Luna's Deadly Deception: How She Made Her Alpha Pay novel Chapter 12

"Yes." Kieran couldn't wait to explain everything to Thea. He had his beta book the flight while he rushed back to their den.

He hadn't dared return home last night. Now, stepping inside, he found it just as the pack keeper had said - all traces of Thea gone.

In their bedroom, he slowly opened the bedside drawer. Her identity crystals and travel runes were missing. Despair crashed over him like a tidal wave as he stared at the empty space.

As he had the servants pack his belongings and print crystal memories of happier times with Thea, Aurora burst in, throwing herself at him.

"What about your pup and me if you go to Norvaria?" She'd learned that crossing into Norvaria would forfeit his wealth to Thea.

After a moment's painful deliberation, Kieran compromised. "I'll stay two months, until the pup is stable. Then I'm going to Norvaria."

His eyes turned deadly cold. "Make sure you deliver this pup safely. Or your entire family will pay the price."

Fear flickered in Aurora's eyes. If Kieran ever discovered the pup wasn't his...

But no. She'd hidden it too well. No one could know.

Meanwhile at the Oslo Airport, Thea spotted her parents waiting. Her mother's eyes filled with tears seeing her once-vibrant daughter so diminished, the light gone from her eyes.

Their precious daughter, raised in luxury, had aged decades in just five years of mating.

"Is everything settled back in the territory?" They'd heard about the scandal - Kieran's betrayal, the ceremony photos with Aurora, the family meetings.

Thea looked at her parents, knowing she couldn't hide anything. "Mom, Dad, I'm sorry."

Her parents were prominent figures in Norwegian wolf society. Their daughter's failed mating would become fodder for gossip.

Her mother wrapped her arms around Thea, stroking her hair. "Don't apologize. Giving your all to a mate-bond is nothing to be ashamed of. The betrayers are the ones who should feel shame."

Her usually stoic father nodded. "A male like Kieran - divorcing him is for the best. Come home to us. Run the family business if you wish, or don't. Our wealth will keep you comfortable for lifetimes."

But the pack members weren't swayed. The scandal of how Kieran had hidden his actions from his Moon-blessed mate while taking ceremony photos with his former love had spread throughout all wolf territories.

His posts quickly gathered thousands of responses, mostly angry howls:

"Your late remorse is more hollow than moonlight."

"Luna Thea, never look back! The Deer Clan stands with you forever!"

"Down with the betrayer! Protect the sanctity of wolf-mate bonds!"

Kieran ignored the responses, steadfastly posting a handwritten letter each day.

Sometimes they were deep self-reflections. Sometimes memories of Thea. Sometimes prayers to the Moon Goddess for Thea's forgiveness.

After a month, some pack members were moved by Kieran's persistence. Elder wolves commented on WolfGram suggesting that perhaps this repentant Alpha deserved another chance...