SILVERMOON PACK HOUSE, SAME TIME
Mateo's POV
I sat in my office staring at my phone like if I looked at it hard enough, Aria would suddenly respond to one of the fifty messages I'd sent her over the last two days.
Nothing.
Complete silence except for that one time she answered just to tell me there was nothing to talk about before hanging up in my face.
Beta Zayn knocked and entered without waiting for permission because he knew I was in too sh*tty a mood to care about protocol right now.
"Any word from her?" I asked even though I already knew the answer.
"No, Alpha, she's completely blocked the mate bond and cut off all communication," Zayn reported. "However, I did manage to find out where she's staying."
My head snapped up. "Where?"
"The Moonview Hotel in neutral territory, but Alpha, there's something else you should know," he said and his expression turned grim. "Lucian's been visiting her regularly and they've been meeting multiple times a day."
My wolf snarled and I felt my claws start to extend before I forced them back. "My best friend is meeting with my mate behind my back."
"It appears that way, sir, and there's more," Zayn pulled out his own phone and showed me a photo. "This was taken this morning and that's Lucian entering her hotel with what looks like legal documents."
I stared at that photo and felt something cold settle in my chest. Lucian was helping her build a case against me for the Council hearing and he was using his position as my lawyer to do it.
"That traitor," I growled. "After everything I've done for him, all the years of friendship, and he's helping her destroy me."
"There's something else, Alpha," Zayn said hesitantly. "I've been hearing rumors from some of the pack members about concerns regarding Bella and there's talk that people aren't comfortable with her potentially becoming Luna."
"I don't give a damn what they're comfortable with," I snapped. "Bella's not going to be Luna anyway because Aria's still my mate and this whole thing is going to blow over once she calms down and realizes she's being irrational."
Even as I said it, I knew how stupid it sounded, but I couldn't bring myself to face the alternative, that I'd actually lost her for good.
"Sir, if I may speak freely," Zayn started carefully.
"When have you ever needed permission?" I muttered.
"You're in denial about the severity of this situation and Luna Aria, I'm sorry, just Aria, she's not coming back and the sooner you accept that, the better prepared you'll be for the Council hearing."
I wanted to argue, wanted to tell him he was wrong, but before I could say anything, my phone rang.
Alpha Marcus.
I almost didn't answer but something made me pick up. "What?"
"Is that any way to greet your future father-in-law?" Marcus said and his voice had that oily quality that always made my skin crawl but I'd been ignoring because of Bella.
"What do you want, Marcus?"
"I wanted to discuss the timeline for making Bella's position official," he said smoothly. "The merger paperwork is almost complete and I think we should expedite the Luna ceremony before the Council hearing, it'll strengthen your position if you have a new Luna already in place."
Something about the way he said that made alarm bells go off in my head. "What merger paperwork? We signed an alliance agreement, not a merger."
There was a pause on the other end. "You did read the contract before you signed it, didn't you Mateo?"
"Of course I read it," I lied because the truth was I'd skimmed it and signed it because I'd been distracted and Marcus had presented it as a formality.
"Then you know that once Bella becomes Luna, certain territorial and resource agreements go into effect," Marcus said and now his voice had an edge to it. "I assumed you were fine with that since you signed."
I pulled up the contract on my computer and actually read it this time, really read it, and with every paragraph I scrolled through, my blood got colder and colder.
"This gives you controlling interest in our northern territories," I said slowly.
"It's just a formality really," Marcus said but he didn't sound concerned at all. "Nothing to worry about."
I kept reading and found clause after clause that essentially signed over huge portions of pack control to Darkmoon.
"You set me up," I said and my voice was deadly quiet. "This whole thing with Bella, it was a f**king setup from the start."
Marcus laughed, actually laughed. "Oh Mateo, you can't be serious right now, you really didn't know? And here I thought you were supposed to be this brilliant alpha, turns out you're just another fool who thinks with his d*ck instead of his brain."
Before I could respond, he continued. "Here's how this is going to play out … you're going to go through with making Bella Luna because if you don't, I'll make sure every pack in the region knows that you're weak, that you couldn't even keep your own mate, and that Silvermoon is ripe for the taking, or you can cooperate and maybe I'll let you keep your alpha title as a figurehead while I run things from behind the scenes."
"You're threatening me," I said and my claws were fully extended now, digging into my desk.
"I'm offering you options," Marcus corrected. "Choose wisely because the Council hearing is in two days and after that, your choices become much more limited."
He hung up and I sat there staring at my destroyed desk while my mind raced.
"Sir?" Zayn said quietly.
"Get me everything you can find on Alpha Marcus and Darkmoon Pack," I ordered. "Financial records, territory agreements, anything and everything."
"Already on it, sir," Zayn said. "I've had a bad feeling about him since Bella showed up."
My phone buzzed again and this time it was my father Jeffrey calling.
"We need to talk," he said the moment I answered. "It's about the Council hearing and there's something you need to know about Aria's plans."
"What about them?" I asked.
"She's got evidence against you, son, and from what I'm hearing, it's bad enough to destroy your reputation completely and possibly cost you the alpha position," Jeffrey said and his voice was grim. "I think you need to consider offering her whatever she wants to make this go away quietly."
"What kind of evidence?" I demanded.
"The kind that comes from your own lawyer apparently," he said. "Lucian's been feeding her information and I don't know what exactly he's given her but my sources say it's damning."
I felt like the walls were closing in from all sides. Marcus was trying to steal my pack, Aria was preparing to destroy me at the Council hearing, and my own best friend had betrayed me.
"I need to talk to her," I said. "Face to face, no intermediaries, just me and her."
"I don't think that's a good idea right now," Jeffrey started but I was already standing up.
"I don't care what you think," I said. "Set up a meeting or I'll show up at her hotel myself."
I hung up before he could argue and turned to Zayn. "Get the car ready, we're going to see Aria right now."
"Sir, I really don't think—"
"That's an order," I snapped.
Zayn bowed and left to prepare the car while I grabbed my jacket and tried to figure out what the hell I was going to say to her when I saw her, how could I possibly explain that I'd been completely blind to everything that was happening, that I'd f**ked up so badly I'd nearly lost my entire pack in addition to losing her?
The truth was, I couldn't explain it because there was no excuse good enough for what I'd done and as I walked out of my office and headed for the garage, I realized with stark clarity that I was about to lose everything and I only had myself to blame.