I took out my phone and called Antonio. He answered on the fourth ring.

"Where the hell have you been?" He let out.

"Tell the gate to let me in." Came my response.

"You disappeared all night." Antonio responded.

"You rejected me, climbed into bed with Talia, and told me to find another man.” The words felt like lead on my lips, but I spat them out anyway. “You don't get to ask where I slept."

Antonio went quiet after that, while the guard looked away quickly. For the first time since I'd discovered the affair, I felt something from the severed bond.

Not warmth or love either. Instead, it was a brief, ugly tug that vanished before I could be certain it had happened.

"Open the gate," I said.

"If you want to see Liam, you'll be at the council gala tonight." Antonio finally responded.

"What does one have to do with the other?" My fingers tightened around the phone.

"You will attend as my wife.” There wasn't a hint of sympathy in his voice. “You will tell the council our separation is amicable, sign the papers, and support my appointment of Talia as chosen Luna. After that, we can discuss visits."

"Visits?” I almost didn't believe my ears. “I'm his mother."

"Then act like one." Antonio spat, and the call ended before I could get a word out.

The call ended and for several seconds, I heard nothing except the rain ticking against the windshield. Then the gate began to move and the guard stepped aside.

I drove through before Antonio could change his mind.

The packhouse looked exactly as it had the day before. White columns, black shutters and the flower boxes I'd planted beneath the dining room windows were beginning to bloom. Nothing outside showed that another woman had taken my place before I'd even known it was empty and I hated it

I found Liam in the breakfast room with Talia. She wore a cream silk robe and no shoes. Her hair was twisted on top of her head, and one of my silver coffee cups sat beside her elbow. Liam was eating cereal across from her while she scrolled through her phone.

He saw me and stopped chewing.

"Hi, baby." I managed to whisper, but as his gaze moved to Talia, something told me he didn't appreciate it.

“It’s okay.” She set down the phone. "Your mother decided to come home."

I wanted to drag her out by the hair. Instead, I crossed the room and crouched beside my son.

"How did you sleep?"I asked.

"Fine." Liam's answer was curt.

"Did you have any bad dreams?"

He shook his head and while his pupils looked normal this morning, the sweet vanilla scent that had filled Talia's apartment was gone.

"I missed you," I said.

“Really?” Liam stirred his cereal until the flakes broke apart. "Daddy said you left because you don't want us anymore."

“No.” My stomach turned. "That isn't true. I will always want you."

"Then why did you go?" His tone almost broke me.

"Because your father and I had a grown-up problem.” I gave a small smile, but it didn't quite reach my eyes. “It had nothing to do with you."

Talia made a small sound of amusement and I stood. "Would you like to explain what's funny?"

"You vanish all night, come home in yesterday's dress, and expect him not to ask questions." Talia scoffed.

Liam looked at my wrinkled skirt and heat moved up my throat, because beneath the fabric, my thighs ached with the memory of Baxter's hands.

"Finish your breakfast," I told him. "I'll see you before I leave tonight."

He didn't answer, but when I kissed the top of his head, he leaned toward me before he caught himself and that was enough to get me out of the room without crying.

Antonio was waiting in our bedroom when I reached. Two garment bags hung from the wardrobe and while one carried Talia's name in gold script, the other was mine.

"Where were you?" he asked.

"You've already forgotten your own open marriage?" The words tumbled past my lips before I could catch them.

“What?” His gaze dropped over my dress, my tangled hair, the small bruise near my collarbone and his nostrils flared. "Who touched you?"

The question came out as a growl, but I stared at him. "You really do have a remarkable amount of nerve."

“Don't try to play smart with me.” He closed the distance between us and caught my chin, his eyes fixed on the bruise. "Tell me his name."

As he held me in place, something moved through the ruined place where our bond had been. Anger, jealousy and maybe even possession. Antonio had shown me none of those things while I was his faithful wife. Now another man's scent on my skin was enough to wake them.

"No.” I pulled free.

"You went out and spread your legs for the first stranger you found?" He spat. “Is that it?”

"I followed your instructions.” I replied coolly. “You should be proud."

“Listen to me.” His face hardened. "You will shower before the gala."

“Why?” I tilted my head to the side. "Afraid the council might smell him on me?"

He looked as if he wanted to strike me, but for once, I didn't step back.

"The papers will be waiting in the library," he said. "Sign them before we leave."

"I'm not signing anything." I shook my head.

"Then you won't see Liam after tonight." His voice was low, and worse? He walked out before I could answer.

I locked the door and opened the garment bag with my name on it. Inside was a gray dress with a high neck and long sleeves and I immediately understood what was going on.

Antonio had chosen it to make me disappear.

I left it hanging and reached for something else. At the back of my wardrobe, behind the clothes he'd approved, was a red gown I'd bought two years earlier and never worn.

The bodice fit close before falling into a long skirt with a slit along the left thigh. It didn't hide the scar at my side, it framed it.

Later, I showered, but not because Antonio told me to. I washed Talia's perfume out of my bathroom, pinned my hair high, and put on the lipstick Antonio once said made me look cheap.

When I came downstairs, the packhouse had gone quiet. Talia stood beside Antonio in a silver gown, one hand threaded through his arm. Liam was already gone with the nursery staff. She looked at my dress, then at Antonio.

"She's not wearing the one we chose." There was something close to irritation in his tone.

"I noticed," he said.

His eyes traveled over me slowly, and the pull inside my chest returned, stronger this time. His wolf remembered me, that was all. I refused to turn it into hope.

"Change," he ordered.

"No.” I took my coat from the footman and Talia's mouth tightened. Antonio's hand closed over her fingers, but he kept looking at me.

For seven years, I'd entered council events on his arm, but tonight, I took a separate car.

The Great Hall blazed with crystal chandeliers and old money. Pack leaders filled the marble foyer, their conversations dropping as I passed. Every one of them had heard about the rejection, while most of them had probably heard about my night at the hotel.

I lifted my chin and kept walking.

Antonio and Talia entered ten minutes later. He wore the black ceremonial coat I'd ordered for him last winter while Talia wore the moonstone necklace that belonged to the Luna of Ash Ridge.

My necklace.

Antonio took the stage before dinner and I stayed near the last row, close enough to fulfill his demand and far enough away that I didn't have to smell them.

"Ash Ridge has endured months of rumors about its leadership," he began. "Tonight, I intend to end them."

Talia joined him beneath the council seal and whispers spread through the room.

"My mating bond with Greta Geraldine has failed.” He continued. “By mutual agreement, we are ending our marriage and releasing one another from all obligations."

Heads turned toward me and I was sure he expected me to nod, but I didn't.

"Greta has also agreed to support my choice of the woman who will serve Ash Ridge as its true Luna." Antonio's smile stiffened and Talia lifted her chin while he reached for her hand. "Talia Serrano has stood beside me through the most difficult year of my reign. She has earned the title she will carry."

My nails dug into my palms as he spoke. He had spent seven years calling me inadequate and one night rewriting Talia as his loyal partner.

"Greta," he said from the stage. "Come forward and give the council your blessing."

Every face in the Great Hall turned toward me as I stepped into the aisle.

"No." The word carried farther than I expected and Antonio's smile vanished. I kept walking until I stood beneath the stage. "I did not agree to end our marriage quietly. I did not consent to her appointment. And I will not bless the woman who slept with my husband while teaching my son to call her Mommy."

The room erupted.

Talia went white and Antonio came down the steps so quickly that two council guards moved toward him.

"You stupid b***h," he said under the noise. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"Told the truth.” I held his gaze. “You should try it sometime."

His fingers closed around my upper arm, but before he could speak, the main doors opened with a crash that silenced the room.

Royal guards entered first, dressed in black and silver. Torin followed, then Baxter Thorne walked into the Great Hall wearing a tailored black suit and the crown pin of Crest Moon at his throat.

He was even more intimidating fully dressed, I thought, just as his silver eyes found mine immediately. They moved to Antonio's hand on my arm and turned black.

Antonio released me just as Baxter crossed the floor without hurrying. The Alphas nearest the aisle stepped back before he reached them.

"Take your mistress off my stage," He stopped beside me and looked at Antonio. "I've come to collect what you owe me."