The Heartless Alpha

VIOLETS POV

“Excuse me?” I sneered. “We have no right to be here? Wrong. You have no right to be here. You are no longer Luna.”

Anne glared at me coldly. “Your mate cheated his way to winning!”

Whispers went through the crowd of girls around us. Behind us, Marion and Skye were silent.

“Cheated? How?”

“My mate had years of experience on him! He must have had outside help! Or he took something-“

I started laughing before she could finish. “Experience doesn’t mean s**t! I’ve personally bested some of the top warriors at B***d Moon. Know why? Because I had the Alpha and Luna as teachers! Those men were thrown on their asses by me, even though they had ‘years of experience’ on me!”

Anne crossed her arms, smirking wickedly at me.

“You cannot be the official Luna unless I hand down the title. Which I’m not going to do!”

I sighed, shaking my head. She really was grinding on my patience. Jasper stepped forward, putting his hand on my shoulder, comforting me against this stubborn, annoying woman.

“You don’t have to do anything. I’ve already been sworn in as Alpha. As Alpha, I can relinquish your title.”

Her expression faltered, realizing he was right. Hatred shone in her eyes, and her thin lips curled in a snarl. Before she could say anything though, Jasper spoke again.

“I, Alpha Jasper Cole of Silver Moon, hereby banish you former Luna Anne Warrick from Silver Moon. As Alpha, I also strip you of your title.” His aura washed over me, making my insides tingle. It was probably wrong to be aroused right now, but like I could help it?

Anne, on the other hand, clutched her chest, whimpering. Around us, the girls were wincing, shuffling uncomfortably. They should have been in a lot more pain, losing their Luna. My only conclusion was that Anne cared more about her title than the rest of them did, clinging to it. It was obvious that she wasn’t well loved or even respected amongst the people in the pack, as losing her didn’t affect them as much.

“It’s done. You can leave now.” Jasper said.

“No!” She cried. “How can you do this?! You’ve taken everything from me! My mate, my title! Even my own son!”

Her words attracted the most attention I’d seen so far.

“Kiren?” One said.

“What happened to him?”

“Where is the young Alpha?”

“Like I already said, Kiren has given up his claim to the Alpha title! He is perfectly safe at B***d Moon with my parents, the Alpha and Luna. He will come home when we’ve…cleaned up around here.” I eyed Anne.

“This doesn’t end here!” She hissed. She looked around. “How can you stand there and do nothing?! I’ve been your Luna for years, some of you your whole lives! How can you stand here and let them treat me like this? Where does your loyalty lie?!” She screeched.

The young woman who’d yelled at me earlier stepped forward. “Our loyalty lies with our pack. You are no longer apart of our pack.”

“You may have been our Luna, but you were a terrible one.” The youngest girl added.

“My family is starving and dressed in rags while you and the Alpha lived a life of luxury here! You don’t deserve to be Luna!” Another shouted.

“Yeah!”

“Yeah!”

“I agree!”

I smiled, crossing my arms. “Seems like the majority has spoken. Would you like someone to escort you to the border?”

“b***h! I’ll f*****g kill you!” Annd lunged at me, obviously very weak from her recent banishment. I dodged easily, simply stepping to the side. She landed behind me, growling.

Another, more vicious growl drowned hers out.

I looked at Jasper, shocked at the power coming off him. He almost looked taller, in complete Alpha mode. Or maybe it was complete mate mode? I wasn’t sure. The only thing I was sure of was Anne had f****d up bad, and I needed to get better control of my hormones.

“You will not attack my mate! If you had any chance of remaining in Silver Moon, which were slim to none to begin with, you just lost it! I will not tolerate people attacking my pack! Get out! Now!”

His target cowered back fear, showing her neck. Then she ran from the building sobbing. I took a few deep breaths when she was gone, reminding myself that I was here to do a job, and had no time to worry about that infuriating woman. So I turned around, facing the girls.

VIOLETS POV

“Excuse me?” I sneered. “We have no right to be here? Wrong. You have no right to be here. You are no longer Luna.”

“My order still stands. Those who should be in school, go home. Trust me when I say you’re families will be taken of. The rest of you, I want you to split up and go through every single room in the house. Anything that is expensive, or belonged to the previous Alpha and Luna, I want down here. Try not break anything, please.”

The girls scurried off through the two doors on the left and right of the entrance. The younger ones shuffled past me, but the youngest stopped, regarding me with new interest.

“Do you promise to look after us?” She asked.

I nodded. “With all my heart. Things are going to change around here, starting with the care and treatment of pack members.”

Her gaze fell on Marian. She nodded, smiling a small smile before leaving. I opened my mouth to speak to Jasper, taken aback when his lips claimed mine out of nowhere. He kissed me fervently, stealing my breath.

“Are you alright? She didn’t hurt you?” He asked when he finally released me.

“She didn’t even touch me. You worry too much.”

“That’s part of my job, as your mate.”

“You know as well as I do I could have kicked her a*s.”

“I know. But no fighting with the twins.”

“That’s what I have you for. To protect us.” I smiled. He placed his large hand on my stomach, returning the smile.

“You are pregnant?”

I looked over my shoulder at Marian, who was staring at us with an odd expression.

“Yes. Twins.” I confirmed.

“By the Goddess…”

“Is everything okay?”

” The twins of the Silver Moon.” She said that as if I was supposed to know what she meant. When I raised my eyebrows, she continued. “It is an old story my father used to tell me at night. He spoke of a time when a new Alpha and Luna would rise, and they would bless the pack with twins, the twins of the Silver Moon. He said they would be special.”

“All babies are special Marian.”

“Not like these.”

“Why?” Jasped asked before I could.

“Because their Mother was a hybrid.” She peered at me as if trying to look into my soul. I gulped loudly, and for the first time in a while, the chest in my mind rattled. Could she see through me? Did she know what I was?

Jaspers laugh shook me out of my thoughts. “That’s a fun story, but hybrids don’t exist anymore.”

Marian didn’t reply, simply giving me one more hard look before her eyes moved away. I let out the breath I’d been holding. Something told me Marian knew more about hybrids than she was willing to speak about. I’d have to get her alone, ask her my questions.

“Come on. I want to get to the Hall for the meeting.” I tugged on my mates hand.

“Alright. Hey, excuse me?” He called to a girl carrying a very large painting. She placed it down, scowling at it.

“Tracy. My name is Tracy.”

“Tracy. Can you find a clean, empty room for Marian and her daughter please? And can you get her some clothes and anything they want to eat?”

“Of course. I’d be happy to.” She smiled at the woman in the chair.

“Thank you Tracy. We will be back soon.”

“Okie dokie!” She chirped. She seemed like such a happy individual, a stark contrast to the majority of the girls here. I gave her a genuine smile as I turned for the door. I had a feeling Tracy and I could become good friends.

After making sure Marian and Skye were on their way, we stepped outside, coming face to face with Ashwell. He looked displeased and disturbed; Probably due to the large group of homeless looking people behind him. My heart throbbed brokenly in my chest as my eyes raked over them. Men, women, children… wearing nothing but dirty, holey rags and severely malnourished.

“Is this everyone?” I asked him. My voice cracked a bit.

“Yes. I made sure.”

“How many altogether?”

“Forty two.” He half turned. “Sixteen children, thirteen women and thirteen men.”

“Mates?”

He nodded. My stomach dropped into my shoes.

“Bring them to the Hall. We’re meeting King there. They need to be there too.”

“On it.”

The chest in my mind rattled again; I was admittedly overwhelmed with emotions. I wasn’t sure if my hormones were playing into it or not, or if I was simply just appalled at the situation here. Both, more than likely. Ashwell gave the orders, and everyone started dragging their feet in the other direction. Jasper and I followed silently, sharing a look.

Part of me wondered why there were so many families, and Marian was the odd one out. Did she have a mate, somewhere in the pack? Or had she lost him somehow? I resolved to ask her later, when she was feeling better. As we walked, I took the chance to really look around; Silver Moon was very different than my own pack, and not in a good way. The town we’d driven through was small, and I’d noticed some shops had boards in their windows, out of business. The land was also different. Further out to the East, I could see poor looking fields that were ripe for crops. However, they were desolate, barren, in desperate need for some care.

The grand houses blocking the view of the fields were another problem. They weren’t as aweinspiring or as big as the packhouse itself, but they were the type of homes that should have been used for the high rank pack members like King and Ashwell. And when we turned off the street leading to our new home, I was once again struck by the complete poverty of Silver Moon. The homes here were in seriously poor condition; Lawns overgrown, weak attempts flowerbeds to add some amount of color, roofs that needed repairing. One house had a large hole in the side! My mind couldn’t conjure how that must have happened, but I made a mental note to address it as soon as possible.

Honestly, the entirety of Silver Moon was a mess. This was not a place I would want to raise my children in. But Jasper was right; I was excited to grateful that we were in a position to be able to put things right, and help where help was needed.

“It’s just ahead. Should I go get everyone organized?”

“Please.” Jasper replied.

Ashwell left us walking behind the group of cast out pack members. Thankfully, we only had to continue a little way more to the end of the street where a large domed building sat; It would definitely hold everyone. The building was concrete, the domed roof glass. I guessed this building was also used for parties, events, or any type of extravagant thing Anne and Warrick planned. The inside was even more surprising. A stage was built at the far end of the room, with a wooden podium and speaker. The walls were painted a lovely green, giving a kind of nature feeling. The last bits of daylight shone in through the roof, casting shadows; It was actually really beautiful, and would have been, if not for the circumstances. The rest of the Hall was packed with people, looking around anxiously.

I located Ashwell and King, picking my way around bodies until I reached them.

“Is everyone here?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Good. Please join us on stage.” I tried to sound authoritative, but if I was being honest, I was nervous as f**k. Addressing the whole pack was much different than just the people who lived and worked in the packhouse! Jasper squeezed my hand as I focused on not tripping up the steps, and then we stood, facing the pack. I gulped loudly for the second time that day.

Jasper cleared his throat. “Thank you all for coming on such short notice. We really appreciate it.”

Silence.

“I guess you’re all wondering why we’ve brought you here tonight, and where Alpha Warrick and his Luna are. Well, I won’t beat around the bush with a big speech so here it is. When Alpha Warrick visited the B***d Moon pack, it was in regards to determining whether or not he was my biological Father. The answer to that is, yes. However, after conversing with your Alpha for a while, I saw him as unfit to continue in his role. As was my right, I challenged him for his title, and won.”

A few gasps echoed to us at his words.

“Alpha Warrick is dead. Luna Anne has been banished from the pack for several, and varying degrees questionable behaviors and decisions she made. Young Kiren, my half-brother, has denounced his claim to his title. As such, we stand before you as your new Alpha and Luna.