Riannon frowned. She wasn’t expecting her visit to go smoothly, but for Brayden to obstruct her from entering their pack was too drastic of a reaction.
“Alpha Brayden has no right to prohibit me from entering my own pack,” she stated, looking the guards up and down. They were Brayden’s warriors, so she expected them to be loyal to him. He actually thought something through for once. “Also,” she continued, “It’s not Luna, it’s Alpha now. Alpha Riannon Michaels.”
The men glanced at each other but did not move.
She sighed heavily and opened the car door, stepping outside. Maya and Reid followed her, and so did the warriors who drove another car. The whole group looked menacing.
“We don’t want any trouble,” one of the guards said firmly, “We’re just following our Alpha’s orders.”
“Very well,” Riannon offered. Smiling softly at them, she produced papers out of her folder. “Then you should know that your Alpha is currently trespassing on my lands. His territory starts miles from here. I have all the required paperwork to prove it. At the moment, you are obstructing me from entering my own pack land. This could be taken as an act of war. Since you are clearly in the wrong here, I have the right to call other packs and the Lycans to support me. What will happen afterwards will be out of my control.”
They stood there, gaping at her. When one of the Lycan warriors played with the knuckles on his fists, making them click, they retreated.
“Apologies, Alpha Michaels,” one of them said, “We were not aware.”
“That’s fine,” she affirmed, giving them a gracious smile as they opened the gates for her, “Can’t blame you for a simple misunderstanding.”
She asked the driver to drive slowly through her land as she wanted everyone to be a witness to her arrival. When they parked in front of the main mansion and gracefully got out of the car, there was a crowd already gathered.
“Ria!” her friends Tatiana and Aria shouted, reaching her first, “How are you?”
“You have no idea what is going on here!” They both spoke at once.
“Oh, I think I have a pretty good idea,” she chuckled, happy she could still count on the two she-wolves. She knew too well that loyal friends were priceless.
“Is that true?” Aria lowered her voice, “Did you really divorce Brayden?”
“Can you blame her?” Maya joined the group, and Tatiana gave her a hug. They were all shattered by the events going on in the pack lately and were happy to see her doing well.
“I guess not,” the bubbly blonde giggled, “But is it true you are both mated to lycans?”
“Yes.” Riannon couldn’t help but smile and pointed at Reid. “Meet Maya’s mate, Reid Frazer, the Lycan King’s Beta.”
“My, oh, my!” Tatianna jabbed her friend with her elbow. “Lucky you!”
“This is not the time for all this,” Maya interrupted them, blushing for the first time in her life, “Right now, we have more pressing matters. Help us gather the pack members, as many as possible.”
“Just give us a sec!” both girls acknowledged and disappeared in two different directions.
In the meantime, Riannon took a deep breath and pushed the door into the house, which had been her home for many years.
Brayden was sitting in his office with a glass of whiskey in his hand. Everything he was about to do felt wrong, and he knew exactly when and how it started.
“My love,” his omega mate crooned, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, trying to massage them gently, “You are doing everything right. You can’t let her win after what she did to you. You are a good man, and it’s her mistake for not seeing you for who you are. She started it.”
Yet he hesitated as his hand froze above his laptop’s keyboard. One push of a button and Riannon would lose all access to their pack’s money.
“Just do it,” Roxanne pushed him, ” within a month, the whole pack wll be yours again. People wouldn’t tolerate an incompetent Alpha. They will choose you over her. She will be left with her land and no pack members.”
At least half of this money came from the merger of their packs and businesses. He knew very well that if he did this, it would be wrong on every level. His ex-wife would go to court and win the case. However, by then, her pack would be done.
He frowned. They were his people once. He knew most of The Pearl Moon pack would follow Riannon. It was a given. Not to mention they had their homes on her land, and he did not want to harm them. They also helped to bring him to his current glory.
His ex-wife was the only one he wanted to punish for betraying him and for making a fool out of him in front of everyone. He wanted this despite realising she was within her right.
He humiliated her first. Now he could see it. His omega mate whispered something in his ear, but he did not listen. He had started to resent her lately. Something that started so great ended up being such a disappointment.
He never wanted to make Roxanne a Luna. She wasn’t fit for the role. She was s3xy as her, but there was no comparison between her and Riannon. Despite helping him back with Maya once, she couldn’t offer him much. She couldn’t lead their people in battle, considering how weak she was. She couldn’t take care of pack matters since she didn’t have the proper education. So far, she was just a pretty face. And this wasn’t good enough. It was definitely a downgrade from what he used to have, and everyone would see it that way.
He regretted bringing her into his pack. Now he wondered if he should have rejected her like everybody had been telling him to do. Then everything would be so very different.
He still couldn’t believe that Riannon was lost to him. Even if he managed to destroy her pack, she wouldn’t be back. She would be the Lycan queen. His enemy forever.
Having her as his enemy was painful since she had been his best friend for many years. He had shared everything with her and was sure she would understand the need for his mate.
But this was what broke them. He saw that now and he regretted it. If he had known. If he had a chance to change the past, he would.
No matter how hard he tried, he wasn’t in love with his mate the way he was with his ex-wife. However strange that sounded. He wanted Roxy twenty-four-seven. The pull toward her was there, and his wolf wanted her too. Still, she didn’t feel like the other piece of his soul; she didn’t fill his mind the way Riannon used to. He now knew mates were overrated.
Then again, he did not mark her. That could be it.
They didn’t have that connection yet.
His hand instinctively went to the mark on his neck, the scars still protruding from his skin.
When the Lycan king mentioned the mark disappearing on Riannon’s neck, he was in shock. It wasn’t possible, couldn’t be. Yet here they were.
He needed more time to figure out what was going on and how to bounce back from all this. However, time was one thing he did not have a lot of.
“You are hesitating,” Roxanne sighed and circled his chair, moving the laptop away from him and sitting on the edge of his desk, “I really did not want to do it this way, Brayden. I just wanted you to choose your own future and understand that your ex-wife is not worthy of you. You are losing this battle to her, and I can’t stay behind like this anymore. There is something I need to tell you.”
“What is it?” he snapped, slightly annoyed as he needed to think about the recent turn of events.
Preferably alone.
When she took his hand and placed it on her belly, his lips parted in shock.
“l am with child, Brayden.” The redhead smiled. “
With your child. Your heir.”
“That’s impossible,” he muttered, “l only forgot myself once and-“
“Once is enough for true mates.” She bent down and placed a k!ss on his lips, igniting his inner desire for her. “This is what happens when you are with the right partner. I will give you a son, Alpha Brayden Thorn. He will be an alpha among all alphas.”
He caressed her belly, lost in his thoughts. There was a reason why he did not want to risk it with her.
Since she was an omega, she could give him low-ranked pups. Which would be unforgivable. It would make him the laughingstock amongst other alphas. Not to mention it would jeopardise his pack’s future. He couldn’t afford that.
This was one of the many reasons Riannon was a perfect partner for him. With her alpha bloodline, she could guarantee alpha pups to her husband.
He regretted once again that he hadn’t had children with her. That would have solved all their problems. The pups would be his and she would never leave him as a result. They would build their alpha empire together just as they dreamt when they were younger.
Instead, they were both caught up in their work and kept postponing it. This was one of his biggest mistakes.
It would be next to impossible to get her back. She was with the Lycan King of all people. She was his mate, and even if she wasn’t, it would be challenging to compete with him. He had power, and money.
Money.
Brayden stared at the screen of his laptop. He needed it now more than Riannon did. This was the only way for him to remain powerful enough.
“Will you say something?” The omega pouted her lips, “I know it’s too early to tell, but I can feel that our baby is an Alpha! It’s like power has been circling through my bloodstream since got pregnant.”
This gave him hope. Maybe his mate could act as a Luna after all? She had already proved her scheming skills once before. That might come in handy in the future. If she managed to become a mother of an Alpha, then others would respect his choice too. This could be the way out that he needed.
Yes, he had a new family now. This was Riannon’s fault. She made him look like an i**t at the Summit, and he owed her nothing.
He pressed the button and looked at the screen, relaxing only when he saw a transaction confirmation message. It was done.
“l am so proud of you, Brayden.” Roxanne jumped onto his la*p, and this time, he let her, “There is something else I need to tell you. Something about your ex-wife I learned about recently. I think you are going to like this information.”
He looked at her with a newfound interest.
“Do tell,” he encouraged, and she leaned all the way down to his ear, whispering into it what she knew and causing his eyes to widen.
In the next moment, they heard Riannon’s voice in the nearby hallway, “Honey! I am home!”