CHAPTER 2

 

IRENE'S POV

I threw my head over her thighs as I sobbed like a child. Her gentle pat landed on my head, over and over again.

"It's going to be alright, Irene," Aunt Teresa said in a soothing voice. I shook my head against her hand.

I could hear my heart breaking at his rejection and words of comfort reached nowhere near to piecing my heart together.

"I mean it, Irene," Aunt Teresa sighed. She was adamant on making me feel good this morning.

After Karson walked out of the room, he was yet to return and I just couldn't stand the terrible feeling that plagued my heart.

So here I was in Aunt's room, crying my eyes out.

"Don't shed so many tears, Irene. Your eyes will be puffy," she grabbed my face and jerked my head up. I could barely see her through my blurry vision but her face was in a small pout and her brows were knitted in a frown.

Her long black hair was let down and she looked like a goddess.

"Look at you," she sighed. "You're so pretty, don't ruin your face, Irene." She wiped my tears with her thumb and pressed her lips to my forehead in a kiss.

I closed my eyes as I tried to relax into it but more tears only poured out when I remembered that Karson didn't even kiss me.

I groaned, throwing my head back as I sobbed even harder. "He didn't- hic- he avoided- hic- I don't know why- hic- but he didn't- hic-"

"Stop crying, Irene. I can't make out your words-"

"He didn't make out with me!" I cried harder and stopped to swallow the lump in my throat before I continued again.

"It's because I'm wolfless and I'm not even his mate! I have nothing- he hates me,"

"He doesn't hate you," She tried to assure me. "He just doesn't understand-"

"Understand what?" I cried. "I don't understand either. Make me understand-"

"Irene!" She grabbed my face again and stared into my eyes. "You can't force your destiny. When the time is right, you'll understand. I have faith in you, Irene."

I didn't even have faith in myself but her tone was convincing and the way she stared at me with no joke.

She wiped my tears again and I didn't have the heart to produce any more.

"Trust me, my dear. You're Luna now and I'm sure you'll be more powerful than ever before."

****

I held onto her words and made them my strength but as the days rolled by, my frustration was beyond me that I would lock myself in my room- as Karson never returned- and cried. 

Our matrimonial bed had become my personal bed. The room we were supposed to share was now my own room.

The only time we bumped into each other was during breakfast where we ate in silence or going past his office to mine.

The Luna position came with a lot of responsibility and I was still being eased into it. But with Karson's attitude still on my mind, I was always mentally and emotionally stressed by the end of each day.

"Luna, is everything alright?" 

I snapped out of my thoughts at the Beta's voice. Wayne stared at me with a worried look. He had been in my office for a few minutes now but I could hardly recall the issue he had raised.

"I'm sorry," I hurriedly apologized and dropped my pen on the desk, giving him my full attention. "I'm fine. You were saying?"

He didn't look the least convinced but he had to go on either way. He smiled and the wrinkles around his mouth stretched. He had gotten very old over the years, I guess it was time for him to retire but that was his and Karson's decision to make.

"Maybe you should get some rest later,"he suggested and I could only offer him a smile. "I was asking your opinion about weapon storage in the Pack. While we don't have any impending threats, I was thinking it wouldn't be bad to restock and increase our budget."

"A few of our warriors with friends from other packs have mentioned the endless amount of weapons over there. I'm afraid they feel ours is lacking behind," he explained.

"I understand. But having an endless amount of weapons calls for a higher maintenance budget. If we do that, the tax will increase, the pack members will suffer and all we'll have are weapons while exploiting others," I sighed. "We're building a nation not a military zone. Even during war, we can have enough money and gain the upper hand."

"I'm afraid I'll have to decline the request to stock more weapons. Instead, could we cover it by high maintenance of what we already have?" I suggested.

Beta Wayne was already nodding with a satisfied smile on his face, "Yes, that could work. You're right. You're a blessing to us, Irene. Our budget is in safe hands. Our Alpha is really lucky to have you by his side."

I smiled in response to his words and watched him excuse himself. It was only fair to have brains, in my opinion. After discovering I was wolfless, I trained myself in other ways to help strengthen the Pack and I knew I was successful each time I received praises.

Even worse, there was something strange that I had started to notice. Wayne's daughter visited Alpha Karson every day.

"Where is the Alpha, Joan?" I asked the maid that served my tea.

"He's in his office, Luna," she fidgeted for a while, biting her lip.

"With who?" I already knew what she wanted to say. The thought of her answer was already making me squeeze the document I was holding.

"Lexie, Luna Irene," she replied in a murmur.

I offered her a smile, "Thank you. You can go now." She bowed before rushing out of my office.

I leaned back on my seat with a hand over my face and a tired sigh leaving my lips.

Her constant visits to the Alpha's study was becoming alarming. They spent every minute together and he rarely had lunch or dinner with me.

Her giggles were loud and every time I heard it, I could hear my heart breaking but I would lift my chin and wear a smile.

I had loved Karson for years and a little thing like this shouldn't be able to shake me.

I shrugged it off my shoulders and tried to concentrate on my duties. I successfully distracted myself till evening but soon came the migraines that were impossible to ignore.

I called it a night and started to walk down the hallway. When I approached Karson's door, my heart began to pound.

I wondered if he was still in and if he was with her. It was almost 9p.m already and she was supposed to be at home. Besides, I was yet to have dinner and I wondered if he had eaten too.

He had successfully avoided me for a whole month, sharing his attention between his work and Lexie. It was strange to think about but I didn't want to ponder on that.

Especially when my thoughts would play detective, questioning itself if she was his mate or not. But she wasn't of age yet for him to find out.

That was the only thread of hope that I clung onto.

"Maybe I could ask if we could have dinner together," I wondered and I slowed down when I got to his door. Karson's scent was faint but it tickled my nose either way, making my nipples hard and my core already wet.

Being wolfless, I could hardly distinguish between people by their scent nor could I smell everyone but Karson's scent was one I had thought myself to remember.

His scent was like wild roses in an open field while Aunt Teresa's scent was warm and sunny.

I cherished the little gift I had from having two werewolf parents as Aunt Teresa had told me. We never spoke much about them and I wondered why. All I knew was that they were good people who would do anything for the ones they loved.

Sometimes, I wondered if they didn't love me enough to stay alive.

Exhaling softly, I held the cold door knob of Karson's office and I pushed it open.

"Karson, I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner with-"

The rest of the words died in my throat. My eyes widened and I heard my own heart shatter.

Dizziness washed over me and my knees wobbled but I gripped the door hard to keep standing.

Karson had Lexie in his arms in a hug while he backed her against his desk. His mouth was on her neck and the way she held onto him tightly as if she was in slight pain, I could already tell what was going on.

The mate bite he had refused to give me, he was bestowing it upon her. He had marked her without even stopping to consider our mating ceremony-

Was she... No! I shook my head even as my thoughts already confirmed it. My lips trembled as tears filled my eyes at the realization.

Karson was hell bent upon meeting his mate. He hates our arranged marriage because he didn't have the chance to find his destined mate.

She was his mate.

The sight before my eyes was growing on my pierced heart that continued to shatter even more.

The sight burned right into my head that I was sure I could never forget it even if I were to lose my memory today. I would at least remember that the only man I had ever loved, had finally found his mate and I was nothing to him.

I stepped away from the door like it would explode at any minute. 

"You're only my mother's choice," his words before our mating ceremony began to hunt me.

My breathing became ragged and I clutched my chest, tugging at the neck of my dress as I found it hard to breathe.

I staggered backwards with eyes wide in horror. I turned and ran into my room, slamming the door behind me. I sagged to the floor with my knees hunched up to my chest.

My hands shook and so did my shoulders. The tears fell and all I could do was stare into my palm before slowly placing it over my face.