Selling Myself To The Alpha
Chapter 115

Adele POV

"Congratulations, alpha Adele," Axel smiles brightly as he shakes my hand.

"And you didn't look nervous at all during the ceremony,"

Liana adds. "You're going to be excellent."

"No doubt," Luther smiles as he looks lovingly at me."

Moonstone is one lucky pack to have her."

"Please stop," I moan and nestle closer to Luther. "Spare the praise for when I actually have done something other than standing in front of a bunch of strangers and pledging my allegiance." "You should enjoy this moment, Adele," Axel says seriously.

"After this, vultures will descend with hyenas shortly behind them to pick your bones."

"He's not wrong," Luther grins wryly but avoids eye contact, and I look at him frowning.

"Can we talk for a moment?" I ask softly.

"I'm hungry," Liana says quickly when she catches on that I need a moment alone with Luther. "Pregnancy hunger.

Come on, Axel, I need support in carrying my plates."

"Plates?" Axel frowns as he follows Liana. "How much are you planning to eat?"

"Is everything alright?" Luther asks once we are alone.

"No," I glare at him before I take his hand and drag him to my brand-new office.

"Why did you encourage me to accept the offer?" I hiss as I close the door behind us.

"Because it's an honour and a great opportunity for you,"

Luther frowns as he sits down.

"Luther, I would've declined if I knew you felt like this," I grunted, frustrated as I paced up and down. "I thought you knew I'd rather be your mate than a rank."

"Adele, you were so excited when Axel proposed this," he sighs. "I didn't want to take it from you."

"You can't take what I don't have," I place my hands on my hips and glare at him. "I was a rank, and I found my mate. I didn't need anything else. I didn't desire more. I had everything I wanted and more. Months, Luther. You had months to tell me how you felt about this. Hell, we discussed it to death for a week before I gave Axel my answer. Why did you make me believe that you want this too? Why couldn't you be honest? I would've said no, and...

"Exactly," Luther's brown eyes blaze as he stands up. "You would've said no and blamed me years later.'

"Opposed to me blaming you now for ruining us?" I explode.

"We're not ruined," his anger simmers down as he takes a step forward and rests his hands on my shoulders. "You and I will grow old together."

"Since we've met, I've never seen you unhappy," I shake my head sadly. "Until last night and again five minutes ago. appreciate what you're trying to do, Luther, but you're only kidding yourself. You hate this and I don't know why. I want you to be happy and you're not."

"I didn't know, Adele," he sighs as his hands drop from my shoulders. "I wasn't excited about it, but I wasn't against it either. But last night it dawned on me and then it was too late."

"Okay," I say after a moment of silence. "I'll talk to Axel and resign as soon as he replaces a replacement for me."

"I don't want you to do that," he grunts as he walks over to the cabinet and pours himself a drink.

"Then what do you want me to do, Luther?" I ask desperately. "You don't want me to be alpha and you don't want me to resign. Help me understand so that we can fix this." "Adele, this is not about you and the alpha position," he sighs and empties his glass. "It's about me and the alpha position."

I do not respond as I sit down on the couch. I am too afraid that if I say something, he might stop talking. And I need him to explain to me what the f*vck is going on.

"You know I had a fallout with my family," he says as he sits opposite me.

"And I told you that it's because I didn't want to go to business school, but that was a lie."

"You lied to me?" I gape as his words sting. I thought we told each other everything. Hell, I told him everything and have not lied to him once.

"Not just to you," he looks apologetically at me. "To everyone. Out of necessity and not malice. I'm the guardian of my family's darkest secret." "Does Axel knows?" I ask softly.

"Yes," the corners of his mouth pull sourly downwards. "My dad and his are twins, after all, and the bomb exploded during a family gathering. My dad was a bit... uhm, off that day and drank more than usual. He was moody and tried to pick a fight with everyone. Uncle Grant had enough and called him out. A couple of accusations and a few punches later, my dad's skeleton got out of the closet. But the secret wasn't the worst of it. It was how they buried it that pushed me over the edge. I was twenty, and their abuse of money and power appalled me, so I walked away. I refused to be part of it. I swore that day that I would never be part of the alpha house."

I stay quiet as his words manifest in my mind. Growing up with loving parents makes all of this surreal to me. Lies and deceit are not things to which I am accustomed. Sure, there were things my parents did not discuss with me purely because I was a child, and it was none of my business. But whatever his parents did, was so bad that it made Luther walk away from them.

"Are you still mad at them?" I ask cautiously.

"Unfortunately, yes," he sighs. "Adele, I want you to be alpha, but I ... I made an oath that day. A part of me feels I'm being ridiculous. It was ten years ago, and I should let it go. But then I remember how hard it was to talk away.

Make no mistake, they were good parents to me. Which was part of the problem. I still can't comprehend that they could be so kind and loving towards me and so cruel to another. When I walked away, they cut me off emotionally and financially. I had nothing. Axel was the only one who ensured that I had a bed to sleep on and food to eat.

Goddess only knows what would've become of me if it weren't for him. I worked my ass off to become who I am today. I thought I put all of this behind me, but last night when we started packing, I realized I'm going back to the thing I swore I'd never be part of." "So, in your mind, I will become corrupted now that I'm alpha?" I ask as fury builds in me.

"That's not what I said," he defends himself hastily. "I'm saying I don't think I should be part of it."

"Damn you, Luther," I hiss as I jump up. "Why couldn't you be honest with me earlier? We could've been married by now, living our uncomplicated life. How do you expect us to do that now if you don't want me to resign?"

"It's not fair towards you to give up this opportunity because of my issues," he argues.

"No, Luther, do you know what's unfair?" I glare at him. "My mate lying to me. Have you noticed that I haven't even asked you what the secret is? Because it doesn't matter to me. It would've been enough for me to know that you didn't want this life, and I would've accepted it. But you lied to me and now we're in this mess."

"Adele, I'm sorry," he says softly as he stands up and takes my hands. "I did what I thought was best for you."

"You're what's best for me," I pull my hands out of his.

"I have guests waiting," I say as I walk out of the office.

I smile absentmindedly at the guests as I march towards the bar. I am hurt and angry. All of this could have been avoided if he had been honest with me. And it hurts like a b*itch that he did not trust me enough to tell me.

I do not care what his parents did. They did it, not him.

Luther is a great man and never in a million years did I think he would hide something from me. And it is that little piece that hurts the most.

But I love him without a doubt. I know myself; I will calm down and forgive him. It was not his intention to hurt me.

In his distorted way, he tried to protect me. As thrilled as I was about this opportunity, so happily would I wave it farewell to be with my mate. All I want is what my parents had happiness. And I will sacrifice and fight for it.