When My Alpha Let His Mistress Rule Our Pack

The heavy oak doors of the Council Room didn't just open; they surrendered to my push. A Luna doesn't knock when entering a room effectively paid for by her father's money.

The five Elders seated around the mahogany table jumped, their coffee sloshing over the rims of their mugs. I didn't give them time to recover. I marched to the head of the table and slammed a thick, leather-bound ledger onto the polished wood. The sound echoed like a gunshot.

"This," I said, my voice steady and cold, "is a record of every cent the Moonstone Pack has poured into Obsidian infrastructure over the last two years. Two million dollars for the new training facility. Five hundred thousand for the perimeter sensors."

Elder Marcus, a gray-haired wolf with a permanent scowl, adjusted his glasses. "Luna Daleyza, is this dramatic entrance necessary? We are in session."

"Alpha Bradley has failed to mark his mate after three years," I interrupted, my eyes sweeping the room, daring any of them to look away. "He allows an Omega to publicly disrespect the hierarchy and undermine the Luna rank. I am formally demanding a Review of Competency for Alpha Bradley Stone."

The silence was deafening. A Review of Competency was the first step in stripping an Alpha of his title. It hadn't been done in a century.

Before Marcus could respond, the doors banged open behind me. Bradley stumbled in, his shirt half-tucked and his hair a mess. The cloying, sugary scent of artificial vanilla—Kelly’s signature perfume—wafted off him, choking the air in the room. He smelled like he had been rolling in it.

"Daleyza, stop," he panted, running a hand through his hair. He looked at the Elders, flashing a charming, boyish grin that didn't reach his panicked eyes. "Gentlemen, ignore her. She's just... jealous. You know how females get. It's an emotional thing."

My blood ran cold. He was dismissing a political crisis as female hysteria. I didn't argue. I didn't scream. I simply looked at him with the detachment of a stranger, turned on my heel, and walked out.

I needed to breathe. My feet carried me automatically toward the pack nursery. It used to be my sanctuary, a place where I would watch the pups and dream about the family Bradley and I would never have.

But the sanctuary was defiled.

Kelly was there, sitting cross-legged on the soft rug. She was holding a golden retriever puppy, cooing at it while it licked her face. She looked up as I entered, her eyes gleaming with malice disguised as sweetness.

"Oh, look, Daleyza!" she squealed, lifting the puppy up. "Brad bought him for me this morning. To cheer me up after you were so mean to me last night."

She buried her nose in the puppy's fur. "We named him Buttercup."

The world tilted on its axis. My breath hitched in my throat, a sharp, physical pain stabbing my chest.

*Buttercup.*

It wasn't just a name. It was the whisper in the dark. It was the secret, intimate endearment Bradley had used for my wolf, Selene, during the few tender moments we had shared right after the bond snapped into place. It was ours. It was the only piece of him I had left.

And he had given it to a dog for his mistress.

That was it. The final thread of hope, the last desperate cling to the mate bond, snapped. Selene didn't howl this time. She just went silent, curling into a ball of ice in my chest.

I turned and left without a word. There was nothing left to say.

Thirty minutes later, I was in the guest wing, throwing silk blouses into a suitcase. The door creaked open, and Bradley stepped in. He held a black velvet box, looking like a kicked puppy himself. Guilt was written all over his features, but it was weak, spineless guilt.

"Daly," he started, using a nickname that now made my skin crawl. "I know you're upset about the meeting. And... everything. Look. My grandmother's moonstone amulet. It's rare. Ancient. I want you to have it."

He opened the box. Inside lay a pendant that glowed with a pale, ghostly light, swirling with magic.

I took the box. The stone was cold, heavy in my palm.

"You think this fixes us?" I asked softly, staring at the gem.

"It shows I care," he said, stepping closer, his eyes hopeful. "It shows you're my Luna."

I looked up at him, my face void of emotion. "This doesn't buy forgiveness, Bradley. Consider this payment."

He frowned. "Payment?"

"It buys Kelly the right to your bed tonight," I said, snapping the box shut. "Because I will not be in it."

I brushed past him, leaving him standing there with his mouth open, the silence of the room swallowing his excuses.

An hour later, the roar of jet engines shook the windows of the pack house. I stood on the edge of the private airstrip, the wind whipping my hair across my face. Bradley stood a few feet away, wringing his hands, looking nervous.

A sleek black jet taxied to a halt. The insignia of the Northern Aurora Pack—a wolf silhouetted against the emerald lights—gleamed on the tail.

The ramp lowered, and six guards marched out. They weren't just soldiers; they were elite warriors, clad in tactical gear, their movements synchronized and lethal. They fanned out, securing the perimeter with a professionalism that made Bradley's guards look like amateurs.

Then, Finn emerged.

The air pressure on the tarmac dropped instantly. If my aura was a wave, Finn’s was a tsunami. It rolled over the airstrip, dark and freezing and absolute. It was the aura of a wolf who had conquered the brutal North. Bradley actually took a step back, his knees trembling as his own aura flickered and died in the presence of a true Alpha.

Finn didn't even look at Bradley. He walked straight to me, his long coat billowing behind him. His eyes were dark pools of rage and relief. He stopped inches from me, took my hand, and bowed low, pressing a lingering kiss to my knuckles.

"Daleyza," he rumbled, the sound vibrating through the soles of my feet.

"Finn," I breathed, the knot in my chest loosening for the first time in years.

Bradley bristled, jealousy finally overriding his fear. "What is the meaning of this intrusion? You can't just land here with an army, Alpha Finn."

Finn slowly straightened, towering over my mate. He adjusted his cufflinks, his expression bored, as if Bradley were a buzzing fly.

"I am here to audit the alliance," Finn said, his voice smooth and hard like grinding stones. He looked at Bradley, and for a second, I saw the beast behind his eyes. "And to determine if the Obsidian Pack is still worth my time."