chapter 10 - The Alpha's Mistress

"What's that?" His face was blank. Well, he clearly knew nothing. It was worth a shot, though.

 "Never mind," I said as we arrived at the garden. 

 I spent the rest of the afternoon and early hours of the evening in the garden. I had sectioned out a portion of the rather empty field that I wanted to grow fruits and flowers on. It was the first thing that felt mine.

 --

 "Is it true that the Luna doesn't have a wolf?" a whisper cut through the quiet garden.

I froze, scanning the garden. I couldn't find anyone when I lifted my head. 

"So I heard too, she doesn't look like she does though," another voice added. The two voices snickered.

Shortly, two girls appeared, gasping when they saw me crouched there.

 "Luna!" one stammered, bowing before they hurried off.

Strange... I could hear them long before they got close to me. My hearing hadn't been this sharp since I lost connection with my wolf.

Sure. I wasn't oblivious to the fact that the pack members spoke about me, and not in a nice way either. 

The Luna without a wolf. The outsider mated to a man twice her age. The girl who hid in her room instead of leading.

The gloves slipped from my hands, all motivation gone. I made my way back into the building. 

By my second day in the garden, I found some peace in tending the soil, even if it only masked the chaos unraveling inside me. 

Three days had passed since my meeting with Mr. Perri, three days of pretending to be fine while I was quietly breaking apart. With Nigel gone and his replacement uninterested in hovering, the solitude was almost a relief.

 I was about to climb up the rather familiar set of stairs when I noticed someone glaring at me from the corner and I paused. The more I looked towards the person, the less likely it seemed like they were glaring at me. 

"Hello, do you need any help?" I asked genuinely, approaching the woman. 

On getting closer, I realised she looked scary. She had on an awful shade of red lipstick on her lips and her foundation was at least two shades lighter than her skin tone. 

"Oh!" She exclaimed in surprise, like she hadn't been watching me up until that very moment. 

 "Hello, I'm Lisa," she greeted with a very wide smile that was obviously fake. 

"Hi, I'm -"

"I know who you are, everybody does," she said, cutting me off. 

My eyebrows shot up to my hairline. I definitely wasn't expecting such a response.

"You're the Saviour Luna my beloved Vincenzo had to take because you brought back life to the pack," she continued. 

Her tone dripped with sarcasm. She hissed, smile vanishing. "It was supposed to be me. He should've chosen me."

"What are you talking about?" I asked with narrowed eyes. I may not know how to exert dominance as a Luna but I wasn't going to let a woman I had never met speak to me in that manner.

I gave the woman a once-over. She looked to be in her thirties. If Alpha Romano was going to take her as his mate, surely he would have done all that before I came into the picture. 

I stiffened. "What did you mean by bringing life back?"

For a second, fear flickered in her eyes. Then she snapped, "It meant nothing. But you took Vincenzo from me, and you'll regret it," she said in a rush before walking away.

 I stood there, stunned. What the hell had just happened? 

 Saviour Luna? That was certainly new. 

 Was she the Alpha's mistress? 

I felt a pang in my heart at the thought of them together and I forced it away. There were a lot of things I hated about the mate bond, one was its ability to interfere with your feelings. 

I hated him, mate or not, bond or not. He was the reason my pack got destroyed. He was the reason Grannie Alba was all alone with no one to care for her. He was the reason my life had suddenly gone downhill. 

I didn't realise my eyes had started glossing over from tears until my vision got blurry and I hit a brick wall. 

No. Not a wall.

Him.

 He was here

"Selene!" he called out and a shiver ran straight to the mark on my skin. Stupid mate bond.

"Alpha Romano," I squeaked.

His gaze locked on mine, unreadable but sharp enough to make my knees weak. For a flicker, his dark eyes burned amber, and I couldn't tell if it was fury-or something worse.

"What are you doing here?"

"I mean, you weren't supposed to be back until next week."

"I had something to attend to back here," he responded blankly.

"Walk with me," he said and turned towards the long hallway without waiting for my response. I quickly fell into step with him.

The energy of his presence beside me was so strong, it made my head spin.

"How has your week been?" he asked.

The question almost made me stop in my tracks. Why was he being nice? Did he hear my conversation with Lisa? Did he want to explain?

No way! My cheeks burned in embarrassment.

 I was stupid to think Alpha Romano would do something like that.

"It's been fine, uneventful," I replied.

He gave a stiff nod, then silence followed. I couldn't stop overthinking, couldn't slow my pulse. By the time we reached my door, I realized I'd zoned off.

"Very well. Take care," he said and turned to leave before I could even say anything.

"What the hell just happened?" I whispered to myself, watching his retreating form.

Back in my room, thoughts ran until my skull ached. I pressed my palms to my temples, wishing I could think straight. But since the mirror incident, nothing had felt straight.

I'd been avoiding reflections, pretending it was in my head. But deep down, I wasn't convinced.

And without my wolf, I had nothing.

I sat up abruptly and took deep breaths to clear my head. For the first time in years, I reached out to my wolf, Makayla.

Nothing!

Silence so loud, I could get lost in it. She still wasn't there.

Why she became dormant, I still can't tell. She used to be my best friend, my companion no matter what, then one day, I tried reaching out, and she didn't respond.

My sharper senses weakened considerably, my strength dissipated into near nothingness. I didn't think it was possible, but after losing my wolf, I was back to being more ordinary than Omega Selene.

I miss you, Makayla.

Sighing, I shook my head to get thoughts of her away from my head. No time for it. Not when my mate was tangled with the mafia, strange women whispered threats in my ear, and my own reflection had started talking back.

What a fun life.

****Enzo's POV****

A knock came before my Delta and Beta entered.

"For both your sakes," I muttered, shoving aside the stack of paperwork, "you'd better be coming with good news, I can't deal with anything else right now." 

"Since we tightened security at the borders, attempts to infiltrate the pack have stopped. The soldiers are still on high alert for any stranger but it's been calm," Dante explained.

"Any ideas who those wolves were or what pack they belonged to?" I asked.

"Rogues, we believe," Silas said. "We can't tell for sure until we're able to capture one.".

Rogue wolves. It's been ages since rogues have come in the direction of Romano Crest. I wondered what gave them the audacity.

"I want the head of the next wolf who crosses my borders without permission," I ordered.

"Is that all?" I asked, looking between them.

"The pack lands are even more lush than ever, the farmers have reported tremendous growth in the crops. All the men who were sick have recovered now and are back on duty. The families of the two men who we lost have been visited."

I nodded.

"I'll send my condolences to them as well. Thank you, both of you."

Then Silas smirked. "Seems the council was right. Your broken bond destabilized nature. Look how quickly things shifted when..."

My glare shut him up. Silas was a close friend and not just my Beta but wasn't in the mood.

I pushed back from the desk. "If that's all..."

Dante grimaced. "Actually... it's not. We might have a problem."