He Lost His Alpha Status After Turning Me Down Chapter 02
I lay in bed and pulled out a parchment envelope. A wolf-head wax seal held it closed. The title across the front read:
Acceptance Letter, Northern Territories School of Werewolf Medicine.
Below that, in smaller print:
Please note that the Northern Territories School of Werewolf Medicine is located in the Far North.
Please return your signed enrollment confirmation within fifteen business days.
Because the school was in the Far North, I’d been hesitant about sending back the form.
Not anymore.
I stared at that letter until dawn broke through the window. Sleep never came.
Then, the sound of a key turning in the front door. Geirolf’s pheromones hit me before I saw him. I shoved the acceptance letter under the mattress and pretended he’d just woken me up.
“My Luna…” Geirolf’s voice was low, almost gentle. “I’m sorry I put you in such an awkward position at the ceremony. But Ulva has no family left. I’m the only person she can lean on. I couldn’t just ignore her.”
I kept my eyes closed, mumbled something sleepy. “It’s fine. I understand.”
He paused, surprised. Then he leaned closer. The scent of cedarwood on him grew stronger. “I’m sorry. All I can offer you is this moonstone bracelet to make up for it.”
His warm breath ghosted across my forehead.
Geirolf had always been cold by nature. Sweet gestures like this were never his style.
I opened my eyes before I could stop myself. “Where did you learn to sweet-talk a girl like that?”
He smiled faintly as he clasped the bracelet around my wrist. “Alpha instinct. Doesn’t need to be learned. I know I was wrong. You and our pup matter more to me than anything. Forgive me this once.”
He finished fastening the bracelet and leaned in to kiss me.
I turned my face. His lips landed on my earlobe.
Disappointment flickered across his expression, but he masked it quickly. “Get some more rest. I’ll make breakfast.”
He changed out of yesterday’s suit and disappeared into the kitchen.
That’s when I noticed a receipt poking out of his jacket pocket. I pulled it free. He’d purchased an expensive moonstone necklace.
The bracelet he’d just clasped on my wrist was the free gift that came with the necklace.
“Clearly,” my wolf said, “he learned how to charm a she-wolf from a different Omega. Too bad he’s still not very good at it. You found the evidence.”
I laughed at myself, a hollow, joyless sound, and tucked the receipt back where I’d found it.
Over breakfast, neither of us mentioned the ceremony. When the meal was done, I mailed my signed enrollment confirmation and started packing.
But when I went to the pack hospital to collect my personal belongings from my office, I saw Geirolf again.
He was standing in the corridor, holding a bouquet of roses. His face lit up with surprise and delight as he looked at the she-wolf who’d given them to him.
Ulva wore the stunning moonstone necklace at her throat. Years of supposed illness had left her looking delicate and fragile, the kind of frailty that made every werewolf in the room want to shield her.
Her voice trembled, her eyes glistening with unshed tears, as she spoke to him.
“Today, I want to say something to our Alpha in front of the whole pack.”
I watched Geirolf’s face. Through our mate bond, I could feel exactly what was coursing through his heart.
Anticipation. He was hoping Ulva would confess her feelings. The realization made me sick.
Ulva tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her cheeks flushed, and said something deliberately ambiguous:
“Geirolf, thank you for being a beam of moonlight in my darkest days. I want to be the moonlight in your life too.”
Someone in the crowd started clapping immediately. Others joined in.
Geirolf gave a helpless little laugh, then reached out and patted her head with an indulgent tenderness that turned my stomach.
Then he spotted me standing in the doorway. A flash of panic crossed his eyes.
But before he could react, Ulva buried herself shyly into his arms.
Geirolf stiffened. He pushed her back gently. He seemed to want to come to me, but Ulva grabbed his wrist and held on.
A wave of nausea rolled through me. I turned and walked away, heading for my office.
Two pack members were inside, chatting:
“Ulva doesn’t look depressed to me. Looks more like lovesick. She’s hunting for the Alpha’s heart.”
“But the Alpha already has a Luna. And Luna’s pregnant.”
“No official Luna ceremony means Altalune was never truly recognized as Luna by the pack. Who knows? Maybe the Alpha’s fated mate isn’t even Altalune.”
I shoved the door open. Both of them froze under my stare, as if invisible hands had seized their throats. They scrambled out of the room without another word.
