Alpha’s Betrayal
Chapter 11

Luna

Stable, Claw Mansion Woodward County, Oklahoma

Time seemed to crawl by before suddenly accelerating in a blink. I had no idea how long I had been chained up in Marnet's barn. If I had been in my right mind, I might have been disturbed by the fact that he had something to bind a person easily accessible. His brutes didn't even have to look around for it. Marnet ordered them to bring me here, and they did just that, one of them grabbing the chain off the wall as they dragged me inside without a second thought.

I had struggled enough that the links were starting to wear against my bare arms; I was certain there were bruises on my skin by now. My wolf remained despondent, even if some of my shock had given way to an anger I'd never felt before, not even towards my father or Lynn. I twitched involuntarily and whimpered as my ribs got jostled again. The adrenaline was started to wane. I knew as soon as that happened, it would be a struggle to even peel myself off the floor.

I was exhausted. Shifting twice in less than twenty minutes was absurd. I knew it wasn't a good idea, but I hadn't been able to control my wolf - or myself, for that matter. That wasn't accounting for the emotional roller coaster I'd been on all day, nor... Fvck.

I didn't want to think about what had unfolded between myself and Marnet. Sure, after our initial confrontation in the barn earlier today, I'd been concerned. But at most, I'd just thought he was getting cold feet about solidifying our relationship. As far as I could tell, some men were just like that. I hadn't imagined he might be seeing another woman, much less leave me for her.

The flame of my anger sputtered, threatened by a well of sadness bubbling up from somewhere deep inside my core. How dare he, I thought miserably, as I slumped back down. My legs were so tired. I was so tired. I wanted nothing more than for this day to be over. Even thinking was starting to feel difficult. Closing my eyes, I rested my head against the beam, trying to steady my breath before the little catches turned into shudders, and those shudders turned into sobs.

I grappled for anything to distract myself. My mother's favorite song sprang to mind - it was a Christmas song, but she sang it all through the year to me, especially when I was a little girl. The time was so absurd, I couldn't help my shaky laugh, and I began to sing the tune in my head. If I focused enough, I could even hear it sung in my mother's soft, sweet tone.

Down in the South at Christmas time,

Christmas time, Christmas time - there's

Silent night by candlelight.

The stars shine bright, such a perfect night-

A rattling sound caught my attention. I dragged myself out of the almost dreamlike state. My wolf remained curled in on herself, barely even acknowledging that someone else was trying to get into the barn. My heart lurched into my throat; without her with me, I felt half-blind and far more than half-unbalanced. Are the guards back already? I pulled my legs back to my body.

The woman who marched in a moment later made my heart drop straight to the barn floor. Sophia. She wasn't alone. She brought a small posse of women I only vaguely recognized, most of them having graduated high school before I did. I shrank back. I had no interest in interacting with that harpy even on a normal day, much less when I felt like I'd gone through an emotional meat grinder.

"There she is," Sophia sneered with one hand on her hip. I stared straight forward, lest I make a smart remark and induce any more spite than I could already feel radiating off her. "Marnet should have finished you off then and there. Honestly, who do you even think you are?"

I'm beginning to wonder that myself, I thought dryly. Perhaps if I had known myself a bit better, I wouldn't have found myself in this situation. Even now, chains tight around my middle and my shoulders screaming from my arms being twisted for so long, some part of my mind thought this was too surreal to be true. That this was just a stress-induced nightmare the evening before the Moonmate ceremony. I might wake up in a cold sweat, but I would wake up, and none of this would be real.

When I didn't answer, Sophia stalked over and grabbed me by my chin. On any other day, I would've expected my wolf to react, but she didn't so much as stir. I didn't either. Lynn had never really beaten me, but she'd never been shy about making her displeasure known. When I was younger, I often wouldn't look at her in the eye, especially when she was angry with me. The first few times she grabbed me by the arm or the chin, I remembered squirming or writhing wildly - that only led to me being put over her knee and paddled with the wooden spoon.

I learned quickly not to move. Being quiet and 'respectful' usually made Lynn's tempers pass much more quickly than anything else. Unfortunately, Sophia didn't appear to feel the same way. When I didn't so much as blink, she tightened her grip, manicured nails digging into my skin as she gave me a little shake. "What are you, deaf as well as dumb?" she spat, her l!p curled back. "Answer me!"

"Not deaf." I tried not to wince. My mouth still smarted from Marnet's earlier treatment.

Sophia snorted. "Just stupid, then." She stood back up so she could look down her nose properly at me. "You really thought Marnet was your mate, didn't you? I almost feel bad for you. It must be hard, being that dumb."

One of the girls behind her cackled. "Yeah! You, an alpha's mate? In what world!"

I couldn't help myself. My tongue flashed over my lips, wetting them. "You would know, Sophia. Remind me, who gave the salutatorian speech when we graduated?" I paused long enough to peer up through my lashes, watching the brief flash of horror twist her pretty features. "Oh, yeah, that's right. It wasn't you."

It was me.I had worked so hard to maintain that average - Sophia had spent the second half of our senior year celebrating. Admittedly, maybe I would have done the same, if I had friends who were the partying type. I'd only spoken to a handful of the other students, and all of them would have preferred to spend a Saturday curled up at the library rather than drinking around a bonfire.

I knew where my dad kept the liquor in the house, though. Lynn wasn't particularly careful about hiding it. If I'd really wanted to, I could have joined the party - probably made a few friends, even. But I didn't. What I wanted was to give that speech and be noticed. I got half of my wish, anyways.

"Sophia, are you just going to take that?" a member of the peanut gallery whispered, breaking my reverie.

The woman's face morphed back into the icy anger I was familiar with. She leaned forward and struck me with her open palm. The slap of skin echoed in the barn and I inhaled sharply as a fresh blossom of pain bloomed in my jaw. "Ungrateful b!tch," she snarled. "You know, my father didn't even have to accept you in this pack. You weren't born in Lupus Claw. You were just your dad's sh!tty mistake. My dad could have just denied his request to take you in!"

I very carefully did not roll my eyes. Instead, I ran my tongue over my lower l!p, tasting the fresh burst of copper. Sophia must have reopened my split l!p.

When I didn't say anything, she stomped her heeled foot, then kicked my ankle. I couldn't hold in my yelp; I tried to squirm away, resentful I had finally given the woman the reaction she was seeking. "You ought to apologize!"

It couldn't recognize that Sophia was still trying to get a reaction out of me. She reached forward and boxed my ears. The whole world went muffled. I could see Sophia's mouth moving, but her words were so far away, it was like she was speaking in French. I wish Noah Claw hadn't agreed, I thought desperately, closing my burning eyes. I couldn't hold back the onslaught any longer. Fat tears spilled over my lashes and down my cheeks, streaking through the dust and grime. I wish I never joined this pack - no, I wish I never had to join this pack. My chin trembled as my mother's song came back to mind unbidden and it was all I could do not to sob openly. How different would it be if I had mated parents instead of a single mother? Where would I be now if my mother hadn't passed so young?

Mom, I thought desperately, trying to picture her. It was hard to draw up her image, and my struggle only led to more despair. A soft whine shivered up my throat.

There wasn't anything I wouldn't give to have her back - I'd give up my left eye. No, I'd give up my sight, or my hearing, anything as long as I had my mother back. The hole where my heart was supposed to be throbbed and ached as if she had died only yesterday, not when I was twelve years old. If anyone would know what to do, I thought miserably, it would be you. Oh, Mom. I miss you so much. I just wanted to make you proud...

The ringing in my ears was starting to settle and I could hear something Sophia was yelling. No...not just Sophia. There were several voices, and they were just going up, and up, and up. It took me a few seconds longer to realize they weren't yelling at me. Confused, I slowly pried my eyes back open, vision still blurry from the uninvited tears. I couldn't even move my hands to wipe my face, but it didn't seem like the gaggle of girls was surrounding me anymore.

For a moment, I was tempted to simply close my eyes and pretend I hadn't noticed, to drift back into the quiet place Sophia's strikes to my ears had allowed. Maybe if I just thought of my mother and her song... The happier memories sang to me like a siren, but I knew that song would only lead me to jagged rocks and I would be dashed upon them. It was only a memory. Mom was gone, buried in the Riverside Cemetery.

When I blinked my eyes back open, my vision was starting to clear. Sophia and her friends were in the far corner of the barn, and there was - there was a man, yet another wolf I didn't recognize. They weren't yelling insults at him. A shiver raced down my spine. They were scared. Realization struck me like a cold splash of water, revitalizing some sense of urgency.

Was that a gun?My nostrils flared as I clamped down a gasp. The last thing I wanted was to attract the stranger's attention. Sophia might be weaker than this man, but I was a fish in a barrel. I tried to pull my legs even closer to my torso, sinking toward to the hay littering the stable floor. Why the hell does that man have a gun? Violence is forbidden at a Moonmate ceremony! Though Marnet had proven that didn't matter. But a gun! Hunting was popular among the humans in Oklahoma, but werewolves hunted with tooth and claw. He had no need for a gun. I wasn't sure I'd ever seen one in person, and the realization sent another shudder through me.

I still couldn't make out what the girls were shouting, or what the man was yelling back. His face hardened. He lifted the gun; there was a crack and the thump of a body. It was the man who fell, deep red pooling up from his back. My gut lurched and I swallowed down bile.

Is he...

I couldn't finish the thought, looking away instead. To my shock, Marnet was there, his white suit jacket splattered with red. There was a pistol in his hand; he had saved his sister. I struggled to sit up a little more, shoes slipping on the hay. Even my wolf finally stirred, interest piqued as she recognized his scent through the stink of iron, adrenaline, and fear.

Marnet.

My heart shivered; I was too tired to even begin to try to figure out what the man was doing now. I didn't see the blonde woman who had been hanging off him earlier anywhere. My wolf trembled as she tried to push forward, but we were both too exhausted for another shift. So badly, she wanted Marnet's attention, but we couldn't manage so much as a whimper, much less a howl. She keened all the same, desperately hoping Marnet had realized the error of his ways.

I wasn't so eager to receive him, but if it meant getting out of this barn and away from whomever had come to the Claw home with guns, then I would put my reservations aside. I couldn't see what was going on outside, but the sinking feeling in my gut told me that might be for the best. Marnet was covered in blood, and he was the alpha. If he was looking like that...

I shivered again.

As if by magic, those green eyes turned back towards me. The world stopped moving for a moment. No one breathed. No one blinked. It was only me and Marnet. My wolf reached forward tentatively, as if she could physically probe the space between us for the bond Marnet had cut. That place was still empty and jagged, a harsh landscape of stony earth and loneliness...but Marnet still hadn't turned away. My heart lurched again; my head felt like it was full of cotton and static.

My wolf kept pushing forward, eagerness swelling in her chest instead of unease. The murder we just witnessed hadn't fazed her at all; Sophia and the other women had stopped existing the moment we had locked gazes with our mate.

Against all odds, Marnet lowered his gun and turned to face me fully. His mouth was moving, but I still couldn't understand what he was saying - or if he was even talking to me. It didn't matter to my wolf. The deep timbre of his voice made her rumble with pleasure, a shiver rolling down her spine. Despite everything, she was certain he had come here to apologize. Not just apologize, but also to sweep us away in a heroic rescue. We would escape this place and find somewhere quiet, and finally, finally, he would claim us properly. The way he was always supposed to.

I stopped breathing, afraid to look at Marnet, but even more afraid to look away. The fairy tale my wolf had spun felt too good to be true, and the man still had a weapon. His threat still echoed around fresh in my mind.

It took Marnet a year to cross the barn. He circled behind me, grabbing the chains. Without a word, he hoisted me to my feet; the chains dug into my sides and I wheezed softly, unable to catch my breath. Marnet stayed where he was, digging for something in his pocket. The key, I realized dimly, having enough self-awareness to stand still and let him unlock the chains.

Some tension released and I stumbled forward. My wolf could have sung her joy just then, fully expecting Marnet to sweep us into an embrace any moment now. Despite my freedom, I struggled to catch my balance - but I couldn't. I couldn't move my arms. I struggled again and gasped, my bruises shrieking and ribs complaining as I jostled the chains. Unable to process what was going on, I glanced down at my chest. The chains were still present over my rumpled dress like a gaudy accessory.

"What...?" I whispered, finally stumbling to my feet. I searched Marnet's face. He said nothing, instead impatiently waving a hand at me. The direction didn't make sense. Even if my brain didn't feel layered in fog, I wouldn't have been able to interpret what he wanted.

Patience was not one of Marnet's virtues. He rolled his eyes and grabbed me by one shoulder, all but throwing me to one side. I wobbled two steps on my heels before I fell forward again, my knees scraping against the wood. My hands were behind my back; I had no way to catch myself. A prickly pile of hay caught me instead, but it didn't stop the haze of pain from creeping up. One of my ankles had started to throb. My neck felt like I'd just been in a car accident. Even turning my head to look at Marnet felt like a monumental task.

Why...

My wolf lay just as still as I did, just as battered by Marnet's harsh treatment. He had pushed aside the hay next to the column I'd been chained to, revealing the trap door underneath. My brows furrowed as I watched.

He waved a hand frantically, ushering Sophia down the hatch first. Her friends followed, some of them wobbling in their heels. Marnet barked harsh instructions, but the words meant nothing to me. Kate Claw followed afterwards, and I blinked. My thoughts felt slow and gummy. Where'd she come from? Had she been in the group? I didn't think so, but everything was starting to seem like a strange, nonsensical blur. I'd never felt so exhausted in my entire life.

Something outside caught Marnet's attention. His chin jerked. There was no one left in the barn but him. He grabbed the trapdoor and began to climb down inside, pausing only to try to sweep hay back towards him, as if he might be able to cover up the hidden entrance. His green eyes looked up one last time, meeting mine. I sighed, briefly arrested by that emerald color. I was too tired to so much as blink.

Those eyes held nothing in them. They were cool and empty, observing me like I was nothing more than a body left on the floor. Marnet said nothing and ducked his head down, the door thudding shut as he slipped away into darkness. I finally closed my eyes. At least I know now, I thought, even my internal monologue sounding shaky to me. At least I know.