Alpha Leon sat in the Grand Hall of his estate in silence. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees with a guilt ridden expression on his face. Selene stood by the window gazing at the clouds forming in the night sky.
He looked at the contract on the table in front of him wondering how he let it get so bad. What could he have done differently? Would he have been happier if he had taken his chances back then and followed his heart?
"You know what you have to do," Selene murmured. "Her continuous stay here is a distraction for you. You say you don't love her anymore but I beg to differ. I see how it hurts you when she suffers." Selene's voice was cool and composed but the hint of jealousy could not be masked.
Leon exhaled. "I feel nothing for her but offering her to Raventhorn to keep him off our land for only a couple of years is beyond inhumane. The man killed her father." He was supposed to be her alpha for God's sakes. Her father had sacrificed himself to keep his family and pack safe and now he was contemplating sending his daughter into the lion's den.
"but Ava doesn't know that, does she? If you don't offer something valuable, Raventhorn will come for us." Selene continued to drive the knife home, making her plan look like the only way out when in actuality, all she wanted was to get rid of Ava.
"I married you for the protection that comes with your father's pack. How much more of my people will I sacrifice to Raventhorn before your father holds his end of the bargain." He was beginning to think he had been scammed.
"As long as Ava is still in this pack, your end of the bargain is incomplete. As far as I do not have a child yet, your end of the bargain remains unfinished." She spat out.
"What makes you think Raventhorn would want her? She is wolfless and weak." Leon asked.
"Because he doesn't want a wife, he wants a concubine. A former fated mate of an alpha, he will be begging you for her." Selene explained, her lips curling in a smile.
"and Ava has no say in this?" He was of the opinion that maybe if the situation was explained to Ava in details, she would choose to keep her people safe too.
Selene moved closer to Leon. "You need to stop caring. She was never fit to be your luna." Yeah, he had heard that a million and one time, it was beginning to make his ears ache and truthfully, he was beginning to believe it also.
"She is still a part of my pack." Leon shouted back at her which infuriated her.
"No! I will not breathe the same air as that woman any longer than I have already suffered. You will head down there tomorrow and make it clear that this is not a choice, it is her alpha's order."
"Hasn't she suffered enough? You have turned your lap do,g Sharon into Ava's personal tormentor. You make her stand at the entrance of our room listening to us have sex. You make her do the job of ten omegas. She has no wolf! Selene! How long do you think she can survive this cruelty?"
"As long as I deem fit. Remember, I didn't ask for this marriage. You did. So don't sit there and make me look like the villain in this story. I am not the villain, you are."
Leon looked at the human shackle he called a wife and Luna. To protect his pack, he had stepped into a prison. A marital prison. He abandoned his mate and subjected her to unimaginable pain.
*****
Ava was in her tiny room, sitted on the cold floor still recovering from the beating her body took the previous day.
She heard footsteps coming down the hallway before her door creaked open. She looked up to see Leon.
Oh what fresh hell is this?
The man who once swore to protect her was now the man who walked all over her, shattering her dreams and her heart. He had once been her beacon of light in the dark, the one that held her hand when her life looked bleak.
"You're being sent away." his gaze avoided hers.
Ava blinked, her body stiffening. "What?"
"You will be Alpha Raventhorn's concubine." He kept his eyes to the ground, anywhere but in her face.
"No." she whispered, her heart stopping. A forced mating to Raventhorn.
The most brutal alpha to ever grace the face of the earth. He was a monster. Leon knew this and he was still going to offer her up to the devil's incarnate.
"You... You can't do this." her voice cracked in her throat.
"It's already done." he said and turned on his heels to leave.
"Why?! Why are you doing this to me?" she needed to know if he hated her that much. Luna Selene's reason for hating her, she could get behind. But Leon, she would never understand. How can you claim to love someone one second and turn back to look on that same person disdainfully? The same lips that promised forever through kisses now spat hurtful words in her face.
"Because you have no place here." He responded harshly still with his back to her. Why couldn't he look her in the eye and tell her he wanted to get rid of her so badly, he would give her to Raventhorn to defile.
Ava gave a broken smile. "When the moon goddess chose me as your mate, I thought I must have done something good in a past life. You were the most amazing man I know. Not just as an alpha but as a person. I loved you. I could never hurt you. Why would you choose to constantly hurt me like this? "
" The moon goddess chose you but I chose someone else. I am not hurting you. I am only trying to make you stronger." He began to move towards the exit once more." Raventhorn will be here in a few days. Pack your things and find a way to look less pitiable.." then he was gone leaving Ava dreading the future.