All Chapters of Alpha’s Deception: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

The pain did not announce itself. Had this been nothing more than betrayal from a childhood friend, I would have told myself it was survivable. What truly broke me was that Lucien crossed the line of friendship, making me believe it was love. That night, he took me to a werewolf bar in neutral territory to celebrate the transfer. The lights were low, the music pulsing, pheromones thick in the air, and for the first time in years, I let myself really look at him—not as the boy I grew up with, but as a man standing close enough to touch. My wolf had awakened, yet the Moon had given me no destined mate. I told myself I didn’t need one, that love could be built, not assigned. So when Lucien kissed me, I asked the question I had been avoiding for years. “Lucien,” I said quietly, my heart racing, “what are we now?” He smiled, warm and indulgent, kissed my forehead like a promise, and answered without answering at all. “What else could we be?” Cheers exploded around us. People celebr

Once I was home, I started going through the things Lucien had given me over the years.The first was the moon-sigil collar chain from my eighteenth birthday—silvered bone and alloy, etched with a small resonance rune meant to respond only to my scent. It wasn’t a mating mark, but everyone knew what it implied. I had worn it to the academy once. Not long after, I saw the same design resting against Olivia Miller’s throat. She noticed me looking and smiled, shy and apologetic. “Lucien said,” she explained softly, “that if someone important to him has something, I should have it too.” Under the bed lay the ceremonial boots he’d chosen for my first full-moon rite, untouched. The night-bloom incense from neutral territory—rare, expensive, meant to steady a wolf’s emotions—was already half gone. I remembered Olivia mentioning how well she’d been sleeping lately. Everything I had once believed was chosen—deliberate, singular—had already been duplicated and handed out at Lucien’s con

After the mate accord between Adrian Northwind and me was formally sealed, my family arranged for me to spend a term in the southern territories under Bloodmoon jurisdiction— a deliberate trial before I formally assumed leadership of the pack. My mother spoke of the future with open satisfaction. “You’ll anchor the inner pack as Luna,” she said, already seeing it as inevitable. “Gabriella and I will manage the outer dominions.” I boarded the plane with that image still lingering, amused despite myself. At the gate, Adrian stopped me. From his palm, he loosened a single charm from the chain at his wrist and pressed it into my hand. It was a Mooncall talisman—a northern symbol carved from moonstone and wolfbone, worn only by bonded wolves separated by distance. When worn close to the skin, it carried the faint echo of the owner’s presence, a reminder rather than a promise. Adrian had always been restrained with me. But even he couldn’t resist letting the quiet chime of the talis

By the time we finished giving our statements to the Alliance Enforcement Tribunal, night had already settled deep into the city. The Tribunal wasn’t a place for humans or police—it was where pack disputes, territorial violations, and bond-related crimes were formally recorded under the Werewolf Alliance’s authority. Wolves in black insignia armor moved with silent efficiency, their presence heavy with dominance. I brought Adrian Northwind back to my residence afterward. When I woke the next morning, the scent wards were calm and perfectly balanced—no disturbances, no residual hostility. Breakfast was already prepared, arranged with instinctive precision rather than domestic habit. Adrian stood at the stone counter, sleeves rolled back, rinsing a blade and plate with the same focus he would give a war council. I paused in the doorway. “This place accepts you,” I said slowly. “The wards didn’t reject your presence.” In our world, that wasn’t a casual observation. It was acknowle