Chapter 4
After three months.
RILEY.
Igrunted loudly as the sun’s rays fell on my face, waking me from my sleep. I threw a forearm to cover my eyes before squinting and peeking at the intruder who had disturbed my sleep.
“What the fuck! Close that and fuck off from here!” I growled at my Beta while he continued to open all the curtains.
“You need to wake up. You have a visiting Alpha waiting for you downstairs.” Dominic responded calmly, drawing the last curtain open before standing at the foot of my bed.
“I don’t remember agreeing to meet anyone. Send him home and let me sleep!” I grunted once more before turning my body around and pressing the pillow on top of my head to block off the sunlight.
“I’ve been doing that for the last three months, and this is not right anymore. You need to do your part, or you will keep losing people! I have already allowed three family transfers in the past three months!”
“If they don’t want to be in my pack, then they can all go to hell!” The pillow on my head was lifted and flew across the room.
What in the world did my Beta not understand about the term fuck off?
“Riley! Soon, I’ll take over this pack and kick you out of here! Three months! Three fucking months! Andrea is already having the time of her life, and you’re still stuck up here! Move on!
“Who says this is about Andrea? Go away!” I growled.
“That’s the problem! You refused to say anything! You’re not talking! You’re just sulking and doing your own thing! I’m your Beta, but you’ve excluded me from your life! I felt like I was just a puppet running this whole pack because my Alpha is worse than dead!”
I let out an annoyed sigh before turning around, placing my forearm over my forehead as I stared at the ceiling. “What do you want? A salary raise? Do it yourself. You have access…”
“Damn you, Riley! I have never felt more insulted than I feel right now. I don’t need your money! I need my Alpha back!”
I shoved the blanket away and got up before walking to the window. I scanned the ground below. Nothing unusual, just an ordinary day. “Who’s the visiting Alpha?”
“Alpha Jacob.”
A growl rumbled in my chest before I turned around, my eyes dilating. “Who the hell allowed him entrance into my territory? Did you? I’m going to rip your head off.”
“I did. And before you start throwing a tantrum, go fix yourself and face him. We’re lucky this Alpha didn’t give us shit like all the other Alphas when you suddenly decided to cut off ties with every pack around outside of the treaty agreement dates!”
My eyes squinted, but I tried to control myself. My Beta’s jaw was twitching, and his hands were already coiled into fists. He was controlling his outburst. Maybe I would push him a little more, and maybe he would throw that punch I’d been wanting to have to numb me from all the pain I felt inside.
Three months.
It had been three months since she left me, and the pain still felt like it was just yesterday. My mate. She broke me in a way no one else ever did. Not even my mother or Andrea broke me this way.
And I still couldn’t forget her.
I slept with her in my arms, hoping for a brighter tomorrow, only to find her gone when I opened my eyes. I tried to scent her so I could follow her trail, but the rain made it harder for me.
She left me, and I was left with no information about her—no clues, no names.
All I knew was that she carried my mark and that for the last three months, she had not kissed or been intimate with anyone. It was the only thing that kept me hopeful. But every day, that hope was slowly dying.
I didn’t know how many times I went back to the cave to check if she had come back. Two full moons, I went around and scouted for her, but Hunter couldn’t find her. I spent the first month visiting Darvin’s territory almost every day, hoping to catch a whiff of her, but there was nothing.
I finally gave up—not just on her. I gave up on life and on being an Alpha. I cut alliances with all the others and let my pack stand alone. I was only waiting for someone to challenge me to take over.
I also asked my Beta to challenge me for the title because I knew I would easily let him win, but he took it as a joke and moved on. I didn’t know how to tell him I didn’t want this anymore. I was tired.
I felt completely worthless, unworthy of being loved, and unworthy of being an Alpha.
This might be my karma for pushing myself onto Andrea—the price I had to pay for taking someone else’s mate. In the end, my own mate refused to claim me.
I felt a fabric touch my back, and it snapped me out of my thoughts. My Beta threw my clothes on me.
“Shower and go to your office. Don’t make me put clothes on you, or I swear to the Goddess I’ll cut off your balls and throw them to the rogues. I’m your Beta, not your babysitter.”
I didn’t say anything and simply picked up the clothes before heading to my bathroom. As much as I didn’t want to face anyone, I also knew Jacob would never take no for an answer. I didn’t need an additional headache. My Beta alone was already too much.
After I showered and put on decent clothes, I headed downstairs. As soon as I entered my office, my Beta and Gamma stood up from their seats and acknowledged my presence while I stayed rooted by the door.
I nodded at them before darting my eyes to the cocky Alpha sitting comfortably on the couch in my office with a glass of whiskey in his hand.
“Isn’t it too early for a drink?” I told him sarcastically as I strode inside my office towards my office chair, my eyes flying to the clock overhead. It was almost noontime.
“You shouldn’t worry about me. I can perfectly function as an Alpha even with alcohol in my system. You, on the other hand…” He chuckled before setting his glass on the table beside him.
My brow raised as I waited for him to continue, but he just kept smirking, which irked me more.
“Leave us,” I ordered in a cold tone. Both my Beta and Gamma left the room without any more words.
“What do you want? I don’t want to renew any alliances with your pack.” I told him straight to the point, leaning my back against my chair before closing my eyes. I should be sleeping instead of looking at his fucking face.
“Who said I want an alliance with your pack? You’re just going to be a liability for me.”
Cocky bastard.
“So why did you bother to come here?”
“I want to check how you’ve been doing.”
“I’m fine. You can leave now. Next time, just call so you don’t disturb my sleep.”
“What’s going on, man?” Of course, he didn’t believe me. “I thought Dominic was joking when he told me you looked worse than dead, but seeing you now, he was right. I feel bad for your Beta and Gamma. They’ve been running your pack while you moped around.”
“Fuck off, Jake. You’re not my father to scold me.”
“What’s going on? Is this still about Andrea?”
“Why does everybody keep thinking this is about Andrea?”
“Then who? Or what?”
“You don’t believe it’s not Andrea, right?”
“If you will just explain what’s going on in your head, then I’ll figure out if it’s about her or not.”
“Go home!” I stood up from my seat, but Jacob was faster. He was already standing in front of me and pushed me back into my seat. I had no energy to fight him, so I just leaned my elbows on my desk and covered my face with my hands.
“Tell me. Just let it out. No judgment. I promise.”
“You’ve been judging me. So stop the facade that you’re the nice Alpha here. We both know you’re not.”
“Shut it! We both know that no one can understand you better than me. Now talk!”
I raised my head from my hands and tilted it in his direction. He stood beside my desk, looking down at me with his arms crossed against his chest.
My gaze found his eyes. I looked for any hint of mockery or pity in them but didn’t find any. It was either he was really concerned, or he was good at faking it.
I let out a deep sigh before leaning my back against my seat. I closed my eyes as I tilted my head up. “I found my mate.”
“And where the hell is she?”
“I don’t know. I found her and lost her on the same day.”
“And you didn’t go looking for her? Don’t tell me you didn’t want her or that you rejected her.”
I brushed my palms against my face before opening my eyes. Jacob was already by the window, looking outside.
“I marked her. It was the full moon. And then I woke up the next day, and poof! She was gone. I didn’t even know her name.”
My heart clenched in pain as the memory of waking up without her filled my thoughts. I raised my hand and massaged my fingers onto my temples.
Three months. And it still fucking hurts.
“I looked for her. For a month, I kept coming back to where I met her, but nothing. I kept returning to Darvin’s territory because I assumed she was from there, but still, nothing.”
“And you’re just giving up, just like that?”
“You have no idea how pathetic I feel right now. Everyone hates me, and my own mate doesn’t want me. I don’t know how much more I can take. I’m tired.”
“So she belongs to Darvin’s pack, and you marked her?” He asked, ignoring my sentiments.
“Are you deaf? I just told you that.”
“Get yourself ready. We’re going there.”
“No way!”
“I know you. I’m sure you went there and scouted the area, but you didn’t even ask Darvin for help. I’m going to ask him for you. Now, get up!”
I was about to reject his idea when a knock came on the door. I smelled my Beta and let him in.
“Alphas.” Beta Dominic nodded his head before his eyes focused on me as he closed the door. “I received word from the patrol team at the east border. They have two people requesting entrance to our territory.”
“Can’t you decide on it? Or Sebastian?” I huffed at him while shaking my head. “Why the fuck are you asking me?
“I would if you weren’t here, but the last time I allowed someone entrance, you threatened to rip my head off.”
Alpha Jacob chuckled, but he had no fucking idea it was his entrance here that my Beta was talking about.
“So? Are they visiting someone? Isn’t this an everyday thing that Sebastian has to deal with? Why the fuck are you asking me?”
“It’s not for those reasons. Otherwise, we could have decided on it.” He let out a sigh of frustration. My Beta looked tired, and guilt washed over me. I was putting too much on his shoulder.
“What do they want?” I asked, my voice calmer now.
“Tristan said the older man told him his niece was marked by someone from our pack, and he wanted to find that male so he could reject her and they could move on.”
My body went rigid as cold sweat formed on my forehead.
“He was asking permission to put his niece at the center of the plaza so she could be recognized by her mate.”
“From what pack did they come?” Jacob asked the question I wanted to ask.
“From the Moon Stone Pack.” My Beta answered nonchalantly.
Moon Stone Pack. That’s Darvin’s territory.