Alpha’s Betrayal
Epilogue

Luna

Highborn Family Home

Oklahoma County, Oklahoma

Every muscle in my body tensed. The room went so quiet I thought I could hear the beat of Remus’ heart. The warm feeling that had been simmering under my skin since he'd touched my arm suddenly evaporated, like I'd been plunged into a frozen pool. My mind reeled.

Ulfric.

How did he know my mother’s family name? I couldn't keep the question to myself. Clutching the wooden box to my chest, I lifted my chin defiantly, staring Remus straight in the eyes. He wasn't my alpha — and even if he was, what did I have to lose at this point? “Who told you that name?”

Remus didn’t so much as blink. “Josie Ulfric has been living in Cedar Park, Texas, for several years. Is still living there, even.”

My breath caught in my chest. “Don’t you dare,” I choked out, my throat tight. “Don’t you fucking dare. She's been dead for twelve years. Her headstone isnt far from here.” I clutched my mother’s box tighter, as if it could protect me from whatever kind of bullshit Remus was trying to pull with me. K!ssing me was one thing, but this? This was cruel. It took me a moment realize Remus was still speaking. “—I believe you have some cousins about your age, as well. Some nieces and nephews...wait, no. That's not what you call your cousin's child. Well, you know what I mean. And James Ulfric, he's still alive, too.”

“Who?” I asked, feeling dazed. I retreated a few more steps.

Remus tipped his head at me, hazel eyes narrowed slightly. “James Ulfric — Josie’s father? Presumably your grandfather. He was...well. He was my father’s beta, actually. Obviously, he is retired now, but he has a—"

I tuned him out again, having finally fumbled the latch on the front of the box open. Turning away, I set the box back on the small twin bed to lift the lid and fish out a picture. It had been taken a few days before— I sniffed, barely able to think of the date. The photo had been taken when my mother brought home the car for us to work on together. There we stood, in front of her garage, Mom's arm around my shoulders as I gave the camera a double thumbs-up. I traced a finger over the outline before glowering over my shoulder.

“Shut up,” I snapped, startling Remus enough that he did just that. “I don’t know what your angle is, trying to bring my mother into this, but it's sick. You have no idea what I've been through the past twelve years without her.”

He blinked at me, then the corner of his mouth quirked up. He started to unbutton his jacket. All the accusations I had suddenly flew right out of my skull.

“Remus. Remus, what are you doing?” I asked, flummoxed by the sudden turn of events.

“Proving it to you.”

“Proving what?”

“That I'm telling the truth.” He flung his tailored coat onto my bed. Then he began to undo the buttons on his shirt. The first few buttons revealed tan skin and washboard abs, the defined dip of his hips—

Luna! What is wrong with you? I scolded myself. Trying to save face, I whirled around, giving him some privacy as he did whatever it was he thought he was doing. I tried to convince my cheeks to stop flaming bright red. He was hardly the first man I'd seen shirtless, after all...even if the most attractive one by a long shot. Wait! No, down girl!

“Turn around.” His voice was dark and smooth like expensive chocolate.

I shook my head. “No,” I said, mulish. He snickered. “What's so funny?” I demanded.

“It's not like you haven't seen me naked,” he said. I could practically hear the way his eyebrows raised; it made me want to kiss that stupid smug look off his face. No, wait, that’s not right. “I've left my slacks on. Just turn around, Luna. I'm not lying to you.”

Despite my better instincts, I did as he asked. He stood with his back to me, and for a moment, all I could notice was the set of his shoulders, the definition of the muscles across his back. How had I not noticed that before? I mean, he was practically fvcking your mouth with his tongue in the hottest make-out session you'd ever participated in, but besides that... Tattooed on his skin, though, was the dark ink, the image looking remarkably like—

“That's my mother’s crest,” I whispered, finally stepping away from the bed and my mother’s box.

Remus glanced over his shoulder, his hazel eyes twinkling. “Almost,” he replied. “It's the Silverstreak crest, Luna. You mother was a part of the Silverstreak pack before traveling to Oklahoma, and she’s rejoined it.”

I stepped closer, reaching out to trace gently over his skin. The resemblance was flawless. Every swirl, every angle, they were all there, etched into Remus’ skin. Unless my mother stole the box — and I seriously doubted that, given how much she had treasured it — he was telling the truth. The Ulfric family must have been part of the Silverstreak clan. “Okay,” I said softly, trying to talk around the lump taking up residence in my throat. “Fine. I'll give you that. But — But that doesn’t explain anything. Why would she come to Oklahoma and leave her pack? Why would she leave me?”

Even now, I could scarcely imagine leaving Oklahoma and leaving Lupus Claw — or what little was left of it.

Remus shrugged. I jerked my hand away as he turned around to face me. “I can’t speak for her. She left when I was a small child, and she returned when I was a teenager. All of that was handled by my father, not me,” he said. I glowered. He kept talking, indifferent to my dark look. “But my understanding is that she left Silverstreak to join her fated mate, Arden Highborn, and his pack. James was not a fan of Arden and wouldn't sanction the mateship, sooo...” He trailed off, giving me a knowing look. “The rest is history, as they say."

I shook my head, scowling. “What? No! You can't just, I don’t know. Give me some lame-as*s story like that and leave it with “and that's how it goes. That's— That's—"

Remus reached forward slowly, taking my hands in his own. They were so warm, even when I wasn't doused in frigid water. A thrill of heat ran down my spine, and I very carefully did not think of the pool. Now is not the time, Luna. “Luna,” Remus said. “She was in love, or that's what I assume it was. I can’t say any more than that. People do wild things when they're in love, especially when the person in question is their fated mate. It doesn’t matter what anyone else says to them.”

I frowned, feeling for a moment like he was actually talking about me, not my mother.

“I guess your grandfather was right in the end, but...” He shrugged.

“Right about what?” I prompted.

Remus released my hands. “That's not my story to tell. Besides, I hardly know the intricacies of mateship, myself. Nof sure if you haven't noticed, Luna, but no mate here.” If I didn’t know better, I could have sworn he was insinuating something.

I frowned, but didn’t take the bait. I'd done enough of that for a night — no, a week — thank you very much. I wandered back to the bed, collecting the rest of the photos stored in the box my mother had left for me. Most of the photos were of her, me as a little girl, or the garage, but there were a few from my mother’s childhood as well. There was one from her high school prom, a photo of an old garage I didn't recognize, and... I paused when I got to the last one. My mother looked to be in her early twenties, give or take, and she stood arm in arm with an older man, leaning into him with a broad smile. The man was smiling, though the expression was considerably more subdued. He had the same silver eyes she had — that I had.

After a moment, I flipped the photo over, curiosity getting the best of me.

Last photo of me and Dad.

Remus leaned over my shoulder as I carded through the images. “Yeah, that sure looks like James. Well, before he went gray, anyways.” He hummed thoughtfully to himself.

“What?” I asked, trying not to sound choked up.

I'm not sure if I succeeded, but if I didn’t, Remus at least had the manners not to mention it. He pointed to a child leaning into the corner of the photo. The boy couldn't have been more than three or four, but he was making rabbit ears or a peace sign as he stuck out his tongue at the camera, his hazel eyes twinkling. “That would be yours truly,” he said, sounding amused with his childhood self. “I had this photobombing stage, though I can assure you, my mother did not let that stand for long”

I stared at the photo, stunned. How had I never noticed that little punk in the corner before? Probably because you were looking at your mom, I consoled myself. I put the stack of photos back inside the box before I could damage them. Tears prickled my eyes again, and the last thing I wanted to do was ruin the only link I had left to my mother.

I gently closed the lid and tried not to let the emotion overwhelm me. “What does this mean?” I asked, hating how tiny my voice sounded. I turned. “What are you saying, Remus?”

He studied me for a moment. He reached a hand forward and then he paused. “Is it all right if I hug you?”

He might as well have spoken in French; my brain screeched to a halt. “Wh- What?”

If I didn’t know better, I would have thought Remus’ smile looked a little sad. “You look like you need a hug, and I'd really like to do that, Luna,” he said. “But I've noticed that your family...doesn’t seem to think of your needs. Or your wants. I don’t want you to just, I don’t know, let me because you think you have to. Or because you don’t have a choice, or something. I want you to want it.” Remus looked like he might've felt a bit guilty that he hadn't asked sooner. That he hadn't realized sooner.

It was a good thing I had already put the photos away, or I might have dropped those precious pieces of my memory all over the carpeted floor. Has anyone ever asked me that? If Marnet had, it was so long ago, I had forgotten. My vision swam as tears threatened to spill over. I blinked several times, but finally, I nodded.

“Use your words,” Remus said gently. “Please. Would you like a hug?”

I nodded again, a bit more urgently this time. “Yes,” I gasped. “Please. I— Yes, I would like a hug” I might have hated how breathless I sounded, but Remus stepped forward and swept me into a bear hug. I'd never been given such a sound, secure hug in my entire life. I felt as safe as I had back when I was a girl, happy in my mother's home. The realization made me delighted and morose at the same time.

Pushing my thoughts aside, I wrapped my arms around Remus and pressed my face into his bare chest. I didn’t care I he wasn’t my mate. I didn’t care if he'd overthrown my alpha. I didn’t care if I'd only known him for a week. He was the only one who'd ever asked me that, and it mattered. It mattered a lot. I squeezed him a little tighter. “Thank you, I whispered.

Remus held me a little closer. He bowed his head down to press a butterfly k!ss to the top of my head. “It's okay,” he murmured softly against my hair. “I meant what I said. You do not have to be alone, Luna. Join Silverstreak. Come to Texas. It's not too late to have a good life. A happy life. You can have all of that, I promise.”

I stiffened slightly, though I wasn't quite willing to withdraw from the warmth of his embrace. “What would you know about the intricacies of having a mate?” I huffed, parroting his statement from a few minutes prior.

Oh, shit. Was that too much? For a second, I feared I might have gone too far with that. We had only known each other for a week, after all. Was that too far? Do I even know what Remus finds funny?

Thankfully, after a moment, he just snorted, nuzzling against my hair again. “Yeah, well. Fair point, I guess.” Slowly, he let me go. I was relieved, in a way. I stepped back, feeling a bit dizzy, like I'd hung upside down on the monkey bars a school for too long. I retreated to the bed, finally closing my mother’s box back up and securing the lid’s latch. “But that's okay. Your mother does. I'm sure she can help.”

I paused, blinked, then finally turned to study him. Even shirtless, he looked entirely earnest. “Remus,” I said, hating that my pulse was quickening. That I actually let this man get my hopes up, after all this time. “My mother died twelve years ago.”

He offered me a sad smile. “No, Luna. Your mother was banished from the Lupus Claw clan and chased out of Oklahoma twelve years ago. She's living in Cedar Park. Texas. She's in Texas.”