Wolf-less Omega Luna novel Chapter 67

Axel’s POV


“Why are you showing this to me?” I asked Derek, bored to my core of the show he was putting up. He might as well have been classy with it.

All he did was pull up a picture of what used to be of MoonDay pack while we stood on a rock that oversaw the rest of the pack. There was a stark difference, but that was his doing.

“Your handiwork. And that of your father.”

“After all these years, Derek, you don’t think it’s time you took the blame for what you actually did to your pack?”

“It was you.”

His cowardice pricked my skin so much, I would have preferred to be pushed down the rock than to stand beside Derek and listen to his bullshit. “Well, at least you got what you wanted in the end.”

“Yeah? And what might that be?”

“Your father. Dead. You just couldn’t wait for your turn to be Alpha. It itched you so much that my father was stepping down for me and yours wasn’t, so you took matters into your own hands. Called on your puppet and his minions to attack the multipack meeting and when they flopped, you tried to pin the blame on us. If you weren’t going to get your father's throne, you might as well take out the Alpha of Crescent Moon pack and make do with our pack.”

His eyes shot up to his hairline in anger. “You forget you’re in my pack, Axel, and I have you in chains with your so-called bride, one which you stole from my pack, in a cell somewhere.” He inhaled sharply, lips vibrating, nostrils flaring. “I can get rid of you all with as little as a flick of my finger.”

“You can’t deny the fact that I’m right, Derek. You were the selfish one. We were very content with what we had. But you, not so much. Your actions were what led to the altercation. You brought Marauders into your own pack. What were you expecting? That they’d chorus a song for you?”

“You ruined my plans.”

He finally admitted to it.

“You’re an Alpha now. Your “plans” are not so ruined anymore.”

“Look at my pack,” he snapped. “Is this something to be proud of?”

“Crescent Moon pack was once nothing. I took it upon myself to change that. If you so wanted, you could have done something for your pack. But no. You wanted something you didn’t work for. Like you wanted your father's throne. Like you wanted my pack. My. Pack.”

Derek wanting the pack I worked so hard to build, protect, and cater for, drove me to the edge. I was now getting pissed off and my words were being replaced with snarls. I was quick enough to see fear expand Derek’s pupils and disappear as fast as it came.

“Be careful how you act. Do you not value your bride?”

I did. And that was why I was keeping up with Derek. “What do you want now?” I wore a mask over my anger. I needed to get this over with.

“You will denounce your position as Alpha and transfer your pack to me. I do not need to make threats of what will happen if you don’t agree or you do otherwise. Your mate is halfway gone already and the ball is now in your court.”

I could feel it. Alana was still there but her heartbeat was weak. She needed food. Water. Warmth. And it was my duty to get her out of it. I put her there.

“Fine.”

A sinister smile crept up his chin. “I didn’t expect it to go any other way.” His expression changed. “I see this as a win-win for both of us, Axel. You get your mate back, I get what you took from me years ago.” He really did think he was doing me a favor.

“You’ll be crazy to think you’d get away with this.”

“I think I will. I have planned for this for as long as I can remember.”

“You could’ve asked for help.”

“And forever be indebted to you? No. I’d rather take my chances.”

I was going to crush him. Hard, fast, and true. But first, I needed to get Alana to safety. And my pack too.

The distance between Crescent Moon pack and here was too much. I couldn’t reach Tyler but he knew what to do. I was already gone for two days without communication. Plans were already underway to get the pack to safety.

“You know the rules, Axel.”

“I do.”

“We leave for my new pack at midnight.” Pride evident in his tone. “You will denounce your position and transfer it to me. On Crescent Moon soil.”

“I know how it works, Derek,” I snarled at him.

“Hey,” he lifted his hands to show surrender. “I just want to make sure we’re on the same page.”

“Release Alana first.” If he thought he was going to keep her and use her as leverage over me for the third time, he was very wrong. “It’s either that or nothing.”

He thought for a minute. “She’s having quite a time with her father. Do you think she’ll want to go back at all? I mean, this is her pack after all.”

I initially did not want to take any chances with Jake since he had been around Derek long enough for him to have his mind poisoned, but the Alana I knew would not hear about it if I suggested she left  MoonDay pack without her father. Not after being away from him for so long.

“He comes too.”

“What makes you think I’ll let him go so easily?”

“You can’t ask for anything else. You’ve taken it all already. Let them go.”

Silence.

“Only out of the good graces of my heart.”

Indeed. “They leave immediately.”

“They leave an hour before we do. Nothing more or less.”

“Fine. But I promise you, Derek, you are not getting away with this.”

“We’ll see about that.”

“We’ll see,” I confirmed.

“As much as I’d love to continue this lovely conversation between old-time friends, I have some finishing touches to put in place. I’ll come back for you when it’s time. For now, you go back to your place. Beneath me.”

A growl escaped my throat. My wolf was itching for the surface. For control. Just a few more hours, Four. Derek was going to feel our wrath. Uncaged.