Riannon gave her husband a very cold stare but he did not seem to notice howeverybody around them became quiet once again.“Brayden,” she said without a trace of emotion in her voice, “Let’s talk about it athome.

I have a few people I still have to talk to.”She turned to leave, but he grabbed her arm to stop her and she had to turn andface him.

In all honesty, Riannon did not want to make an ugly scene.

But shewas annoyed with him beyond belief.

What was he even thinking?!“I think you already talked to enough people tonight,” he clenched his fingerstighter around her slim arm and if Onyx was there, she would let her take controlfor a few moments and show him her Alpha force.

But now she had to be morecareful since she was alone.

She knew very well that now she was in a positionto only use her witts.“And what is the problem there exactly?” she gave him her best and fakest smile,“You need to take care of your wolf and for that, you need to give that poor girl agood time here tonight.” Ria gestured at Roxy who stood right behind herhusband with a perplexed face.

“And in the meantime, I need to take care of ourpack since you are busy.

And for that, I need to actually talk to people, Brayden,build relations and so on.”“Is that what you’ve been doing? Building relations?” he gritted through his teeth,“How come you are only doing it with men when you could talk to all thoseLunas?”“The Lunas are already on my side, trust me,” Ria smirked, “But men require toget to know me better.

Besides, what if I manage to meet my mate here too?Imagine how great our pack would be when both our wolves suddenly get superstrong thanks to that.

Wouldn’t that be amazing?”His grasp on her became so strong that she knew there would be bruisers.

Notthat she cared.

It was satisfying.

She heard a few laughs here and there as people that gathered around themappreciated her joke.But Brayden did not.

He was always the superstar of every event.

And this wasexactly how he was counting to be perceived at this event.

He already had thebest wife and Luna there could be.

But now he also found a mate who he tookinto his pack.

Amate that was sure to become his mistress over time, he onlyheld back thanks to his respect for Riannon.

But it was simply a question of time.He was sure that he could have it all and today’s ball was supposed to be proofof that would slap his back in approval.

Wasn’t it every man’s dream to have twoperfect women?Riannon was perfection...

She was the rare girl that had everything and he knewthat she would be his Luna the first moment he saw her.

She was a true beautywith her silky skin and shiny blonde hair that was always falling in perfect wavesdown her shoulders.

She had the perfect fit body which was neither too thin andnor too muscly, with soft curls in all the right places.

But her looks weren’t thebest part of her.

She was clever.

And funny.

And calculating when it was needed.But on top of that, she was kind and sincere towards the people she cared about.Her blue eyes seemed to look right through you and sometimes Braydenbelieved that she knew what everyone around her was thinking about.

She fell inlove with her almost instantly and managed to get her attention.

They dated foryears at school and married almost after they graduated.

They were always inperfect sync when they ruled their pack, she never failed him and he gave hereverything that a Luna like her should have.When he met Roxanne, he wanted to reject her almost instantly.

But...

hecouldn’t.Everything happened so fast when he was visiting one of the neighbour packs.She was running out of the woods when he was talking to the Alpha with a fewwolves chasing her.

He froze at the sight, realising that she was his mate.

Hedidn’t think that he would be able to find her...

He looked.

He wanted to know

what it was like but he was also in love with Riannon and decided to abandon theidea for her when they married and he marked his wife.And now there she was...

That pitiful girl who was so tiny.

And vulnerable.

Andhad absolutely no one to protect her.

He opened his mouth to say the words butshe fainted in front of him and he couldn’t do anything.

He found a place for heroutside his pack and kept it a secret.

No one knew except for his Beta Ash.

Hewas visiting the girl every day to keep a check on her healing.

It took her a whilesince she was an omega.

And he couldn’t reject her before she got well since hewas afraid she might die...

But a few weeks passed and he still wasn’t able tobreak their bond.

The way she looked at him, the way she behaved...

Everythingwas so different from Riannon.

And it was enticing.Ria never needed his help much.

She was his partner, she never relied on him.Sometimes it even felt as if she was the Alpha in their relationship.And he loved that.But sometimes...

It was too much.It was hard to keep up with her.While with Roxy it was always so easy.

Simple things made her laugh, she wasgrateful she was...

dependent.

Without him, she was afraid to even take a step.He liked the way she looked at him, he liked how weak and fragile she was, hisinstincts were heightened next to her with the constant desire to protect her.

Sothat was why he couldn’t keep her outside of his pack anymore.

It wasn’t safe.And that was why he couldn’t reject her when Riannon demanded it and Roxy fellto his knees.

He wasn’t that cruel.

He couldn’t do that to the little omega.But after some thinking, he was sure that there was a way for them all to betogether.

His mate didn’t have to be his wife or let alone Luna.

She could juststay in his pack and live a comfortable life, satisfying his wolf when it wasneeded.

And Riannon could still remain his queen.

Their relationship could go

through anything.

She wouldn’t be happy at first, of course, but in the end, shewould make the required adjustments for the sake of the pack.

The rational sideof her would win.

She could deal with anything and still do it with dignity.That was why he was shocked when he saw her today.

He thought that shewould spend a quiet evening with her friends here.

But that dress...

and thatbehaviour were not what he expected at all!She seemed so different now and when she went upstairs to meet the LycanKing he almost lost it.But it was when she came back with him and they danced that he couldn’t bear itany longer.

It felt as if every man in this room wanted his wife! And although theyalways did, it was the first time that they were also ready to act on it.

And...

shedid not stop them.Now she was giving him the coldest stare that he ever received from her, with acrooked smile to top it off.

As if she was daring him in front of everyone.

The oldRiannon would never do that in public! Was a person able to change so fast? Ormaybe he just didn’t know his wife to begin with...“Are you drunk?” he wanted to put a stop to it and he knew that the only way todo that was to trample her pride, “I thought you were better than this andaccepted Roxy as a part of our pack.”Something changed in her eyes.

The cold glare changed to the death stare in aninstant.His lips almost trembled at that so he had to clench them so hard that theyformed a thin white line.“Is that the best you could come up with?” she arched her brow, “How about wejust do what we came here to do in the first place? Take your hands off me.

Youare not even my

His fingers unclenched as he watched the reaction of people around them.

Whatwas he to do now?“Right,” Ash appeared out of nowhere and stepped right behind Riannon, “I amthe said partner.

How about I take it from here?”She seemed slightly annoyed with him too and it brought Brayden relief as hisBeta took her hand and led her away to the dancefloor.“Alpha Brayden?” Roxy called his name and he turned to see his mate with hereyes filled with tears.

Guilt washed over him as he realised that he neglected hercompletely.

Yet his own gaze kept returning to his Luna who was now dancingand talking to his Beta.He couldn’t help but feel that the evening was ruined.

But everyone was watchingand he had to keep his face.“How about some drinks?” he asked the almost crying redhead who clung to hishand and a wide smile immediately bloomed at her face.Yes, Roxy was so easy to please...Ash wasn’t leaving her alone and it was extremely hard to talk to the other alphasin the room.

The plan had backfired a bit, yet Ria found herself smiling every timeshe thought of her dance with the Lycan King.“We have to leave now,” the Beta leaned lower and whispered into her ear.“What?” she looked at him in shock, “Why? It’s too early.”“Alpha orders,” was all that Ash answered and she pursed her lips, looking at herhusband drinking cocktails with Roxanne at the distance.

When did he evenmanage to mind link his right hand?But she had enough of ugly scenes for one night and it was hard to make anyprogress with him glued to her.

She would have other opportunities and she

already made her statement today.“All right,” she sighed, following him out of the room and to the parking lot.She noticed that he wasn’t to where the limos were parked and tensed at once.But the Beta clicked the button and one of the huge Range Rovers nearbyblinked.“We’ll take the car others used,” the guy smiled at her, taking off his blazer.

Andto her surprise, he wrapped it around her shoulders without asking permission.

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