The Lunas Second Chance Mate
Chapter 46

I remained at the party for a while, but then I excused myself to Dylan early, saying I didn't feel well. Every important Alexander and official in Crowalt Pack was still there, and preoccupied, so I figured it might be a good chance to sneak back to see Ryan. Michelle was staying to cover for me in case anyone asked about me, and then I traveled the night, the streets alone, wary and suspicious of every shadow. I was paranoid that Jennifer might have seen me leave and sent someone to spy on me. My insides felt jittery after that tense interaction with my sister. I wanted to cry, but I could not, I had wasted so many tears from her cruelty towards me. I truly hated her.

But the night was quiet with the most important wolves at the party. After a few hesitations and wary glances, I approached and knocked on the door to Ryan's suite.

He opened it, and quickly ushered me inside, saying, "You're here again? Alyson... we need to be more careful."

I wrapped myself into his arms to feel safe.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" His hungry eyes looked over my dress. "You look so beautiful. How was the party? Isn't it still going on?"

"Yes," I said. "I thought it might be a good time to sneak here."

"You shouldn't have," he sounded frustrated. "One time was risky enough."

I looked up at him with wide eyes My hand drew down the scar on his face. "I need you tonight."

He leaned forward and kissed me gently.

"I want you to be safe. That was my purpose in coming here." He scolded. "I risked all this to keep you safe, but then you come here anyway and endanger yourself. What if they kidnap you again?"

I couldn't think about that. "I needed to come back here anyway."

"Back here?" He asked. "What do you mean by that? You've been to Crowalt before?"

"Yes," I whispered and glanced around his private suite as if someone might be listening.

Wanting to feel as isolated as possible, I led him back to his bedroom. His guest suite composed of a few rooms. Once we were in his room, he shut the door. We sat together on his bed, holding hands and facing each other.

I was looking at his hands, and he brushed a strand of my hair behind my ear. I could feel in this quiet moment that he was containing his desires for me. His other hand stroked my dress, feeling for my leg.

I almost succumbed to his touch, but I had to tell him. I was too close now to keep hiding this from him. Someone else needed to know.

He hadn't forgotten either, even while his eyes traveled up the bodice of my dress, and his hands searched for my legs beneath my skirt. "When were you here before?"

"I was born here." My voice was hoarse. I even wondered if he might not believe me, and think that I'd gone crazy.

His eyebrow twitched, but there was a spark of understanding in his gaze as if he were anticipating my words before I said it.

"I am the she-wolf of Clan Clark with the purest blood. I was betrayed by my sister and tortured to death, but I met the Moon Goddess and she sent me back for another chance at life. I have a new body, face, and hair, but I still have those memories."

His face had grown very serious, almost gray. He was using his talents. "I saw you. When I first found you, I thought that I saw scars all over your body, but it was a trick of the light." His large hands were balled into angry fists. "And I saw the Jacob's Luna knew about you somehow... but I was worried it was a vision of the future, so I went crazy to protect you from that. I assumed it had to do with me... with us."

I could hardly believe what he was saying. We had kept so much from each other, and it had brought us here right now to this point where Ryan had challenged Jacob, and I had met my sister again.

But he believed me without question, he knew I was telling the truth. That relaxed me.

"So, who betrayed you? Your family?" He growled, and I knew that he wanted to destroy whoever was responsible. "My visions of you are cloudy for some reason."

I lay my head on his lap and clung to his legs to calm him. It was a little reassuring if his visions of me were blurry, then I suspected that the Moon Goddess had made my past blurry to the Alexanders. I could still hide my identity.

"It was my sister who betrayed me."

"Who? Where is she?" He lurched but could not get up without throwing me from his lap so it held him in place.

"We will get revenge." I said. "Justice. Something is very off about them."

"Who is it?" He said. "Why can't I see? Was it an Alexander? Someone who broke the pact with Clan Clark?"

"My twin sister's name is Jennifer Clark, but she stole my name. Everyone knows her as Alissa Clark Alexander."

His eyes widened with full understanding. The rage in his expression turned partially to shock. "The Luna?"

"Yes, it was supposed to be me. Jacob was my fated mate. I was chosen for him, and somehow my sister got there first. He knew that she did this to me, he supported it. They bled me like a pig to feed him, and kept me locked away. I don't know what they told the rest of my family, but Jennifer stole my name and place in the pack."

His severe gaze darkened. "Your fated mate?" There was hurt in his words.

Of all I had just said, that was what he'd picked up on.

"My fated mate rejected me for my sister. How does that even happen?" I said, ignoring his obvious jealousy. "They locked me away and tortured me from age twelve till my sister killed me on my eighteenth birthday."

His eyes softened with compassion. "That sounds terrible. So you really died and met the Moon Goddess?"

My eyes were wet with tears, my voice cracked. "I was tortured every day. My wolf dosed with wolfs bane so that I couldn't fight for my life. I gave up all hope. I did die, and I met the Moon Goddess. I was so sad when I found out that my sister had done it to me, for six years I didn't know. I thought it had to be a mistake."

He hugged me tightly as if he could save me from the hurt of my past. "Being betrayed by family is the worst fate."

And I felt understood by him.

Once the words started, I kept telling him everything. It felt so good that he believed me. "The Moon Goddess confirmed that Jacob knew that Jennifer kept me in the basement beneath his lair. I was so heart broken by all the betrayals. I thought he could not possibly know and betray me too. I asked the Moon Goddess to never make me have a fated mate in this next life. She sent me back so I can have my revenge."

His embrace was so warm and unyielding, he stroked my hair delicately. "Is that why..." He began to ask but didn't know how to say it. "Is that why you can't smell our mate bond? Or do you still have feelings for Jacob?"

"I could never, not after asking the Moon Goddess that there will be no fated mate for me. And how could I still have any good feelings for Jacob after what he did? Fated mates can betray you, so what is the point... I can't be betrayed again." "The drive towards one's fated mate is a powerful force. I should know. You are my mate; I smell you and I couldn't want anyone else."

"Weren't you listening?" I sat up a little cross. We were supposed to be feeling closer to each other than ever, but he seemed focused on the wrong detail. "I want revenge on Jacob and Jennifer. My fated mate betrayed me, and I never want to feel that again in my second chance at life."

His sympathetic eyes understood, and calmed me. He stood up to pacing front of me. His wolfish eyes burned like fire in his skull. "I want to rip Jacob from limb to limb."

"Shh," I said, "Not too loud."

He looked ready to shift and hunt him. I knew the smell. I had to calm him. "I confided in you, but please don't take action right now. Please, there is time. I want them to suffer slowly, carefully. I do not want us to go down with them."

As he passed me, he stirred a cold wind between us. I reached out and clenched his wrist, digging my nails into him to hopefully grab his attention.

His turned to me abruptly and for a second, he scared me. He was a fury, and for an instant it was directed at me, but his gaze softened slightly.

"Please," I said. "Help me with my revenge. I think our stories have come together purposefully. But do not act tonight, or tomorrow. We need to see what the elders decide. We have already started, and I know we will get our moment." "You're right," he took a deep breath, although it was difficult for him to calm down. "And of course, I will help you in whatever way I can."

My hand still held his wrist, and I stood up beside him. I began lifting my large skirt, and I put his hands between my legs. His gaze shifted, all that anger directed towards desire. He clutched my thigh and lifted me back onto the bed. My skirt was up to my face. He was removing his pants. Aggressively, he was pulling my legs around him. I responded because I wanted him too. He was reacting to my story. I knew that he was trying to release his fury somehow. Looking up at him, I caught his gaze.

"Alyson, I'm yours." He grumbled, looking with expectant eyes that I could not deny. My story had hurt him, he truly felt for me.

I was touched by his belief, understanding and sympathy.

"I'm yours too. I love you," I whispered.

That softened him, and his face came down to kiss me fiercely, his touch became gentler, and I eased into his strokes as he found all the parts of my body where he knew that I enjoyed caresses the most.