Wolf-less Omega Luna novel Chapter 59

Alana’s POV


I shouldn’t take her word for it. Britney was a goddamn liar, a trickster, and a frigging manipulator. But my pack? My Mom? My mom was dead?

“I don’t believe you,” I said, shaking my head but there was no conviction in either the words or action. “I don’t believe you,” I said again, willing myself to believe it.

“I’m sorry, Alana, but I had to let you know. You’ve been through so much already to continue living a lie for a life,” she said with some emotion lacing her voice.

“No way.” I felt my heart breaking into a million pieces as the seconds went by.  What if she was right? What did Axel know that he didn't tell me? “I don’t believe you,” I said for the umpteenth time in a strangled voice.

“Think about it, Alana,” she put a foot towards me but she stopped in her tracks. “How did Axel so miraculously find you at the border of your pack and bring you back here to be an omega? How did it so magically happen that it was on the same day that your pack was destroyed that he found you? That's because he was the one who destroyed it.”

“Axel didn’t bring me here. His dad did.”

“Axel was with him. They were together that day, Alana, along with Tyler and his dad.”

“That still doesn't mean they did it,” I said in defense.

“I know it for a fact, Alana.” She took a deep breath. “It was. supposed to be a multipack meeting with the top five packs in the continent at that time. MoonDay pack, your real pack,” she emphasized, “was the first one on the list. The most feared and most prosperous. It was supposed to be a meeting to foster togetherness but Axel and his dad had already planned to dethrone their alpha and take your pack for themselves. When they were caught and confronted, Axel and his father, who has always had a way with their words, turned everyone against each other and a fight broke out.”

I couldn't wrap my head around it, and neither could I tell if Britney was lying or telling the truth. All I knew was that my eyes were starting to water and my legs were giving way underneath me that I found it so hard to do as little as stand upright.

“No one knew that Axel and his dad came prepared. They came with explosives and shattered the pack to pieces, killing almost everyone in it, including children.”

The explosions. Oh, goddess. I remembered the explosions clearly as day. They woke me up from nightmares every day for many years after that. Britney couldn't have been making these stories up because they were facts that I remembered. Something else I also remembered was the scar-faced rogue.

“The rogues,” I chortled dryly in realization. “The marauders did it. Not Axel.” 

“You mean Alistair Coldstone?” Her brows snapped together in irritation. “He worked for Axel and Micheal. You didn’t really think they would have attacked them by themselves, did you? It would have caused a scandal and they wanted to cover their tracks. But once that cover was blown, they resorted to bombing the pack to shreds with the guise of defending themselves.”

“If you say the marauders worked for Axel’s dad, how come he's been attacking us till the point where we even lost pack members?”

I was desperately trying to look for a sign to tell me that Axel wasn't what Britney was painting him to be. 

Axel was kind and thoughtful. He had a cold demeanor but that had nothing to do with his character. He knew the essence of a community so he wouldn't destroy someone else's. He wasn't that person.

“Because they turned on the Marauders. Tried to make them take the fall for their plans and so, Alistair lost more than eighty percent of his mates.”

“That's not Axel.”

She stood tall as if she was about to drop the rest of the bombshell. “How do you think Crescent Moon pack became prosperous in such a short amount of time?” She asked with a glint of anger in her eyes.

“Axel. He forged alliances with the other packs and…”

“That's what they told us, Alana, but that's not what it was. They couldn't dethrone the then-Alpha but they succeeded in claiming all their resources. Those within and outside their pack, and the alliances they had with other packs. Everything. What magic could Axel have used to do all this on his own?” She scoffed. The way she looked at me said that I should have known about this and I was an idiot for not knowing.

“Why should I believe you, Britney?”

“You can choose to or not to. You can choose to believe whatever lies Axel has told you or you can choose to believe me. I have no reason to lie or manipulate anyone anymore. I've accepted my position as just a high-ranked wolf who's a badass fighter and can never be Luna because one, Axel already chose you and he won't leave you for me, and two, you're much better at it than I can be.” 

She paused for breath and studied me as if to make sure I was following before she continued. “I'll be leaving the pack soon,” she said.
My head snapped to her but with the lowly lit moon and my tear-filled eyes, I couldn't make out her features completely. “What?”

“I've caused too much damage here already and I cannot live my life fully knowing what I've done to hurt you and other people. I need a fresh start. A clean slate and that's the real reason why I'm doing this.”

She could have easily lied if she wanted to but it seemed like she didn't have a reason to. I had to find Axel. I had to get out of here.

“I have to go,” I dragged my body away from her and towards Axel's office. I needed to find him. 

“Alana,” she called behind me and I slowly turned my head to her. “Have either of them –Axel, Micheal, or Tyler– never looked at you with pitiful eyes for no reason at all?”

I couldn't think. My brain couldn't process anything and the tears just continued to flow, making me a hot pile of shuddering mess.  

If she had lied, some part of it had to be true. And yes, Tyler, Axel's dad, and Axel himself had more than once looked at me with eyes filled with pity as if what I'd gone through before was their fault.

“Mom,” I continued to shudder as I made my way into the building, ignoring everything and everyone in my path.

My life before Axel had been worse than anybody's wildest imaginations and worst nightmares put together. And now I was about to confirm that my life with Axel had been nothing but a lie.

My heart beat erratically in my chest and I couldn't place what scared me more. The information I just found out or the conversation I was about to have with Axel.