Chapter 7

Mira

The oxygen was sucked out of the room. This must but what it feels like when you’re drowning.

“Lila!”

Dominic came between me and the accusing woman.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he growled at her. “I suggest you apologize to my Mate before you face the consequences.”

“I said what I said, Dominic,” Lila said casually.

The crowd began to get boisterous again, their once celebratory exclamations becoming heated and angry. I stepped out to make myself seen and heard.

“None of this is true!” I shouted to the Pack. “She is spreading a false rumor, a fabricated story and nothing more. My past personal life cannot have an effect on the Pack.”

“No ill effect?” Lila matched my volume. “Everything about you affects the Pack! The Luna must be transparent and honest, not hiding salacious escapades in order to climb the social ladder!”

This got the crowd going again, and I was afraid they were going to turn against me. On instinct I my hand shot out to take his. My touch surprised him, and he looked at me with sincere concern before the rage returned.

“Who dares to question my Mate again?”

His voice had a quality I had not heard before. He was using his Alpha aura to suppress the crowd, and it worked. No one said a word.

Even Lila shrunk back like a misbehaving puppy.

“This meeting is over,” Dominic said carefully. “Come, Mira.”

And with that, he grabbed my hand and all but dragged me from the room.

I dared to steal a glance back at the crowd, most watching me go with disapproval written on their faces.

I would have to do a lot of work to earn their respect, but I would not let them down.

Once outside in the cool night air, I was able to exhale for what felt like the first time all day. Everything had happened so fast, and my heart was still catching up.

“Dominic, please believe me,” I stopped him, “that woman, Lila, she’s lying. I never seduced Tessa’s boyfriend.”

He waited for me to finish.

“Ward and I,” I wasn’t sure how to put it. “Well, we grew up together. We were friends, and there was great affection there, and it seemed only natural that we would be Mates someday. And then he went and got Tessa pregnant, and now they’re spreading these lies about me like I’m some conniving whore—“

“Mira, stop.” His voice was calm. “I believe you.”

“You do?”

“Of course, you are the most honest person I’ve ever met,” he took my hand in his. “Besides, how could you be interested in a Beta like him, when you don’t even seem interested in the glorious Alpha you see in front of you?”

I flinched back at his arrogant comment, then noticed the smirk on his face. I pulled my hand away and gave him a playful smack on the arm.

“Ouch!” he said in mock pain. “I’m injured, remember Doctor?”

I hoped it was dark enough that he couldn’t see me blushing.

He continued walking towards the Pack house, and I followed behind, trying not to admire the muscles in his back. He may be narcissistic, I suppose he had a right to be.

We were about to enter the house when I stopped him once more.

“Thank you, for standing up for me.”

“You are my Mate,” he said, “it is my duty to protect you.”

“Right” I said sheepishly. “I just wish you didn’t always resort to anger, to violence.”

He stared at me for a moment, calculating.

“Do you presume to know how to rule a Pack?” he asked, moving closer to me as if stalking his prey.

“No, of course not, I just—“

“You know nothing of what it means to be the Alpha,” his voice was low but I could hear the rage creeping back in. “It is only through absolute power that a Pack can be controlled. If they do not fear my wrath they will never respect me.”

“There are other ways to earn respect besides intimidation!”

“Do not lecture me, Doctor!” he was breathing heavily, his chest puffed up with pride. “I am the Alpha here, and you do well to remember that.”

Before I could reply he opened the front door and walked inside. I thought of all the comebacks I could say to him, but I bit my tongue and followed him in. This argument wasn’t over, but it could wait.

All thoughts on our disagreement vanished when I entered the house. When I’d been here before, I’d come through a back door, an unadorned entrance.

Now I was seeing the real Pack House, and it was a mansion. Lush and luxurious, ornate and expensive. Being an orphan from a much smaller Pack, I had never been in a such a place, let alone called it my home.

I lifted my jaw off the floor just in time to see two older wolves come into the front foyer.

“Father,” Dominic greeted the gentleman, “I’d like to introduce you to my Mate and our future Luna. This is Mira.”

Even an established Alpha cannot always control his face, and I saw the surprise in his eyes as my future-father-in-law came to take my hand.

“A pleasure, Mira,” he said warmly, “even if it is an unexpected one!”

The woman with him was tired of being ignored, and made a small noise in Dominic’s direction. “And this is my step-mother, Irene,” Dominic said tightly. I could tell there was some tension there.

“Hello, Mira,” the Luna said. “So nice to see you again.”

“You’ve met?” the Alpha’s asked, raising his bushy eyebrows.

“Yes, darling,” his wife responded sweetly, “this woman is Tessa’s doctor. She’s the one who shared the terrific news about the baby.”

Oh, she’s good. Her eyes were daggers in my direction, but only showed maternal affection when turned to her husband.

“Yes, it is such terrific news for Tessa, and for all of you I’m sure,” I did my best to match her tone.

“That’s wonderful,” the Alpha said. “It seems you’re already part of the family.”

Dominic seized the opportunity to intervene in what was becoming a very awkward moment. “Well, if you’ll excuse us,” he said as he wrapped an arm around me, “we’re going to retire. I’m sure Mira would like to settle into her new home.”

“Oh, yes. It was lovely to meet you!” I said mostly over my shoulder and I was swiftly taken away.

“Be careful with her,” Dominic said once we were out of earshot. “She’s not exactly my biggest fan.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can tell she’s been hoping I would never take a Luna,” he explained, “and then could never become the Alpha. That would clear the way for her own son, Lucian, to take my place. He’s been away at university, but would be back here in a heartbeat if he knew he could usurp me.”

This family was getting more complicated by the second.

After a confusing route through many hallways and grand staircases, we reached Dominic’s quarters. I’d been here before, but everything looked different now that my reason for being there had changed.

I started to unpack, checking that my medical kit hadn’t been tampered with in its transport. Dominic’s voice reached me from across the room.

“I’ll let you get settled. I’m going to shower.”

I turned and almost dropped the gauze in my hand when I saw him. He was wearing nothing but a towel.

Recovering from the shock, I noticed how badly his injuries looked.

“Wait,” I said walking towards him, “let me treat some of these wounds first. Otherwise they can get infected and will take much longer to heal.”

“I’ll be fine,” he said, moving into the bathroom.

“No, you won’t!” I raised my voice slightly. “Stop being stubborn for one minute and let me help you.”

He paused, but relented. “Whatever you say, Doctor.”

I did my best to keep things professional as I began to examine and clean his wounds, treating them with a herbal ointment of my own making. My medical brain tried to piece together what had caused them, thinking back to his frenzied state when I found him.

“Dominic, how did this really happen?”

He was silent.

“Please, you can trust me,” I said soothingly. “When I found you, in the woods, you seemed delirious, crazed. And these cuts are so strange that they can’t be accidental. If you tell me more about your condition, I might be able to offer better medical help.”

The next thing I knew I was pinned against the bathroom wall.

“I do not have a condition, Doctor!” his eyes were dark, his teeth bared. “Let me remind you that you are a contract Luna, and not my personal confessor. Know your place.”

His grip softened and he backed away from me. His body was glistening from the shower steam in the room, and I could almost see the heat rising off him. I felt a warmth flood through my body, in spite of his harsh words.

He entered the shower and I went back to my things, my feelings conflicted and confusing.

When he returned later, he was wearing a pair of silk pajama bottoms.

“We should get some sleep,” he said bluntly.

“Sure,” I said. “Is my room connected to this one, or…?”

“You will sleep here.”

I looked a the giant bed in the center of the room, a frightening realization coming to my mind. Did this contract include…sex?