His mate who never drowned

Alpha Vincent’s POV

The rage and bitterness in her eyes as the tears flowed down her cheeks and the guards forced her out of the building without violence was something I could never forget.

She was seated in the back seat of the car by the time I made it back to her side and she looked up at me sharply, with such anger in his eyes that it was hard to ignore it but her eyes slowly dropped down to my outstretched hand and she noticed the white handkerchief I was holding out for her.

She hadn’t stopped crying and I didn’t think I could stand the sight on the ride back home so I thought it would do her some good to get over her tears before the journey back to my pack began.

Amidst her sobs, she took it from me and proceeded to dry her tears with it. 

I was fascinated by this beautiful woman in front of me, she definitely wasn’t what I had expected and the fact that I could see just how much rage she held back, the urge to pour it all out on me and free herself from the pain, yet she remained composed.

Her shoulders shook along her entire body, she was cold yet she was seated at the back seat of an open car, dressed in a strapless dress that showed off the right amount of skin in a cold atmosphere so it was expected.

Without a second thought, I slipped off my jacket and placed it around her shoulders.

She inhaled deeply and I couldn’t tell what was going on in her mind as she looked up at me but I could tell that she had a lot to say but was holding herself back.

I got into the car with her and eased back into my seat before I spoke,

“Before you say anything else, before you take this out on me, I must let you know that the journey hasn’t started at all, so before I take you back with me to my pack, I hope you realize that I didn’t come all the way here to pick you up for nothing?” I asked and she raised a brow at my words.

“What do you mean?” She questioned me.

“I need a pretend Luna for the next six months and that’s where you come in.” I responded with a straight face.

I could see the confused expression on her face morph into anger and disgust. Due to her expression, I assumed she was furious that I had revealed my true intentions so brazenly but I was a man that had no reason to pretend to be what I was not.

That was all I needed her from and I intended to make it known to her before I took her away from her pack.

“No!” She stated boldly, “A pretend Luna is just another word for breeder, you intend to use me and I refuse to be a breeder for a man like you.” 

“It seems like you don’t have a choice.” I was quick to respond.

And she bit down on her lower lip as it dawned on her that I was right. She had no choice, it didn’t matter if she wanted to or not, she was going to do what I needed her to do.

“I don’t want to be in your bad book or anything, but there is no way around this. That’s the only reason why you’re seated in my car right now.”

“No, I won’t do it.”

She was testing my patience and I hated it more than anything else in the world so I held her gaze and made it impossible for her to look away.

“Would you rather be the pretend Luna of the man who brought you out of eternal shame and damnation or you would rather go back to the pack,” I paused and raised my finger to point at the building, “where you would forever be Marcus’s second choice, pining for him day after day when he just gave you away simply because he is too afraid of my wrath which was incurred when he took something that belonged to me, a piece of land he has been interested in for years.”

Her eyes widened in shock and I knew she definitely got my point so I leaned closer to her and asked,

“Now tell me, is that all you are worth? Are you that worthless? Only good for soothing the wrath of people he is afraid of?”

I picked up the document I had specifically prepared for the day and dropped it in her thighs along with a pen.

“It’s up to you now.”

It was a contract agreement that would cover the next six months and as the tears dropped from her eyes and soaked the papers, she picked up the pen and slowly signed the document.

She dropped the document back down on the space between us as she leaned back against her seat and stared out the window with this far away look in her eyes.

The car had begun to move and it was only a matter of hours before we made it back to my pack, Dark-wood pack which would serve as her new home.

I didn’t keep track of how long we’ve been on the road but when I turned in her direction, she was fast asleep and even though I had just met her a few hours ago, I loved the sight of how peaceful she looked when she slept and that was probably the best look I had seen on her so far.

The dried streaks of tears on her face were very visible as I watched her intently. I felt my heart twitch and it grew worse the longer I kept my eyes on her but I was too engrossed to look away.

I couldn’t deny the fact that I felt pity for her because she didn’t deserve what that jerk that called himself Marcus put her through. He wasn’t even worthy of a woman like her.

I always knew Marcus was a jerk, although he was really good at hiding his true nature from people until it was time to stab them in the back. He was a smart, manipulative man that was born specifically to betray people and I have known about this since our days in the Alpha Training Academy.

As I watched her sleep, I noticed that her long blonde hair complimented her fair skin tone and her lush, pink lips looked so inviting that it made something stir inside of me, a primal instinct that should never have stirred for her.

“Focus Vincent, focus, she is here only to be your pretend Luna. Nothing more. You can’t afford to let a distraction take you away from your goal.” I whispered to myself and I heard Xan growl with a suspicious edge to it.

Xan was my wolf and had always been a part of me.

“Are you sure she is only going to be your pretend Luna?” He teased, “Are you not yearning to break the rumors that you cannot love again? Are you not yearning to experience what it’s like to love someone again?”

Those questions were quite far from a tease and were too sensitive for me to talk about so I shook my head to clear my thoughts and at that moment, the car came to a halt in front of my mansion.

She stirred beside me as her eyes fluttered open, 

“Where are we?” She murmured.

“We’ve arrived in Dark-Wood, Alpha Vincent.” The driver announced as the guards at the bottom of the stairs rushed forward and held the doors open.

I grabbed the contract and stepped down.

“Since you are already in a wedding gown, we can have the wedding now, then.” I said.

The guards and maids greeted me and I responded with a nod as we both began to ascend the stairs. Right at the top of the stairs, my beta, Axel, waited for me with a few maids that I instantly instructed to take care of her.

“How did it go?” Axel asked almost immediately through our mind link so that no one could hear us.

I didn’t respond. I knew just what he was talking about, he was aware of the only reason why I needed a pretend Luna for the next six months.

The council gave me an ultimatum to provide a Luna within the space of a week, that was the only thing I needed to qualify me to become the Alpha of Alphas. 

A powerful position that held power and prestige that every Alpha including Marcus coveted.

That was the reason Marcus wanted to get married to Hera, his union with her automatically made him eligible for the position and that was the exact same reason why I needed Vienna.

I turned to face Axel and responded with a nod,

“It was successful.” I added and he smiled.

“That's good, the priestess is here.” he informed me as we strolled into the room where I was to sign a wedding certificate with Vienna behind me.

Immediately we were done, the maids escorted her inside and she turned around to glance at me one last time before she let them lead her in.

Without another word, I headed into the mansion and within the private walls of my study, I took out some documents from my desk drawer and was about to get to work when someone knocked on the door and I had barely responded before the door flew open.

“You’re not going to believe this,” a voice called out to me and my brows furrowed in confusion. Axel, my beta and River, my gamma strode in with a woman wearing a dark veil.

“What exactly is going on here?” I questioned them however the woman opened her veil in response and my lips fell apart, a gasp slipping through as I held the desk before me to steady myself.

Before me was the love of my life, my mate, and the woman whom I thought drowned at the bottom of the Darkwood Lake a year ago.