第9章
第9章
Grayson’s hand froze on the Pack House door handle when voices drifted through the thick wood.
+25 Bonus
“Manager White just left and our hunting grounds got taken. Think there’s really something fishy going on?”
The voice belonged to Marcus, one of his senior warriors. Grayson’s jaw clenched, but he stayed silent, listening.
“Come on, Marcus. She’s just a vixen trying to seduce the Alpha. What real skills could she have? It’s all coincidence.”
That was Derek, another warrior Grayson had promoted just last month.
His fists started to shake.
“Exactly!” A female voice chimed in-Sarah from the communications team. “Once Stella recovers and comes back, she’ll definitely figure out how to get our hunting grounds back. She’s the pack’s real strategist-what’s Aria compared to that?”
More voices joined in, each one stabbing deeper.
“Aria’s been nothing but trouble since day one. Always acting like she’s better than everyone else.”
“Right? Just because she catches the Alpha’s eye doesn’t mean she’s special. We were doing fine without her!”
“I heard she threw herself at him back in school. Desperate much?”
“And now look-the moment things get tough, she runs away. Some leader.”
They huddled around the fire pit, their voices growing bolder with each insult.
My pack members. The wolves I’d fought beside for twelve years. The ones I’d bled for, planned for, protected.
This was what they really thought of me.
I watched Grayson’s expression through his eyes, feeling his shock transform into something darker. His face went through a series of changes-initial displeasure, then growing anger, then barely contained rage.
His Alpha aura started leaking out, making the air itself feel heavy and dangerous.
So this was how his pack members talked about me behind my back.
No wonder I never smiled when I came home. No wonder I’d grown quieter over the years, more withdrawn.
And I’d never mentioned a single word of this poison to him.
How much had I swallowed in silence? How many nights had I come home carrying the weight of their disrespect?
“You know what I think?” Derek’s voice grew nastier. “I think she’s been feeding information to other packs all along. How else would they know our exact strategies?”
1/3
+25 Bonus
“That would explain everything,” Sarah agreed eagerly. “She probably planned this whole thing. Get close to the Alpha, learn our
secrets, then sell us out.”
“What a scheming bitch,” Marcus spat. “And here we all thought she was just ambitious.”
When the insults reached their crescendo, something inside Grayson finally snapped.
He didn’t just open the door-he exploded through it.
1
The heavy wooden door slammed against the wall with a crash that made everyone jump. His Alpha presence filled the room like
a suffocating wave.
心
“What did you just say?” His voice was deadly quiet, more terrifying than any shout.
The warriors scrambled to their feet, their faces draining of color as they recognized the murderous look in their Alpha’s eyes.
“Alpha, we-” Marcus stammered.
“I won’t allow you to slander Aria like this!” Grayson’s voice rose to a roar that shook the windows. “She’s my mate, the pack’s
Luna. You should respect her!”
Dead silence.
You could hear a pin drop in the massive room.
“Every hunting ground and mineral vein this pack has,” Grayson continued, his voice dropping back to that dangerous whisper,
“she won them. Every strategic victory, every successful hunt, every territory expansion-Aria planned it all.”
His eyes swept the room, meeting each guilty gaze.
“While you were sitting around gossiping like a bunch of old women, she was working eighteen-hour days to build this pack into
something worth belonging to.”
Sarah’s mouth opened and closed soundlessly.
“Even if Aria has left, it’s only temporary,” Grayson snarled. “And if I hear one more piece of gossip about my mate, if I catch even a whisper of disrespect, I’ll banish every single one of you from Blackwater Pack!”
His Alpha command crashed over them like a physical blow. Several of the younger wolves dropped to their knees automatically.
“Is that understood?”
“Yes, Alpha,” came the chorus of terrified voices.
Grayson turned on his heel and stalked out, leaving behind a room full of shell-shocked wolves.
The moment the door slammed shut behind him, the pack members erupted in panicked whispers.
“Aria is the Luna?” Derek’s voice cracked. “Then what the hell is Stella?”
2/3
98
+25 Bonus
“Holy shit,” Sarah breathed. “A secret marriage? This is insane. Wait-the Alpha won’t banish me for all the times I bad- mouthed Aria, will he?”
Marcus had gone completely white. “We’re so screwed. I called the Luna a scheming bitch. To her mate’s face.”
“So Stella’s actually the homewrecker?” another warrior asked in disbelief. “And here she was, an Omega acting all high and mighty in front of us. What a fake!”
“No wonder Aria always looked so miserable. We’ve been treating our Luna like garbage.”
With one revelation, Grayson had completely destroyed Stella’s carefully built reputation.
But he was already halfway across the pack grounds, his mind focused on only one thing.
How Stella felt about her sudden fall from grace-Grayson didn’t care.
His only thought now was finding me.
Getting me back to his side.
The walk home had given him time to think. After a night of drowning in alcohol and regret, clarity had finally broken through his stubborn pride.
He and I weren’t just mates-loving me had become as natural as breathing.
That realization had killed the desperate passion of new love, replaced it with something deeper. Something he’d taken for
granted.
All the mistakes were his. Every single one.
As long as I was willing to return, he’d pay any price to make amends.
3000
+25 Bonus
