Fake Heiress True Luna (Irina) novel Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Like Father Like Daughter

Irina’s POV

Four months later…

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I’ve gotten used to the distance pains. They are like a dull ache that spreads from my chest to the rest of my body, a constant, humming reminder of a bond stretched taut across the miles. It’s my new normal. Theia has settled into a sort of resigned hibernation, a quiet, aching presence in the back of my mind.

We don’t talk about him. We don’t talk about much at all.

Life in Blue Moon has settled into a grim, predictable pattern. I am Julie’s shadow, her servant, her whipping post. But the dynamic has shifted. The fear is gone, replaced by a cold, calculating patience. I endure her petty torments not because I have to, but because I am choosing to. For now.

I kept my word and started recording everything I did along with how much it would cost. I’m working like a mule to make sure I pay my debt off as soon as possible.

Of course, I still have to watch my back because Julie keeps trying to antagonize me.

She wants to make all the wolves in the pack hate me. When I have to fight, I do, but most of the time I simply add her earrings or misplaced things to the tab.

One afternoon, I was in the library dusting the high shelves-a task I enjoyed for its solitude- when I overhead Alpha Richard and Serim speak.

“We need to find a suitable Alpha for Julie. Four months have passed, and she hasn’t found her mate yet,” Alpha Richard was the first to speak.

“Father, she is still young. Julie is only eighteen; she still has a couple of years until we start thinking of a chosen mate,” Serim countered.

Alpha Richard sighed. “I know she is young, but she has met almost all the unmated Alphas and Betas from different packs, and she isn’t mated to any of them.”

“Perhaps her mate lives in another country. I still haven’t found mine,” Serim pointed out. “I’m twenty-one, Aiden is twenty-five.”

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<Chapter 22: Like Father Like Daughter

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“But you are men,” Alpha Richard countered, his voice heavy with a frustration I knew all too well. “Son, it is not the same for a female Alpha heir. Her value, her ability to secure the pack’s future through a strong mating alliance… it diminishes with every passing moon if her true mate isn’t found. The other Alphas… they see her unmated status as a weakness. They see our pack as weak. The fact that she hasn’t found her mate only means one thing: he must not be a high-ranking wolf.”

I froze, the dust cloth still in my hand. I hope Richard doesn’t suggest the same thing that Elder did. Aiden’s statement was final, but with enough pressure…

“What are you suggesting, Father?”

“I’m suggesting we stop waiting for the Moon Goddess and start making our own fate,” Richard said, his tone grim. “We need to actively pursue a chosen mate for her. A strong Alpha from a solid pack. Shadow Pack is a good candidate now that you brought Aiden’s name up.”

My blood ran cold.

“No! He is our mate!” Theia whimpered.

“He didn’t accept us; he can do whatever he wants,” I snapped back, trying to ignore the pain that settled in my chest when I imagined them together.

“Father, no,” Serim said, a note of genuine protest in his voice. “I told you what happened during the Alpha Gathering; even the following meeting was postponed.”

“I know,” Alpha Richard grunted. “But he is the best option we have. His pack is strong, he hasn’t found his mate in years, and if we put enough pressure-”

“He is going to snap and was already rude to Julie. We still have to wait for the next gathering to see how we stand with Shadow Pack.”

I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. Aiden is never going to agree. The thought was a cold comfort, a tiny shield against the wave of possessive fury that had threatened to drown

me at the mere suggestion.

“It would be stupid for him to turn into our enemy. He is strong, but our packs aren’t close by. Unless he has another reason to keep us close, we are not a priority,” Alpha Richard mused, his voice laced with a calculating edge that made my skin crawl.

Another reason.

It was for the best that they didn’t know about my bond with Aiden.

“He still hates Irina, if that is what you are implying, father,” Serim said, his voice firm, final.

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< Chapter 22: Like Father Like Daughter

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Whatever momentary… curiosity he showed at the Gathering was just that. A moment. It’s over. Pushing that angle will only insult him and guarantee his hostility.”

Alpha Richard was silent for a long moment. I could almost hear the wheels turning in his head, the desperate calculations of a leader watching his options vanish. “Perhaps you’re right,” he finally conceded, the fight draining from his voice, replaced by weary resignation.” Very well. I thought we could take that nuisance away from us. She would have served as a good mistress until Aiden and Julie became chosen mates.”

My world tilted. I wanted to puke.

”

I knew he hated me because he thought I had used all the resources meant for her daughter, but he still saw me grow up. How can he consider using me as a mistress?

“That’s not going to happen. I consider that an insult to my sister. Irina stole her place, and now you want them to share a man?” Serim’s voice was filled with disgust, like he couldn’t believe the idea Alpha Richard had just considered.

To be honest, I couldn’t understand his reasoning either. He was not the man who had raised me. I couldn’t recognize him anymore.

“You are right about that, Serim.” Alpha Richard’s voice turned deadly, his aura started slipping, making my head spin even from the other side of the door. The pressure was immense, a suffocating weight that pressed down on my skull. “It is an insult. To Julie. To our bloodline. To think that… that creature could ever be worthy of even a moment of an Alpha’s attention, even as a mistress, is a stain on my judgment.”

His words were like shards of glass, each one carving away another piece of the girl who had once called him ‘Father’.

“Then it’s settled,” Serim said. “We will wait until Julie finds her mate. If she doesn’t in a couple of years, I’ll make sure she is settled with a nice man.”

“I knew I could count on you, son. Now I’m sure I should give the title to you, why don’t…”

Their conversation hushed as they walked away. After hearing that, all I could feel was repulsion, and my desire to leave this pack became even greater.

I took all my cleaning appliances and moved to the next room, not before I tracked on my note pad.

my work

I opened the study door and walked out when I tripped and fell face-first on the floor. The cleaning supplies clattered around me, a noisy, undignified announcement of my presence. Pain shot through my knees and palms as they scraped against the hard wood.

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<Chapter 22: Like Father Like Daughter

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