Dangerous Desires

Chapter 5

05 Family Business

Luke.

My father was weak and unbelievable. Allowing his Luna to destroy two lives to please her was sick, weak and despicable. Where does Stacy’s cruelty stop? It is bad enough that she turned my father against me to become alpha. Did she have to tie Tia and me into a loveless marriage to get Tia out of the way? I followed my father to Tia’s home and said a lot of nonsense there to understand what was going on because Stacy had told me the Lockwoods asked for a union with our family because their daughter was the strongest female of her generation. She claimed they wanted her to be Luna as her right. Since she and my father did not want their daughter with Caleb, they settled for me. Stacy was full of shit.

Tia had a crush on Caleb, and everyone knew. It wasn’t a hidden thing; even Caleb knew and ignored it. It was a harmless crush. The girl showed how determined she was when she quit her calling and signed up at the academy. She had surprised everyone and finished second. At first, we all thought that she made sure she finished second just so she would be the first to be considered as Caleb’s Luna, but after talking to her, however harsh or brief, the poor girl wasn’t thinking in that direction. I was hurt, and that was why I told the truth when we went back into the house. I was sick of my father’s lies. Instead of allowing him to continue spewing nonsense, the Lockwoods needed to know what had happened. I wanted to tell Tia that Caleb knew about it, but I believed I had said enough. That would have just broken her heart, and she was already broken. The girl was too young for this. Stacy was a complete bitch.

Caleb finally confronted his mother to call it off, but she had gone too far and wasn’t the type to eat her words. I still blamed my half brother for this shit. He knew the girl was head over heels for him. Instead

of being honest with her, he deliberately kept her in the friends’ zone. He enjoyed seeing her struggle with her emotions. I had heard him tell his friends she made passes at him several times. After meeting Tia and having a brief and uncomfortable discussion with her, there was no way she made passes at him. The girl was too damn arrogant to admit her feelings. She would have been a great Luna. Since Stacy did not want her, she should have left well enough alone and allowed the girl to be in peace. Eventually, she would have gotten over it or met someone before she resumed her gamma position. How did they expect Tia to help Caleb run the pack as his Gamma while unhappy? How did they expect the best from her? Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

I did not know what to do. I did not want to touch Tia or claim her. It wasn’t because I hated her, but because I knew she did not want me, and I am not the type to take advantage of another person. I will not mate with Tia against her will. I wasn’t like Caleb. He had messed up countless wolves and gotten a few pregnant, and my father and his mother had cleaned up the mess quietly. I was looking back at everything. Caleb would be a terrible Alpha, but Stacy wanted her son there at all cost, and an accident after leaving the club, that had killed an innocent biker had granted her wish.

I tried to tell my father that I wasn’t drunk, that my break had failed, but he wouldn’t have it. Claiming I was a bad example, I stood there as Stacy escalated the matter. I knew the biker’s life was important, but what about mine? I would have died. Someone included silver in that accident for some strange reason, and I did not know-how. The biker would have survived if it were not for the silver. Instead of my father investigating what was happening, he wrote me off and placed Caleb above me. I waited for him to write Caleb off. After hearing about his escapades but my father didn’t.

Instead, he had said it wasn’t as bad as what I did. He keeps saying I took a life, but it wasn’t really my fault. He creates excuses for Caleb that he did not stand a chance against those girls. He kept saying everyone wanted to be Luna and wanted Moon money. Why didn’t I get involved with many girls when I was up for the Alpha position. I had only been with one girl all my life, Elisabeth Barnes and thanks to Stacy; I will have to let her go and break her heart in the process. Stacy ruined three lives or maybe

four if Tia had someone for the sake of her son. I wasn’t mad at her. I was angry at the weak alpha who allowed his Luna to do whatever she wanted. I could not hate my mother for dying, but she should have held on to life to spare the country and pack Stacy’s cruelty.

I fixed up the bigger room for Tia and moved my things to the smaller room. I wanted her to be comfortable and cope with the situation. She was a victim in all this, not a gold digger or a slut, as I had implied to understand the situation better. The nineteen-year-old girl was a victim and nothing more, and neither were her parents to blame. They were powerless and rankless. They had no choice but to accept my father’s offer. Being cast out and becoming a rogue was worse than death. The pack mark fades, making them unable to hold their human form, and then they will roam like wild animals in the wild. It was a pity. There was no second chance for rogues in my world. Once the pack mark fades, that is it. A wolf could only belong to one pack in its lifetime. I believe the mark thing was a cruel precaution to enforce loyalty, and the Alpha family had the right to take it away.

Bartholomew, my butler, walked into my room while I got ready for my date with Elisabeth.

“Master Luke, the boutique is here to deliver your bride’s clothes,” he said. I stood up from where I was sitting on the chair and walked into the Master’s room that I had fixed up for Tia. I looked around. I had never slept in it; I had always slept in the smaller room. I realised that someone would be finally using it.

“Have them arrange her things in the walk-in closet. Move my things to the wardrobe, and put the rest of my stuff that could not go into the wardrobe in storage. I do not use most of the stuff anyway.” I said, and Bartholomew nodded.

“Your father has invited you to a late lunch in the breakfast room. It will start in fifteen minutes,” Bart said, and I was mad. I had plans and things to do. He should have told me earlier, so I would have fit it

into my schedule.

I walked past Bart and headed to the right wing of the mansion where Stacy, Caleb and my father lived. It was the flashy part, and it was all Stacy’s work. She liked money. Stacy was the real gold digger, not those poor girls Caleb had lied to. My brother was a good pretender; I had to give it to him. No one but his innocent victims and us knew this about him. It was sickening. Yet everyone saw me as a drunk and a murderer.

I walked into the breakfast room and found my father and his bitch eating. The sight of Stacy repulsed me.

“Have a seat, Luke,” my father said with an odd smile. I sat down quietly. There was a file on the table that had nothing written on it, and I wondered what it was.

“Have you finally accepted the union?” he asked me, and I knew it wasn’t a question. I had no choice.

“Yes,” I said to humour him out of obedience.

“Make sure you keep her out of Caleb’s hair,” Stacy said, and I wanted to respond but held my peace.

“She is already out of Caleb’s hair. She had been since her parents told her about it.” My father argued, and she rolled her eyes.

“So she sent my son to fight me?” she asked.

“That was all, Caleb. Stop trying to pin this on Tia. Did it ever occur to you that maybe Caleb genuinely liked the girl and only chose not to date her to please you?” My father asked, and I almost laughed because Caleb only loved one person, and that was himself. He kept Tia around because he knew she adored him and would do anything for him, but I held my peace.

“Anyway, I did not call Luke here to discuss Caleb. You seem always to find a way to make everything about Caleb.” My father said a bit angrily, and she turned away.

“Take this.” My father said, handing me the file.

“Sign them and keep a copy. My signature is already on it.” He said, and I wondered what it was.

“What is it, father?” I asked him, and he sighed.

“Since you will not succeed me as Alpha, It is only fair to hand the company over to you,” he said before saying a word. Stacy banged the table.

“Impossible!” she yelled, and my father sighed.

“The deed is already done, Stacy. I cannot change it.” My father told her, ” After your honeymoon, you will start to work at the company and work your way up, but you own it after you have signed the documents. Working your way up will help you understand the business,” my father said. Stacy tried to reach for the files, but I took them from the table.

“If you give him everything, where will that leave me and my son, Aesop?” She asked.

“When I mated with you, it was to take care of Luke and raise him as your son. Instead of being a mother, you chose to be his adversary, tormenting him at every given opportunity. He would have been alpha if you hadn’t run your mouth about the accident. You made sure I had no choice but to put Caleb there. Well, Caleb will be alpha as you have wished, and Luke, his older brother, would run the family business and control the money.” My father said, and she sneered at him.

“You want a drunk to..” She said

“Compared to Caleb, he is a saint,” My father said, and I could not believe the drama.

“Above all, Chloe and I started those businesses together. She owns ninety per cent of the capital. It is only fair I hand her company over to her son.” My father said, and I was shocked that they had been spending my mother’s money.

“I was in financial trouble when I met Chloe, and she had loved me regardless. She covered my shame by letting me run her business. Apart from the Moon mansion, everything belongs to her, and I will not betray her in death and give her legacy to another woman’s son. Caleb should be satisfied with being alpha, but the money and the companies belong to Luke’s mother, making it Luke’s too. Take it or leave it.” My father said, and I held on to the documents. I was going to sign it, make a photocopy and save the original in a safety deposit box at the bank, away from Stacy.

“If you die, what will happen to Caleb and me?” Stacy asked, close to tears.

“Well, if you were a good mother to Luke, I would have said he would care for you, but I doubt Luke and the unhappy wife you made me purchase for him would care about the woman that ruined their lives. Everything has consequences. I only went along with your plan because I knew that innocent Lockwood girl was too good to be with Caleb. She would be Gamma and would be the strongest consideration for Luna. I could not allow Caleb to damage her in good conscience,” My father said, and I was shocked. My father had allowed the union to protect the Lockwood girl.

“Start a business. Learn how to make money instead of spending another woman’s sweat, Stacy. So you can leave something for your son. Being alpha does not guarantee wealth, and Caleb cannot control Luke because Luke is the true alpha. We all know how this will play out in the pack. Luke might have killed an innocent pack member, which disqualifies him for the position, but Caleb will only be alpha by name because he can never control or command respect and loyalty that Luke does,” My father said, Then turned to me and spoke.

“You are now in charge of the business and your life. Do not expect me to get involved with your marriage. Take care of the family and the staff as you should as the head of the family. Your wife is a

young girl. Be patient with her. I know you have a temper, Luke, but please spare that girl. None of you wanted this, but her qualification as Gamma has made me do this. It would be hard to see a strong young, promising wolf fade away in the arms of Caleb. Do your best for her.” He advised and stood up. That was my cue to leave.