Chapter 5 Why Does He Want To Meet Me

Vera

Something flashed in his eyes. Anger? Frustration? I couldn't tell.

"For the next three months, you're still my wife," he said, his voice dropping to that Alpha tone that usually made wolves drop their heads in submission. "That makes your safety my concern."

"Then maybe you should have thought about my safety these past six months." I set down my coffee cup with enough force to make it clink against the saucer. "Maybe you should have thought about it before you marked me and then left me to figure out pack life on my own. Before you paraded your affair with my sister in front of the entire pack. Before you made me feel like I was invisible in my own home."

The words hung between us, sharp and cutting.

Darius's expression was unreadable. "Vera..."

"Save it." I picked up my coffee and moved to walk past him. "I have things to do. Luna things. Since you finally decided to let me act like one."

He caught my arm as I passed, his grip gentle but firm. The touch sent electricity through me, the incomplete bond flaring to life. I saw him feel it too, the way his eyes darkened, the slight intake of breath.

"Let go of me," I said quietly.

"Not until you listen." His thumb brushed against my inner wrist, right over my pulse. Could he feel how fast my heart was racing? "I know I haven't been... fair to you. I know these six months have been difficult."

"Difficult?" I laughed, the sound bitter. "Darius, you broke me. Every single day, you broke me a little more. And the worst part? I let you. I made excuses for you. Told myself you were just stressed, just adjusting, just..." My voice cracked. "But you weren't any of those things. You were just cruel."

He flinched like I'd struck him. "I never meant..."

"Yes, you did." I pulled my arm free. "You meant every cold look, every dismissal, every moment you chose her over me. So don't stand here now and pretend you didn't know what you were doing. You knew exactly what you were doing. You just didn't care."

I walked away before he could respond, my hands shaking so badly I had to set down the coffee cup before I spilled it.

Behind me, I heard him say something under his breath. It sounded like my name. But I didn't turn around.

I couldn't.

I spent the morning in the pack's administrative office, going through files that Elder Moira had told me I should have been managing all along. Financial reports. Territory boundaries. Alliance agreements with neighboring packs.

It was overwhelming. And infuriating.

Because all of this, all of this should have been explained to me months ago. Instead, Darius had shut me out of every important decision, every meeting, every aspect of actually running the pack.

I was neck-deep in a particularly confusing treaty document when someone knocked on the office door.

"Come in," I called, not looking up.

"Well, well. Look at you, all officials."

I glanced up to find Kara leaning against the doorframe, her arms crossed and a smirk on her face.

"Elder Moira gave me about a thousand things to catch up on," I said, gesturing at the mountain of papers. "Apparently I've been neglecting my duties."

"You've been neglecting them because a certain Alpha has been keeping you in the dark." Kara walked in and sat on the edge of the desk. "Don't beat yourself up about it. Most of us assumed he was filling you in during your private time together. It wasn't until recently that we realized he wasn't spending any time with you at all."

Heat crept up my neck. Of course the pack knew. They probably all knew about the unconsummated marriage, the separate bedrooms, everything.

How humiliating.

"I'm surprised you're all still speaking to me," I muttered. "I'm sure I'm the laughingstock of Shadowcrest."

"Are you kidding?" Kara snorted. "Vera, half the females in this pack want to be you right now."

I stared at her. "Why?"

"Because you're finally standing up for yourself. Because you walked into that training ground yesterday and demanded respect instead of waiting for someone to give it to you. Because..." Kara leaned forward, her voice dropping. "Because you're the first person in four years who's made Alpha Darius look rattled."

"Rattled?"

"Completely unhinged." Kara grinned. "He came to training this morning, he never comes to morning training, and he was distracted the entire time. Snapped at three different wolves for minor mistakes. Then he shifted and ran into the woods for two hours. When he came back, he looked like he'd been fighting ghosts."

I tried to ignore the small flutter of satisfaction in my chest. "That doesn't mean anything. He's probably just annoyed that I'm making things difficult."

"Maybe." Kara's eyes glinted with amusement. "Or maybe he's finally realizing what he's been throwing away."

Before I could respond, another knock sounded at the door. This time, it was one of the younger pack members, a boy who couldn't have been more than sixteen.

"Luna," he said, slightly breathless. "Elder Moira asked me to tell you that Alpha Kieran from Ashwood Pack has arrived for his visit. He's asking to meet with you."

My stomach dropped. Ashwood Pack. That was the pack from the neighboring territory, the one we had that complicated alliance with. And Alpha Kieran...

I'd met him once, briefly, at a pack gathering three months ago. He'd been kind. Warm. Had actually treated me like a person instead of an inconvenience.

"Why does he want to meet with me?" I asked.

The boy shrugged. "He said something about discussing the upcoming Summit. Elder Moira said you should meet him in the formal receiving room."

I looked at Kara, who was trying very hard not to laugh.

"What?" I demanded.

"Nothing. Just... this should be interesting." She stood and headed for the door. "For what it's worth, Luna? Kieran's a good Alpha. Fair. Honest. And he's been unmated for three years since his Luna died. The pack gossip is that he's finally ready to start looking again."