Rejected, And Became A Heiress (Cara)

Alaric's POV

With Cara gone, I feel no more reason to stay at the event. It seems to be winding down now anyway, with only a few couples lingering on the dance floor and a small group hanging out by the dessert table. Most of the guests have already departed.

Ignoring Noel entirely, I say my goodbyes to Eamon. Then, turn and walk towards the door.

John, my Beta, must spot me from wherever he's hiding, because when I get to the door leading outside, he's already there waiting.

John wasn't privy to my discussion with Cara, her brothers, and Noel, but with one look at my face, he says, "Did something happen, Sir?"

"Not here," I say.

On the way to the car, I fill in the blanks, giving John the summarized version, not going into very many specific details and certainly not telling him how any of this makes me feel.

He can likely tell, though. Anger is pulsing through me, my hands are curled into fists, and my voice is low. I try to keep my face cool, my expression blank, but with the other tells, my fury is likely still obvious, especially for someone who knows me like a Beta would.

4 know

"We need to do some research on this Noel,” I say. "I to everything there is to know about him."

I'm not ready to accept that Cara might actually fall in love with someone else, but just in case, I need to be sure that he is not some wandering cad or playboy who will sweep her off her feet just to break her heart.

Like I did.

The guilt stabs through my chest, right between my ribs and into my heart.

Grey wordlessly snarls at me, and he's right to do so. I deserve all of his malice for ruining things with Cara, for allowing this other male the chance to be with her to begin with.

Cara is loyal. If I never hurt her, if I'd made her mine back then, she would still be mine now. Maybe we'd have our own children, our own family, our own life.

What a fool I was.

I was such a fool that Cara didn't even tell me she is Aylon Auburn, BloodyMoon Beta. She'd let me think that was her husband.

Did she even have a husband, then? I assumed not, if Noel waltzed into the picture with such confidence, without Landon to even hold him back.

Where was Ethan and Mia's father, then?

"Does this mean we are returning to the DarkWood pack?" John asks.

The question catches me off-guard. I hadn't even considered leaving yet, but with the event over, marking the end of the collaboration between the two packs, there is no official reason for me to stay.

"There are duties waiting for you back at DarkWood pack, Alpha," John says.

As Alpha, I would be expected to attend to matters of the pack over my own private desires. That was the way it's always worked before, and I've never once thought to stray from it in the past.noveldrama

Even before, when I was getting married, I had only delayed my duties long enough to account for the ceremony. Then I planned on going right back to work. Yet now, in BloodyMoon pack lands, I find myself hesitating, unwilling to return home, knowing that if I do, I will be leaving Noel without anyone to counter him. He will have full range to attempt to win Cara's heart.

I don't want to give voice to the fear, but he might even succeed.

No, I have to be here. I can't lose her. Even if that makes me a lousy Alpha.

I put Cara second in the past, and it brought us both nothing but trouble and misery. I will not repeat the mistakes of the past.

Besides, with how adamant the elders were about my courting Cara again, perhaps it will not be so very difficult to convince them of my staying here. At least

for a while longer. If I can woo Cara again, and make her my wife this time, then I can bring her back and she will be the official Luna of the DarkMoon pack. Today's Bonus Offer