Luna Aleksa's Escape

4. The Confrontation.

Aleksa POV

As I entered the packhouse, I noticed it was eerily silent. Usually, at that time of night, there were still maids and cooks milling around, but that wasn’t the case. I presumed Lachlan had sent them all home. As I walked up the stairs, I saw Lachlan standing at the top. I looked at him with contempt. I was beyond disappointed with him. Looking at him made me feel physically ill. And I wasn’t sure what I was going to say to him.

“Aleksa, we need to talk,” Lachlan said, looking at me like he was reading me.

“Yes, we do,” I agreed. “Let’s talk in your office.”

“Yes, good idea,” Lachlan grunted.

We walked into the office, and Lachlan sat at his desk. I stood facing him with my arms crossed. I wasn’t in the mood to sit down as though we were discussing pack business. I was fuming inside.

“Please take a seat, Aleksa,” Lachlan demanded.

“No, thanks. I’ll stand,” I said.

“Very well,” Lachlan said. “What you saw earlier, Aleksa — it’s not as bad as it looked,” Lachlan protested.

“How is it not as bad as it looked? You were having s*x with my best friend. Who is also mated to your Beta and best friend Sam!” I yelled, quickly losing my patience.

“You will not raise your voice at me. I am your Alpha!” Lachlan yelled.

He cleared his throat. “I am Alpha, and with that comes certain privileges. You are my Luna, my fated mate, and you have given me my future heir, and for that, I am grateful. However, I have needs. You are here for my wolf, and you make him very happy. But my human side needs more than you can give,” He smirked.

Unexpected laughter escaped me at the utter ridiculousness of what he had just said, but when I finally stopped, I was about to give him a piece of my mind when he continued his rant.

“I will sleep with Eva and whoever else I desire, and that is my right as Alpha. You have no say in the matter. You will nurture the pack and tend to the children, as well as keep my wolf happy, and occasionally my human side. You will happily share me with others, and you will not mention a word of this to Sam—do you hear me?” he declared, raising his voice.

I stood there in a state of disdain. I couldn’t believe that my fated mate, given to me by the moon goddess, stood in front of me and disrespected me like this. It’s like I’d been living a lie.

“I will never be okay with this. This is unbelievable! I thought you loved me? Why did you mate and mark me if you didn’t love me?” I asked in a calm tone, trying not to get hysterical.

“I had to for my wolf. Having our fated mate close to us strengthens us,” Lachlan said. “That doesn’t mean I can’t continue to enjoy myself as I did before I met you.”

“Wait, the pain? It started when I met you. Does that mean you have been sleeping with other wolves since we met?” I asked. Although, I already knew the answer deep down inside.

“No need to dwell on these things, Aleksa, it is all part of being Luna. You have to take a little pain with pleasure. We all have to make sacrifices,” he said, with a sinister glint in his eyes.

“And Eva?” I asked.

“What about Eva?” Lachlan replied.

“How long have you been sleeping with Eva?” I asked.

Lachlan smirked. “If you really want to know, Eva and I have had an arrangement since well before you arrived at the packhouse. Don’t let it bother you. She just gives me things that you can’t.”

“You are disgusting! Sam is supposed to be your best friend. He’s your Beta! Doesn’t that mean anything to you?” I yelled at him.

“Don’t you worry about Sam. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. You will not address me like this. You will respect me! And you will do as you are told. Do you hear me?” Lachlan yelled.

“I will not stand for this. I’m not your possession! I’m a person! I will not sit by while you screw every wolf that walks past you. I’m not okay with you and Eva. You are both feral! I won’t subject our pups to this! They deserve better than this. You have a daughter, for goddess’ sake. How would you feel if Layla was in this position?” I yelled.

“Don’t you dare bring the children into this! Layla is a female. She will do what is required of her when the time comes!” Lachlan yelled as he slammed his fist down onto the table.

I stood back in fear. Who was this wolf in front of me? It’s like I didn’t even know him — like I never really knew him. I gasped. Not knowing what to say or do. I looked at him in astonishment.

Lachlan got up from his desk and walked up to me. He put his hands on my shoulders and kissed the area where he marked me. Through the mate bond, I felt the sparks and my body tingled and I couldn’t fight the feelings that action brought. However, I chose to fight it. Nausea washed over me. My head was telling the rest of my body to fight it.

“Come, my love, let’s be done with this. Let’s go to bed and I’ll show you I still love you,” Lachlan said, as his hands roamed down my hips.

“No f*****g way!” I yelled. “Get your hands off me!”

“You will do as I say! You are my Luna. You are mine to do with as I please!” Lachlan yelled and pulled me further against his body.

“I, Aleksa Petrova, Luna of Evergreen Pack, reject you, Lachlan Fang, as my mate and as my Alpha!” I declared.

Lachlan clutched his chest and fell back.

“I, Alpha Lachlan, of Evergreen Pack, reject your rejection!” Lachlan yelled. “Stupid she wolf! Did you think you could reject me? I own you! You are not going anywhere! You are not taking my pups anywhere either, so don’t get any ideas about that!” He laughed maniacally.

“I hate you! I will not stay here, and I will not subject our pups to this. Just accept my rejection!” I protested and pleaded.

At that moment, Lachlan lunged towards me and grabbed my arm. He pulled me towards the door. “You will learn your place, Aleksa! I think you need a little reminding of who is in charge here. Perhaps a few days in the pack dungeons will remind you of what you have here, what we have here. I will teach you to speak against me!” he yelled as he dragged me downstairs.

“Stop! Lachlan — please don’t do this! Our pups, Liam and Layla, need me, please they won’t understand!” I screamed in a state of panic.

As we approached the dungeons, Lachlan opened the trapdoor and continued to drag me down the stairs to the cells. The foul stench of rotting corpses, stale urine and fecal matter hit me, and the urge to vomit rose to my throat. I heard wolves pleading to be let out and banging on the cell doors and bars.

Lachlan continued to drag me along. We were near one of our warriors, who looked shocked to his core at the scene that was unfolding in front of him.

“Please, Lachlan, can we talk about this? Please don’t do this!” I begged him.

“I can’t trust you right now, my dear. I need you to understand that you can never leave me. You need to be punished for what you have done — trying to reject me. To even think of taking my pups from me. What kind of Alpha would I be if I didn’t teach you a few hard lessons?”

Lachlan pushed past the warriors and chucked me into the nearest cell. He walked up to me and grabbed my chin with his fingers.

“Don’t worry, my love, I will check on you in the morning.”

“Alpha, what is going on? What are you doing with the Luna?” Chad asked, concern evident on his face.

“Aleksa has disobeyed her Alpha, and she tried to take our pups away, so she will be spending a few days in the cells while I figure out how to proceed with her,” Lachlan said with conviction.

“But Alpha, the dungeons are no place for the Luna. Surely there is another way,” Chad pleaded.

“Are you questioning my actions, Chad? Because if you were, you know that there would be severe penalties. It would be a great pity. As I hear, you have just met your mate. Am I right?” Lachlan said, with an evil glint in his eyes. Knowing very well that threatening Chad’s mate would end any further questions he had about me being in the cells. “I trust I can rely on your silence, Chad?”

“Yes Alpha,” Chad replied in defeat. He turned to me with a look of pity and shame on his face, then returned to his post.

“I will see you in the morning, my dear. Try to get some sleep,” Lachlan said as he walked down the hallway.

Looking around at my surroundings, I noticed the cell was filthy. There was a small mattress with a tattered blanket, a makeshift pillow, and a bucket in the corner that reeked of urine and excrement. It was cold down here. I was beyond scared at that very moment, scared for my pups, knowing they would wake up without their mother tomorrow morning. And also scared because I wasn’t sure how far Lachlan was prepared to go to teach me a lesson. Or whether he would just end me altogether? Would anyone know I’m down here? Other than Chad, who had been silenced and was fearful of his and his mate’s lives.

I knew one thing for sure. I needed to get out of this place. I needed to escape, and I needed to take my pups with me.