Page 13 of Alpha's Unclaimed Mate

Luna Marie smiles and takes a sip of her tea. “Don’t worry your pretty head about it, sweetheart. It’s just pack business. You wouldn’t be interested.”

I lower my gaze and plaster a smile on my face. Even afterover a decade at their home, I’m treated as an outsider, someone who can’t be trusted with secrets.

Normally, I wouldn’t be fazed by such a dismissal, but the air crackles with sudden tension, and I have no idea why. Alpha Dan’s jaw is clenched.

“We should get going.” His tone is icy and his gaze lingers on Luna Marie for a moment before he pushes himself out of his chair.

In the next thirty seconds, both are out the door and I’m left alone with my mug of rapidly cooling tea, frowning.

I spend the rest of the morning getting my things ready for my new job at Blackwood and fighting hunger pangs. By late afternoon, my stomach growls in protest as I enter the kitchen.

Ella is loading a tray with enough food to feed a small army: eggs, toast, pastries, muffins, and coffee.

“Hey, Ella Bella,” I say, grabbing a plate. “Did Max strike out at the creek again?”

She laughs. “Maybe, but this feast isn’t for him—it’s for your future alpha.”

The plate in my hand clatters back onto the table. “Theron’s back?” I blurt out, my voice pitched higher than usual. “Since when?”

Ella pauses, a smile on her lips. “A while ago. He’s with a friend, though.”

Disappointment flickers through me. My mind bombards me with images of him with some random girl. “Which friend?” I ask, biting my lip.

“Luke,” she replies, handing the tray off to a member of her staff. I feel instant relief it’s not a girl. I’m about to head upstairs when she adds, “You’re not leaving hungry, though.”

Ten minutes and a plate of pasta later, I rush out the door, a knot of unease tightening in my stomach. I’m already queasy from the forced meal, and for some reason the hallway to Theron’s room feels darker and more foreboding than usual.

As I approach his door, I hear people talking inside. But this time they’re loud. Their voices are clear. They’re talking about me. And I stay outside, listening in, wanting to know how Theron talks about me to his inner circle.

Luke’s voice is soft, laced with concern. “Just asking. She did grow up around us.”

Theron’s response is a punch to the gut.

"I set up a job for her at Blackwood.” Theron’s voice is devoid of any warmth. His tone is dismissive, even though he’s talking about my future, and that stings.

“Blackwood? Why? What will she do there? I mean...” Luke’s surprise is a flicker of hope, but Theron roars, cutting him off mid-sentence.

“Why do you care? She’s just some stray my parents picked up eleven years ago.”

The word “stray” slams into me like a physical blow. My foot snags on the rug and I stumble, instinctively reaching out to clutch the wall for support.Stray? Is that all I am to him?Maybe he’s just pretending like I don’t matter so Luke will stop being interested in me. Theron has always been possessive of me.

“You can pretend she doesn’t matter, Theron,” Luke counters, “but the truth flickers in your eyes whenever she’s around. I always thought you two were fated.”

A sliver of hope pierces through my fears. Could we be fated? That was a teenage fantasy I discarded years ago, even though part of me still yearns for it. Wolves aren’t mated to humans. That’s what I’ve heard all my life.

But Theron’s voice drips with disgust as he responds to something Luke said, something I was too distracted to hear. “Because I don’t like hearing her mentioned. And I don’t understand why you think I’d be interested in her. Have you seen her? In a crowded room, she’d be invisible: no curves, no looks, no personality. She’s as compelling as fucking wallpaper.”

The air whooshes out of my lungs. Tears well up, blurring my vision. All these years, all the moments we shared...it was all a lie.He hates how I look? He hatesme?

My lifelong insecurities come rushing back, clawing at me. But his next words make my whole world crumble.

“Yeah, Seren is my fated mate. So what?” Theron spits out the words like venom. “It isn’t something to be proud of. Of all the females out there, I got stuck with the weakest fucking link. Can you imagine her by my side as my luna? She doesn’t know how to talk, how to act, or even how to dress.”

My knees buckle and I crumple to the floor.I am Theron’s fated mate? He knew. He knew all this time. And still…

“I can’t imagine how last evening would’ve gone if I’d taken her with me instead of your sister,” he continues, oblivious to the wreckage of my emotions. “Vanessa had the alpha queen eating out of her hand. I wishshewas my fated mate.”

The world starts to spin. Using the wall for support, I push myself up, a storm brewing within me.

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