XADEN'S POV

The woman beside me had officially become my wife, and with her, the Whitmores had sealed their alliance with the Blackwood pack. The wedding had gone according to plan, at least as far as everyone else was concerned, and now that we had arrived at the pack house, I could finally put the day's formalities behind me.

Except there was one small problem.

My bride had been acting strangely from the moment I met her.

I had noticed it at the altar when I took her hand and felt her trembling. At first, I assumed she was nervous about getting married, but even after I tried to reassure her, she barely relaxed. Then, when I lifted her veil to kiss her, she looked at me as though she was expecting me to do something terrible. I had never seen a bride look so frightened on her wedding day, and it had left me wondering what exactly was going on in that pretty little head of hers.

I glanced at her as we entered the pack house, but she was too busy looking around to notice. The maids were already waiting for us, and the moment we stepped inside, they bowed their heads in greeting.

"Welcome home, Alpha," they chorused before turning towards the woman beside me. "Welcome home, Luna."

My wife gave them a small nod, barely managing a greeting before lowering her eyes again. I watched her for a moment, wondering whether she was always this quiet or if something about the situation had made her uncomfortable.

A few maids approached to collect our bags, and I handed mine over before gesturing towards the luggage beside her.

"Take everything to my room," I instructed.

"Yes, Alpha."

I turned towards her and offered her my arm, smiling when she looked up at me.

"Come along, my beloved wife. Let me take you to our room."

She hesitated before glancing at the maids, who were busy collecting our belongings.

"Alpha Xaden, would it be possible for me to have a different room?" she asked quietly.

I raised an eyebrow, surprised by the request.

"A different room? Why would you want that?"

She fiddled with the strap of her handbag, clearly struggling to find the right words.

"I just thought it might be better if I had my own room."

I studied her face for a moment before a small smile spread across mine. Perhaps she was shy, or maybe she needed time to adjust to the idea of sharing a bed with a man she had only met that day. I wasn't particularly interested in forcing her into anything, but I also wasn't about to send my new wife to sleep in another room on our wedding night.

"Unfortunately, sweetheart, I was looking forward to spending the evening with my new wife. Surely you won't deny me that much?"

Her eyes widened slightly before she quickly shook her head.

"No, Alpha."

"Good." I brushed a strand of hair away from her face, and she immediately lowered her gaze. "Take my beloved bride to my room," I instructed the maids. "Make sure she has everything she needs."

The maids bowed before leading her upstairs, and I watched her follow them with those careful little steps, almost as though she was afraid of making a wrong move. I couldn't help wondering what her problem was, but I decided to leave that for later. I had more important things to deal with, starting with the man currently waiting for me in my study.

The moment I entered, Dexter turned towards me with an expression that told me I was about to hear an earful.

"This is unacceptable, Xaden! Absolutely unacceptable!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air. "How could the Whitmores do this to us? They sent us the wrong bride, and you stood there throughout the entire ceremony as though nothing was wrong!"

I closed the door behind me and walked towards my desk, trying not to laugh at how worked up he was.

"Good evening to you too, Dexter."

"Don't you dare start with me!" he snapped, following me across the room. "We should send our warriors to their territory right now. I want their gates torn down, their guards dragged out, and their Alpha brought before us to explain why he thought he could make a fool out of the Blackwoods."

I poured myself a glass of water and took a sip before looking at him.

"Is that all?"

He stared at me in disbelief.

"No, that's not all! We should kill them, Xaden. Every last one of them who had anything to do with this. Let the other Alphas learn from their mistake. Nobody gets to insult our family and walk away as though nothing happened!"

I couldn't hold back my laughter any longer, which only seemed to make him angrier.

"What's so funny?" he demanded.

"Nothing. I just find it amusing that you're ready to start a war before you've even had time to sit down."

"A war? They have already declared one by sending us a man disguised as their daughter."

I placed my glass on the desk and looked at him properly.

"Relax, Dexter. Everything is fine."

He opened his mouth, closed it, and then stared at me as though he was trying to determine whether I had suffered some kind of head injury.

"Everything is fine? Xaden, they sent us a man! What part of that sounds fine to you? What happens when the pack finds out? What about the luna testing? How are we supposed to explain it when the healers discover that our Luna isn't a woman?"

I sighed and sat down behind my desk, motioning for him to do the same.

"First of all, nobody is going to find out that our bride is a man."

Dexter went completely still before slowly taking the seat opposite me.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"You heard me. Nobody is to know that our bride is a man."

For a moment, he said nothing. Then he leaned forward, resting his hands on the desk as he stared at me.

"Why? Why would you want to hide this? The Whitmores have deceived us, and you're asking me to cover up their lies. We have every right to expose them and make them pay for what they've done."

"I'm not asking you to cover up their lies. I'm telling you to keep my wife's identity a secret."

He dragged a hand down his face, looking as though he was struggling to keep his temper under control.

"Xaden, please tell me you have a good reason for this because I genuinely cannot understand what you're thinking right now."

"I do."

"Then tell me..."

I leaned back in my chair, watching him for a moment before deciding that there was no point in keeping him in the dark.

"I smelled his pheromones."

Dexter frowned, clearly confused by my statement.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"At the altar, I could smell something beneath the scent blockers he was wearing. I noticed it when I held his hand, but I wasn't certain until I kissed him."

His eyes widened.

"You could smell his pheromones through the blockers?"

"Yes."

"But that's impossible. Those blockers are designed to suppress a wolf's natural scent. If he was wearing them properly, you shouldn't have been able to detect anything."

"Well, I did...and he is not an Alpha either."

Dexter leaned back in his chair, staring at me as he tried to make sense of what I had just told him.

"Are you saying he's an Omega?"

"Yes."

"And you knew this during the ceremony?"

"I suspected it."

He shook his head before looking back at me.

"Fine, so he's an Omega. That still doesn't explain why you're protecting him. We can deal with them and decide what to do with their son afterward. There's no reason to let them get away with this."

I watched him for a moment, wondering how he would react when I told him the rest.

"There's something else you need to understand, Dexter."

He folded his arms across his chest.

"What now?"

I took a deep breath and looked him in the eyes.

"He's my mate."

Dexter blinked.

Then he blinked again.

"I'm sorry?"

"You heard me."

He stared at me for several seconds before suddenly standing up.

"Your mate? You mean the man the Whitmores sent in place of their daughter is your mate?"

I nodded.

He began pacing around the study, muttering under his breath as though he had suddenly forgotten how to speak normally.

"This is insane. The whole situation is insane. How can a man be your mate? And how did you even know? You barely spent any time with him!"

"Because I could smell him, Dexter. Even with the scent blockers, I could sense the bond.... immediately we touched Ruin went wild chanting mate."

I paused, remembering how he had trembled when I held his hand and how he had looked at me during the kiss. I couldn't explain why he had been so frightened, but I knew there was more to this situation than the Whitmores simply sending us the wrong bride.

Dexter stopped pacing and turned towards me.

"So, what are you planning to do?"

"First, you're going to make sure nobody discovers his identity. Keep him away from the luna testing, and if the healers request to examine him, find a reason to postpone it. I don't care what excuse you use, but nobody is to conduct any examination that could expose him."

"And what about the Whitmores?"

"I'll deal with them later. For now, I want you to find out everything you can about Adam Whitmore. His life, his wolf, his relationships, everything. I want to know why his family sent him here and what they were hoping to achieve."

Dexter nodded slowly, though he still looked unconvinced.

"And if he tries to deceive you?"

"Then I'll deal with it."

"And if the pack finds out?"

"They won't."

He sighed, finally accepting that arguing with me wasn't going to change anything.

"Fine. I'll handle it, but I hope you know what you're doing, Xaden."

"So do I."

Dexter headed towards the door, but I called him back before he could leave.

"One more thing. Make sure the maids treat him well. Nobody is to make him uncomfortable and as far as this pack is concerned, he's our Luna, and I expect everyone to treat him accordingly."

Dexter gave me one last look before nodding and leaving the study.

Once I was alone, I leaned back in my chair and stared at the ceiling, trying to understand how the Moon Goddess had managed to put me in such a situation.

I had expected to marry Aurelia Whitmore, an Alpha who would strengthen our alliance and help secure the future of our pack. Instead, I had married her twin brother, an Omega who had been forced into a wedding he clearly didn't want.

And somehow, despite all of that, he was my mate.

I wasn't sure what the Moon Goddess had planned for us, but I knew one thing. I wasn't going to let anyone hurt him, not even his own family.

Whatever the Whitmores had intended when they sent Adam to me, they had made one sweet mistake.

They had sent my mate straight into my hands.