CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT.

(MELIORA'S POV)

When I didn't speak and my heartbeat grew louder, the alpha continued to explain.

"I have been watching you for some time now, Liora," he continued in a low, silken tone. "You stand out from the others. There is something...different about you. Special, even."

One of his huge hands came up, fingers brushing a stray lock of hair from my face with surprising delicacy. I was frozen, trembling, unable to tear my widened eyes from his piercing gaze.

"So I must ask..." The alpha leaned in closer until I could feel the warm puffing of his breath fanning my cheeks. My entire body went rigid, held immobile by the intensity of his presence.

"Will you accept my offer to be my mate, Liora? To take your rightful place at my side as the second Luna of this pack?" His voice had lowered to an intimate rumble, laden with promise and escalating tension.

I could scarcely breathe, let alone formulate a coherent response. This entire situation was utterly surreal and overwhelming. Surely I must be dreaming?

The alpha's burning golden eyes remained locked intensely on mine. My hands were shaking, and my mind a swirling riot of confusion and disbelief. My heart pounded in my ears as I struggled to find my voice.

"N-No, I'm sorry Alpha," I finally managed to stammer out, blinking rapidly as if to break the trance his presence had woven. "The Luna warned us beforehand that we are not to take any bonded wolves as our mates during tonight's ceremony."

The big wolf cocked his head slightly, the smallest of frowns creasing his brow. "I...see," he murmured, sounding somewhat taken aback by my refusal.

An awkward silence stretched between us. At last, he seemed to rouse himself, straightening his broad shoulders as a new look entered his smoldering eyes.

"Very well then," the alpha rumbled in his deep baritone. "If you cannot accept being my mate...will you at least allow us to have an affair?"

He leaned in closer again, causing me to reflexively shrink back against the door.

"I will keep things utterly secret between us, and provide you with anything your heart desires. Starting tonight, my delicious little flower. For you look utterly ravishing, if I must confess."

His last words took on a silken, suggestive tone that caused a flush of mortified heat to flood my cheeks. I quickly averted my eyes, unable to hold that seductive golden gaze a moment longer.

Anger stung me at the alpha's indecent proposal, mingling with the roiling sense of disbelief and confusion. This authoritative wolf had a daughter around my own age - how could he make such a shameless suggestion to me?

I drew in a shaky breath, frantically debating how to extract myself from this situation without angering the alpha.

"I'm afraid I cannot indulge in that kind of...romance, Alpha," I replied at last, hazarding a glance upwards through my lashes.

"You see, my father passed away just two months ago. A fact I have not shared with anyone here yet. But I've been...too heartbroken to even consider such intimacies with another."

The alpha's expression shifted again at my confession. I quickly pressed on, my words tumbling out in a rushed outpouring.

"Please do not think me rude or disrespectful, Alpha. I do not mean to cause offense. I am grateful for your interest and kind offers. But I simply cannot bring myself to accept them."

I ducked my head again waiting for his response.

At last, I heard the soft exhalation of his sigh. When I dared to peek up again, I found the massive wolf had taken a step back, studying me with a strange, indecipherable look.

"You wound my pride greatly, little one," he said, his tone clipped. "But...I will respect your decisions and boundaries. For now."

A relief washed over me. Before I could formulate a reply, the alpha leaned in one last time. I could not stop the instinctive flinch as he drew near.

"But I must insist that everything which had transpired here stays between us," he murmured in a low, stern voice. "You will not breathe a word of this to anyone. Is that understood?"

"O-Of course, Alpha," I stammered quickly, my hands twisting in the fabric of my skirts. "I promise on my life, I would never say anything that could wound your dignity. Let alone to ensure my own safety and shelter here."

He regarded me through narrowed eyes for a long moment before giving a curt nod of acceptance.

"Very good then," the formidable male said. "I believe I must return to the ceremony now. You may...retire for the evening, Liora."

With those parting words, the alpha turned on his heel and strode away, disappearing into the shadows between the cabins. I watched his imposing wolf retreat with relief everything went fine.

Only when I was certain he was gone did I finally allow myself to turn around the door.

I managed to get the door opened and practically fell through the entrance of our cabin. My legs could barely support me as I staggered over to my mattress and collapsed in a heap amidst the blankets.

As I lay there in the dimness my mind raced. The maidens had been right in their speculations about the alpha taking an interest in me.


My stomach churned queasily at the thought. The only shred of solace was that I had managed to deflect his unseemly advances, at least for now. I never wanted to get in trouble with the Luna.

What would the future hold, if the alpha decided his interest in me was not so easily dissuaded? The Luna would have me sent out or worse. As I had no allies here in this pack. The dreadful scene suddenly weighed on me like an anvil on my chest.

"Thank God no one witnessed that confrontation," I muttered shakily into the shadowed stillness of the cabin. If anyone had seen us...

I shuddered, not even wanting to imagine the sorts of censure and retaliations I might face as a lone, vulnerable outsider.


I wished with every fiber of my being that this had all been nothing more than a twisted nightmare. That I could simply wake up and find it never happened. But no it was real. All of it was real. I squeezed my eyes shut trying to comfort myself even for a bit.