Chapter 5

Bryson’s POV After the party and facing Elena, exhaustion got the best of me. That was partly due to the number of people I needed to entertain but primarily because of Elena's stubbornness. I could understand where she was coming from, though. She was right. I indeed vowed to her that I wouldn’t marry and love another woman aside from her. But that was before I met my fated mate. But what really took me by utter surprise was when she managed to block my hand. I could almost not move my hand when she grabbed it, but I think it was only because I was shocked by her action. “Yeah, keep telling yourself that.” My wolf mocked me. I tried not to mind him and just sighed. Soon enough, when Elena sees her fated mate, she’ll probably understand me. “Really? Will you?” Drake, my wolf, suddenly asked me. On cue, a sudden jolt of unknown pain cursed through my heart. Would I really be fine? But I mean, we were already married, she couldn’t go to him, right? But that thought aside, being with Glenda was the most blissful moment of my life. Unlike Elena, she’s a warrior. She understands my pain and thoughts. We had fought alongside each other for a long time. Slumped on my office chair, I browse a series of documents regarding the post-report we must send to the kingdom. I was in the middle of it when a knock echoed. “Come in,” I nonchalantly said, continuing what I was doing. “Alpha, a messenger sent this to us just a few seconds ago,” Collin Henry, my Beta, told me as he placed something on my desk. “Okay, just leave it there.” I didn’t pay much attention to it because we usually get letters after a battle, which were mostly just congratulatory messages. But when I saw Collin’s shadows still looming in front of me, I looked up. “Anything else?” He pushed the letter forward. “I think you should read this.” Following his hand, my eyes widened in surprise to see a letter with the King’s stamp on it. “I’ll leave you to it.” After Collins closed the door after him, I slowly opened the letter, anticipating it to be another congratulatory letter for my upcoming mating ceremony with Glenda. However, when I read the first line of it after unfolding, my hands immediately halted. “It is with great pleasure to know that you have returned to the kingdom with glorious victory, but I advise you not to use this achievement as a ticket to being arrogant. Above and foremost, it is your utmost duty as a man, a husband, and an Alpha to mind your family business before anything else.” One… Two… Three… I stared at the letter for a couple of seconds before my hands subconsciously fisted, causing the paper to get crumpled. Elena! She talked with the King! What a scheming bi– Then suddenly, Glenda’s words to me last night echoed in my mind. “I’m scared, Babe. I don’t think Luna Elena will let us go so quickly. She looks kind and all that, but I feel like, in reality, she’s just hiding her true self and scheming behind us.” When Glenda said that, I even told her that she might just be overthinking it, but now… I was proven wrong. With her doing this, she’s only proving to me more and more how right I was to choose Glenda over her. I couldn’t believe that I was being sympathetic to her a couple of minutes ago when she obviously didn’t have any brains and already caused trouble! Slamming my hands on the desk, I stood up in irritation and took long strides outside of my office before coming straight to our bedroom. When I came inside, I realized that she wasn’t there. Wasn’t she home yet? Wasn’t she too old to throw tantrums like this? Unbelievable! When she didn’t come back to our room last night, I thought it was just a phase and she’d get over it sooner. I didn’t realize, though, that she could be this ridiculous. “Hey! Where’s your Luna?” I asked frustratedly at one of the Omegas who happened to be walking past. Trembling, she kept her head bowed down. “S-she’s in her office, Alpha.” My brows furrowed. What is she on about now? “What time did she come back?” She fidgeted her fingers for a while, thinking. “At around seven in the morning…” “Move along!” I shouted, and she went on. Seven o’clock? I looked at my wristwatch. It’s nine now. Where did she sleep last night, then? Without knocking, I barged into her room and found Elena reading a couple of documents. “What do you want, Alpha Bryson?” she snarled. “What’s your problem? I can’t believe you’ll do this! Didn’t I tell you not to cause any trouble?” I growled back at her instead as I threw the King’s letter at her face. Her face scrunched up in confusion. Huh! As if she didn’t know what she had done. “Trouble? Is it my problem that the King is trying to lecture you?” she asked, crossing her arms over her shoulder. “He wouldn’t have sent me this letter if you hadn’t talked to him!” “Alright, I did talk to him, but—” “So you admitted it! You talked to him!” I cut her off, fuming with anger. “What did you tell him, huh? Did you ask him to revoke his verdict to marry me and Glenda? Is that what you did?” Every second I was talking to her just ignited the fire burning in my veins even more. I couldn’t believe she could be this inconsiderate and insensitive. For a year, she had done great as a Luna. I thought by now she would know how to act and that she must not bring shame to our pack. But what did I get? Disappointment! “I didn’t admit anything! As I was saying, I talked to the king, but I didn’t ask him to separate you and your lovely fated mate, nor did I ask him to stop the marriage,” she said straight to my face. I looked at her, stunned. Bitterly, I let out a smile and shook my head. “How can you lie so upright?” Her jaw drops. Great! More acts! I couldn’t believe she could be this pretentious, very different from Glenda, who always says what she actually means. Now I knew why Glenda was my fated mate; it was because she was a whole lot better than Elena. It turned out that Elena was just wearing a mask for the time I thought I knew her. Now, I’m more confident that I’d never regret my choice of loving Glenda as she’s the one who was really meant for me. “Lie?” She sneered. “I wasn’t lying about anything.” “Listen here,” I pointed at her, completely fed up now. “Don’t cause any trouble again, or I swear to the Moon Goddess that I’ll never give you a child! Do you understand me?” She stared at me dumbfounded. She must have thought I would go soft on her, but she’s wrong. What she did was a huge mess. How could she talk to the Lycan King? She didn’t only ruin her reputation, but mine and the entire pack as well. Suddenly, she walked past me and opened the door wide. She pointed outside and pursed her lips, firmly demanding, “Get out! I’ve got enough of your nonsense; get the hell out of my room!” Fury built up on my chest. Insolent people should be taught a lesson! With that, I moved with agility and pushed her to the wall with force, but that caused her to almost break…