Claimed by the Hellbound Alpha

Decision-Making

Kaia

“We slept together,” I repeated, breaking the silence that had settled in the office. I looked at Marcus and repeated it once more. “You slept with me yesterday, in my room.”

I had expected that this news would cause a great shock, that Evelyn would slap Marcus, that her father would grab him by the neck, and that her mother would begin to weep, inconsolable over the lout she had raised, while my father berated Alpha Damian for the dishonor he had brought upon his daughter, and my mother would rush to me for a hug.

But none of that happened.

I think that if I had said it was raining, it would have caused more of a commotion.

“I’m sure, Alpha, that my daughter will come forward with positive news about the offer,” was all my father said. “She will as soon as she recovers from the shock of what happened.”

I was still stunned, unable to believe what was happening, and I didn't want to give them the satisfaction of seeing me cry, but the accumulated pain was too much, so many blows, not only the betrayal by my mate and his tacit rejection, but also, and perhaps even more painfully, the way I was being treated by my parents, my only family, the people I most expected to support me.

I couldn't hold back, and with tears streaming down my cheeks, I stood up and left the office.

I left the pack house at the fastest pace my legs would allow and ran toward a place I hadn’t visited since the day before my trip to university. I needed to think, to calm down, and above all, to find myself and the peace my soul so desperately needed at that moment. The grass soon brushed against my feet, and before long I reached the edge of the forest that led to the border of the pack’s territory—a place no one frequented because of rumors about rogue groups that assaulted unsuspecting travelers. But I had long realized those stories were false, though I had no intention of correcting anyone, since it allowed me to enjoy that refuge all to myself.

I hid my clothes beneath the willow I hadn’t seen in over five years and released Ceres, who had been straining to come out from the moment we left behind the people who had turned their backs on me.

I still couldn’t believe that my parents hadn’t supported me. From Marcus, I could expect something like that. I had always known he was a Casanova since high school, and that he had taken advantage of our condition as mates to count me as just another of the women he had slept with. But from my parents, I had never expected anything like it.

I ran through the untouched forest as my mind replayed everything that had happened in the meeting.

While I had learned from my parents to honor the pack, to be loyal to its principles, its values, our people and our community, it made no sense that they couldn’t see we were betraying that very idea by rejecting our sacred laws in favor of what was most convenient—what best fit appearances. That the Alpha’s firstborn son would have a bastard child? Who paid attention to that nowadays? Did they really think he wouldn’t be welcomed into the family that Marcus and I would form, alongside our other children and on equal terms? Of course they knew he would be welcomed—but everything revolved around appearances, around what people would say, around what the other packs might think, around the pride of Alpha Damian and Luna Kelly, for whom everything had to be perfect, even if only on the surface.

That was why I couldn’t understand my parents’ position, why they had chosen to side with my cousin—with Evelyn—over their own and only daughter. I was sure there had to be more, deeper reasons they hadn’t wanted to share with me.

What had really happened during those five years I had been gone?

And Evelyn—did she truly love Marcus? Of course not. She had always despised him as the playboy he was, the rich, popular boy who had had everything since birth. Evelyn couldn’t stand him—at least not until the day she realized she could climb the social ranks of the pack if she managed to seduce him. And she certainly did! She even managed to get pregnant by him before marriage.

All these thoughts ran through my mind as the forest grass brushed against my wolf’s fur and I reflected on what I had to do—the decision I needed to make, what I would say to the Alpha, to Marcus, and to my parents. There, alone and surrounded by the untouched nature around me, nothing tempted me more than to keep going, to move forward and run beyond the border, toward the great road that marked the end of Green Moon’s territory, into unknown horizons, leaving everything and everyone behind.

That seemed like the most sensible choice.

Without realizing when it happened, I arrived at the blue lagoon, now bathed in the glow of the moon. Whenever I came to that place, I took a swim in the cold water, and this time would be no different. I returned to my human form before diving in. The cold seeped into my skin and cleared my mind. Suddenly, I saw everything differently—even the problems had lost their weight—so I swam to the center of the lagoon with the sole intention of feeling truly free.

I was not disappointed, and I knew what I had to do.

I would not leave—no. I would not give them the satisfaction of getting rid of me, because that was what they wanted: to set me aside like a decorative piece. That was what the Alpha sought with his offer—that I step aside, that I be present without truly being so, all for the sake of appearances, because I was the Beta’s daughter. But had I been anyone else, he himself would have decreed my exile. So I would not do that—I would not run away—but neither would I accept his proposal as he had presented it. I would not live in the pack house quarters, in the private wing, in the room next to Marcus and Evelyn’s, so I could hear him making love or their baby crying once it was born. No—something like that would slowly destroy me from within, consume me, poison me, and it would be like being Marcus’s concubine, which would then give him no problem coming to my room while his wife slept, seeking me out and taking advantage of our mate bond so that I would surrender to my desires and accept him in my bed—even if only one night a week.

Of course I would not live such a life!

I had to set my conditions.

I would remain in the pack—at least long enough to prepare a more elaborate plan for my future. I would take the position offered, yes—I had trained for that at university, and I wasn’t about to throw away five years of study—but I would demand from the Alpha another place to live, because I also had no intention of staying in my parents’ house, whom I was already finding hard to see as such. So I would ask the Alpha for a place apart, far from the center of the pack—a place I could feel was truly mine.

I came out of the water, feeling the warmth of the night air, which now seemed warm compared to the water still dripping from my skin. And there, naked, I lay back on the grass as I continued to scheme what I would do next. But at the moment I was pondering what place could become my home, I noticed I was not alone—that someone was watching me.

I lifted my gaze and caught sight of a silhouette. It was that of a wolf—large—backlit by the moon that illuminated the top of a small hill from which the spy had a perfect view of the lagoon.