The Alpha and her Luna

Desertion and Betrayal

I don't know how long I've been sitting here leaning against this tree. It feels like hours, but I know it hasn't been. The sounds of celebration still waft into the woods from the pack house, and I can't help but smile. It's nearly unheard of for a pack to have a female Alpha, and I'm honestly quite surprised the werewolf council even allowed it. Maybe they're hoping she'll still settle with a mate and an alliance with a nearby pack will be created.

I'm surprised she hasn't chosen a mate. I expected to come back to that news, and I'm unsure if I'm pleased to hear it, or if I'm sad to hear it. Maybe she's been waiting all of this time to reject me before choosing a new mate. Maybe she is hoping I'll reject her. If I do she could have a second chance mate. That's really the only way she'll have any offspring to carry on her family's legacy.

The quiet and solitude is recharging for me, and before Clarisse came along in Paris I spent a lot of time just sitting by myself centering and considering how I came to be where I was. My eyes stare into the darkness, and I smile to myself. I forgot how dark it gets here in the woods. I miss the city of Paris, but werewolves don't do well in cities, and I struggled with it over the past 2 years. Becca struggled too. She couldn't run, and for most of the past 2 years she had fallen silent, still mourning the mate we left before she could reject us.

The solitude doesn't last long. I hear the snap of a twig behind me, and I still. I've grown more powerful physically over the past 2 years, but I haven't shifted since before I left for Paris. I wasn't sure Becca would even want to come forward. She never quite recovered from the loss of our mate. I was reassured fairly quickly though, when I heard Becca in my head, "Our mate. Do you smell her?" I could, and the scent brought tears to my eyes. It was one thing to leave when I couldn't feel the mate bond, but now I could feel it, and it was breaking my heart all over again.

When Chloe came into view she gave me a wide berth and settled against a tree several yards away, sinking there and crossing her legs. Her forearms rest neatly on her thighs, and she drops a bottle between her thighs. It contains the same amber colored liquid she was drinking back at the pack house and it becomes clear that it's whiskey once I can see the label. I don't say anything, but mostly because I don't know what to say, so I do the only thing I can think to do. I wait. She waits too, and after a few minutes she takes a drink of the whiskey. My fists clench tightly. Becca's screaming in my head to say something, to go to her, to make it right. I can't though. I know what's coming, and I wait patiently for the rejection I know is coming.

"You left me." Chloe's voice is slurred slightly from the whiskey and the words surprise me. I don't know what to say so I don't say anything at all. I just watch her. My vision is turning blurry and when I reach up I realize there are tears pouring down my cheeks. I'm not sure how that happened, but I feel like my heart is breaking all over again. I can feel the waves of heartache radiating from her and I whisper, "I'm sorry."

"You betrayed me. I could feel you with her sometimes. It was faint. I didn't know where you were. I didn't even know your name, and you left me." Her eyes lift to mine and my hand moves to my mouth to cover it. I knew this would be difficult, but I underestimated how much of her emotion I might feel. We were linked by something so much stronger than I expected.

"It's Olivia. Liv. You can call me whatever you'd like, Alpha." I answer timidly. I am fully aware of the power sitting a few yards from me, and in her inebriated state I know exactly what she could do to me if provoked. "I couldn't take being rejected by you. I was scared. I'm... still scared." Her head lifts in a quick movement and she stares me down.

"So you found someone else to fuck." A quick breath is drawn in and I shake my head. I stammer as I respond, "No, no no, it's not like that. I just..." My words fade and I realize I have nothing more to say. I did exactly what she is accusing me of. I found solace in someone else's arms while my mate was here, lost and alone.

"I was underage, you know. I couldn't feel the bond you said you felt. I believed you, but I expected you to reject me so you could choose a mate to be the Alpha. I was young, and scared. I ran. It wasn't the right thing to do, and I'm sorry. I've spent the last few years imagining what it would be like to come back here and how it might feel to be rejected by you. I know it's going to hurt, but I'm ready. Do what you need to do. Do what you should have done 2 years ago."

I steel myself for her words. I prepare for the searing pain her rejection will cause. None of it comes, though, because she doesn't say a word. She simply lifts the bottle and takes another swig. I sit there for what seems like forever and then I move to rise. I turn to leave and I hear a haunting voice floating behind me.

"You're mine until I do. I'll kill anyone who touches something that belongs to me. Don't forget that." I turn and look back at her. My eyes search hers and I realize she's quite serious. Becca starts to bounce inside my head and she exclaims, "She still loves us!" That thought makes me smile and I turn toward my house and begin to walk.