CH 1 Nora

Once again, Nora’s body betrayed her to the Mate Bond between her and her Mate, Alpha Jace Remmington of the Dark Wilderness Pack. His touch brought out pleasure and desire within her, and she knew she shouldn’t let him touch her. That she shouldn’t crave the man’s touch or kiss. Drown in the pleasure his body could bring to hers.

The day she’d met him and scented him, she’d thought he was the perfect handsome and charming gentleman that he showed to the world. A man that wanted her. He was 130 years old but only looked to be 30, and had never taken a Chosen Mate in all that time. He did not bare a mark of any kind, and she’d thought that he’d patiently waited for her: his Goddess-Gifted Mate, to come along.

Her parents had been so very proud of her, a simple warrior's daughter mated to an Alpha, and he hadn’t even hesitated in claiming her. She was only 19 and about to turn 20 and, although he had scented her out at a mating ball and claimed her before all there to see, smiled at her and kissed her lovingly, marked and mated her; done all the things that had made her toes curl as she’d accepted him willingly.

She was young and too naive, it seemed, she’d not even realized until five weeks of being inside his pack that things weren’t right between them. She’d been too wrapped up in her happy love bubble of a Mate bond to know he wasn’t who she thought he was. That he was more than happy to have her in his bed every night, that he enjoyed touching her as much as she enjoyed being touched by him; but that was as far as it would ever go.

She’d often seen him with the she-wolf that helped him to run the pack, a woman named Gloria, who had been his acting Luna for six decades, and she’d not thought anything of it at first. Because, of course, he needed someone to help him run his pack. He was 130 and had been an Alpha for 100 of those years, so why couldn’t he train someone up and have her seated to help him, give her a pseudo title, until his Goddess-Gifted came along. She saw the logic in it.

That was even how he had explained Gloria to her, having the title of Acting Luna to his pack, being seated in the Luna’s office and her having a suite up on the Alpha’s floor of the packhouse, and not just a suite; She resided inside the Luna Suite itself. Being that she held the title until he found his Goddess-Gifted Mate, he’d felt it was only fair to place her in there so she could get the respect of the pack, as any Luna should.

Nora had accepted all of this from Jace because, honestly, it seemed logical to her, and Gloria had smiled at her and shaken her hand, congratulated her on being Jace’s Mate, and him on finding his Goddess-Gifted. She had smiled and stated they’d produce a handsome and good strong heir for the pack.

Jace had told her he’d have Gloria organise Luna Lessons for her after her Luna Ceremony had been attended. She’d smiled at him, and why wouldn’t she? He was her Goddess-Gifted and had initiated her into his pack right away, and then he had announced her to the pack as his Goddess-Gifted Mate that very day, all things that were normal.

Nothing had seemed at all out of the ordinary to her. She’d moved into the Alpha Suite, and they’d been insatiable with each other. Her heat had come and gone, and he’d been very attentive to her needs. His own wolf had mated hers many times, more than she and Jace had. It was clear their wolves had bonded fully.

But she’d been blinded by the mate bond and understood all of that now. His wolf loved hers, but Jace did not love Nora. He had another in his heart. She’d found out the truth, and he thought she didn’t know. He didn’t know that Nora had overheard him when talking to Gloria, the she-wolf that lived in the Luna Suite, and was his Luna to this pack.

She had been sitting at breakfast just five weeks after coming here, to the Dark Wilderness Pack, smiling and chatting with her new group of friends that she’d made, and had smelled him coming this way. She had smiled and turned in the direction of the corridor she knew he would come into the room from, had tuned her hearing into where he was, only to have her heart shatter and that love bubble burst at hearing his words.

“It’s just the Mate Bond Gloria; only my wolf loves her wolf. I don’t love Nora, you know I love you and always will. That’s why you’re the Luna.” His words had been softly spoken, and obviously he wasn’t expecting her to be in the dining room.

Gloria had then stated words that had smacked her right in the face. “I know that having her here gives you more strength as well, and an heir from a Goddess-Gifted too.” she’d sighed, and they’d stopped walking “I just find it difficult to see you with her, I will be your Luna always I know this.”

“You’re a perfect Luna. I love you for that, and you, I will keep you in the Luna’s office. I just need one pup from her and then you and I can go back to being together.”

Her wolf, Rosa, had whined in pain inside her mind, and Nora had gotten up and left the dining hall before they had come into it. Rushed out of the room, everyone in there would have heard him say it, or maybe they already knew how it was going to be for her here and just left her in the dark.

Her tears had fallen, she’d been so stupid as to think he loved her. Even though she had allowed herself to love him, she had given herself over completely to their Mate Bond and fallen for him in every way; only now it was all a lie. All he wanted was an heir, and then he was either going to get rid of her, or betray her and their mate-bond. She didn’t know which it was.

She had returned to their suite, and looked around it. No, this was not their suite, this was the Alpha’s suite, his suite, and she wondered why she was even in it, why he had bother to claim her at all. When he was in love with another, why didn’t he just Mark and Mate that she-wolf years ago? It would have been better for him, and he could have just told her the truth when scenting her out. That he already had a mate and wanted to keep her, rejected Nora, it would have been so easy, and that was how it was done.

She would have dealt with it, it wouldn’t have been very nice, but she’d have understood. Nora knew Gloria, the woman was always nice to her, but now with this news, what was she supposed to do, just produce him an heir and let him trod all over her. Likely take that child, reject her and keep it for himself so that he and Gloria could raise it together as their child. She stood there not really knowing what to do anymore. She wasn’t meant to overhear that conversation, and she knew it.

Five weeks she’d been here, the full moon had come and gone, and she’d told her parents the Luna Ceremony hadn’t been organized as yet. He was very busy and needed to find time. It would likely be two more moons away because the next one was a mating ball that was already prearranged to be held. He couldn’t put it off, because that was what he’d told her.

She’d just learned right at that very minute, that there was never going to be a Luna Ceremony for her, because Gloria was the Luna to this pack. That it was all a lie, everything was just a lie. He used her body for the pleasure of the mate bond and to try and get an heir from her only. It wasn’t just her that was upset. Rosa was too, though they’d heard his wolf loved hers, that didn’t change the fact that Nora herself was just something to grow an heir for him and be discarded after it was born.

She’d watched him act as though nothing was wrong that day, that he could come into this suite, climb into their bed and kiss and touch her, made her feel wanted and loved, and she stupidly fell for it, and she tried to convince herself what she’d heard him say wasn’t true. That maybe he just needed more time with her to let their mate bond grow and flourish, and she made the decision to try and bring him to her; like his wolf was to hers.

But as the weeks rolled by, it was true: she couldn’t keep him by her side. He spent all his time in his office or with Gloria attending to the pack, and not once had she been asked to go and attend Luna Lessons. Gloria paid her no attention whatsoever. It was almost as though she didn’t even exist for him except for in his suite, in his bed. That was all she was here for, to make him stronger, because she was his Goddess-Gifted.

CH 2 She set herself up a study room in one of the spare bedrooms inside the Alpha suite. Her online studies were about to start up again; the new semester was here. She would bury herself in her studies during the day, to keep from trying to go down there and be a part of Jace's world anymore.

There was she knew, no point in it anymore, but she wouldn’t just leave, no. Gloria had to suffer for her part in all of this and staying there inside this suite, being Jace’s Mate even though he didn’t deserve it, meant that she-wolf down there wanting what was gifted to Nora, from Selena herself, deserved to have the pain of knowing how it felt to be heartbroken and jealous of the woman in the Alpha’s bed. Just like Nora was now heartbroken over Gloria being the Alpha’s Luna.

She would stay and say nothing to anyone, not even her parents or former Alpha, because she didn’t want to tell them how very wrong she had been. How stupid and naïve she was to think that she, a simple warrior’s daughter, could keep an Alpha for a mate. So, she would bear with it, and although she wanted to get away from him, a part of her wanted to believe that it would change in time, and he’d succumb to the mate bond, and love her like his wolf Hydro loved her wolf, Rosa.

She knew that a big part of her didn’t want to give him up. Rosa didn’t want to give up her wolfen mate either. They had been gifted to them by the Moon Goddess herself. There had to be a reason for that. She had to trust in the Moon Goddess for now. She had surely paired them up for a good reason.

So, she persevered, smiled at him and tried to show him that she loved him, wanted to be his Mate and Luna, but to no avail, because just three weeks after that horrid day of hearing him voice he didn't love her, it was just a mate bond and nothing more, was when she’d felt it; the first time, when he touched another with affection, touched Gloria and she knew it.

Her face had suddenly burned like fire all down the left side and pain had ripped from her temple to her chin, as he’d lovingly touched or caressed Gloria’s face. He’d not had sx with Gloria, and she wondered if he thought that one caress had gotten past their mate bond, because she didn’t run down there and accuse him of betraying her. No, she just sat in her study room and let the tears spill down her face as she came to the full realization that it was never going to work between them. He would never ever love her. She was his Mate but not his Luna.

He could still come into this suite and lay hands on her as though he’d not caused her pain and her stupid body betrayed her to their mate bond. Her wolf called to his to try and strengthen their own bond to have Jace feel it and connect to Nora but no, it was his wolf that mated hers and then nothing. Jace hadn’t touched Nora at all.

Then there was pain to her arm a few days later and on it went. He didn’t think she knew, and so he was off doing what he wanted, touching Gloria with the intent of being affectionate, or loving, and she felt it all. Though he didn’t kiss her or have sx with her, but Nora and Rosa felt every time Jace touched Gloria briefly or long, it cut into them and stabbed at them every single time, and he pleaded ignorance to knowing she had to have felt it. Everyone knew touching another meant your Mate felt it as pain.

Then she saw it happen right before her very eyes. Jace was standing in the doorway to his office. He was smiling at Gloria. As his hand reached out and brushed a few loose strands of her hair back behind her ear, and she’d felt it, the searing pain of his betrayal of their Mate Bond. It was a loving act towards the woman he loved and right before her very eyes.

Nora had been coming down the stairs and had stopped and looked at him, her Mate. Who was looking lovingly at the woman before him. That wasn’t her, his Mate, but it was his Luna. She didn’t think she’d ever seen him look at her like that bar that first time he’d scented her out. Even now, she knew that had been a lie, just to get her to agree to be his mate and come here.

He was down there for all inside this pack to see, openly touching another she-wolf, uncaring of how it affected her, or who saw it and would talk about it. She’d gritted her teeth against the pain, even as tears brimmed, as others in the packhouse foyer saw it like she did. Jace did not care who knew, she’d not had to suffer the full pain of him mating Gloria yet, but from what she was seeing, it was only a matter of time.

Rosa was gone, to the darkness of her mind as she too saw it and felt the pain, realizing Jace was never going to care about them, and there was no calling her back. She wouldn’t come and when that pack run came two weeks later. Nora had not shown up for it. He’d mind-linked to her about where she was, it was the pack run, and she’d stated, “I’ve sprained my ankle just a little while ago. Have Gloria run it with you, like she used to.”

Only to have him state “Alright.” And disconnect the link.

He’d not even asked what had happened, or if she was alright? He didn’t seem to care, she’d sat there in their suite and more tears had fallen, at his lack of concern. Even though she knew why he didn’t care, it didn’t stop her from feeling pain every time she felt it or heard it, thought about it.

Nora knew that he was happy to have Gloria run it with him, because that was who he really wanted next to him. She was she realized just there for Mate Bond sx with him, and to produce him an heir and nothing more. No more did she hope to try and keep him, no more did Rosa try to grow a stronger bond with his wolf; her own wolfen Mate.

Finally, she’d accepted it, as had her wolf. They were nothing to Jace and never would be. They were just his Mate but never to be his Luna. She’d left their room that night, stayed in her little study zone and fell asleep there. She didn’t see a point to being in his bed, her body was the only thing of use to him.

So, she focused herself on her studies and committed herself to them fully. Spending her days that semester in the corner of a pack library, or her study room and avoided him all the time. Not that he noticed or even cared that she was suddenly gone from him all the time, that she never mind-linked to him for anything, didn’t even eat meals with him. He never came looking for her during the day, only after he was ready to retire for the night.

Though falling asleep before he came to bed was something she learned she needed to avoid, because he could, it seem, wake her from sleep with his touches and kisses, and have her stupid body betray her to him. His words about how much he wanted her, something though she knew was a lie, seemed to still crave to hear from him. She couldn't, it seemed, say no to the man when in her half-addled sleeping state.

She took calls from her parents about how things were going and told them everything was fine, even when it was anything but. This was her life and her Mate Bond to deal with. She didn’t want them to worry. She would find a way to leave on her terms, and she was not going to give him an heir.

She would stay and make Gloria suffer the knowledge that Jace was retiring to his suite every night and mating his Mate instead of his Luna. She knew that she-wolf had to hate knowing it, be completely jealous of it, that she was just biding her time until Nora was pregnant and birthed an heir to the pack before getting Jace for herself.

They were both cruel wolves that deserved to suffer, and she would make them for as long as she could possibly stand it herself. She’d brace herself against those moments when he touched Gloria and, if he had the audacity to have sx with her, she would stumble out into the pack or common area, and allow everyone inside this pack to see what he was putting her through.

Nora knew that she was just waiting for that very thing to happen, and even had a plan for when it did. It would be her way of extracting revenge upon him, and have his own pack see him as an Alpha not worth his title. So, she could deal with it until then, he wouldn’t browbeat her or make her a doormat to wipe his feet on. She would get her revenge.

CH 3 Nora was trotting down the stairs talking to her father on the phone. She was heading off to have lunch with him. She had been here putting up with Jace and his attentions at night but also trying to avoid it at the same time, by telling him she had to study, and that she would come to bed later. When she didn’t really have any intention of doing that and would simply sleep in her study room.

He’d stared at her a few times this week, like he wanted to ask her something in the suite before he’d left to go to his office, but she’d just shrugged it off with a “sorry I must have fallen asleep at the computer.” She would tell him and then walked off out of the suite altogether or had just pleaded ignorance to his look, as though she’d not even seen it.

She saw no point in talking to him or explaining herself to him. He knew what he was doing, had to know she knew it as well, yet sometimes those narrowed eyes of his would land on her as if wanting her to explain her lack of being in his bed to him. It was very simple in her eyes; she didn’t belong there even though she was his Mate.

When he did decide to ask her what she was doing or where she was going in passing, she always stated, “I’ve got a class to attend” or “I’ve got a study group to attend.” and moved on away from him, heading for either the library or her study room. It was also the truth of the matter: she did actually have classes to attend and study to do; if he bothered to check that was, not that he had or not asked her anyway.

She would not let him and his betrayal affect her attaining her degree. No, she was going to have something to fall back on or continue to do when she left this pack. But today her parents were coming to town, and she was off to have lunch with them outside of the pack. They’d wanted to drop by for a visit, but she’d told them there was a nice place to eat outside the pack, and she’d meet them there.

Today, Nora was dressed a little differently to her normal pack attire, a little more on the dressy side, and she knew it, trying to look her best for her parents so that they wouldn’t pick up on that something was wrong with her Mate Bond.

Although she’d seen Jace walking through the foyer, as she’d come down the last set of stairs, she’d ignored him, kept her conversation with her father going and her eyes steadfastly off Jace. Something that was actually getting easier to do by the day. She was treating him the way he always did her, she thought, as if he didn’t exist outside of the suite.

That was probably why he was looking at her in the mornings sometimes, but he’d started it, and she was just following his lead or that’s how she planned to explain it, if he ever actually asked her what her problem was, though she didn’t think he would, or more likely didn’t care to.

Although today she could actually feel his attention was on her. But she was on the phone talking happily to her dad about catching up with him and her mother, and she was certain it was her dress code that caught his eye, not her, herself.

Today she was wearing a simple but nice blue dress and was wearing low heels. She'd even put on make-up, and looked and sounded happy and cheerful. As though she didn’t have a care in the world, because that was how she wanted her parents to see her. When normally she dressed in jeans and nice tops, a pair of runners or walked about barefoot.

Gloria always dressed in nice clothes, and had her hair and nails done. She wore nice jewelry, and she’d seen her out in the pack, swipe that Luna’s card to pay for her lunch with the girls she’d been out with. Even with Nora right there, she had likely done it on purpose, Nora had thought. The lady that had taken the payment had looked at her somewhat guiltily.

Nora had ignored it. She’d been in the café inside the pack with a study book to read, not wanting to be near Jace or Gloria in the packhouse. She knew why Gloria did it. She had seen that woman look at her as she’d come into the café even, she had probably come in here on purpose just to do that to her and reinforce her position at Jace’s side.

Nora had not even been given a pack card with her name on it, and she’d been here two solid months now and nothing. Jace didn’t care to give her anything that was certain. She was still using the money she’d earned for herself from her old pack, from tutoring the pack's kids that needed it. She was just lucky that she had gotten a scholarship to her university of choice, so at least she didn’t have to worry about paying for that on her own and not being able to afford it.

As long as she maintained her grade point average on the scholarship, she would be able to continue it next semester. Although she was already making plans to move on campus for that, she wasn’t needed inside this pack for anything at all. She was just there to warm the Alpha’s bed until he got that heir, and she knew it.

She was just about to get in her car when Jace called her name, “Nora, where are you going?” It seems he was curious today. Maybe he didn’t like the fact she was leaving pack territory, who the hell knew?

“Out to have lunch with my parents. They’re in town.” She called over her shoulder as she unlocked her car.

“Do you want me to go with you?” he asked.

Nora actually stopped and looked at him and wondered why on earth he would ask that question. “No” she answered him “You’re busy, go do what it is you as the Alpha does during the day.” She’d stated and saw him frown right at her, and her dismissive answer to his question.

But she had no idea what he did. He’d never once tried to explain to her what his pack ran into or the human businesses that he had. She wasn’t his Luna, so she didn’t need to know, was how she took it. She was also now just biding her time on that rejection she knew she was going to issue before leaving to live on campus.

That was still pending for her, and she was hoping she’d be notified of this soon, though she’d still have to wait until this semester was over, and that new semester started, but her life here was quiet for the most part. She’d stopped interacting with the pack members. That was just too humiliating for her, considering Jace didn’t care who in the pack saw the way he touched Gloria. So she was solely focusing all her attention on her studies all day, every day.

She’d heard many of the pack members call Gloria, Luna, over the past two months, and she was addressed as just Nora. She hadn’t originally minded it, but now that she knew the truth of the matter. And although it had really hurt in the beginning, she had made herself get used to hearing those very words. That helped to keep her grounded and showed her just how right she was.

She considered herself nothing more than a regular pack member, and one that was planning on leaving the moment she had somewhere to go. Though she wasn’t going back to her old pack, she would feel ashamed; that she couldn’t even keep her Mate interested in her. Barely a month after being mated to him, some she knew would state ‘well what can she expect she is just a lowly ranked warriors’ daughter’.

“I should go with you when you see your parents,” Jace stated, walking towards her now.

“Why?” she’d asked. As she saw Gloria come out of the packhouse and called his name, he turned to face Gloria, and Nora took the opportunity to get in her car and drive away from him. She wondered briefly if he thought she would tell her parents about the fact that she wasn’t his actual Luna.

Did he want to be there just to put on a show for her parents? She was not interested in doing that at all. She had enough issues with them asking about her Luna Ceremony and when it was going to be; she’d been here for two months now, and still there hadn’t been any invitations sent out for it.

It was something she was going to struggle to come up with an answer to at some point, considering she’d told them this month was a mating ball but come the next full moon, what was her excuse going to be? Telling them that he was always just too busy didn’t really cut it in their world.

Alphas, she knew put off everything to thank the Moon Goddess for gifting them a Mate to love and cherish. But that was not something she was going to get from him, and even if by some miracle he did offer to do it, because her parents called him and asked him about it, she knew he wouldn’t mean it.

Because he’d not brought it up once in the entire time she’d been there. She’d rather it not be brought up by her parents to him and have him lie about it. Which would see her have to lie about it as well, so it was best that he just stayed away from them. He did not need to have, to have anything to do with them or they, him.

CH 4 Nora smiled at her parents as she walked into the restaurant. They were already there and waiting for her. She raised a hand and waved to them, then she had just hugged them really tight to herself. She was actually really happy to see them, people that loved her and would never treat her terribly. She missed the days of living in a pack surrounded by friends and people she could actually trust.

She’d also felt, for the first time in weeks, that Rosa her wolf had come forward in her mind. It had happened not long after they’d driven out of the pack, and now her wolf was up inside her mind, happy to see their parents as well. Rosa sat inside her mind and watched them the entire time they were having their meal.

It was clear to Nora that Rosa also missed her parents and wanted to see and spend time with them. So not only would they have lunch, but she’d order dessert and coffee. They might go for a long walk as well, spend more time outside the pack and feel normal, she supposed, out of sight for her meant out of mind, and that was her attitude right that minute.

She talked near non-stop about her degree and how well it was going, that she thought she was going to ace one of the classes this semester. There was nothing more she liked than talking to her loving parents about how well she was doing at university. They were also proud of her, and how well she was doing.

She encouraged them to tell her about pack life back home, and heard things were going well for both her parents, and then she was reminded on that casual stroll through a large park that her little sister Nita was turning 16 next week, and that she should come home to be there for Nita’s wolf emergence the following full moon.

Nora smiled and nodded. “Of course I will be there; I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Does she know anything about her wolf yet?” she’d asked. She had been able to talk to Rosa three weeks prior to getting her.

“No, but we know she’ll get her wolf, just like you did.” Her mother had smiled.

“Now Nora, will you be bringing Jace with you?” her father had asked her as they’d come to their car, but before getting into it.

She’d managed to keep the conversation off that man for all of their lunch, and their walk, but here it was the question she didn’t want to have to deal with. “No, sorry, he’ll be off to a mating ball in one of his allied packs.” she stated, and he would be, that was good for her, she would get to have three days without having to concern herself with worrying she would wake up to find him touching her.

She’d been able to put him off a few times by telling him she had to study, and just stayed in the pack library, and had actually slept in there a few times, just to avoid going to bed in the Alpha suite, she’d gotten an annoyed look from him on each occasion, but she had turned her eyes away from him and murmured and apology of “I’m sorry I fell asleep while studying.” Bowed her head to him like a good little pack member would, though she did know it was something a Luna never had to do to their Alpha Mate.

He’d not told her not to do that to him, likely wanted her to be submissive and bow down to him at all times, showed him that he had control over her, which was what she wanted him to think. So, he thought he was getting everything he wanted, his Mate and his Luna too. Only he no longer had her heart, it was turning cold and filling with bitterness where he was concerned.

This excuse for her not going to bed with him because she’d fallen asleep while studying, it was her saving grace two or three nights a week. A few times she’d outright lied to him, and told him she was hanging out with some girls having a movie night in the packs theatre, not to wait up for her at all.

He just disconnected the mind-link with her each time she’d done that, though she’d felt his annoyance come through that link before it was severed. He couldn’t get her pregnant if she wasn’t in his bed, and she thought he was annoyed by that very thing. Considering it was all he wanted from her.

Nora also knew that she didn’t really have to concern herself with him trying to feel out what it was she was feeling, through the mate bond tether, because he didn’t truly care at all about knowing what she felt. She was still having to put up with him touching Gloria, and it reminded her every single time that he didn’t care at all. It was on a daily basis now, sometimes more than once, he really was a bastard of a Mate.

She just hoped he had the common sense to not do anything with that she-wolf today. When she was out there with her parents, she couldn’t help the hiss of pain at that first moment of him touching Gloria. She never knew when it was going to happen and couldn’t help her reaction to it. She could bear it a few seconds later, but she knew her parents would understand exactly what it was, if they heard her hiss in pain for no reason.

His Gamma had stopped and stared at her once, just two weeks ago, as she’d gasped in pain when walking down the hall to the library. He’d been coming down the hallway with a book in his hand himself, his eyes on the page he was interested in, when he’d heard it and his head had snapped up.

She had felt those pains of betrayal sting her lower lip and wondered if Jace had kissed Gloria or run his thumb over her mouth. It had been brief, thankfully, but she’d actually bitten her lip and drawn blood. She had looked at Matt, her so-called Gamma, but really, he was Gloria’s, and his sudden and undivided attention was on her.

She’d muttered, “Bit my bloody lip.” Which was true she had, could taste the blood, and then she’d moved on away from him hurriedly, before he picked up anything else from her. She didn’t need him trying to comfort her when he knew what his own Alpha was doing to her. She didn’t want anything to do with any of them and didn’t want that Gamma trying to comfort her when he didn’t truly care about her either.

Nora saw her father frown right at her answer. He’d been expecting her to say yes, because what Luna traveled alone to her home pack without her Alpha Mate. It was practically unheard of in their world. Alphas were possessive and protective creatures and protecting their Luna was their top priority.

She wondered absently what would happen if the pack was attacked, and she wasn’t in the packhouse. Would Gloria just lock it down without her inside it? Likely so, she thought after only a minute. If she didn’t exist, Jace would be all hers and that was what Gloria wanted.

“He’s just very busy,” she half smiled at him. “He is 130 years old and everything inside his pack is pre-planned out for months in advance, so sometimes things can’t be helped is all. I understand that,” she stated, and managed a proper smile for both her mother and father. “I will tell him where I’m going, and if he has concerns, I’m certain he’ll make sure I have a full escort. But I know he won’t begrudge me seeing my sister shift for the first time. It’s big in all families to see your siblings shift and bond with their wolves.”

Her father had stared at her for a moment, and then just nodded slowly. “Alright, you’d tell us if something was wrong, right?” he’d asked.

She smiled and turned herself around. “Do I look unhealthy to you?” she smiled, though she’d lost a few kilos that could be put down to a new and vigorous mate bond, all the bedroom activity that was going on. She’d actually slimmed down a little and her figure that had been fuller when meeting Jace was now more wolfen of trim taught and terrific, though not for the reasons everyone thought.

Both her parents had nodded, she wasn’t withering away, regardless of the fact that her Mate didn’t love her. No, she was stubbornly holding herself together, she would not fall apart while inside that pack. No, she would wait until it was all over, and she’d left where he could never see that he’d hurt her at all.

She would be strong to the bitter end, and show him even after she was gone that she would have made a formidable Luna, but he’d not cared to love and cherish her. She was going to make him suffer the loss of her on her terms. Then she was going to do something with her life and be a strong, unyielding woman and show him what he had lost. He would have regrets when he saw her years after they were over.

She hugged both her parents goodbye and walked back to her car, sat there and wondered if she should spend the entire afternoon and some of the evening away from the pack. Out here she had Rosa with her, and that was a very nice feeling. She’d not felt her in weeks. Being away from that place was good for her wolf. "Rosa?" she asked.

Ch 5 Mid-semester exam week was here, and she’d sat in her study room all day every day and studied and attended her exams, and when Jace came looking for her late at night, she was buried in a pile of books and told him she had exams nearly every day, so that was her priority right this minute.

She had actively stated no to sx when he’d stated, “don’t you want to come to bed,” and that soft husky note had rolled out of him as he’d implied he wanted to have sx. “You’ll be all relaxed in the morning, better for your exam.” He’d murmured by way of trying to convince her to go to bed with him.

“I need to study. That is more important to me than having s*x,” she’d stated without looking up at him.

There had been dead silence from him for a solid minute, and then he’d grated out “Right.” and she’d heard him stalk off and bang into their bedroom, like he was ticked off; she highly doubted that he was. It was his wolf nine times out of ten that was in that bed. Jace didn’t want her at all.

Was only interested in Gloria and couldn’t have her right now because she, Nora, had yet to conceive the heir he wanted that would be stronger from a Goddess-Gifted pair was all. She sighed softly to herself as she’d heard the door bang, but then had thought just a second later, yes, let him be cranky about not getting what he wanted.

She wondered if he only didn't go off and have sx with Gloria, because he thought it might push her over the line, and see her actively reject him before he got what he wanted from her. He didn’t actually know her at all. Nothing about her temperament because he’d never bothered to get to know her.

Jace had no idea if she would hide in her room and deal with the pains of betrayal, call for help down the mind-link to one of his unit or the pack doctor perhaps. He had no idea if she was the type of she-wolf who would in fact stumble out of the suite in her pain, and scream and cry in agony, and let the pack know just how cruel he was by betraying their mate bond.

And he was cruel all the time, because he used their mate bond to pull her into his bed, allow his wolf to sate all its needs with her body, and when he himself decided his own needs were too high to ignore, he too used her body to sate himself.

A part of Nora wondered if Jace imagined she was Gloria when he was touching her. It was likely she thought, because they looked absolutely nothing alike. She was short at five six and had long thick black hair, with a naturally dark olive skin tone, and she had light amber brown eyes. She’d had nice curves when he’d met her. Now she was thin with an athletic build instead of curvy, she’d actually liked her curves.

Gloria was tall, a she-wolf that stood five-eleven without shoes on, six feet with heels on, and she had long blonde wavy hair that fell to her waist, even up in a ponytail. It neatly hung to her waist and she had light blue eyes, much the same as Jace himself.

Though her figure compared to Gloria’s, she thought hers was better. Gloria was likely to be a size six with small breasts and practically no ass at all. Whereas Nora wore size 8, she had good-sized breasts and her ass, though not as plump as before, still had a curve to it. She looked good in a fitted dress, had curves that drew the attention of man’s gazes.

Jace had told her he’d loved her body when he’d first met her, and she’d believed him, because his hands and mouth had been all over her curves. He’d cupped her breasts. They’d fit perfectly into his hands and he’d grabbed her ass and groaned. She’d believed him right up until that fateful day of hearing him tell Gloria it was just the mate bond, tearing her whole world apart.

She found Jace standing next to her in the library this morning, almost glaring down at her. It had been four days since she’d been in their bed, four days of her sleeping in her study room surrounded by her books and tutorial papers. “What?” she asked, looking up at him from her cross-legged position on the library floor.

She’d found herself a nice quiet corner in the pack library, where the books were old and a little dusty, indicating that no one came down here and perused them. Which meant to her that she could simply sit and be alone and no one would see her, and she wouldn’t have to interact with anyone from this pack.

The librarian often asked if she needed something. Nora just shook her head and stated, “I’ll find it myself,” and moved on away from her. The woman looked at her just like the owner of the pack café in town did. With an apologetic look of 'I know what’s going on'. The pack members here pitied her, and she wondered if they believed she was young and oblivious to it all, or if they’d noticed she was never anywhere near their Alpha anymore.

“You’re studying once more?” he’d asked, “It’s all you ever do, don’t you care about anything else?”

“I’ve got my final mid-semester exam in like 10 minutes.” She glared up at him, because what did it matter what she cared about? She was under no illusion as to what he meant. Don’t you care to produce me an heir? That is all he meant.

“Or do you want me to be uneducated?” she’d half grated out herself. She was over him, always blaming her for the things that were wrong with their mate bond. For her not wanting to be in his bed or at his side. When he only ever came to her when he wanted to have sx.

It was as if she was just his glorified w**e, but without the glorified part, he’d not so much as bought her a single thing or given her a pack card. She didn’t even really feel like a pack member anymore, because he hadn’t even asked her what she was studying or offered to take over the payments of it.

Like any Alpha Mate would normally do, hell even just as the pack Alpha they would discuss the education of new pack members to see what they were studying and see what needed to be organized. If the pack member needed to be transferred to a closer university, and organize the payments from the pack, and have it paid back over the first few years of their pack member working; a contract to take it from their wages.

Jace hadn’t even bothered to ask her what it was she was studying, and she knew why, because not only didn’t he care to know, he saw no reason in paying for it, because once they had their pup, he was likely going to just reject her and banish her from the pack.

She’d seen his eyes move to her laptop screen as though he didn’t believe her, and she turned it to face him directly, tilted the screen so he could even see it and stated, “What? Do you think I’m lying about studying? You knew I was in my first year of a university degree when you met me. But yes, go ahead and accuse me of lying about needing to study.” She shot at him angrily.

His eyes moved right to hers and anger flashed on his face. “Don’t speak to me like that. I asked a simple question, and looked for clarification is all. Don’t be so childish Nora. I’ve also noticed that you always have books around you,” he turned and looked at where she was. “Alone with just books.” He swept his hand to the isle she was in. “Could you find a place further from where any of the pack members sit?”

“So, what?” She bit out. “Should I give up my studies and just get pregnant and produce you an heir? Is that all you want from me? You're happy to have a Mate that’s dumb and uneducated, are you? is just a baby-making machine.” She dared to challenge him on what she knew to be the actual truth.

She’d watched his eyes meet hers and, for once, she didn’t care to see the anger in his aimed at her for him not getting what he wanted. What did it matter anymore? And maybe her outing what she knew about their relationship or the nonexistence of one, he’d just reject her. He’d just told her how he actually felt about her; she was just a childish she-wolf to him.

At least she knew now how he looked at her. Yes, she was 110 years younger than him and so, she supposed, she was a child to him, but if he didn’t like it, he shouldn’t have claimed her, marked and mated her, brought her here just to screw her over.

“If you don’t mind, I’ve got an exam in eight minutes now.” She’d muttered and then just pulled on her headphones and turned her attention back to her exam, that she was sitting there waiting to start. She saw him in her peripheral vision, turn and walk away from her, and she was glad of it; she focused herself on her upcoming exam.

She smiled when it was finished. She was certain that she had aced it, and that she was going to get her first 4.0. She just knew it. She was very happy about that, and proud of herself too. She’d always been a good student, but this, if she could get that 4.0 on her mid-semester exams, that would be amazing. She was excited and anxious about the results coming out in ten days’ time.

CH 6 She took herself into the city for her birthday when not even Jace knew it was upon them. She’d just turned 20, and he’d said nothing at all, not even so much as a happy birthday. She knew why, because he didn’t even know when it was.

She knew when his was; June 12. She knew what his favorite food was, baby back ribs with a tangy mustard BBQ sauce. His favorite suit was the double-breasted navy blue that he wore into the city to his human world office. He had five of them identical to each other, that he just switched out the shirt and tie.

She’d learned a lot about him in those first five weeks, asked a lot of questions about him and what he liked. Though now, as she sat in a café alone, by herself for her birthday and stared at the piece of chocolate mousse cheesecake she’d bought for herself, she realized he’d not asked anything about her in return.

“Happy Birthday, Nora.” She murmured to herself and made herself eat that cake even though she really didn’t feel like it, wanted to just smash it and scream out loud, before bursting into tears at the way her life had turned out, here in the human world where she didn’t have to hide how she felt when inside that pack.

She spent the day out just walking around the shopping center looking at things, window shopping. She’d checked her bank balance, thinking about buying herself a present and then decided against it. She knew she needed to save every penny for her leaving pack life in a few months’ time when that new semester started. So she only allowed herself to buy that piece of cake and a latte to go with it.

But she would be damned if she’d be in the pack for her birthday when no one knew about it, or cared about her at all. So, she would spend the day just her and Rosa, looking at pretty dresses and clothes that one day, far off in the future, she would be able to afford for herself, when she had finished her degree and had a job of her own.

Driving back to the pack later in the afternoon, she saw a sign for the botanical gardens and, seeing that she nor Rosa weren’t really ready to go back there, she pulled into the parking lot and just walked about looking at the gardens.

She was still doing this when her parents called to wish her a happy birthday. She smiled and thanked them, asked how they were and put them off, when they asked what Jace had given her for her birthday.

“I don’t know yet,” she stated simply, and then followed it up with, “He’s in the city at the office. It will come in the evening with dinner,” is all she said as she sat herself down under the shade of a large tree. Again, she was lying to them. It was all she ever seemed to do nowadays, because she didn’t want to tell them the truth.

There was no present coming her way, and she knew it. She closed her eyes as she leaned on that tree and changed the subject to her studies. How she thought she was going to ace that last exam, and was hoping the results would push her to her first ever 4.0.

They both chuckled at her excitement over it, and even she could hear the happiness in her voice about it. Her studies were her one solace right this minute, the one thing in her life that brought her joy inside that pack. So, she let it fill her up and allowed her parents to hear it all. It was kind of her normal, so it led them to believe she was all good and kept the lies she was telling them from being picked up.

Because how could one be so super-happy and full of excitement when their entire life was a lie and misery lived in her soul, that her own Wolf wouldn’t surface while inside the pack, only when outside of it.

They’d not asked she noted about her Luna Ceremony, not once brought it up during this conversation either. It was likely they knew something was off, but with her being so happy about her studies and telling them nothing was wrong, they were leaving her alone.

They were, she thought, now just waiting for her to either tell them, when she was ready, that something was wrong, or maybe they thought things were still being sorted out. Not all Mate bonds were perfect, and Jace was a lot older than she was; there was a massive age gap. So sometimes there was an adjustment period that was needed when that happened.

They could well think she was busy attending to Luna Lessons, not that Jace had brought it up even once. He had a Luna in that office and if she happened to walk past it, Gloria was only too happy to remind her she was the Luna. She had gotten up and closed the Luna’s office door on her once, looked right at her and stated, “Please don’t interrupt the Luna’s business, it’s not for you to do.” Gloria had been in there with one of her friends at the time.

Nora had simply been walking past, hadn’t been going to interrupt at all. She understood very well what her place inside this pack was. She leaned on a tree after the call to her parents ended and wondered what Jace would do the day she opted to reject him. Wondered how he was going to feel when she opted to go home in a few weeks without him.

Would she even tell him she was going home? She didn’t know. He wasn’t going to be there away himself, she could just leave after he did. He’d likely never even know. She doubted Gloria would call him and tell him, she would just be glad to have her gone from the pack, and Nora knew it.

She’d not lied to her parents about him going to be away in another pack for a mating ball. Three months here in the pack and every full moon was fully booked for him to either have a mating ball or attend a mating ball.

She wondered what his reaction would be. A part of her was curious as to if he would be annoyed by her up and leaving or not. Or would he just blip over it altogether? Hell, for all she knew, he might just state “Go, have a nice time, spend a few more days there if you like.” so he could spend quality time with Gloria and not be concerned about her seeing it.

Hell, she wondered if she’d smell that woman in the Alpha Suite when she got back. It was likely, though if he caused her pains of betrayal while inside her home pack, she’d just opt not to go back at all. Her old Alpha would see to protecting her, and she knew it. He was a good man and would even accept her back into his pack for that very reason.

A part of Nora wanted Jace to do that, cheat on her while she was gone from the pack, have her parents see it, the Alpha see it and, when it was over, just have him initiate her back into her home pack. She might not be able to reject Jace without him being right in front of her, but he’d feel her sever from the pack even if there mate bond was still intact.

He’d also have to call her home pack and ask if she was there, because she wasn’t going to be picking up the phone. He’d have to talk to her Alpha, and she knew he’d be told she had gotten hit with the pains of betrayal, and opted to stay in her home pack and that he could come and reject her due to his unfaithful ways.

She wondered what he would do if he was not only outed to her old Alpha, but had to go to her to reject her. Would he go to her or would he just refuse it and continue to betray her, hell he could Mark and Mate Gloria and effectively destroy her, which would see him get what he wanted.

Another part of her just wanted to issue a rejection and get it all over and done with, but Gloria hadn’t suffered at all, she still had that man’s love and attention every damned day. She’d yet to find a way to hurt that woman, and she did want to for Rosa as well as herself.

Though if she walked into the packhouse today on her birthday and issued a rejection, would he stare at her completely shocked or would he just nod his head and accept it? Turn to Gloria and take that woman to his bed because he’d not been able to for months now.

She knew he wanted to, touched her often enough for Nora to know, he had run a hand through the woman’s hair just this morning, and he had walked with Gloria on his arm to his car for all to see, for Nora to see. Even today, on her birthday, she had to suffer through him touching another.

A part of her really wanted to touch someone else in the same manner, just to pay him back, but it wasn’t in her, she wasn’t going to be like him. No, she would not betray her mate bond and give him the excuse to call her unfaithful. But she would, she knew, make sure that the whole pack knew that he was before she left.

She hadn’t exactly figured it out yet, exactly what she was going to do or how she would do it, but she would show him she knew exactly who and what he was. Show that pack he was a lying, cheating asshole, that didn’t deserve to have a Goddess-Gifted Mate. He could have Gloria after she was gone, and Nora wouldn’t care to ever think about him again once she left.

CH 7 She’d arrived home well after dark to what appeared to be an annoyed Alpha, and she looked at him and asked “What?” as she went to walk on by him, why he was annoyed with her. She didn’t know, she’d not seen him today, not even had breakfast with him.

“You just vanish from the pack and don’t tell anyone where you’re going. That is very irresponsible of you,” he grated out, grabbing her by the arm to stop her from walking past him, uncaring of his annoyance.

“Is it, were you worried about me?” she asked right back and looked right at him with a surprised expression. He’d spent the day in the city himself, likely if he’d cared about her at all. He’d have actually been able to feel that she herself was in the city. But he’d clearly not pulled on his tether to her even once during the course of the day.

“Of course I was. What Mate wouldn’t be worried when their Mate just leaves the pack and is gone for a whole day and half the bloody night?” he grated out.

Nora moved her eyes past him to where she could see Gloria was leaning up against a wall just outside of the Alpha’s office, watching the two of them, watching as Jace rounded on her in full view of the pack, a fight between the Alpha and his Mate for all to see.

She saw Gloria’s mouth twitch up in one corner and knew that she-wolf had mentioned it to him and that was the only reason he knew that she’d been gone all day long. Gloria was, she thought, trying to instigate a real fight between them, but Nora didn’t care to argue with her Mate, didn’t actually see a need to. Gloria, however, enjoyed watching the way Jace treated her so poorly.

Took pleasure from it, is what Nora was seeing right at that minute. She could wipe that smug smile off that b**h’s face, with offering to fk him for all to hear, by way of an apology, but it was her birthday, and she didn’t want to ruin it for herself.

Her eyes moved back to Jace, and she looked up at him. This frown on his face now, that she was, was almost a constant now when he looked at her. She was not what he wanted, and dealing with her was not something he wanted either, she supposed, but maybe he thought he needed to pull her into line, and remind her who was in control of her, that being he as her Alpha.

She frowned right back at him, “I don’t understand why you say you were worried,” she shook her head, sounding confused, and then pulled her phone out. There were many pack members staring at the scene that was unfolding before them, in the foyer of the packhouse. Nearly two dozen of them, she clicked through her phone and frowned even deeper.

Then she looked back at him, a full frown of confusion on her face for all to see. “You never called me to ask where I was. In fact the only call I got today was from my mother,” she told him, and turned that screen to face him, showing her call log. “You didn’t call, your unit didn’t call, Gloria didn’t call me either.” She looked right at him questioningly “If you were worried about me? Then why didn’t you call me?” she asked, putting him on the spot for all here to hear.

She saw him turn and look at Gloria and frown at her now. Oh, so Gloria had claimed to have called her out of concern about her whereabouts had she. Dumb b**h didn’t think Nora had the balls to call her out. All she’d seen was Nora being submissive and staying out of sight of all that was going on, that she had hidden herself away, a scared, lonely girl that didn’t know what to do with all that was going on around her, where her mate was concerned.

She had this pack believing she was just going to put up with everything their Alpha did to her, had Gloria believing it as well it seemed, that was good for Nora. She tapped his arm when he didn’t answer her question. “Jace?” she asked. “Why are you so mad at me, yelling at me in front of the pack, when you yourself weren’t all that concerned about my whereabouts? Because if you were, you’d have called me yourself, would you not?” she offered up for all here to hear.

His eyes moved back to her. “Where were you?” he asked, though in a much more calmer manner, she noted, he'd reined in his temper, seeing as she'd called him out, and he knew she was right, but he’d ignored her question altogether, because he couldn’t answer it and she knew it.

“You were busy today, all day. You had morning training and then had breakfast with your unit and Gloria, and then headed into the city for work, I suppose.” She laid out his schedule as she’d seen it. Making sure that he and the pack knew that she knew what his day was filled with, she knew where her Mate was.

“So, I took myself out for the day. I had coffee and cake by myself, and then wandered about the botanical gardens, had dinner there at the restaurant by myself, because I heard you tell Gloria you had a dinner meeting, and would be back late, when she walked you to your car this morning.” She told him simply honestly, it was what she’d seen.

She saw his frown deepen at her words and her long explanation of what not only he’d done, but she’d done with herself all day today. He couldn’t understand why she was telling him everything. She could, however, see he was thinking about her very words, trying to figure out why, and she saw Matt look right at her, and held up her hand to stop him when she saw it dawn on him, what she was feeling.

Pissed off was how she felt, and she was thinking about it being her birthday. That was all he was getting from her and nothing more. She’d learned to guard her thoughts over the months, so for him this was all about her having to spend her birthday by herself. That her own Mate didn’t even know it was her birthday. ‘Leave it alone Matt.’ She shot down the mind-link to Jace’s Gamma, ‘It’s none of your concern.’

She saw Matt frown now and Jace turned to see who she was mind-linking to, and looked right back at her. He’d not missed the more than angry look she’d shot at Matt by way of warning him to stay out of it.

“What is going on?” Jace snapped at her.

She half laughed. “Hmm, that is a very good question now, isn’t it?” she nodded and turned and walked away from him. Why should she tell him anything when he didn’t care at all?

“Nora,” he grated out, “You may be my Mate, but you still have to explain yourself to me.”

She stopped walking at the foot of the stairs and turned to look right at him, knowing the pack members were still watching them. “Fine, do you really want to know?” she asked him pointedly and saw something flicker across his face, didn’t exactly know what it was, had stopped trying to understand him months ago “I took myself out for my birthday.” She stated for all to hear “I turned 20 today, took myself out for cake and dinner. Because you…” she murmured and actually heard the hitch in her voice as a part of her resolve cracked with what she was about to state for all to hear.

She saw his facial expression change now as he realized why she’d said everything and the way she had said it, because he’d not cared at all, and she wanted them to know it. “Were too busy, have yet to even say happy birthday to me.” she told him, and felt a single tear burn down her face, wiped it away and turned and walked up the stairs away from him.

She heard many gasps coming from the pack members. They all knew Mates liked to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries. It gave them a chance to spoil their Mate. What she’d done was tell everyone that he didn’t care to even know when her birthday was. That he had, in fact, spent the day, and she knew it with his unit and Gloria and then in the city away from her.

That he had, in fact, left her alone all day and then had the hide to ask where she was? Then yell at her in front of everyone, and for what? her wanting to celebrate her birthday. She’d seen all her life just how her Alpha back in her home pack had treated his Luna on her birthday. There were flowers and gifts, a whole day of just the two of them together. He would wine and dine her and the entire pack would wish her a happy birthday as they came across them out in the pack.

She’d gotten none of that, and although she had not expected anything of the kind from him, and she even knew Gloria’s birthday party was being organized already, it was going to be grand from all she’d heard. Lots of flowers and music, dancing, a big party just for the Luna in the ballroom. The whole pack was invited to come and dance the night away.

She ignored him, calling out to her. It was too late, he couldn’t even say he was going to surprise her with a gift or anything. She’d made sure that he understood, that she knew he didn’t know when her birthday was. That he didn’t care. Hell, the man didn’t even know or sense that Rosa was buried deep down inside of her on a daily basis. That she was practically non-existent when inside this pack. She might as well be considered wolf-less inside this pack, not that he'd noticed.

CH 8 She walked into the Alpha Suite and to her study room. One single tear was all that she had shed, and no others would there be. It may have hurt to say those very words out loud, but she’d already known the truth. She hadn’t even expected herself to hitch in her words or shed that tear before him, she’d told herself he would never see how she truly felt, because he didn’t deserve to know.

But there would be no more. That was it. She sank down at her study desk and turned on her laptop, logged into her course and read through the next assignment she had due, printed out all the details of it and started marking out what were the most important things she needed to focus on.

She hissed in pain and turned to stare at her own arm as she felt the pains of betrayal slide up it, and grit her teeth against it as her eyes turned to the ceiling. Even now, he would go and see Gloria, take comfort from her, when he was the one in the wrong.

She hadn’t expected him to come up here and apologize to her, not when she was nothing to him, but hadn’t expected him to cause her pains of betrayal yet again, knowing it was her birthday, he was likely trying to punish her for outing him to the pack she realized.

She knew just from that one thing, and the pain she felt that she was going to find him stalking into this very room, staring her down, an angry Alpha for humiliating him by calling him out in front of the pack members; he’d thought he was going to yell at her about her lack of care or concern for him, and she’d effectively turned the tables on him, and he didn't like it.

She wondered right now, just what type of Alpha he truly was, already touching another so as to make her feel it. Would he roar at her and hit her for humiliating him in front of his pack? Again, something he’d find wouldn’t go in his favor, because without Rosa it would bruise her, and she’d not be able to heal it. It would take a week or more without wolfen healing to resolve.

Nora would walk about the pack with it on show for all to see, and when or if someone asked her about it, she’d simply stated ‘Jace hit me for him not recalling my birthday and my stating it for all to hear.’

He would learn that her bark was worse than her bite, until the day came, when she did bite him for real, and tore a chunk right out of his heart and his soul. She would rip herself from him for all to see. This, what she was feeling, was nothing compared to what she wanted to do to him. She wanted to gut him with everything she had, but couldn’t, because she was currently as weak as a human, because Rosa wouldn’t be a part of the pack.

It was over an hour before she heard the door to her study room open, and she knew it was him. She didn’t even have to look at him to know it. She could feel his Alpha presence in the room, “Nora,” he murmured. “I’m sorry.” He sighed and walked into the room.

“So am I.” she stated flatly without looking at him, but she wasn’t sorry that he’d forgotten her birthday. She had never expected him to remember it in the first place. She was, however, sorry she’d allowed herself to be fooled by him, sorry that she had loved him, only to be betrayed by him from the very get go, betrayed before he’d even sunk his fangs into her and she knew it.

She was sorry that she was so naïve as to think that a mate bond meant love, that if she gave her love it would be returned to her. That, she now understood, is not what it meant at all. No, it was just their Goddess pairing up two of her wolves was all. Not pairing up the human counterparts; humans she knew were fickle and cruel, unreliable and mean even, to those they were supposed to love. Her human mate counterpart was all of those things.

She saw him in her peripheral vision as he knelt down next to where she sat, and his hand reached out to touch her face. She turned it away from him, not wanting him to touch her. He’d just come from touching Gloria. He could bloody go back to her for all she cared. “Don’t touch me,” she stated, keeping her eyes on her studies.

She saw the single red rose before her as he held it out to her. “I’m sorry, I forgot. Please forgive me,” he murmured, and though he sounded as if he truly meant it. She knew it was a lie, everything about him was a lie.

Nora knew he could sound like he loved her, fill his voice with desire and even allow it to reach his eyes, but it was not real, just the mate bond, not love. She pushed it away from her and turned herself away from him. “If you think a single flower which you took from the Luna’s office vase will fix this. You’d be wrong,” she told him, letting him know she knew where he’d gotten it from.

She knew at this time of night there was no way he could get a rose from any florist. It was Tuesday night and after nine o’clock, and the only place she ever saw red roses were in the Luna’s office. They were Gloria’s favorite flowers, and as far as Nora knew, no one else in the packhouse ever had red roses in a vase. They appeared to be exclusively for the Luna inside this pack.

“Nora, please, I’m trying to make it up to you.” he sighed softly.

“I don’t care for your apology, Jace, you had every intention of ripping me a new one downstairs when I came home.” Her eyes finally turned to lock with his “in front of everyone, your unit, Gloria, pack members as well, only you didn’t realize, you had nothing to back it up with. You were not worried about me at all, didn’t even know I wasn’t in the pack, did you!” It wasn’t a question but a statement, because she knew he didn’t.

She saw what she thought could pass for guilt cross his face, and knew in that instant she was indeed right. He’d had no idea at all, just took Gloria’s words for it, whatever they had been. “Just leave me alone. Oh! and just so you’re fully aware, I’m not interested in f*****g you tonight, and I won’t be sleeping in the same bed as you either. So just go away.”

She saw his eyes widen at her very direct words about how the rest of the night was going to go for him. He never used the word f*k, to describe wanting to bed her, he would say sx, and other times make love. More often than not, he’d just tell her he wanted her or needed her, and he could sound like he meant it as well. But it was nothing more than the mate bond.

She saw him stand up and turn and leave the room, took that rose with him, he even closed the door behind him quietly. She was kind of surprised that he didn’t bang it shut. Hell, she was surprised he’d not just unleashed fury on her for her words. But really, what could he expect from her? She’d laid it out and hit the nail on the head.

He’d even gone to Gloria before coming here to her, had the hide to present her with his Luna and the love of his life’s favorite flower. He wasn’t sorry at all. He was just trying to placate her because he’d not gotten her pregnant yet, and needed that from her before ending everything.

She pulled her headphones on and put on some music that matched her mood and just sat there and focused on her studies. They were going to save her, get her through this nightmare of a mate bond, the semester was half over, she could survive here for the other half of it. Putting herself through this now at this age was going to make her stronger, more resilient and headstrong. When it was all over, she would be able to deal with anything that anyone threw at her.

That was how she was looking at this part of her life. It might be painful to suffer here at the hands of an unloving Mate. But she wasn’t likely to get one again after rejecting a Goddess-Gifted. She thought about that. Would she even want one? No, she could become a wealthy architect and live her life as she saw fit.

Date anyone she wanted to, human or wolfen, hell any species she bloody well liked and live her life without a care as to if she got another mate or not. And she wouldn’t just blindly accept anyone at all ever again. No, if she was gifted another, and he wanted her, then he could prove it, the long hard way.

She wasn’t going to be letting anyone, Mark and Mate her again without being fully aware of who they were and what went on inside their pack. If that mate loved her, he would wait months to claim her, years of going unmarked and unmated if it was necessary for her to find out everything there was about them. Though she didn’t really care right that minute to have another one at all.

CH 9 Nora walked out of her study room the following morning to find two omegas standing in the living area of the suite. Both of them kind of just stared at her, and looked at where she’d come from. She could only guess they’d been expecting her to come out of the master bedroom, likely thought, just like everyone else in this pack, that she’d roll over and bow down to their Alpha.

She’d not been feeling for anyone in the suite other than Jace. There weren’t usually omegas in this suite until after nine, when Jace had officially started work for the day, and so she didn’t know they were there. She hadn’t been trying to sense anyone else.

Nora kind of came to a halt after seeing them, and although she’d woken up 30 minutes ago, she hadn’t come out of her study room until she’d felt Jace leave the suite altogether. He had morning training and was headed out there. She could feel that through their bond, so this was the safest time to go and shower and get changed without him trying anything on her.

He was well aware of the fact that he could seduce her using that mate bond of theirs. Even without Rosa, she still felt the sparks of their mate bond on her skin. He could still wake her up so gently, that she didn’t realize she was all turned on and wanting him, until it was too late, and her body was moving with his.

He knew exactly what he was doing to get what he wanted from her, could seduce her in her study room or pick up her sleeping body and move her to the master bedroom, as her mate the scent of him kept her asleep and lulled by him. He used that to his advantage. Though if he’d done that this morning, she’d likely have tried to beat the hell out of him.

“Can I help you?” she asked the two girls.

“The Alpha had us prepare a nice breakfast and said we should serve you,” one of them stated and stepped back, waved her hand at the door that led off towards the kitchen and dining area of the suite.

“No, thank you,” she stated simply and walked past them into the master bedroom to shower and changed for the day. She felt him pull on her tether while in that shower and realized he was on the move this way.

‘Oh, hell no’ she told herself, and got out dried off roughly and pulled on a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt, stepped out of the bedroom and into the living area as he pushed through the suite’s door. He blinked at seeing her fully clothed, and she just knew those omegas had told him where she was, likely he’d asked them too.

He was trying to seduce her, and she knew it. He stepped towards her as she was twisting her still-wet hair up into a loose knot. “Morning Nora.” He smiled at her and walked towards her. All charm this morning she could see, as could both the omegas still standing there in the living area, likely witnesses to him being all loving towards her. She took the opposite route around the living area, and actively stepped away from him.

Jace stopped walking and frowned at her, “Don’t be like that, I’m here to have breakfast with you.”

“I’m not hungry,” she stated right back. “Feel free to go and eat with your unit like you normally do,” she told him, and saw his eyes move to the omegas. Who the hell did he think he was fooling? Everyone knew he ate after training in the packhouse dining hall. She ate breakfast up here. They all thought she was asleep in the Alpha Suite. That’s what she’d heard him state once by way of an explanation as to why she did not have breakfast with him.

“You girls may leave,” Jace told the omegas, and she watched him wave them both off, though his eyes never left hers and the moment the door was closed he stated, “Are you trying to make the pack think there is something wrong between us?”

“No,” she answered simply, and she wasn’t. She didn’t bloody have to. They all saw him with Gloria all the time. He was doing a good enough job of that on his own. He didn’t need her help.

“Then what are you doing?” he asked, looking right at her. She’d come to a halt because there was a couch between them, and he didn’t look to be going to try to snag her. He wanted answers, it seemed, seeing as she got out of the shower before he’d gotten there.

“You’re not even dried properly,” he stated, his eyes moving over her, and she wasn’t and her hair was still dripping water from it.

“Maybe Jace, I’m still mad at you and didn’t want you to join me in the shower. Realized you were coming to do that, seduce me into forgiving you and opted out of it myself,” she told him.

His mouth curved into a smile, “You can’t say no, our bond is very strong,” he stated, and she heard it. He did know it was and was proud of it, happy about the fact that she could easily be seduced by him.

“Granted it is. But I’m not in the mood, and I’m not going to let you try either. Go and do whatever it is you as the Alpha are supposed to do inside your pack,” she stated.

“Oh no, you called me out yesterday in front of the entire pack, and I’m going to show them I’m apologetic about it. My attention for the entire day is going to be on you. Where you go, I will go.” He smiled right at her. “Breakfast, lunch and dinner, which I’ve organized everything for.”

“What for? There’s no special occasion today,” she countered.

“To make up for my mishap,” Jace stated, “Now you can either agree to it or I can trail you everywhere, and the pack will see you’re the one ignoring me, acting childish about it, when I’m trying to show you, I care.”

She thought about that as she stood staring at him, wondering if that was a good idea. He was likely to try and put his hands on her to prove to the pack they were still all good. That their mate bond was fine, that she was just being difficult. She saw a slow smile form on his face. She hated that he was tall and handsome, and even more so when he smiled. Sometimes she actually forgot what he looked like when he smiled at her like that.

Though a part of her wondered if he could actually do it, especially with Gloria in the pack, it was going to tick off the woman he actually loved, to see him with her all day. That thought alone made her want to do it. She’d love to see that annoyed, pissed-off expression on Gloria’s face at having to see Jace hanging around her and acting all lovingly towards her.

“I don’t really care if they think I’m being childish.” She shrugged it off. “Only a teenager would think I was being childish. No mated pair will,” she countered, “because they all spoil their Mate on their birthdays. So…” she half smiled. “You’ll look like you’re in the dog house, and they will understand it’s where you belong.”

His smile was gone in an instant. “Are you that set on humiliating me?” he bit out, and there he was, the Jace that no one saw but her. “For one error.”

One error she thought to herself comically, from what she recalled, there were at least five just from yesterday, forgot her birthday, yelled at her in front of everyone un-warrantedly, hit her with two lots of pains of betrayal, and then he had the hide to give her one of Gloria’s roses to try and apologize. Five errors in just one day, and on her birthday no less.

“I’m not humiliating you, you're insisting on trailing me everywhere when I’m not interested in talking to you about it at this point in time, because I’m still upset about it. That is, you fulfilling your own wants and needs. You want to do that, and why? To make me look childish to the pack.” she called him out on his very own words.

“So, it’s not an apology at all, you don’t feel sorry Jace, not one bit. This is not about that. This is just you trying to make me out to be the bad guy. You, yourself, just stated that plainly to my face. Do you think I’m so dumb that I would pick up on it?”

“What do you want from me then?” he stated, “I can’t fix it if you don’t let me.”

“Agreed.” She nodded. “But you know what, why should I? When you came in here last night and handed me a second-hand rose from Gloria’s office by way of apology. Should I accept that? Would any she-wolf in this pack accept another woman’s flower from her Mate as an apology?”

“Everything was bloody closed. Where the hell, was I supposed to get flowers for you at that time of the night?” he grated out at her.

“Hmm, isn’t there a pack garden in the center of town? You could have walked down there and hand-picked a bunch of flowers if you truly wanted to. You chose not to is all,” she stated, and saw his anger notch up.

“You’re bloody impossible right now,” he muttered, and then she watched him take a deep breath in, and calm himself. “I wasn’t thinking straight, Nora, and how could I when I saw your tears, and realized I have royally f****d up. I had hurt you and I didn’t know what to do about it. So, yes, I saw the roses in Gloria’s office and took one to give to you. Is it not the thought that counts?” He sighed.

CH 10 She thought about that, as she stood there staring at him; the thought that counts and, considering the pains of betrayal she’d gotten before that; no, it didn’t. It just added insult to her and what he’d already done, gone and spent time with Gloria. Which was likely his intent as well. For all she knew, it could have been Gloria who told him to give her one of them, knowing that Nora would understand they were the Luna’s flowers. That woman loved lording her position over Nora. I’m the Luna, and you're just his Mate until he gets what he wants.

“I’m not interested in you following me around to make me look like a spoiled selfish child in the pack's eyes, because you, as the Alpha, think that is what I need, because you forgot my birthday and I had the hide to point it out to you.” she shook her head. “But you go ahead and do whatever you please, this attitude your getting is your own fault. The attitude you have regarding that I need to be punished for your error, doesn’t make you endeared to me at all. It just shows me how little you want this pack to think of me,” she stated flatly.

She heard him snarl in frustration at her unwillingness to accept the blame for his error, and then he just banged out of the suite altogether. She sighed to herself and shook her head, for an Alpha he certainly couldn’t keep his calm and wasn’t that something they were supposed to be able to do. Stay calm in the face of an enemy.

She walked over and pushed the door to the kitchen and dining room open and there was a fully laid table in there, with covered dishes of food. She wondered if he even knew what she liked to eat for breakfast. She checked it and then left it there. The omegas he had organized to serve her, he could send up to clean it up and take it away.

She walked downstairs to the packhouse dining room and could feel him heading back to the training ground. He was done with her. So much for him trailing her everywhere until she forgave him. His words had all been faked sincerity, and he’d likely only stated them thinking she would see it as an apology, and she would smile and tell him it wasn’t necessary. She forgave him, because it was the thought that counts.

As she collected something to eat from the buffet table, Nora realized that the omegas had just taken food from down here up to the suite. He’d organized everything, had he? She shook her head. Yes, just gone out of his way to send food from the dining hall to the suite was all. There was nothing genuine about anything he did.

She saw Gloria come into the dining hall and smile at her. “Everything sorted out, Nora?” she asked with a happy smile in her voice.

“Yes, to my liking.” She answered simply and bit into her toast, smiled right back at her. She wasn’t at all upset over what had gone down this morning, she’d put that man in his place and with ease, and managed to tick him off as well. It would likely see her get a couple of days of peace and quiet. Maybe he’d just leave her alone altogether.

She watched that smile get wiped right off Gloria’s face and nearly laughed. She got up and took her morning coffee with her, walked right past Gloria getting her breakfast. ‘I foresee it being a wonderful day, for me… not so much for you.’ she shot down the mind-link fully amused and strolled outside.

Those two deserved each other, but they also deserved to feel her wrath, and it was coming. The more they did to her, the more she hated them, and with hatred came thoughts of revenge and how to do it.

She walked casually about the pack on her own, sipped her coffee and thought about how she could not only pay them back but extract proper revenge upon that Mate of hers. He needed to be taught a lesson in manners and respect. She sat and watched the children of the pack come from their homes and head for school and a thought occurred to her.

If Gloria and Jace were so in love, why is it that they hadn’t marked and mated each other in all the time she’d been the Luna to this pack? Hell, they could have had many pups by now. It was an oddity. He could have taken her for a chosen mate and had a pup with her or several.

Why had he not marked and mated Gloria at all when she knew he loved her? She had heard him state it herself. Watching all the children move about it was now a full curiosity for her… perhaps she thought... Gloria couldn’t have pups. Maybe something had happened to her to stop it, an injury, or she was infertile and, as the Alpha, he wouldn’t claim her officially due to that. There would be no heir if he did that.

So, they actually needed him to find his Goddess-Gifted Mate, Mark and Mate her, bring her here and have her produce that heir for the pack before getting rid of her and claiming each other. They were going to get rid of her, and he was going to bleed that pup to Gloria, and she just knew it.

Well, there would be no heir as far as she was concerned. He didn’t deserve one and if she got pregnant, she certainly wasn’t giving it up to be raised by an asshole and a real b**h that didn’t know what respect for others was. Hell, no.

She returned to the packhouse after nine, figuring that Mate of hers would have gone into the city by now. She wasn’t keeping track of him, only did that if she was in the suite or headed for a shower. She frowned when she saw his car out front of the packhouse, he was still here. Maybe she’d ticked Gloria off enough that she was ranting at him, wanting to know what had gone on between her and Jace.

She walked into the packhouse to find him standing there, appeared to be waiting for her. Training was over, and he was showered and dressed. His eyes landed right on her as she walked in the front door. “Nora,” he greeted her with a smile. He was holding a bunch of flowers, looked to be handpicked at that.

“Jace.” She stated right back with a raised eyebrow, and watched him frown near instantly when she didn’t smile at his effort or that he’d gone off and done what she’d told him to, picked flowers from around the pack to give to her.

She could also see Matt wasn’t that far away, oh so he was going to try and have his Gamma feel her out, or bring her around. That was new, also just piss her off even more, that he thought that was the best way to handle her. She looked right at Matt. He was all Gamma; his head was tilted to the side ever so slightly.

‘I wouldn’t feel me out, Matt, it will only piss me off even more that he thinks you are the best way to resolve the issue. Can’t he do it on his own? Doesn’t he know me well enough to know what will appease my anger and annoyance?’ she put to the Gamma. ‘He should. We’ve been mated for how long now? Stay out of it, or I’ll just move out of the suite altogether, and it’ll be your fault for helping him.’ She stated.

She saw him huff and get up and walk away, and she smiled to herself as she heard him state “You’re on your own, Jace. If I help you, it’ll only make it worse.”

Jace turned and looked at his Gamma as he walked off, and then back to her, more than shocked that she’d been able to get around the Gamma. It wasn’t hard to do, or she didn’t think so, because she wasn’t his actual job, she wasn’t the Luna to this pack. So, although she was the Alpha’s Mate, he didn’t think about her at all when he thought Luna. Gloria was the man's job. Nora was just a pissed-off pack member, and he would get that loud and clear.

If he walked past her and felt her out of his own accord nowadays, all he’d get was anger from her, or thoughts of her wanting to study, what she was studying. She only thought about Jace if he was in her line of sight, or she thought he was going to be looking for her for sx. She rarely saw the pack’s Gamma.

So, there was no actual Luna/Gamma bond formed between them. She didn’t really like any of the Alpha’s unit, and had no bond with any of them at all. It was likely Matt didn’t know anything about her either, not her temperament, so talking her around would be more difficult than he thought, and she’d just laid the law down with him. Had threatened to leave the Alpha if he interfered in their battle.

She was pretty darn certain by those words that he’d spoken himself he was going to stay out of it. She’d just beaten a Gamma at his own game. It might be different if he had hands on her, but she didn’t honestly know, but with Rosa gone it was still possible she thought to beat him at his own game.

Nora watched Matt walk into the Alpha’s office and shut the door. It went bang. He was ticked off because she had actually beaten him at his own game. She smiled to herself, fully amused by the turn of events, and turned her eyes back to Jace. It wasn’t often he would have seen her smile over the past few months, and she saw him blink at seeing it.

She knew it lit up her whole face, and she was more than pretty when she smiled properly, and it touched her eyes. That was what he was seeing right this very minute, not something he’d seen since that day she’d learned the truth about him and Gloria. But she was not only happy about beating that Gamma, she was fully amused she had as well.

CH 11 She didn’t take the flowers from Jace when he held them out to her, and stated “I’m sorry, Nora. I’m a terrible Mate, it seems. Please do forgive me, I’ve not been a Mate before and being 130, I’ve apparently forgotten the things one should do for their Mate.” His tone was gentle and cajoling, she thought.

She could see Gloria watching them from her office and played her hand. “So much so you didn’t even know it was my birthday. Perhaps you’ll remember next year, and maybe as your Mate I’ll get a party, like the Luna is getting this weekend. Big and lavish with everyone invited to attend. Oh, I’m sorry…”

Her eyes moved right past him to Gloria now, and she smiled right at her. “I didn’t get an invitation, yours Jace is, however, I believe, on the fridge in the Alpha Suite.” She stated in

CH 12 There was nothing at all regarding the pains of betrayal for her over the next few days. He’d come and apologized to her while she’d been sitting in her study room, stating a simple “I’m sorry, there is no excuse for that invitation and the way it was worded.”

He tilted her chin up to make her look at him, when she simply wouldn’t acknowledge his words or his presence. “But giving me the silent treatment is childish Nora. Just talk to me, use your words to state how you feel. I can’t understand silence. I’m also too old to want to deal with that kind of behavior from you. We are Mates and, clearly, we need to communicate better.”

She’d just stared at him, uncaringly, and he sighed, “I’d cancel her party if it wasn’t this weekend and everything wasn’t already paid for. Please attend it wit

CH 13 Nora was standing in the Alpha’s office looking at Jace, who was now frowning at her as she informed him that she was going to her home pack. Her sister had turned 16, and she was due to get her wolf this full moon, so she was going to go there to see its emergence; she’d not come down here to ask for his permission.

She was still not really speaking to him, though she’d woken up in their bed every damned day this week, though he’d told her it wasn’t him but his wolf, Hydro, who had waited for her to fall asleep and come and picked her up and moved her right to their bed. She understood Hydro was trying to get Rosa to come back to him.

She’d told Jace she didn’t really appreciate it, that she saw it as his wolf didn’t care for her feelings right this minute, or that she and Jace weren’t g

CH 14 Nora left the pack directly after Jace. He’d seen her walk down the stairs with her suitcase and frowned at her, held his hand up to her and then put in a call to her former Alpha right there, told him that Nora was on her way to his pack and would be leaving shortly. And asked if he could watch for her arrival, as he couldn’t go with her, and if she wasn’t there within 5 hours, to send out a search party and call him directly.

She didn’t even know why he bothered, but he must have gotten an affirmative because he then thanked her former Alpha, before hanging up. Then he looked at her and stated, “Alpha Clayton is expecting you.” and she realized he was just keeping tabs on her. She’d just nodded, she had nothing to hide, she wasn’t the bad guy in their f***d-up mate bond.

Her leaving, l

CH 15 Nora had had a long drive to get to the pack, had even trained inside her old pack that morning at 5am, and had stupidly fallen asleep in her study room before Jace had gone to bed himself, because she woke up to Jace’s hands on her and his mouth on her neck, kissing her mark sport to elicit pleasure within her and create wanton need for her Mate within her.

She knew instinctively that he’d come into her study room and had seen her sleeping and so had taken it as an opportunity to pick her up, carried her to his bedroom, to seduce her and have his way with her.

Knew she’d not even woken up when he’d done so, because as his Mate in her sleeping state, she would just have instinctively curled right into him and settled into his arms. It’s how she’d been those first few weeks. When all happy

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The scent hit me first—jasmine and pine, the same perfume Gloria always wore. Then came the burn. A white-hot line of fire sliced across my left cheek, sharp enough to make me gasp. Again. He was touching her. Deliberately. Lovingly. And I wasn’t supposed to feel it… but I did. Every single time.

I clenched my fists around the edge of my desk, knuckles turning white, forcing myself not to cry out. Not again. Not in front of the library staff who already looked at me with pity. My laptop screen blurred as tears welled, but I refused to let them fall. Not here. Never here.

Three weeks since I last slept in his bed. Three weeks since I told him I wouldn’t be his breeding doll. And still, he dared to caress another right under our bond’s curse? Did he think I wouldn’t notice? That I’d just accept it like some obedient pet?

My phone buzzed. A message from Mom: We’re so proud of you, sweetheart. Can’t wait to see you at Nita’s emergence.

I wiped my face fast. This weekend, I was leaving. Going home. Seeing my sister become whole when I felt shattered.

But as I stood, my vision caught on the black dress hanging in my closet—the one I bought for my twentieth birthday, the day he forgot existed. The one I wore alone in a café, eating cake for one.

Now, I stared at it. Not as a reminder of sorrow.

As a promise.

What if I didn’t just leave?

What if I returned—dressed in that black gown, unbroken, undeniable—and made them both watch as I took everything they thought they owned?