Luna On The Run!

Alpha Zane’s POV

I can’t believe Alpha Gorgio is capable of this.

To send another woman to me in my mate’s place, and even then with the help of a spell! This man goes to any lengths to keep Ariel for himself when the Moon Goddess herself has decreed that he should share her with me. But he refuses and invents all sorts of schemes.

But I will not tolerate this.

All those involved in this deception must be punished. I am an Alpha and deserve the respect of my peers. Besides, the mate bond is sacred, it is enshrined in the Were laws as the highest right of mates. How dare Gorgio do this to me!

I clutch the railing of the boat, my knuckles turning white as I contemplate what has happened. He had firmly rejected my proposal to settle all this triangular mating peacefully. Now circumstances have changed, and after what he has done to me, I demand to have my mate back. Gorgio has gone too far!

And Ariel herself! I cannot imagine that she cooperated in this.

I am her mate, for God’s sake! She feels the bond, it’s still there. She cannot escape submitting to me, it is predestined. Whatever she does, the bond is there and I will not let her go. Her chances are over.

With my eyes closed, I concentrate and try to reach her.

We are not far from Eclipse Howl, no matter how weak our connection is, she must sense me. Yes, there she is. Her warmth reaches me and I feel myself calming down. Claw howls in my mind, he senses Era as well now. I wallow in it for a moment, this connection with our soulmate is amazing. But then the connection snaps abruptly, it’s as if she’s cutting herself off from me. I clench my fists, she is so unfair to me.

“Hey, don’t work yourself up. We’re going to get to the bottom of this and confront Alpha Gorgio about his fraud. And of course that can’t go unpunished.” Mase pats me on the shoulder. “This case is becoming increasingly unpleasant as time goes on. Zane, keep your head clear. However this ends, you can always fall back on Clarita”.

Clarita is in the background now. Ariel is my destiny, she is my priority now. When we finally sail into Midnight Moon’s harbor, Eric and Kensley are waiting for me. I jump off the boat and walk over to them. Kensley rushes ahead, while Eric follows hesitantly.

Eric’s behavior is strange. He is my Beta and should have met me halfway to discuss this matter. And his attitude is very suspicious.

“Kensley, let’s go to the packhouse. I want to hear every detail.” My gaze is fixed on Eric, who now greets me with an outstretched hand. I ignore the hand and take him by the shoulders in the usual way. “Eric, has Kensley briefed you on the details? I can’t imagine all three of us falling for that trick.”

“Yes, with a witch this close, anything is possible. I’ve prepared some papers. We will appeal this first to the Council. Ariel will have to explain herself. She is your mate and therefore obligated to you,” my Beta points out.

I nod, agreeing with him completely.

“Exactly. She shouldn’t have got carried away with any plan. As her mate, my feelings should be important to her”.

The four of us enter my office.

I go through the documents Eric has prepared. There is a detailed explanation of events, from my meeting with my mate at the conference, where the King and Queen were also present, to her departure from Midnight Moon. Also her stay in Miami with a friend and then the result of Kensley’s investigation.

My Head Warriors presents photos of Ariel in Alpha Gorgio’s arms in Eclipse Howl at the same time she was supposed to be in Midnight Moon. They are kissing, swimming in a lake, smiling broadly as they splash each other wet. My mate is wearing a tiny bikini, which elicits a growl from me.

I passed the report to Mase.

“Damn! This is masterful work by you, Kensley. At what point did your suspicions lead you to investigate this?” asks Mase, now fully into his Gamma role.

“It was shady from the start. Alexis only had eyes for Eric, completely ignoring Zane. And the conditions she set were ridiculous. Every mate wants to be marked, to stake their claim to the Alpha. But Alexis was just cold,” he reveals. “But for me, the absolute absence of her wolf was the main clue.”

Everyone nods, except Eric.

“How old did you say Alexis was? She can’t have a wolf yet, so she doesn’t know if Eric is her mate. It was just a teenage crush. My God, I can’t believe I was fooled by a pup.”

Eric takes the documents from me, scans them and sits down at his laptop.

He sends the complaint to the Werewolf Council and all three of us get a carbon copy from the email.

“Now we have to wait and see. I expect the Alpha King to respond quickly. If he knew nothing about this unsavory affair, he will want to clear his name soon,” Mase notes.

We go to the back balcony and pour ourselves a glass of scotch.

We all need a double shot to take in the latest events.

“Are you going to inform the pack, Zane? Or are you waiting for the Council to respond to the accusations?” Eric waits for my answer with interest.

“I’ll wait. Then I can give them the details properly. Hopefully, they will take it better than we did. They were looking forward to their Luna and this will not work in Ariel’s favor,” I sigh.

“Are you still planning to take Ariel as your mate?” he asks in astonishment. “Don’t forget the facts. She favored Alpha Gorgio, she fled from you, then collaborated with him to deceive you and you rejected her. Now she goes back to her old life as if nothing had happened. And now you have Clarita.”ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

I growl low, this Beta is starting to get on my nerves.

Everything in me is now focused on Ariel. “Neither my life nor hers can go back to before. We were not mates then. Would you have given up your mate for the love of a human, Beta?”…