Chapter 12
Three days later, after the Moon Festival in the Moonwillow Pack, Ember and her family returned to the North Pack, bringing along the Hollow they had starved for the entire duration of their stay at the festival. Ember had made sure she wasn’t given a single drop of water and was kept bound in chains the whole time, because she wanted the useless thing alive enough to talk when she finally questioned her properly.
When they returned to the North Pack, the fourth-largest pack in the werewolf world, Ember had already settled back at home when she was informed by her mother, Luna Maria.
“Alpha Kade is staying in a hotel within our territory, and he will be here this evening to join us for dinner and to see you,” Luna Maria, Ember’s mother, said in delight. “The fact that he stayed for days even though we were not around, with how busy they say his schedule is, it means he is truly interested in you. You are not to disappoint us, Ember. You have trained all your life for this. Put all your training to good use and claim the title of the supreme Luna to elevate our pack p>
Ember, who was sitting in her room with an omega polishing her nails, smiled confidently at her mother.
“You worry too much, Mom. No man has ever been able to resist me, and Alpha Kade won’t be any different. I will be his Luna. Don’t worry about anything,” she assured her, entirely unbothered.
She already knew her position as the future Supreme Luna was a done deal, with the elders of the Silver Pack firmly backing her from behind the scenes. Everyone knew that when the elders came together, they could wield more authority than even the Alpha himself, and having them standing behind her was more than enough to secure her place and silence any opposition.
Ember was one of the she-wolves who had graduated from both werewolves high school and college with excellent grades. She was in full control of her wolf and knew how to be not just a wife to an Alpha, but a Luna to a large and powerful pack. She had immense confidence in herself.
Though she hadn’t yet found her fated mate, it didn’t matter, once an Alpha marked her as his mate, it would sever any lingering bond that might complicate the appearance of a fated one. She would be the strongest and most powerful she-wolf in the world. The thought alone made her giddy with excitement and joy.
“Mom, let me prepare dinner tonight so he can taste one of my specialties. There’s a saying that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, though I’m already certain I’m in his heart,” Ember said, pushing the omega painting her nails aside as she rose from the bed.
“Do whatever you think will make him unable to turn you down, Ember,” her mother replied with a proud smile. Who wouldn’t be proud of a daughter like Ember, who seemed capable of everything? She spoke eleven different languages fluently, one of them being the Silver Pack’s language, Spanish.
The Silver Pack’s first descendant had originated from Mexico, just as every pack had once come from different parts of the human countries before creating a world of their own, far from humans who knew better than to cross into the werewolves’ territory, even though some werewolves still traveled between worlds.
Ember turned and ordered the omega to go and prepare the ingredients she would need for cooking. Though she intended to cook the meal herself, that didn’t mean she would ruin her freshly polished nails by cutting and washing ingredients.
When the omega left, Ember’s mother hesitated before asking, “Why did you bring back that Hollow from Moonwillow? She’s been moaning in the basement where you put her. I don’t think it’s wise to have a dead body in our home when an important guest will be arriving. Take her out before she dies down there and starts to smell p>
Ember scrunched up her beautiful face at the reminder of the useless, wolfless creature who had refused to tell her where she had gotten the coat, despite all the beatings. For someone without a wolf, she was surprisingly strong, still alive after everything, and unbearably stubborn.
“I’ll see what I can do about her before he arrives,” Ember replied. Her mother patted her arm approvingly and then left to confirm with her husband the exact time their guest would be arriving.
Ember turned her gaze to the expensive coat she had ordered to be laundered and returned. She gritted her teeth, knowing Viola would never tell her where she had gotten it from. She had likely stolen it, or perhaps the Supreme Alpha had discarded it, and she’d retrieved it from the trash. Though that explanation didn’t quite make sense, Ember decided it would suffice for her peace of mind.
“Well, if she won’t talk, then I have no use for her,” Ember muttered coldly. “I won’t have her fouling the air when my Alpha arrives, especially not when I’ll be in heat tonight, the perfect moment to have him in my bed p>
Alphas were known for their sharp senses, and that bitch moaning in the basement would surely be heard, ruining the mood.
“Gamma!” Ember called. When the guard appeared, she ordered, “Shut the Hollow up for now, and once night falls, take her out and get rid of her p>
“Yes, ma’am p>
Alpha Kade and his Beta, along with their entourage, didn’t arrive until evening. A line of four cars drove into the North Pack estate, and Seb, who was sitting with his head resting against a neck pillow, one elbow braced on the armrest and his cheek leaning lightly against his knuckles, had his eyes closed as though he were sleeping.
In truth, he was wide awake, trying, and failing, to erase a certain image from his mind. He felt the car slow, then come to a full stop, followed by the soft click of the door unlocking and finally his door opening.
“We are finally here,” Matt announced to his friend, who had been impatient to get this over with so he could return home and resume his busy everyday life.
“I know,” Seb snapped, causing Matt to raise his hands in surrender.
Matt couldn’t help but notice how easily irked and annoyed Seb had become lately, but it was understandable. After all, Seb had rejected a mate who didn’t have the wolf and bond to accept the rejection, and now he had to endure days, perhaps even months, of heartache until the bond naturally faded and freed him.
Until this bond faded, he wouldn’t be able to sense another fated mate or find any peace within himself. It felt like having pins buried beneath his skin, a constant, relentless torment.
The pain of that rejection was far more severe than being stabbed in the heart with a knife. Matt knew they were treading on very thin ice with the Alpha in this foul mood, which was why, throughout the journey, everyone in their escort, including Matt himself, had been exceedingly careful.
Now that they had arrived, he hoped to hell that Ember would be everything they said she was, strong, competent, and worthy of the Luna title, so the marriage could proceed quickly, allowing Seb to mark her and finally sever the bond with the forest girl completely.
Though Matt doubted Seb would truly mark Ember even after the marriage, not when the Alpha no longer intended to bond with another woman in that way. To the Alpha now, he would never again give a woman the power to break him to the point of near self-destruction.
Seb opened his tired eyes and stepped out of the car in a swift, controlled motion. His silver eyes flicked over the North Pack’s large estate, where all the pack members lived under a single large fence. Their numbers were no more than a thousand, unlike his own pack, which boasted the largest population, being direct descendants of the first werewolves to ever exist.
“Not bad, three skyscraper-style complexes and a full estate,” Matt commented as they surveyed the grounds. “How are you feeling now? Are you up for the meeting?” he asked, turning to Seb’s hardened, stone-cold profile.
“Do I have a choice with those old farts breathing down my neck to get a Luna?” Seb scoffed coldly, tucking his hands into his pockets as he began striding toward the estate, his men falling back to give him space, with only Matt following. “I hope Ember is not just another pretty face with no brains p>
At this point, with the blue-eyed girl having disrupted his thoughts for the past three days and caused him immeasurable pain, Seb was willing to take any woman the elders suggested to remove her from his mind, as long as she didn’t expect too much from him after the marriage.
They would have sex, yes, because an heir was required, but she shouldn’t expect any other commitments, attention, or protection from him. She needed to be able to protect herself and to care about every member of his pack as their Luna, not be annoyingly clingy or constantly on his tail the way many women were known to be. Shit like that got on his nerves.