Alicia's Fate

Breakfast

Everyone filed out of the kitchen first, the omegas rushing ahead with trays, the council members murmuring among themselves. Clara, still stinging from Ethan’s public reprimand, lingered with a stiff jaw and eyes like sharpened glass. But even she knew better than to test him again. With a tight swallow of humiliation, she turned and stalked toward the dining room.

The door swung shut behind her, leaving Ethan and Alicia alone. Ethan hadn’t moved his arms from around her. If anything, his hold tightened, warm and unyielding. Alicia shifted, uneasily under his embrace.

“I should go,” she whispered, hands resting gently on his forearms. “They’re waiting.”

“Mm.” Ethan lowered his head to her shoulder, utterly unbothered. “Should I just carry you? You’ve been up since before dawn. Your legs must be tired.” Alicia froze. Her pulse stuttered.

“T-thank you,” she stammered, horrified at the idea of being paraded in. “But I… I really think that won’t be necessary.”

He chuckled softly, brushing his thumb over her hip.

“Relax, Luna. This is normal between couples and mates. You’ll get used to it... eventually.”

Luna.

The title still felt like a costume stolen off someone else’s life. But the certainty in his voice sent a confusing warmth through her chest.

Ethan finally guided her forward, but even as they walked, he didn’t release her completely, keeping his hand on the small of her back as if she might vanish. The moment they entered the dining hall, the room jolted to life.

Every council member, stoic, stone-faced giants, stood rigidly at their places. Their expressions were unreadable, but their shock was palpable. Michael and Nate stood near the end of the long table, both wearing identical looks of Is this really our Alpha? Cole was notoriously volatile, and had never shown softness. Yet here he was, guiding Alicia to her seat with the gentleness of a love sick puppy and treating her like she was a priceless thing.

Somewhere in the long stretch of polished wood and silver cutlery, Clara stood with her arms folded tightly across her chest. Her face was twisted into something dark and venomous, a storm cloud ready to break. She watched Alicia like a threat wrapped in silk, something fragile she intended to tear apart.

Ethan didn’t acknowledge any of them. Instead, he pulled a chair, the one beside his, the Luna’s seat and guided her into it himself, slow, and deliberate. As if the world around them were inconsequential.

Alicia could feel every pair of eyes drilling into her, measuring her, judging her, wondering how someone like her had earned the Alpha’s touch.

She sank into the seat with her heart thundering, but Ethan leaned down and murmured, just for her...

“I’ve got you.” Alicia folded her hands in her lap, painfully aware of every gaze lingering on her simple dress, her slight frame, her quiet presence. She was a Luna who did not look like one, an easy target, a mystery, or perhaps a mistake.

“Good morning, gentlemen,” Ethan said, taking his seat beside her, close enough that his arm brushed hers every time he breathed. “I trust you’ve been updated on the change in my status.”

A flicker of discomfort rippled through the room. No one dared look directly at Alicia. ​There were, however, murmurs of forced compliance: "Yes, Alpha," and "Understood, Alpha." His Beta even wished the Alpha a congratulations for finding his second chance mate.

​"Thank you," Ethan said, acknowledging the comment but focusing his attention entirely on Alicia, giving her a warm, protective smile.

Once everyone sat, Steve and the staff began placing the dishes on the long table, pancakes, berry compote, warm rolls, scrambled eggs fluffy as clouds, perfectly seared sausages, and a delicate herb soup that filled the hall with mouthwatering aroma.

The first bites were hesitant.

Then...

“Oh my goddess…” Councilman Daniel’s eyes widened as he tasted the pancakes.

“This is...this is extraordinary.”

Lady Melody took a bite of the herb soup and blinked rapidly, covering her mouth with a trembling hand.

“Alpha… who made this?”

Ethan didn’t even look away from Alicia.

“The Luna.”

A ripple rolled through the room, shock, awe, and the subtle, growing acceptance that Ethan had chosen a woman who was… surprisingly competent.

Alicia flushed, ducking her head. “It’s nothing special. I just—”

“It is special,” Ethan said, cutting her off with quiet firmness. “Eat.”

His tone wasn’t commanding, just warm, and almost tender. Alicia obeyed, shy but comforted by his nearness.

All around them, wolves murmured in amazement:

“She cooked this?”

“At dawn?”

“She’s skilled…”

“She must have been trained.”

“Trained? Or… forced?”

The last comment carried a note of pity which Alicia didn’t seem to notice, but Clara did.

Clara sat two seats down, smile frozen, hands clenched around her utensils. She stabbed her pancake with unnecessary force.

Ethan tasted the soup and slowly exhaled through his nose, his eyes closed for a brief, intense moment.

​“Perfect.”

​The word was low, and devastatingly sincere. It was a pronouncement, not an opinion.

​Alicia’s cheeks flushed, not just from the heat of the room, but from the heat of his approval. "I—I’m glad you like it."

​Ethan turned his head and met her eyes, his voice dropping into something private and dangerously soft.

​“I love it.”

​Clara’s fork clattered loudly against her plate, the metal sound echoing like a gunshot in the tense room. A few council members glanced her way sharply, annoyed by the disruption.

​She recovered instantly with a tight, brittle smile, but her eyes were twin pits of venom. Rage, hot and electric, curled through her spine, twisting her features into something dark and unhinged. This was a direct, irrefutable act of competence.

​Let them praise Alicia’s cooking.

Let Ethan fawn over her like she was spun from gold.

​Clara’s mind was already working, gears turning with malicious precision. Alicia had proven she could handle the domestic duties of the pack, the very tasks Clara had intended to weaponize.

​If she couldn’t ruin Alicia’s competence...

​She would ruin her place at Ethan’s side.

Clara’s gaze drifted from Alicia’s shy face to the thick, powerful arm Ethan had possessively draped over the back of her chair worse, Ethan’s gaze kept drifting to her. Soft and warm. That warmth should have been Clara’s.

“Is everything all right, Clara?” Micheal whispered near her.

She forced a tight smile. “Never better.”

But inside she was burning. If Alicia continued being this competent, this sweet, this unintentionally appealing…

Ethan would never see her, Clara-Bell Stouch, who had waited years, ever again.

No!

She would not allow that. If the Luna couldn’t be broken by fear, she would be broken by something else. Clara would make absolutely sure of it.

As the meal drew to a close, Ethan cleared his throat and began his meeting with the men, right there at the dining.

“This morning’s meeting has only one point,” Ethan continued, his expression hardening. “The pack structure is now complete. Alicia is your Luna. Any speculation about her ability, her background, or her right to sit beside me is a direct challenge to me.”

The warning was unmistakable.

Councilman Benjamin cleared his throat. “Alpha… with due respect. We are concerned about how sudden this bond appears. And her overall… health.”

Clara leaned forward at once, eyes lighting up with predatory opportunity.

“Maybe,” she said sweetly, “until the bond is confirmed, we could assign Alicia a… gentler role? A temporary aide? Something more appropriate until she gains the necessary—”

Ethan’s head snapped toward her.

The shift in his expression was immediate and violent, a sudden drop in temperature, an Alpha’s lethal silence filling the room like smoke.

“Clara-Bell.” Her name, spoken softly, landed like a blade.

“You were given one role. Assist the Luna. Not question the hierarchy. Not question her rank.”

He leaned forward slightly, voice dropping to something low and dangerous.

“Your opinions on pack structure are neither required nor welcome. Do I make myself clear?”

All color drained from Clara’s face.

“Y-Yes. Yes, Alpha.”

Alicia swallowed, startled by how swiftly his protection snapped into place, like a shield she never asked for but desperately needed.

Ethan turned back to her, placing his hand over hers in a gesture so intimate she froze.

“Michael will brief you on the finances. You are my second in command. Understand?”

Her heart stumbled in her chest. She nodded.

He lifted his gaze to the rest of the table, his power radiating in a way that pressed against the walls.

“Does anyone,” Ethan asked quietly, “have an objection to the structure of the Blood Moon Pack?”

Silence.

A deep, suffocating silence, born of fear and reluctant acceptance.

But Ethan had already carved her place into the pack with sheer, terrifying force.

And everyone knew it.

​Alicia, momentarily, gathered her courage and leaned close to him. "Ethan," she whispered. "I need to talk to you. I... I can't be the Luna yet."

​"Why not, Luna?" he asked, his amusement instantly returning.

​"Because I'm not ready to be a leader!" she insisted, distressed. "I don't know pack law, I don't know the finances, and I don't know how to command anyone. I’ve never done anything but serve. I'm going to look incompetent."

​Ethan threw his head back and laughed, a rich, loud sound that drew every eye, especially Clara's.

​"Good!" he declared, grinning. "Then you can learn on the job."

​He took her face gently in his hands, his gaze intense and utterly reassuring. "Don't think for a minute that I would let anyone walk all over you simply because you are new. This pack will respect you because I command it, and because you are my mate. Your job right now is simply to heal and survive. The leadership part will come."

​He didn't wait for her reply. Right there at the dining table, in the full glare of the council, he pressed a firm, lingering kiss on her lips. It was a deliberate, possessive act of public confirmation.

​When he pulled back, Alicia’s entire face was flushed a brilliant red.

​Ethan turned to the rest of the council, his tone shifting instantly back to Alpha business. "Now that we have confirmed that the food is acceptable, Michael, the first item on the agenda is the timber contract renewal. Alicia," he placed a light but firm hand on her arm, "you need to know the state of our treasury. After breakfast, Michael will give you a full, detailed briefing in the office. He reports to you first, then to me."

​He was publicly delegating a massive responsibility and giving Michael a direct chain of command that ran through the new Luna.

​Michael, the loyal Beta, inclined his head respectfully. "Understood, Alpha. Luna."

​Alicia, still reeling from the kiss, blinked. A financial briefing? Authority? How would she manage it all?

​"Remember what I said, Luna," Ethan murmured. "Michael will brief you on the timber contracts after breakfast."

​Alicia nodded, attempting to focus on the food rather than the dozen pairs of eyes that were carefully avoiding her. She felt the heavy weight of the responsibility Ethan had just thrust upon her, the knowledge that she, an unshifted wolf who knew only chores, was now second-in-command of an iron and timber empire.

​"Alpha," Michael interjected respectfully, spooning eggs onto his plate. "Before we discuss the contracts, I wanted to assure the Luna that the pack finances are stable. We have substantial liquid assets, even after the investment in the new security perimeter."

​Ethan sighed, running a hand over his jaw. "Michael, you're missing the point. Alicia doesn't need to know if the finances are stable. She needs to know where the money comes from and how to keep it flowing. If I drop dead tomorrow, she runs this pack. Treat her as if she takes command this afternoon."

​He looked directly at Alicia, confirming the terrifying reality. "When you meet with Michael, don't let him use jargon. Ask the basic questions. Where is the timber harvested? Who transports it? How much do we sell it for?"

​He raised his voice to address the entire table. "Gentlemen, the meeting is over. Enjoy the Luna's breakfast. Micheal, Alicia will meet you in the office in thirty minutes."

​Ethan stood, signaling the end of the uncomfortable meal. He gave Alicia's hand one last, reassuring squeeze before heading towards his office, forcing Alicia to rely on herself to manage the transition.