*Warning the Lakhs in this book is fictitious and not the same as any currency or item that maybe spelt or sound the same. All characters, names personalities, location and descriptions are also fictitious and made up. Thank you*
~Tamia~
I will not forget the evening my heavenly life turned to hell. I cannot forget the moment my life changed.
My husband, Leo, and I, were at the ball. I did not want to attend, but Leo's friend and beta was the host, and Leo wanted to honour his invitation at all costs.
I should have pleaded with him to stay at home, but I wanted to be a supportive wife, so I followed him, which was my biggest mistake.
Leonardo Albert was my husband and the alpha of the Mountain pack, making me Tamia Albert, the pack's Luna.
Leonardo chose me when I was nineteen to be his Luna.
We started courting when I was seventeen, and he was twenty-one. He never touched me because I wasn't of age, but we fell in love nonetheless and vowed to remain together.
Many women in the pack hated me because Leo only had eyes for me. I wasn't the most beautiful. In fact, I wasn't half as pretty as the others, but he saw me, and he loved me.
He loved my green eyes. Leo called me his emerald queen, and that boosted my confidence. He never wanted me to dress provocatively or wear make-up, and I just went along.
Leo claimed me the year he ascended as the pack's alpha. His parents had decided to leave the position for him and travel, which was what all alphas did once they handed over to their successors.
I wore my luna shoes proudly and performed my duties. I was a trained warrior, so the pack was always in good hands when Leo left our territory on missions.
We had been happily married for five years. I was now twenty-four years old while Leo was twenty-seven.
I loved him so much, and he loved me too. There was no question. Nothing and no one could ever come between us, or so I thought, until the dinner party when my life turned upside down.
We were sitting at a table reserved for us when Leo turned around and saw her. She had long, dark straight hair, blue eyes, full red lips, beautiful tanned skin and an hourglass body. Perfect proportions compared to my pear-shaped body.
"Leo, Leo," I gently called my mate, but he did not respond. His eyes stayed fixed on her. The beautiful woman in the midnight blue velvet gown. I gently touched his hand, and he shook slightly as if in a trance.
"Tamia," He said, trying to calm himself, and I smiled at him.
"We should go home, dear; I do not feel well," I lied, trying to get us out of there, but his eyes had wandered back to her, and she was looking at him now.
She also looked enthralled in his gaze, and they seemed lost in each other's eyes. I did not know when my heart began to palpitate.
I did not want to believe it, but I knew what had just happened. My husband had found his fated mate, and she was not me.
"Leo, let's go home," I said, sounding slightly stern with a tinge of fear. A fear I could not mask.
Just then, His beta, Casper, walked to us. He was the host and Leonardo's best friend.
"Alpha Leo, I hope you and Luna Tamia are enjoying yourselves?" He asked, and I pulled Leo's hand so Casper would not notice he was staring at someone.
"Casper," Leo said, looking at his friend and nodding.
"Who is that lady?" Leo asked, sounding curious.
Casper looked at me because what Leo had just done was disrespectful.
I swallowed and looked away. I did not know what to say. He hadn't done anything, but I knew he might.
"She is Alpha Ramzey's daughter of the Whitewood pack. She just returned home from studying overseas. Her name is Amanda Richford." Casper said, and Leo nodded, repeating her name.
Casper looked uncomfortable and decided to excuse himself. I smiled and let him go.
I remained silent and did not say a word. There was nothing to say. I just had to wait to see how it would all play out.
I doubted Leo would throw away five years of our lives together, and besides, we had claimed each other. Fated or not, we were full mates. Rejecting me and our bond would weaken his wolf, so I knew he would not want to do that.
I also knew he would not reject her for the same reason. Every alpha valued their strength and feared situations that would make them weak. If he was an ordinary pack member, I would have had the power and right to reject him and walk away, but he was alpha.
I drank some wine and tried to pretend it didn't bother me.
"Excuse me, Tamia," Leo said, standing up, and I did not bother to ask him where he was going. I knew he was going to talk to her. I saw her walk to the balcony, and he followed behind her.
I had the urge to follow them so I could listen to their conversation, but tears were already streaming down my face. I was too afraid to know what he was discussing with the woman. So I stayed in my seat and drank some wine.
Leo did not return to sit with me. After sitting by myself for an hour, I decided to go home.
Using the car was not an option. Kaira, my wolf, was in pain, so as soon as I walked far enough, I shifted and decided to run home.
"What will we do, Tamia? He is ours. He claimed us, and we claimed him," My wolf cried, and I did not know what to tell her because I was equally in pain.
The trauma was much, and I could not believe what had happened to me. I should have prepared myself for this, but he promised.
He assured me, yet he betrayed me.
Images of both of them reeled through my mind, and I cried. I cried so much and howled. I did not want to go home.
I wished somehow I would run into my fated, too, and he would make the pain disappear, but I knew it wouldn't happen. I was stuck with Leo, and he was stuck with me until he rejects me, which I knew he wouldn't.
I knew he wouldn't want to let me go because I balanced his strength. From the way Amanda looked, she wasn't luna material, but she was a beautiful and educated daughter of an Alpha. Maybe an Alpha breed herself. Compared to my delta genes, she was premium stuff. I knew I did not stand a chance. Leo would make me share. Just like other alphas in his shoes.
Leo and I had built the pack together and expanded our lands, fighting side by side for five years now. If he decides to reject me for her sake, I will walk away with nothing because I wasn't an alpha.
I did not know how it would play out, but I did not see a happy ending for me.
While running, Kaira and I felt a sharp pain in our hearts, and I did not need to guess what was happening.
Leo and I were tied together through our claim, so I will feel the pain if he touches anyone intimately.
I had seen women with cheating spouses experience this; I had counselled them as their Luna. Who will counsel me through this and help me survive this? I had no family. I and no true friend. Leo was my only true friend. How will I deal?
"Damn you, Leo, Damn you!" I cried while Kaira howled at the crescent moon in the sky.
Why did fate have to deal us such a shitty card?
I ran deep into the woods and cried. I stayed there a while before heading home.
I entered our home naked, and Leo was on the couch with a drink in his hand; he looked at me and knew I knew.
"Tamia," He said, and I shook my head in anger.
"How could you, Leo? You promised. You said if it ever happens, you will reject her. You said I was enough. You promised me," I said.
That was why I trained so hard as a warrior and fought by his side. If his wolf is weakened, I will balance his strength.
He was silent. There was nothing he could say to defend himself.
I left him in the living room and went to take a hot shower.
I sat under it for over an hour until the water went cold before going to bed.
I tossed and turned all through the night. I did not know what to do.
Rejection wasn't an option. We were tied together. I could not just walk away from everything I spent time, blood, sweat and tears to build for five years.
We are at the top in our region because of our effort together.
How could I walk away from that? Even if I decided to start over again, no pack would take me in if I left him. I was doomed. I had no choice but to make this work, but how could I when he wasn't even trying?
"Tamia," Leo said and lay next to me in bed.
" I am sorry, Tamia. I really am, but I will need time to decide," he said. His words cut me so deep that I would have stabbed him if I could. I would have buried a silver knife in his heart.
"Time?" I said, sitting up. "How dare you to ask me for time, Leo? You promised. You claimed me. What the fuck do you want me to do. You know I can't leave, I can't join another pack, and no one would want to be with a wolf that has already been claimed and mated. What about me, Leo? What about my life, my love, and my happiness? Where does that leave me? Where?" I yelled at him, on the verge of tears.
He sat up and tried to hold me, but I moved away from him. I was angry and disgusted. I was mad.
"Please give me time; you are my wife and Luna. Nothing would change it, not even a fated mate. Please, I just need time. I just have to know what to do. The pull is strong. I wanted to risk the pain and reject her, Tamia, but I wanted her more. I can't explain it to you, and I do not expect you to understand but please, Tamia, give me time," He pleaded.
"And what should I do when you are fucking her?" I asked him with anger and contempt in my voice.
"I won't touch her," he said, and I laughed painfully.
"But you did. You did. You touched her tonight, and I felt every bit of it." I said, and he was quiet. I did not need a fortune teller to know how this would go. I was definitely at the losing end.
