"What do you mean she's alive?" Alyssa barked, trailing after alpha Zain as he entered his bedroom. She watched him ditch his dark robe, revealing his sculpted body underneath and black pants. It took some effort to tear her eyes off the artwork and focus on stewing. "How can you be so sure? Did you see her?"
He turned to her. His face was a study of annoyance and impatience. "Are you calling me a liar or a dunce? Why would I make such an announcement if I didn't have irrefutable proof of Nyla being alive?"
Now Alyssa panicked. "Isla." She hummed. "The witch can sense her sister again?" The luna paced the shiny tiled floor. "I don't understand how this is possible. Where has she been hiding? We looked everywhere. The council even proclaimed her dead."
"Until proven otherwise, remember?" Zain corrected, ignoring Alyssa's frown. "She's alive, Aly. Get a grip."
He wished to be alone but she wasn't done venting.
"Could you be anymore obvious? You can at least pretend to hide your excitement over the news, alpha."
With a twinge of pain, she recalled the sharp edges of his tone as he blamed the council for forcing him to dump Nyla and marry her instead. Since their mating ceremony, Alyssa had been suffering under the weight of the alpha's emotional detachment towards her. Even their infrequent sex was perfunctory at best. The nights she yearned for him, he kept her away from his room. Then when the full moon shone, he did his duty as her husband. There was no spark in his eyes when he looked at her. When he penetrated her, it was nothing like the bed-breaking sex or heart thumping orgasm as he was rumored to deliver before his ascension as alpha. She had yet to feel any satisfaction from him.
He never moaned. He insisted on one boring position and never even let her take his shaft in her mouth. He deliberately tortured her by keeping her at arms-length.
Zain grabbed a bathing robe. "I need to shower."
"I am your Luna, Zain Priestley. I don't care what history you had with that witch but you're not casting me aside or juggling me with her evil ass when she gets here." Her lips quivered when he turned slowly.
"Jealousy is a terrible look on you, Alyssa."
"As is desperation on you, alpha." She ignored the clench of his jaw and rushed to add. "How do you expect the council and the entire pack to not look down on you when you hastily blame that witch for your predicament and declare her your savior in the same breath? You're an alpha, Zain. You're unique. By design, you can't be handicapped by a curse. Regardless of what life throws your way, you have an innate ability to rise above it. Don't be quick to give Nyla power over you and your abilities." She cupped his chin. "I don't care what the prophesy says about her. She can't tie you down. I believe you can find other solutions to your problem once you stop your reverence of her or hoping for her return. FIX YOURSELF WITHOUT THAT WITCH'S HELP and the entire werewolf community will see how great and unstoppable you are, alpha Zain."
Ted's dying face flashed before Zain's eyes but he blinked it away. He pulled Alyssa's hand away from his face.
She sighed. "You may choose to treat me contemptibly because of the feelings you still nurse for your ex but that won't stop me from fulfilling my role as your luna. I have ears all over the house and even in other packs. No one is impressed by an alpha who looks beyond himself for a savior. I am certain that your ratings will go through the roof if you manage to deal with your problem yourself rather than wait for a conventionally despised were-witch to come save you."
"Watch it, Alyssa." Zain droned.
"Or what? You'll reject me like you rejected her and rekindle your romance with her when she gets here?" She chuckled dryly. "Let me remind you exactly why the council advised on our wedding because your earlier account lacked major details. You didn't do me a favor by my choosing me. Actually, it's the other way around. Nyla was feared all-round the community. She was like a ticking time bomb. If you had chosen her, your entire legacy would have been smothered under the weight of your powerful luna. Plus, the community would detest the fall ridge pack because of her. Her ill-luck would have spread even worse than we have it now. Marrying me was your key to dodging that dreadful future for you and your pack. I SAVED YOU, ZAIN. You might not love me but don't act like I haven't made things much easier for you since you became an alpha."
She flipped her hair to one side and crossed her arms.
"Are you done?"
"For now."
"Great. Now, get out!"
Begrudgingly, she stormed out while he went to have a shower.
"He must be possessed!" She ranted, pacing in her own bedroom. Her aide stood with a bowed head, unsure what to do or say.
"He has to be. There's no other explanation. What exactly does he see in her? I am a sweetheart, a true delight and the first ranked luna in all the community. He's lucky to have me by his side especially with his reputation, so why can't he forget about her?"
"I don't think it's just about beauty, dear luna." Her aide began. "You are the fairest in the entire community. He can see that."
"Then what else could be pulling him towards her? He didn't even give up when she was presumed dead."
"Perhaps like most alphas, he is desperate to leave his legacy on the sands of time. The prophecy regarding the were-witch, alpha Zain might feel he can achieve great things with the witch by his side. That's the major reason most packs desire to have Nyla; she's just a necessary pawn in the game alphas play. They want to use her."
A ghost of a smile seeped into Alyssa's cheeks. At least it wasn't love. She could live with that.
"Has Rodney been released?"
"Yes, Luna."
"Good. I have a task for him." While she contemplated when and where to meet him privately, Isla knocked softly on the door. "Enter." Alyssa said.
"Luna, you asked to see me?"
Alyssa dismissed her aide and rose to give the witch a once-over. She wasn't sure whom she hated more; Nyla, her husband's first love or Isla, the woman who secretly pined for the alpha enough to betray her own sister. Of course, Isla had no clue that the luna knew her secret. Alyssa gave her a condescending look.
"How long have you known that your sister isn't dead?"
Isla sighed. "It's been a little over two weeks, luna. I was in doubt when alpha Zain told me he had seen her in a trance but at his behest, I traced and found her."
"You've met her?" Alyssa asked with gaping eyes. No way. Nyla would obliterate her sister for poisoning her, unless she's got a long revenge plan for her traitors. "What pack is she staying at? Why hasn't she returned here?"
Isla bit her lips. She wasn't prepared for the interrogation and wished she had a special link to Zain to confirm how much she was supposed to tell his luna.
"Don't think of lying to me, Isla. No one will be able to save you from my wrath, you know that."
Isla concluded that she might as well share some truth.
"She's not staying within the werewolf community, luna. She's currently living in Sandgate city with some humans."
"WHAT?" Though it was a staple for Nyla to take risks to prove she was better than everyone else of her kind, Alyssa felt this was very foolish of Nyla to do. "Is she nuts? She's living with humans in a city that hunts and kills her kind? That's ridiculously stupid even for a werewolf with magical powers." Alyssa sank down on her bed and shook her head, failing to imagine what could have prompted Nyla to do such a thing. Her eyes fell on Isla once more.
"How did she react when you found her? What did she say?"
Isla tightened her fist. There was no way she could lie about this part but at the same time, alpha Zain would be mad if anyone else got to know the truth about Nyla, especially his jealous and insecure luna. Isla bit her lower lip and shifted uncomfortably.
"Well…"
"Shhhh." Alyssa hushed her to focus on the unfamiliar voice she could hear downstairs. Isla's ears also pricked. A stranger had just stopped by the house. He wasn't just any stranger; he was the one alpha that Zain hated to be in the same room with. Alyssa's aide appeared by the door.
"Luna, Alpha Ryan of the Silver Moon pack is here."
Alyssa surged to her feet. "What could have made alpha Ryan risk Zain's temper by coming to their pack house?"