Fake Heiress True Luna (Irina) novel Chapter 80

Chapter 4: Derek’s Mate

Derek’s POV

I’m not sure if I should return to Shadow Pack after what happened during Irina’s Luna ceremony, but since Aiden was the one who invited me, I couldn’t refuse.

We weren’t exactly friends, and he still thought I was in love with his Luna, but considering Debbie is like family to him… I can’t avoid seeing Aiden from time to time.

“Why the long face, Alpha?” Kael asked as he helped me carry the last bag.

“Yeah, why the f*****g long face?” Rowan growled. “We can use this chance to convince our mate to accept us.”

I sighed heavily while cracking my neck. “You know why, Kael. I don’t think my mate will be happy to see me there.”

“You won’t know unless we try,” Rowan grumbled.

“You won’t know unless you try again,” Kael voiced what Rowan had just said without even knowing, as he dropped the last bag onto the backseat like it weighed nothing.

Ever since he marked and mated Debbie, he looks full of energy, while my dark bags only grow by the day because I can’t have my mate by my side.

“My mate is not like Debbie, Kael. She is scared of being Luna. Your mate was more than thrilled to become a Beta,” I pointed out.

Kael rolled his eyes. “Alpha, I love my mate, but Debbie is not exactly—”

“I’m not exactly what?” Debbie asked from behind us.

Kael froze mid-sentence.

I bit the inside of my cheek to avoid laughing.

My Beta was never one to stop talking once he started, but it looks like Debbie might be able

to tame him.

Will she be the same with me?

Debbie stood there with her hands on her hips, eyes narrowed, looking like she could kill a man with nothing but the force of her stare.

Kael cleared his throat, straightening so fast he nearly dislocated something. “My love,” he

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4 Derek’s Mate

began, voice cracking, “you’re-uh-you’re perfect.”

Debbie arched a brow. “That wasn’t the end of your sentence.”

Kael looked at me for help.

I shrugged. “Don’t look at me. You dug your own grave.”

“Traitor…” He said through the link.

Debbie shifted her weight, one brow still raised, waiting.

Kael’s pulse spiked so hard I could hear it. He cleared his throat again.

“Debbie, my star, my sunshine-”

“Kael.” Debbie lifted a finger. “Finish. The. Sentence.”

“Now I get why she was the only one who could talk to Aiden,” Rowan wheezed, clearly

enjoying the show of our poor Beta trying to calm his mate down.

Kael glared at me again, but I only lifted my hands, palms up, surrendering.

“You said it, not me,” I reminded him out loud.

Debbie’s gaze sharpened. “Said what?”

Kael panicked.

“I was going to say,” he blurted, “that you’re not exactly… shy!”

Debbie blinked.

Rowan choked. “HE LIVES ANOTHER DAY.”

“Not shy?” Debbie echoed, before chuckling.

Claim

Kael nodded like a bobblehead. “Yes! Exactly! You’re bold, brave, confident, a natural leader, and your presence commands respect and-”

Debbie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “Sure, keep lying to me. You could ask Ethan or even Aiden what happens when they do.”

I snorted, earning myself a glare from my Beta. Debbie just kept chuckling and headed inside, saying how she was going to find her purse before we left.

“I’m not helping you with your mate,” Kael said through gritted teeth.

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s Chapter 4 Desek’s Mate

Claim

“You know your mate and yet you wanted to say something behind her back,” I defended myself. “Besides, I don’t need your help.”

“Sure you don’t,” Kael commented. “Your mate is terrified of you being an Alpha.”

I sighed. “I know, and you know what’s worse? That only makes her perfect. Another girl in her position would have jumped at the opportunity.”

Kael narrowed his eyes. “Only you would say a terrified mate is perfect.”

Rowan huffed. “Because she is. She’s humble. Genuine. Not power-hungry. Sweet, sexy, even in those omega’s clothes, she looked-”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “That’s exactly it. She isn’t pretending. She isn’t trying to impress anyone. She doesn’t want the title, the attention, the benefits-she just… wants to live quietly. And somehow that makes her the one person I trust not to use me.”

Kael’s expression softened in understanding.

Then Rowan growled, low and frustrated. “Doesn’t mean we like that she’s scared of us.”

No.

No, it didn’t. Every time she flinched, every time she avoided my gaze, every time she ran…

It felt like someone buried their claws into my chest and dragged downward.

“But you’re right,” I admitted. “She’s terrified of the idea of being Luna. And after everything that happened there? She thinks she might get attacked, like what happened with Irina. She probably thinks becoming Luna comes with a death sentence.”

Kael exhaled slowly. “Nah, I don’t think that’s the problem.”

I quirked an eyebrow. “Then what do you think the problem is?”

“Wanna hear the truth?”

I rolled my eyes. “I wouldn’t be asking if I didn’t want to hear it.”

Kael nodded. “I think she is scared she might harm your reputation. When people thought you wanted to take Irina as your chosen mate, there were some mean comments and rumors about this pack being a place for scum. Lowly omegas, rogues, and so on. They said that if the Alpha chose a useless omega over a true Luna, he was crazy. And I add ‘but what can you expect? He is a rogue after all.”

f**k.

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& Chapter 4 Derek’s Mate

“And why wasn’t I aware of those rumors?” I questioned, because if I had heard them, I would have stopped them.

Did she hear them? Is that why she is so scared of the Luna position?

“We were kinda busy with the trial, the enigma situation, and the fact that Julie wasn’t Julie and her true name was Arlette,” Kael reminded me.

Kael had a point-a point I hated.

“Well, anyway… imagine hearing your future Alpha mate being dragged through the mud just because of your rank.”

I raked both hands through my hair.

f**k.

My mind started racing, thinking about what I should do to let her know I wouldn’t let anyone make comments about our bond. That I didn’t care if I had to fight every single f*****g wolf

to give her the place she deserved.

In fact, I was ready to resign and give my position to Kael if she asked me to stop being an Alpha, but before I could keep overthinking, I felt a hand clasp my shoulder.

“You have almost a whole day while we drive there to think, don’t start racking your brain now,

” he teased.

I sighed.

He was right, I had a whole trip to gather and organize my thoughts.

Or that’s what I wanted to do, but the moment I arrived at Shadow Pack and I smelled her

cotton candy scent…

Rowan didn’t just stir.

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