Bound To The Billionaire Alpha

"She's my mate, Natalia." Lucian, my husband, no scratch that...the cheat of the century declared, his voice carrying over in the dining hall that had fallen deathly quiet since our argument. "She's the true Luna of the pack. You know what that means to me. To the pack, to the elders. I will finally have what I've always wanted." My clenched fists only got tighter at Lucian's words. Mate? True Luna? The elders? What he'd always wanted? What was I then? "Three years, Lucian!" I growled, my chest tightening at the reminder. I'd given the pack three years of my life. Three beautiful years that were now floating away from me like ash in the wind. Even when they had thought of me as nothing but a weak pathetic human, I had broken my back, fulfilling my duties as Luna without a single complaint. And now I was being thrown away and for what? Her? My heated gaze landed on the she-wolf that had turned out to be the bane of my existence. Emily...the perfect little mate that my husband of three years was willingly replacing me with just because she was his 'mate'? My heart shattered anew at the sight of their twined hands, how Lucian held her protectively as if the whole world was out to get her. That had been me just two hours ago when we came down for dinner. As Luna, every wolf of the pack had bowed to me and now... I was nothing. Someone whom even the lowest omega had the audacity to look down on. And maybe all of it wouldn't have hurt this much if Lucian's moans and grunts while he pounded into her were not the things to announce their affair that had been going on right under my nose. Nothing would have prepared me for the image of him and her naked on his office table when I had gone looking for him in his office. "How long?" I growled, but even as I did, the answer hit me like a freight train and I staggered, the dining table's edge being the only thing that kept me from falling. "You knew?" The night we found Emily in the woods left for dead, all the fussing, the tenderness with which Lucian had lifted her. He'd sniffed, in the name of finding out which pack she belonged to. But it wasn't that, it was her scent he'd been enjoying and the foolish me did not realize a damn thing while I focused on trying to save her life. "Oh my God, you knew she was your mate that night? You all knew?" I took in everyone that was present in the hall, their silent betrayal slicing me to my core. "It doesn't matter." Lucian straightened up. "She'll be able to give me pups, Natalia-" "Do not go there, Lucian!" Unable to hold myself at his low blow, I hissed, not caring about the audience that was growing by the minute. An audience where I knew I had no friend. Not when the only friend who had brought me into the Nightshade pack had turned his back on me and betrayed me in the worst way. "You are welcome to stay. Emily and I already agreed on-" Emily and I...? A bitter laugh escaped me, cutting off Lucian's absurd statement. "Thanks, but no thanks." "Oh, come on Natalia, I'll protect you." Was he being serious right now? My eyes narrowed at his determined look. "As long as I'm here, no one will touch you. You know you are safer here than out there." "Forgive me, but your words mean nothing, Alpha Lucian." I had never been oblivious to the fact that everyone just tolerated me on the basis of being Lucian's luna and I wasn't about to start now. I stepped away, with every intent of finding myself far away from the pack by morning. It wouldn't be the first time I was all on my own after all. "Or I can have her." The deepest of voices rumbled at the back of the crowd, making me snap in the direction of whoever spoke as the sea of our audience parted to reveal a stranger. The perfectly styled hair and fancy dark suit that sinfully covered their large frame said he was definitely not someone from this pack. "Crap!" It took me a moment to remember why we were holding this dinner in the first place. Before my discovery of Lucian's betrayal, we were expecting guests or more importantly, we had guests. The recent raids and attacks on the pack...an offer was supposed to be made tonight to stop them... "For the debt you owe, your ex Luna will be a satisfactory price and I'm pretty sure that will help you sleep better at night." What? Ex luna? I gaped at the man when I realized he was talking about me and I was about to protest his demands, but Lucian beat me to it. "What would you want with her, Alpha Thornevale?" Alpha Thornevale? As in 'The Octavius Thornevale'? My eyes widened at the famed Alpha of the supernatural world. The royalty of Solara Heights. Wasn't he supposed to have sent through someone of a lower rank for the negotiations? What was his royal self doing here, and more importantly, what the hell would he want with me? "Why would a hybrid ever want a human for?" The alpha's smirk sent a cold chill running down my spine, making me snap back at Lucian. He couldn't possibly agree to this? I was shocked to find my ex husband considering the offer. "Lucian, you can't, if I ever meant anything to you-" "It's not about that, Natalia. You yourself sacrificed so much for the pack, so of all people you should understand my predicament." "Predicament, my foot!" I sneered, hand itching to slap the crap out of him. "Natalia..." Lucian let go of his mate and stepped into me. And for the first time since I'd met him, his touch repulsed me so much I pulled back. Sighing, he gave me that puppy eyed look that once in a life that seemed like centuries ago now would have gotten me to do anything for him. "This would really put a stop to all the raids. Don't you want that for your family? They'd be no need to shed any blood. No wars or warriors lost. Just one peaceful end to our long standing feuds." Of course he would use my own words against me. "I don't have a family." I said through gritted teeth as my pained gaze took in everyone who surrounded me. Everyone I'd fought to protect as Luna. Tonight's dinner being one of the platforms I'd thought of negotiating an end to all the fighting. "Never had and never will. And just so you know, I won't let myself be sacrificed for anyone." "That's not you talking, babe." I kept walking up the stairs, ignoring Lucian's attempts to make me reconsider. How dumb did he think I was? "Come back here Natalia! You can't ignore me!" "Of course I can, Lucian." I mumbled to myself, knowing he would be listening with his wolf hearing. "I'm just a pathetic little human and your alpha voice means nothing to me." And I'd never been grateful for that, until now. Stepping back into our bedroom, I ignored the ache in my heart and went straight into our walk-in closet. Finding what I was looking for, I held it close to my heart. If Lucian thought I was just going to roll over and get traded like a pig, he was in for a surprise. My escape bag had grown bigger after making new additions since joining the Nightshade pack. I bit back a bitter laugh at the memory of the promise I had made myself after Lucian promised me the world. I'd decided to use it only in case of an attack on the pack. To protect myself, never for the usual. I shimmied out of my dinner gown and put on my worn jeans and Tee. Replaced my pumps with sneakers and bunched up my hair in a bun and threw a cap on. The whole process was like second nature to me and before anyone realized, I'd be long gone. I rummaged through my bag one last time and came up with the one thing that would get me out of here unnoticed. The perfume had been a gift from a witch friend. I sprayed it and once I was satisfied that I no longer smelled like me, I took one last look at the life that had almost become my happily ever after before shutting that door. With everyone at dinner and the presence of other wolves from outside the pack, it was almost too easy to get away. Not even the pack house omegas or guards paid attention as I walked out of the mansion. Opting for the woods were I knew I would encounter less guards compared to the main gate, I held tightly to my bag and the tears that threatened to spill and sprinted in that direction. I would allow myself to fall apart, just not here. "Princess, you wouldn't be trying to steal what belongs to me now would you?" I froze at the sound of that deep voice again, but only for a moment. I wasn't about to let him think he scared me. I sneaked a peek over my shoulder. "I have no idea what you are talking about. I don't even know you." "Oh, but you do, Princess. We just met." Octavius materialized in front of me, reminding me of the fact that I couldn't out run the hybrid even if I wanted to. "...and we both know you belong to me now." The pompous prick! I bared my teeth, feeling pretty much like a wounded beast. "I belong to no one. I'm afraid you got a bad deal." "Alpha Lucian-" "I was not Lucian's to trade!" I hissed. "Well, this pretty paper says otherwise." The jerk waved something in the air. It shimmered and I felt it then, the binding spell. He didn't? Hands clutching to my chest, I reached for the nearest tree and collapsed against it. How the hell did I forget that I'd stupidly given myself to Lucian? While I thought he loved me, while I thought I loved him, we'd made a pact. Something close to a bond, he had said. To assure me of his love. I had agreed whole heartedly and now my own foolishness was coming back to bite me in my butt. The damn pact had nothing to do with love, but everything with owning me. And that stupid smirk on Octavius' face said he now owned me and that there was no escape for me. God! I fought against the growing heaviness, the heartache, but it was too damn much...I was drowning, fading. I wouldn't go down without a fight, though. I couldn't let Octavius take me. I had to try something. Anything. The hand I'd slipped into my bag closed around something, just as foreign hands snaked around my waist. "That would be close enough." I thought. "So, I hate to cut short your little escape, Princess- what the hell!" At his painful grunt, a smug smile spread across my lips as everything faded. "You talk too much, Octavius."