CHAPTER 3

HUNTER

I heard the guards long before they reached my study. Their footsteps were uncertain, and they argued over who would tell me first.

That alone told me something unusual was happening.

Because nobody came to the stronghold. Well, not anymore. I made sure of that eight years ago when I left everything behind.

"Alpha Prime," Teddy called through the door. "There's someone here to see you."

I didn't look up from the reports I was reading. "Send them away."

"It's... it's Luna Valentina. Your son's mate."

My hand stopped mid-turn of the page. Valentina. Silas's mate. What the hell was she doing here?

"She says she has important information about Alpha Silas," Teddy continued. "She's insisting on seeing you."

I set down the reports. This was interesting. In eight years, not one member of the Winterfell Pack had come here.

Not even Silas himself.

"Bring her to the main hall," I said. "Search her first."

"Already done, sir."

I stood and walked to the window. I looked out at the snow-covered mountains.

Kael, my wolf, was already howling in curiosity.

Something told me tonight was going to change everything.

I took my time going down. Making sure, she would wait so she could understand that coming here uninvited was stupid.

When I reached the top of the stairs and looked down into the hall, I froze.

The woman standing there was not what I expected.

Valentina Winterfell was beautiful. No, stunning, actually.

With her long blonde hair hanging loosely on her back and her almost white but actually blue eyes, looked at me, head on perusing me.

I saw different expressions play out oon her face and I couldn’t help but chuckle.

My eyes slid down her body unintentionally and her curves filled my line of vision.

But it wasn't her looks that stopped me in my tracks. It was her scent.

It was a mixture of pineapples, cherries, and peaches.

Her scent reminded me of the first break of summer. I started walking down the stairs wanting to inhale more of the scent.

Kael went absolutely insane inside my head. Howling and screaming non-stop.

‘Mate Hunter. Mate. MATE.’

No. That was impossible. I already had Morgana, my mate. Even if our bond was broken in everything but name, the mate bond, however, can't just transfer to someone else.

Especially my son's mate. But Kael didn't care about logic. He wanted her. He wanted me to claim her and mark her right there in the hall.

I forced him down. Placed a shield between us. This was Silas's mate. My son's wife. Whatever my wolf thought he sensed, it was nonsense.

When I reached the bottom, I stopped a safe distance away and questioned her.

She lifted her chin and met my eyes directly. Most wolves would look away when I stared at them.

She didn't look away, instead she held my gaze as if she was daring me to look away first.

Bold. I liked that. When she mentioned Sila's name, my chest tightened.

Why won't it? It has been eight years since I last saw my son, and he never once came to find me.

“ Why are you here?"

"Silas has been cheating on me for three years," she snarled. I knew it was because of her rage. If not she wouldn't have dared growl at me.

I decided to let her mistake slip; if it were another, I would have taken their life for that disrespect.

"With a pack member named Melissa. She's pregnant with his child. His Beta knew. His Gamma knew. The elders knew. They all covered it up."

Disappointment filled me. I had hoped as a father that Silas would be different and wouldn't follow in his mother's footsteps. But I should have known better.

Like mother, like son.

"And Morgana Did she know?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer.

"She knew and she's also been having an affair for over eight years," Valentina said. "With Dominic Steele. Your head warrior. She knew about Silas and encouraged it, because she was doing the same. You and I have been cheated upon."

I almost laughed. Not eight years. Try twenty-five years. Since the day we got mated.

And Dominic wasn't just my head warrior. He was my stepbrother.

My father's bastard son from an affair. The son who should never have been acknowledged but was.

The person Morgana chose over me every single day of our marriage.

"You seem unsurprised," Valentina noted, watching me.

"That's because I'm not."

Her eyes widened slightly. "You knew?"

"I've known about Morgana's affair since it started," I said. "Twenty-five years ago."

The shock on her face was genuine. "Twenty-five years? But you've only been here for eight."

"I stayed for Silas," I said. "To protect him from the truth and give him a chance at a normal life."

"If you did that, why did you leave then?"

I walked past her to the window. Looked out at the darkness. "Because I had a choice to make. Execute Morgana according to werewolf law, or leave and let her live."

"Execute her?" Valentina's voice was quiet.

"The law is simple, and I am the king's second in command," I said. "A mated female wolf who commits advanced ultery faces death. No trial. No second chances. Just death."

"That's barbaric."

"That's tradition." I turned to look at her. "The laws were written by males. For males. A male wolf who cheats faces banishment at worst. But a female? Death."

"So you left to save her, even though she betrayed you."

"I left because killing her would have destroyed Silas," I replied. "He was twenty years old. He loved his mother. I couldn't take that from him."

" But didn't that mean you gave up everything?"

"Everything seemed like a fair price for my son's happiness."

Valentina was quiet for a long moment. "And now that son has done the same thing his mother did. To me."

The pain in her voice made Kael growl. It made me want to go to her. Comfort her. Which was insane.

"Why come to me?" I asked instead. "Why not handle this yourself?"

"Because I can't," she said simply. "Silas is the Alpha. He has all the power. If I challenge him, the pack sides with him. They will say I'm just the bitter mate who couldn't keep her husband happy."

"So you want me to challenge him."

"The Ancient Law of Mate Betrayal states that when an Alpha dishonors his bloodline through adultery and illegitimate offspring, the former Alpha can challenge to reclaim the position."

Smart girl. She'd done her research.

"You understand what you're asking," I asked, moving closer to her. "You want me to fight my own son. Possibly kill him."

"I want you to restore your family's honor," she choked out. "I want justice. And I want revenge. Is that so bad?"

What a brutal honest lady. It seems my son might have bitten off more than he can chew.

"And what do I get out of this if I decide to help you?" I asked.

"Your dignity," she responded back, leaning backward from me. "And the satisfaction of watching them all fall."

I almost laughed because those things don't mean anything to me. But what might actually prompt me to help her is her.

“ I do not need things, Valentina.” I watched her reaction, trying to gauge if she would run when she understood my words.

“ What do you need then? Tell me, I will give you anything.”

She sounded so desperate that I knew even if I disagreed to help her, she would find another way to get her revenge on Silas.

What a dick head my son has become? Maybe I will just frighten her a bit and she will run off.

“ If I say I want you, will you give yourself to me to do as I please until I tire of you?