Alison.
I paced around my bedroom, biting the inside of my cheek almost painfully as my chest heaved. The need for a solution gnawed at me. I couldn't allow that stupid girl’s escape to hold my life hostage, to derail the plans I had made for my future with Ethan.
Ugh. I hated her so much. I wished she’d never been born. “Dad, we have to do something. Ethan’s going crazy, I’m telling you.”
“Patience, child,” my father said from where he was sitting on the only sofa in my room. His fingers drummed on the chair rest, an indication that he was thinking. “What exactly did he say?”
I sucked in a breath, trying to calm down. The tendrils of fear had curled inside me and I was doing my best to untangle them. “He said he want to find her and make her pay for running from him.”
My father nodded, bringing one hand under his chin. “That’s good.”
I gawked at him. “Good?” How could he say that? “What’s good about that? What if he brings her back and realizes he wants his mate this time around? Where does that leave me? Us?”
“Shut up,” he said sharply. “You’ve had two months to convince him to marry you and you’ve done nothing!”
“It’s not as easy as it seems, Dad.” I said lowly, tightening my jaw. “Ethan is really stubborn.”
A brow raised. “Well, has he touched you? Have you slept with him?”
I averted my gaze. “Not yet.”
“You’re useless.” The words stung but I refused to cry. Father hated it when I cried. “Absolutely useless.”
I’d loved Ethan even before Arya left. I’d hoped he would notice me and had used Father’s position as Beta to parade myself in front of him but nothing worked. When Arya was thrown into prison, Ethan had lifted his eyes and looked at me and for the first time in my life, I’d known true joy. And it was all because Arya wasn’t there anymore.
That bitch. Ever since we were little, she’d taken everything from me. Even though she was as plain as a plate, all the boys still liked her. All the attention had been on her. And I was more beautiful. Screw Arya. I hated her to the moon and back.
My frustration bubbled to the surface, the dam of patience threatening to burst. “What do I do, Dad? You have to help me. I can't wait in the shadows while Arya's memory haunts every decision Ethan makes.”
His rejection stung terribly. And the worse part was, everything had been going so well. The wedding had been fixed and a date for our mating had been selected. Though I’d tried to speed things up once or twice by throwing myself at Ethan, it still hadn’t worked.
No matter what I did, I couldn’t get him to stop thinking about her.’
If he ever brought her back here, I would kill her with my bare hands. Strangle her and watch as the life was sucked out of her eyes. The only reason I had not done it years ago was because Father did not let me. Now, there was nothing stopping me.
“Just because I’m the Beta of this pack doesn’t mean I can change the Alpha’s mind,” my dad said. “And maybe it’s a good thing he wants to bring her home. I certainly would like a chance to look her in the eye and tell her who she really is.” He smiled menacingly, his lips going crocked at the sides. “Oh, the look on her face would be priceless.”
I couldn’t wait to see it too. Anger festered within me—a fiery tempest fueled by frustration, rejection, and the desperate need to sever the lingering ties between Ethan and Arya. I couldn't bear the thought of our union being indefinitely postponed because of Arya's shadow haunting our every moment.
She was his mate and he rejected her. I didn’t get it. Why make her suffer? Why hold on to the past? It had been two months. Arya was probably dead by now. She was a weak little nobody. She couldn’t survive on her own in the wild. Rogue wolves must’ve torn her flesh to pieces.
This was a lost cause. I knew it. But how would I get Ethan to see that? To see that I was the only woman for him? And that Arya did not deserve to be his Luna?
I looked at my father. He was a formidable figure in our werewolf hierarchy and he had always been my confidant. I walked to his side, kneeling at his feet and wrapping my hands around one of his legs. “You’ve always known what to do, dad. We’ve gotten this far because of you. Please, I want to be Luna. Help me. Help me get rid of Arya completely.”
Father ran his hand through my hair soothingly. After my mother died, I’d had no one except my father. He was the only one who understood me, who cared for me. I knew he would not let me down. When I glanced up, his eyes, usually stern and calculating, softened as he regarded me.
“Alison, my dear, patience is key. Ethan needs time to navigate the complexities of his emotions. Rushing him might only drive a deeper wedge between you two.”
It wasn’t enough. “But what if he finds her?”
“He won’t.” My father waved a dismissive hand. “There’s no way she’s still alive, weak as she was.”
He sounded so sure, so certain that I began to believe him. “You think so?
“I know so, my child.”
For the first time since I left Ethan, a smile stretched my face. If Father said so, then it was so.
“Now all you have to focus on is getting him to touch you. Once you both have intercourse, then everything is settled.”
I nodded, already formulating a plan. I couldn’t use liquor. Liquor didn’t work on wolves, much less Alphas. However, I was well-versed in potions and something told me I knew the right potion to brew.
“Okay,” I nodded. “I think I know what to do.”
Father paused, his eyes flashing. “You can’t think, Alison. You have to absolutely know. It’s the only way to secure your future as the next Luna of the Crests. Otherwise, she will always have an edge over you as the chosen one, and it won’t matter that she’s dead.”
Father was right. The only way I could win this was by marrying Ethan and being the next Luna. The mental dialogue became a declaration, a self-affirmation that resonated with determination. I had to win. I had to win.
No matter what, I absolutely had to win. Only then would I be able to prove that I was better than her.