Page 18 of The Alpha Wolf's Bullied Bride

Miles nods. “Mates can come from different packs, as you already know. Maybe you just haven’t met yours yet.”

“No, Miles, I don’t think—”

“Come on. You must have given it some thought, Lila,” he prompts with a sturdy, raised brow. “Now that Blood Moon is allying with other packs, maybe you’ll find the man of your dreams outside of our pack. That way, your inner wolf will be unleashed. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”

I nod slowly, taking in this new information. It’s not something I considered before, especially ever since I clung tightly to the feelings I thought I had for Flynn. I can’t stay stuck in the past, and I need to look toward my future.

If I find my mate in another pack, I’ll be free to escape Zafra and free my inner wolf from its hiding place.

My frown melts into a smile. “Maybe you’re right,”

Miles smirks with satisfaction. “Of course, I am. And”—he proudly tilts his chin—“I’m gonna help you find a suitable mate.”

The cheerful glint in his eyes spreads through me as hope is reignited. Hope that I lost almost nine years ago. I won’t have to be a desolate Omega in a pack that hates me forever. I might stand a chance of living an ordinary werewolf life.

***

Two days later

“Let’s hang back here,” I suggest to Valerie when we enter the pack’s large hall in the main center where the Blood Moon members are gathering for tonight’s meeting. I take a quick look around the neo-Renaissance cathedral-styled tent with its many rows of pinewood benches beneath fairy lights that hang from the tall ceilings.

With the return of the pack’s soldiers, Alpha Silas will be officially stepping down from his position and passing the torch to his son, Flynn.

“Are you sure?” Valerie frowns, glancing at the front of the hall. “There are empty seats over there,” she nods ahead.

“No,” I shake my head, determinedly tugging her arm to pull her into the row at the back. Ever since I became immune to Cynthia’s brutal words, we’d been able to sit near the front while I bravely held my head high.

But now that the Alpha’s son is back, I don’t wish to be anywhere near him. I’ve successfully been able to keep my distance so far, and I don’t plan on disrupting my peace any time soon.

Not when tonight is meant to be all about him.

Once we’re seated, there’s an unsettling rumble in the pit of my belly that skitters all along my spine and rises like bile in my throat. I frown to myself, not wanting to alarm Valerie with how I’m feeling when I’ve done my best to convince her that I’m fine after Cynthia’s attack.

The strange sense of awareness subsides when the cavalry of Blood Moon soldiers enter the hall, so I don’t pay much attention to why I’m feeling calmer now. Instead, I gulp down the bile and straighten up in my seat, deciding to give my attention to the proceeding meeting.

“Blood Moon wolves,” Alpha Silas addresses us, clearing his throat into the mic at the altar to settle the crowd into silence before he continues. “Tonight, I will officially step down from my position as this pack’s Alpha, and hand over the duty to my son, Flynn,” he announces, lifting an arm to point at his son, who joins him on the oak platform.

I try to remain as neutral as I can, watching Flynn uncover the golden pitcher on the table and lift a cup. His father pours out the tea made of a mixture of herbs, including enough wolfsbane to cause a trance-like effect in which he’ll carry out this induction ceremony.

When the live goat is carried into the hall tent by the old Beta and Delta of Blood Moon, my heart begins an unsteady race, the glint of Flynn’s distended claws slicing through the air as he repeats an incantation to the Moon Goddess.

"Moon Goddess Selene, it is I, Flynn Lycoan, who calls upon you on the July full moon…” he utters aloud, keeping his wolfed-out hand beside his head as he stares at the goat being held down by the Alpha and his subordinates. “Tonight, I claim my position as the Alpha of the Blood Moon Pack of Zafra, with your permission, and your attendance to witness my reign.”

My heartbeat quickens as he drops his arm and slices the goat’s throat with a nimble flick of his wolf claws. The silence allows for the sigh of the animal to ring out as it releases its last breath, and a sense of calmness washes over the hall.

Flynn’s cup is filled with the blood that trickles from the goat’s neck to amalgamate with the tea in a cloud of gray smoke. He tips the cup to his lips, chugs down the mixture, and sets the mug down to the sound of the pack cheering him on.

“The ritual is complete now,” his father, now the former Alpha of Blood Moon, announces on the mic. “The new Alpha of Blood Moon is Flynn Lycoan. All hail Alpha Flynn.”

“All hail Alpha Flynn!” the Blood Moon wolves belt out, but I just can’t bring myself to repeat those words.

All I can do is remain silent as the pack rejoices for their new Alpha—the man who publicly humiliated me after years of torment and abusive words.

How can I join in on the celebration when I hate him for how he treated me?

I take a deep breath, reminding myself that I have to remain numb through this ordeal. Soon, Miles will help me find a suitor, and I’ll leave this pack for good.

Flynn lifts the mic and glances at his soldiers, his friends who he’d spent the two years with, and smiles. His eyes widen with golden swirls as the effects of his sacred drink take over.

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