The Wicked Alpha's Star-Crossed Luna

7 | ELECTRA THE EX

Howl POV

After watching my mate disappear into the trees with the grace of a gazelle, I shifted and raced back to where my beta dutifully waited for me. I filled him in on everything that occurred with Ren as we continued with our journey, pausing only briefly to hunt for deer and replenish our energy. By the time we returned to the pack, it was late afternoon--the warriors that remained in their beast forms as they patrolled our borders nodded to us as we ran past, with one such warrior letting out a howl as his eyes glazed over.

When we arrived at the packhouse, Zeke and Oliver were already waiting for us with an omega holding a bundle of clothing. Oliver bowed his head respectfully, while Zeke saluted me with a fist over his heart.

“Welcome back Alpha, Beta,” Zeke greeted me as we shifted, ever the professional. “Hope your trip was fruitful. Not so much for you, Percy, but--”

“f**k off, Zeke. You know you missed me,” Percy grumbled as he accepted a sleeveless top and a pair of gym shorts from the omega, thanking her.

“I suppose it was somewhat less eventful with you gone,” Oliver remarked.

Zeke and I doubled over laughing at the hurt look on Percy’s face. “You too, Ollie?”

“It’s Oliver,” sighed the werewitch, swiping away the notifications on his phone.

“Anything of note happen while we were out?” I asked, glad to finally be wearing clothes. As much as I enjoyed running around on all fours, I wasn’t a fan of letting random she-wolves ogle at me. It got old really fast.

Now, the way mate was looking at us… Romeo howled in my head, wishing we were back in that clearing. She wants us, Howl. I don’t care what our mate says; her eyes say that she wants us. Her and Juliet.

Glad to hear you speak in complete sentences again, bud, I chuckled internally before his last words registered. Wait, her wolf’s name is Juliet? How do you know?

She told me. Obviously.

Goddamnit--Rome, I told you not to bug her wolf, man. You were supposed to let me do the talking, remember?

He scoffed. Listen, pup, you specifically said that I couldn’t reach out to her. You said nothing about responding if she reached out to me.

That piqued my interest. Some beast counterparts were more intuitive than others, and could sense things about other beasts. They could also communicate with them privately, without the knowledge or permission of their humans--but in order to keep my hybrid status on the low, we agreed that Romeo wouldn’t reach out to any beasts belonging to untrustworthy humans.

Juliet could sense that we were a hybrid, by the way, Romeo added, further solidifying a theory I had in the back of my mind. I didn’t tell her. That’s how Ren knew.

I sighed aloud, catching the attention of all three other men. We’ll have to look more into this with the crew.

Agreed.

“I’m guessing you were too busy arguing with Romeo to hear my report?” Zeke guessed.

I smirked. “You’re half right. Let’s continue this in my office.”

As we climbed the front steps, I peered over my shoulder at Oliver. “Did you need me for something?”

He grimaced. “Uh, yeah… So, you have a visitor--”

My eyes narrowed as I halted our procession before we even entered the building. “Send her away, Oliver.”

“I tried, Alpha,” he said, his voice pleading. “But she is really insistent that she see you. She’s been waiting here since yesterday.”

“For goddess’ sake--Zeta Oliver, tell me that b***h isn’t in my room,” I demanded, hoping the answer I received was the answer I wanted.

“That b***h is in your room,” he cringed, watching as my expression contorted in anger. “Also, can we maybe talk about your use of the word b***h? I’m not entirely sure it’s warranted just because she’s your ex.”

“Dude, she tried to pressure him into s*x, cheated on him with who knows how many randos, and she insulted his mother,” Percy sneered, actually keeping track of every point he made using his fingers. “b***h is the kindest word we could use for her.”

“Yeah, okay, that’s pretty fuckin’ bad,” Oliver puffed out a breath, deflating. “Sorry, Alpha.”

I waved off his apology. “Don’t worry about it, Oliver. You haven’t even been here for a year; I don’t expect you to know everything that happened before you. Especially when it’s ancient history.”

“What’s ancient history?” asked a sickeningly familiar voice. The sound made my skin crawl, and I wanted nothing more than to never turn around.

But of course, I had to get into my packhouse. I turned to the entrance where she stood, leaning against the door frame in what I assumed was meant to be a sexy pose. In reality, she just looked like she was in desperate need of assistance. “Electra, what are you doing here?”

She straightened from her stance and strutted over, her heels click-clacking as she inched closer. Her hips swayed from side to side with each step, accentuated by her tight leather short-shorts. The only article of clothing covering her oversized chest was something she once referred to as a “bandeau bra”, and that was just a thin piece of fabric stretched over her t**s, making it exceedingly obvious that she wasn’t wearing an actual bra. Not like she needed the support--her breasts seemed to defy gravity, a trait that made me think that she had gotten some cosmetic surgery done. It isn’t as if I would have minded if she did, rather I was irked that whenever I asked she would take offense and lie to my face. People should get whatever surgery they want done--just don’t lie about it.

Once she stood close enough, Electra spread her arms wide as if to greet me with a hug--a gesture that immediately made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Romeo bristled as well; he never liked her. “Don’t. I don’t want you touching me.”

She had the audacity to look hurt. “Really? You won’t even hug me, after all we’ve been through?”

“All we’ve been through? Let’s see,” I brought my hand to my chin and tapped a finger on my lips, feigning deep thought. “You lied to my face and told me that you were fine with waiting until I was twenty-one, because I wanted to be sure you were my mate. You then continuously cheated on me for most of the year and a half we were together, all while making me feel like s**t for sticking to my principles. When I learned of your transgressions, I didn’t harm you or kick you out of my pack--I asked you to move out of my room. You refused, so I had you forcibly moved to the unmated singles floor. You then spat at me, called my sisters whores, and screamed about how glad you were that my ‘degenerate’ mother was killed. Did I banish you? No, I simply commanded all my warriors and omegas to report to me if you were to ever step foot on my floor, because if you did, you would be banished for good.”

“Don’t forget how she crashed your twenty-first birthmoon party, threw a chair through one of the first floor windows after finding out the two of you weren’t mates, then spent this past year stalking you and threatening any she-wolf who showed an interest in you,” Percy reminded me.

“Right, how could I forget all of that fun stuff,” I chuckled half-heartedly. “So tell me, Electra: why the hell should I let you stay in my pack after you violated the only rule that allowed you to be here?”

Electra pouted her lips and slid a finger up and down her cleavage, feigning absentmindedness while trying to seem seductive. Her reddish-brown hair framed her face in thick ringlets, different from its usual pin-straight look. I wouldn’t lie, she was a very pretty woman that I once thought to be the sexiest alive, but I lost interest in her romantically after her infidelity came to light. Then I met Ren earlier that morning, and it was like the word “beautiful” was redefined. She was confident, radiant, beyond stunning--no one else could compare. Especially not the scantily-clad, desperate she-wolf standing before me.

“Well, they say that if you haven’t found your mate within a year of your twenty-first birthmoon, your chances of meeting them are cut in half,” she remarked. I began to wonder how true that statistic was until I recalled who was spewing it. “And since you haven’t found her yet, you know what that means, Howl. You need a strong luna, someone who can protect themselves and make you look good. Someone whose s*x appeal makes you the envy of all the other alphas. I’m the best candidate for you; no one knows you like I do. No one knows what turns you on like I do, what makes you crazy--”

“Trust me when I say that you don’t ‘drive me crazy’ in a good way,” I snarled, startling her. “Move aside before I make you.”

“N-No!” she insisted, trying and failing to regain composure. I made to step around her, but she pressed her body against mine. “I would make a perfect luna! Just give me another chance to prove myself. I’ll do anything--”

I gritted my teeth at the feeling of her body, her touch was nauseating. I took hold of her shoulders and held her at arm’s length, staring daggers into her wide gray eyes as my body shook with rage. Romeo was livid that this foolish woman had the nerve to put her hands on her--he wanted us to hold onto our mate’s scent for as long as possible, but even a passing touch from her tainted that. He pushed himself to the surface before I could stop him (not that I wanted to) and he used the alpha tone out the gate.

“Listen carefully, cunt: you are not my mate. You don’t get to demand another chance after you were given so many warnings. You will never be my luna. Now go back to your room on the singles floor, pack your s**t, and get the f**k out of my pack, you worthless psycho.”

I released Electra, letting her fall to the floor in a pitiful heap as I entered the packhouse. “You have thirty minutes to make yourself scarce.”

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Electra POV

Shivers racked my body as I watched Howl go, still on the ground. He was an intimidating alpha, ruthless and strong-willed. He had to be--his father, the previous alpha, was a hardened villain, eager to harness as much power as possible and conquer as many packs as possible. Howl refused to be like him, to be a tool for his revenge against Starry Sky and the royals. When he was only seventeen years old, he killed his own father and took over as alpha in spite of his young age. His travels and many battles only seemed to harden his heart to the rest of the world over time, but I liked to think that he had a soft spot for me.

However, I couldn’t overlook what just happened. Sure, he had dismissed me before, but never to this degree--never to the point of banishment. For what crime? The crime of loving him? Was I wrong all along--was Howl truly the cruel, evil alpha everyone made him out to be?

Tears brimming my eyes, I stood on shaking legs and entered the packhouse, avoiding eye contact with the other members I passed. Many of them scoffed or sneered at the sight of me, even the omegas.

“Looks like we’ll finally be rid of her,” I heard one whisper to another, who let out a huff.

“Finally! I was wondering what took the alpha so long,” remarked the second. “I would have banished her when I heard she was sleeping with ranked members of other packs under the guise of ‘stealing information’ for him.”

Just because he never asked me to do that, that doesn’t mean that I didn’t do it for him, I whimpered internally. I didn’t dare speak aloud--the members of this runaway pack never cared about the truth. My truth.

“And when pictures of her sleeping with warriors surfaced?” The first posited. “I would have killed her. How embarrassing!”

What else do they expect me to do? I wanted to shout at them. He wouldn’t sleep with me before his twenty-first because of some stupid promise he made to his mother about waiting for his mate. Sure, we fooled around a little, but as amazingly skilled as Howl is with his fingers and tongue, I wanted to feel a different part of him inside of me. I want to be his one and only lover, his luna!

“What’s embarrassing is how desperately she throws herself at Alpha Howl, thinking he’ll accept her after all of that,” huffed a male omega, shaking his head. “Once our alpha has made a decision, he doesn’t falter or go back on it. The best thing for her would be to leave as soon as she can.”

“I don’t know,” mused one of the she-wolves. “I kinda hope she takes too long to leave. I want to see if Alpha Howl will finally kill her for disobeying him.”

I scurried off as they broke out in cackles, my panic rising along with my anger. Not a minute later, I was in my suite on the unmated singles floor. I slammed the door behind me and ran to my bedroom, packing as much as I could into one large suitcase. In reality, I was just reaching out and grabbing whatever was within arm’s reach, then spinning around and dumping that into my luggage. The only deviation I made was to head into my bathroom and grab as many products as I could carry.

By the time my large travel bag was full, I had barely scratched the surface of the life I had built here. I wouldn’t lie and claim that it was much of a life, but it’s hard to leave a place after having invested so much time into securing my position. I just couldn’t understand why Howl wanted nothing to do with me anymore.

I love him so much--how could he toss me aside so easily?

It’s our fault, Elle, whimpered Rosaline, my wolf. She had been smitten with his wolf, too, though their relationship was far more one-sided than mine and Howl’s. We pushed him too hard. I knew we shouldn’t have slept with those perverts--but no, you wouldn’t listen to me.

I gritted my teeth. Shut up! You stupid b***h, you think you’re always right but you don’t know a damn thing. Howl should have been sleeping with us--he belongs to us. Don’t you want to be luna?

She sighed. I do feel that we are destined to be luna, but Howl is not meant to be our alpha.

Why the hell wouldn’t he be?

For starters, he isn’t our mate-- Rosaline began, but I cut her lecture short.

Enough! I’ve had enough of you and your stupid comments, Rosie. I expected this from the dumb members of this pack, but not from my own wolf. How could you?

I’m trying to help you, Elle! There is no future where Howl makes us his luna! She shouted back. Not unless he was pushed to, but I don’t see how the elders could even force his hand like that.

Her words made me pause. Since we weren’t fated mates, Howl had no reason to make me his luna by pack law. He hadn’t met his mate yet, but unless things changed, he would most likely find another she-wolf to marry. Most likely the daughter of a ranked member, I thought with disdain. I may not have been of high birth, but I could easily learn how to be a luna. How difficult could it be?

I could practically see Rosaline shake her head from side to side. That wouldn’t be enough--you know that. We’d have to be pregnant with his pup, and you and I both know there’s no way that’s going to happen.

An idea sparked in my mind. Unless he were under a spell.

I rushed to finish packing, overstuffing my luggage and changing my outfit while Rosaline waged a war in my mind. What?! Electra, don’t be stupid. You don’t know what kind of hybrid Howl is--there’s no telling what effect magick will have on him! He might be impervious--

Then that’s a chance I need to take, I declared, putting a barrier between us. I had enough with Rosaline’s whining for one day--it was time for me to work out the details of my new plan. It was only another few minutes before I was ready to go; dressed in my cutest hiking outfit and carrying my purse and my pull-behind luggage, I threw open my bedroom door to find a warrior standing there. His fist was raised as if he were about to knock, and his eyes raked over my body with a heat that set me ablaze. I couldn’t help it--it was close to my heat, and it wasn’t like the warrior before me wasn’t an impressive specimen.

“Alpha Howl has ordered your removal,” he said, standing aside. I walked out into the hallway, allowing him to shut the door behind me. He then held his hand out to me expectantly; when I arched one of my thin brows at him, he scowled. “C’mon, we need the key to your room back. You know the rules.”

“Ugh!” I fished my keys out of my purse and removed the one for my room, handing it to the warrior.

He nodded. “And your copies of the keys to the elevator, alpha suite, and alpha office. Don’t try to deny it, we know you made them,” he added in a louder tone, speaking over me when I tried to rebuke his claim. Begrudgingly, I handed the other three keys they asked for. “Thank you. Follow me.”

The warrior took my luggage, hoisting it effortlessly over one of his shoulders, and proceeded to lead me out of the packhouse. Murmurs erupted all around us in every room we entered; I focused on the warrior’s broad back, which was visible even through the tight shirt he wore. Goddess, this next bout of heat is going to be rough…

As we made it to the front steps, the warrior turned to ask, “Do you have someplace you can go?”

I blanched. There was only one place I could think of. “Yes.”

He nodded, walking with me to my shiny red car. It was a two seater convertible, small and fast and cute. Beyond that, I didn’t know a thing about it except that guys liked it.

As if on cue, the warrior whistled appreciatively at the vehicle. “Nice. This is the latest model, right? How’d you get it?”

I unlocked the car, granting him access to my trunk while I got into my seat. “It was a gift.”

“Cool. I don’t know why you keep bugging Alpha when you can get attention from other dudes,” he commented unnecessarily. I fought the urge to growl out loud.

Once he had my bag secure in the trunk, the warrior stepped away from the vehicle and waved his hand in a sweeping gesture. Suddenly, I was surrounded by four large wolves--my escorts. “These warriors will escort you to the border and report your departure to Beta Percy. Once you’re off territory, the alpha will sign off on your banishment. You are to never return to this territory again for the duration of your life; if you do, you will be killed. If you try to attack your escorts, seduce them, or bribe them, you will be killed. If you try to run and hide somewhere in our territory, you will be tracked down and killed. Our allies will be alerted of your banishment and a full list of your transgressions--if you run to any of them for asylum, you will be apprehended and returned to us for execution. Do you understand the terms of your banishment as they have been laid out to you?”

I clenched the steering wheel so hard, my knuckles were turning white. “Yes.”

“Good.” Without another word, he stepped aside and waved me out of the parking lot, watching as I pulled out of my spot and took off. My escorts caught up to me in a matter of seconds, with the brown one beside my window giving me a warning growl. I eased up on the gas, but only a little, signaling that her message was received.

It took ten minutes for us to reach the border at that speed. Even with all the progress my dear Howl had made, he still couldn’t expand too much too quickly. If he did, he’d catch the attention of Starry Sky, and their strength was second only to that of the royal army. Once I was beyond the border, my escorts slowed until they stopped, their leader glaring at me as her eyes glazed over.

“Dumb b***h,” I muttered, watching her reflection in the rearview mirror grow smaller and smaller.

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It was late into the night when I arrived. I nearly blew past the hotel entrance, startling the valet. My breathing was labored, my body still recovering from the pain of being banished. No one had warned me that having my connection with the pack severed would be excruciating. Not the warriors, not Howl, not even my useless wolf, who had retreated to the back of my mind out of mourning.

I stepped out of the car and handed my keys to the valet, who recognized me and bowed his head in reverence. As he should, f*****g omega.

Then I strutted into the building with my head held high, ignoring the lingering aches and stabs. I would get past this. I would show them all.

I was barely aware that an omega had retrieved my bag from the car before it was taken away, and was following me across the ostentatious lobby. When we got to the elevator, he pressed the up button, and when the doors opened he waited for me to step in before he followed, pressing the button of my intended floor. The staff all knew who I was and where I was headed. While there were few rooms in the establishment that were off limits, there was only one worthy of my status: the penthouse suite.

The elevator signaled our arrival with a ding, and the doors parted down the middle to reveal the most gorgeous man on the face of the earth. His black hair was masterfully disheveled, as if he walked right off of a photo shoot. His skin was a creamy beige, his jawline was perfectly sculpted, and his eyes were the shade of freshly spilled blood. At six-foot-four, he made me feel small, and the three piece suit he wore was tailored to his athletic body.

My mouth went dry as we locked eyes, and Rosaline stirred in the presence of her mate. His gaze was smoldering, suffocating, sucking me in to the point where I didn’t notice that he had taken my luggage from the attendant and dismissed them. It wasn’t until the elevator dinged behind me that I realized I had stepped out, and the two of us were now alone.

He reached out, and I flinched involuntarily. His eyes darkened at my reaction, but his movement never faltered. He took my chin in his hand, studying my face from various angles. The tingles from his touch skittered across my body, feeling less like the static electricity others boasted and more like a handful of insects were crawling across my skin. Rosaline yelped at the feeling, conflicted between her desire for her mate and her disgust by his touch.

“No hickies? That’s surprising,” he finally muttered, speaking more to himself than to me. He dropped his hand and, to my horror, took my bag to the primary suite.

His suite.

“Uh-um, I--” I tried to protest, but one glance over his shoulder silenced me. His aura and expression were menacing.

Please don’t do this, Rosaline whimpered. I don’t want to go in there. I don’t like the things he does to us.

Tears brimmed my eyes, but I wiped them away. The last thing I wanted was to excite the sick bastard prematurely. We have nowhere else to go, Rosie. He’s the only one who can help us with our plan.

She whined, but said nothing further as my legs moved of their own accord. He was an evil man, but a necessary evil--a means to an end.