Chapter 17
ACE’S POV
My blood was boiling. I punched the wall of my office multiple times until the wall cracked and warm blood ran down my
knuckles.
“How did she end up in an accident bad enough to put her in a coma and cause her to lose her memories?” I snapped, jabbing a frustrated hand through my hair. “Shit!”
“You sent her out at night, all alone. Anything could have happened to her. Outside the pack at that hour, it was deadly. I tried to tell you that night but you didn’t listen.”
My wolf went wild inside my head, roaring, pacing, clawing, forcing himself to break free. I gripped the edge of my desk, breathing hard, forcing him to back down.
Every time the images of what I did to her come into my head, I feel worse than the devil.
“And she has my son. I had no idea she was carrying my pup the night I sent her on exile.” My vision went blurry. Something hot slid down my face. I didn’t wipe it away. “I put her through so much with my pup in her belly.”
Damien stared at me. I had never been this vulnerable in my life. I didn’t cry when my mother died. But my chest felt like it was about to burst open now.
“She has a son?” he asked with a raised brow. “Your son?”
“Yes.” I dragged a hand over my face. “I didn’t smell another father on him. The only men I smelled on the boy were Ethan and the old man, Graves. She was already pregnant when she was brought into the Brimstone pack. That means it couldn’t be Ethan.”
Damien stayed quiet for a second. “And you believe he’s your son?”
I lifted my head. “I know he is.”
Why was his question setting me off?
“His face is the same one I look back at whenever I look in the mirror and we have that connection. But I want you to look back six years ago and know if she bedded any other wolf after me.”
My wolf reacted at once, a low growl rolling in my chest. The thought of another man touching what was ours made my jaw tighten. If she did, I would find that wolf and snap his head for touching what belonged to us.
“Or before you,” Damien added.
My head snapped toward him. He was smirking. “I was her first.”
“Right,” he said calmly. “And you got engaged to her sister the next day.”
I clenched my jaw. Why was everyone so bent on throwing my past in my face?
“You’ll do what I asked you to do,” I said firmly. “Is that understood? I need answers soon. And check all the men she’s been romantically involved with in the past six years.”
He was already on his feet when he noticed the change in me. He bowed his head in respect. “Yes, Alpha.”
He turned to leave in a hurry, but my voice stopped him.
1/3
4:35 pm
hapter 17
“I don’t know what to do.”
I sat down, pressing my bleeding hand against the desk. Blood smeared the surface. “I don’t know, I want to class her and my son. I want to apologize until she forgives me, even if I have to grovel” My voice dropped. “But she doesn’t remorstber me. She doesn’t remember us.”
Damien stayed quiet for a moment. Then he spoke carefully. “I understand that you want to make things right. But you need to take it slow. If she suddenly gets her memories back, she will hate you. And she might take your son away from go.”
He was right, if she got her memories back, she’d hate me for sure. I won’t take that chance.
“That’s why this is really difficult for me. I want to be in their lives so badly.”
Damien nodded. “You still have a lot to deal with. For example, your Luna. She’s been calling and disturbing your beta and 1. asking us to bring you back home.”
I exhaled. That woman had been blowing up my phone with calls and messages. I didn’t read them. I turned the phone off instead.
“And don’t forget your meeting with the elders tonight,” Damien added. “You didn’t show up the last time, and they’re still very angry with you.”
I buried myself in work for a while, just enough to get through the day. When it was time, I went back to the pack for the meeting. I walked into the meeting room and took the head chair. Roman stood close behind me.
Elder Simon was glaring at me. I didn’t like that man, and he didn’t like me either.
“I would like you to apologize to us for standing us up the last time,” he said through his teeth. “But I know you’re too proud to do that.”
I smirked. “You don’t plan a meeting behind my back and inform me a few hours to the time. That’s not how it works.”
“Fine,” he snapped. “The reason we’re here tonight is about your Luna. We did not believe our ears when she cried to us that you have not marked her. You’ve been married to her for years. Why would an Alpha refuse to mark his mate?”
“What the bloody hell!” I slammed my bandaged hand on the table, the sound echoing through the room.
“Calm down, Alpha,” Elder Gaius said. “We are only here to ask why you would treat your mate like that.”
“I’m calm,” I snapped. “And it’s none of your damn business. What I do with my personal life shouldn’t concern this council”
“Oh, but it does,” another elder cut in. “You are a powerful Alpha. Other Alphas fear you. What do you think will happen when the news spreads that you haven’t marked your Luna? They’ll see us as weak, and weakness brings war.”
Before I could reply, the door opened.
Moon walked in, dressed in a long blue gown. Her father followed behind her. They both bowed to me and then to the elders.
My jaw tightened.
What is she planning? She was the one who told me before the wedding that she was fine with me not marking her. I had been clear, I wouldn’t mark her. She agreed.
So why bring this here?
“You have until the full moon to mark her. We want to see the mark on her neck like every other mated female out there.”
2/3
4.35 pin
Chapter 17
Elder Simon said. His voice carried a warning, and I snarled.
Who does he think he is?
Nobody dares to warn or threaten me!
“And if I don’t?” I asked.
“That will be decided by the elders.”
A short, dry, mocking laugh left my throat. I pushed back my chair and stood. The room went quiet. My control slipped for a second.
“What happens if I don’t?” I asked again, slower this time.
His confidence cracked. Just for a moment before he straightened up.
“You will mark your mate,” he said. “No one challenges the Moon Goddess and walks
away free.”
I burst into another fit of laughter. I had dared the Moon Goddess six years ago and she cursed me for it. A curse that was slowly killing me. Moon is not my fated mate. She never was and never will be. Right now, she is just a woman I once thought I loved.
Moon hurried toward me, tears spilling from her eyes. “Baby, if I’ve done anything wrong, please forgive me.”
I clenched my jaw. A few nights ago, she had drugged me. Now she stood there like a victim, like I was the monster.
“She has such a pure heart,” Elder Gaius said. “Apologizing when she has done nothing wrong.”
“Do the right thing, Alpha,” he continued. “Stop hurting your innocent Luna. She deserves your mark. She deserves your pups. And she was right, if you had marked her, she would have been pregnant by now.”
How are these full grown men suddenly so gullible?
Moon leaned in, standing on her tiptoes and whispered into my ears. “If you don’t cooperate, I’ll tell them about your curse. You know what will happen if they know that you’ve been cursed and will die soon.”
My blood raged. “How dare you?”
“Just cooperate.” Before I could grasp what she meant, she leaned in and captured my lips in a hungry kiss.
AD
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
