Alle Kapitel von Alpha Chose Another Luna, I Left: Kapitel 1 – Kapitel 10

My warrior shifted back at the pack house steps and carried me straight into the Grand Hall. Ronan was standing at the ceremonial altar with Charlotte, their hands joined under the Moon Goddess's blessing.Charlotte saw the bloody figure my men dragged in and screamed.Ronan shoved her behind his back, growling fiercely at the guards. "What is going on? This is my Mating Ceremony. How could you let a rogue wolf barge in?""Get them out. Lock them up."I'd taken a dozen silver blades from rogues and never cried.But looking at Ronan standing there in his black ceremonial suit, tears just rolled down my face.My warrior dropped to his knees and begged. "Alpha, please. Gamma Ashford is dying. We wouldn't have broken in like this if there'd been any other way.""Punish me however you want. Just save her."Ronan went still. "Nora?"He let go of Charlotte and came toward me fast.When he got close enough to see my face through the blood, his whole body locked up."Get the healer. Now." He sc

Ronan wouldn't let me end it. He doubled down.He missed three morning council meetings in a row to bring me my medicine. He went down to the pack house kitchen himself and learned how to make plain broth.When he saw the color coming back into my face, he couldn't hide the smile in his eyes."Charlotte feels terrible about the other night. She wants to throw a small party in the gardens and apologize to you in person."I shook my head. "Tell her no."Ronan tightened his hand on mine. "You used to call me Ronan, not 'the Alpha.' Are you angry I didn't believe you, or angry I lied to you?""Nora, I never forgot what we promised each other. Elder Whitmore's dying — he got fatal injury when he helped me to get the Alpha position. He's terrified Charlotte will be alone when he's gone. He asked me to take her in. I couldn't say no.""I'm not taking Charlotte over you. I promise you that. When you're healed, I'll still mark you. You'll stay with me. You'll have everything she has. I'll love

Ronan lifted a hand. Charlotte walked in holding a thick folder."Ronan, I've spent the last few weeks looking into why the Northern Border unit lost so many warriors these past three years.""Someone came forward and reported Gamma Ashford. She took pack war funds. She sold pack weapons on the black market. Here's the evidence.""A woman who steals from the pack cannot stand beside you."Behind her, a figure dropped to his knees.It was the warrior who'd shifted and carried me back into the capital that night.He wouldn't look at me. His voice shook. "Alpha, everything the Luna is saying is true. Gamma Ashford was skimming pack funds in the field.""The men didn't have enough food. They didn't have winter gear. Our armor and our weapons were falling apart."I dug my nails into my palms to keep my face still.At the border, I had one winter coat and I gave it to a wounded warrior.Any time we were short on food, I told my men I'd already eaten so they could have more.Every engagement,

When Ronan's guard announced him, Charlotte was already in bed.She pushed herself up, fixed her makeup, combed her hair into something perfect, and came out to meet him.Ever since Nora died, Ronan had been gone. Not really in the pack house anymore.He refused every time she tried to touch him. He hadn't asked a single question about the pup she kept insisting she was carrying.She was panicking. And there was nothing she could do about it.Tonight he'd come to her wing. She was going to do whatever it took to keep him here."Ronan," she said, soft and sweet.Before she finished the word, Ronan's hand came up and hit her across the face.Charlotte went down hard. She started crying, every note performed. "Ronan. What did I do. Why are you doing this to me?"Ronan threw a file on the floor in front of her. His face could cut."You accused Nora of stealing your necklace. You staged the fall into the pool. You paid a warrior in her unit to give false testimony and destroy her name. You

It was Ronan.A few months, and the Alpha authority had drained out of him.His face was drawn. The skin under his eyes was dark.He'd lost weight. There was nothing left of the man who used to stand at the head of a room.When his eyes found me, his whole body locked.He stepped forward, almost stumbled, and his voice came out shaking."Is it really you. Nora. You're not dead. You —"He lifted a hand toward my face.I stepped back without a reaction. Cold, distant. "Alpha Creed. You forget yourself."His hand stopped in midair. Something dark flooded his eyes.He opened his mouth to say something, and the door announced Alpha Marcus Drake's arrival.Ronan had to swallow it. He went back to his seat.All the way through the talks, Ronan's eyes kept landing on me. Raw. Begging.I kept my face turned to Kieran. I went over terms with him. I didn't give Ronan a single look.When Alpha Marcus Drake laid out the conditions, his voice was flat."Creed cedes three border territories. Creed pa