Chapter 923 – Hidden Desires of the Werewolf King Novel

Filed To Story: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel

Alpha Cristian shook his head. “Ash is the future Alpha. He is an adult, and he will deal with the consequences of his actions, no matter what they are.” He held onto her shoulders and looked at her seriously. “Mica, your behavior is hurting him. Do you not see his position?”

“What position?”

“Ash is Violet’s mate. As such, he will be the Alpha of the Shadow Fang pack and the Midnight Guardians pack and at the head of the coalition. This is way beyond the Spring Leaf pack. Do you think Luna Tatiana didn’t want to go to Ethan to check on his injuries? Do you think it was easy for her to stand on the side while her son was bleeding? Do you think Alpha Maddox was happy to see his son on the floor? But they did that because they were putting Ethan first.”

Luna Michelle looked around to realize it was only her and Alpha Cristian in the hallway. Everyone else left. When did that happen? But it meant she could talk to her mate.

“How is that putting him first when they showed no concern for his wellbeing?”

“They were putting his future first. If people saw a mother running to her adult son, or his father getting vengeance in his stead, they would see Ethan as weak. For us, our image is half of the battle. Babying Ash and doubting him openly makes others think he is weak.”

“I am not doubting him, but…” She sighed in defeat. “I already did the damage, didn’t I? How can I fix it?”

“Don’t. Just give him space. If any fixing is to happen, it needs to happen on their terms.”

“Their?”

“Ash and Vi, Mica. They are together now as one. We need to step back and give them space. It will be hard, but it’s the only thing we can do unless you want Ash to push us away.”

Alpha Cristian hoped that his mate would understand that this was hard on him, and she won’t think of him as the bad guy.

Ever since the incident with Arya, Alpha Cristian felt guilty because part of him feared he failed as a mate. He didn’t cheat or abuse Luna Michelle, but he allowed an unmated female to get too close, and he didn’t see how much that hurt Luna Michelle. She told him that she disapproved of the attention he gave to Arya. Still, he would brush it off with arguments that Arya was a child, an orphan who didn’t have anyone else, and he would repeat that until Luna Michelle lowered her head and accepted her fate. As a way of coping with Alpha Cristian’s absence, Luna Michelle got attached to their son.

It was a messed up situation, and Alpha Cristian should have got the hint when Luna Michelle said she didn’t want more kids. He didn’t see it then, but later he understood that she didn’t want more kids with HIM.

After Arya recognized Keith as her mate, Alpha Cristian turned to Luna Michelle, only to see that she was emotionally detached. She poured everything she had in Ashton.

Alpha Cristian went above and beyond to convey how sorry he was for neglecting her needs. He failed to assure her she was his priority, and those wounds still didn’t heal. In the last five years, Luna Michelle would fervently wait for Ashton’s call, and the only joy she showed was when there was news of Ashton.

Now that Luna Michelle had to let go of Ashton, will her attention return to Alpha Cristian? Will she like what she sees? What if it was too late? What if she leaves him? Where would she go?

Alpha Cristian knew Luna Michelle had nowhere to go, and part of him feared that was the only reason she had stayed with him so far. He would catch her often staring into the distance with a dreamy smile on her face which faded when she turned to see him there. It made him wonder if she was thinking about Ashton, or about some other man, or about the time when their relationship was fresh, and they had no Ashton, no Arya, and it was just the two of them.

Alpha Cristian was aware that his pack was mediocre, so he put his efforts into not falling behind impressive youngsters like Alpha Dayson and Alpha Maddox. At the same time, he failed his mate completely. Was there a way to turn the clock and start over?

…

Ashton and Violet appeared at the party half an hour later, and based on the blush on Violet’s cheeks, and the size of Ashton’s grin, no one was wondering why washing hands took so long.

There was a table set on a small podium with six chairs. On the far left were Alpha Cristian and Luna Michelle, on the far right were Dayson and Talia, and the two chairs in the middle were empty. Violet tugged Ashton’s hand in that direction. Those two spots in the center were for them.

Normally, the main people of the party would be inside the event hall, with high-ranking members of their society, but the Shadow Fang pack prioritized their pack members. Dayson never liked rubbing shoulders with Elders and Alphas of other packs. If they wanted to socialize with him, they could join him in the garden.

“Everyone will be watching,” Ashton grumbled while walking to the podium with Violet.

“Is that a problem?”

He spent five years not attracting attention, and also… “I don’t want people looking at you and getting funny ideas.”

Violet giggled and snuggled closer to him. “I’m sure you can take care of those. But this is only for the meal. Once we are done with food, we can mingle.”

Ashton leaned to speak close to her ear, “The only one I want to mingle with is you.” He nipped her ear, and she shrieked.

“Ash! Behave!”

Ashton grinned and tightened his hold on her.

Talia ate food that Dayson was feeding her, and she smiled in approval as she watched Ashton pulling a chair for Violet, and then he got busy piling food on her plate. Ashton was looking only at Violet, and Talia had a feeling those two would be just fine. Better than fine.

Talia turned to Dayson.

He cocked an eyebrow at her. “What?”

Talia stuffed a forkful of food in his mouth, and then she cupped his cheeks and gave him a smacking kiss on the greasy lips. She lingered there to lick him clean.

“Life is good,” Talia said and gave him eye signals to continue feeding her.

Dayson was delighted that Talia was in a good mood and affectionate, and he hoped this would last forever.

“Is everyone who matters here?” Violet asked no one in particular.

“I believe so,” Talia responded without removing her eyes from Dayson, who was feeding her.

“I don’t see uncle Axel and aunt Yasmin.”

“They said they will come, but with the time difference, it’s hard to say when. You know how they are. They might come in the morning or next week depending on how much time Yasmin takes to style her hair.”

Violet didn’t respond. She didn’t care about Axel and Yasmin in particular, but she wanted to see if Valeria and Edgar will come. For Violet, it was only two days since they left the Midnight Guardians pack, but Valeria had two months to think about accepting her fate as not the Alpha of the Midnight Guardians pack.

Violet snapped out of her thoughts when she saw a piece of perfectly grilled meat hovering on a fork in front of her face. It was Ashton feeding her, and she liked it very much.

Violet grabbed another fork and poked a piece of meat for Ashton.

“Together,” she said, and they opened their mouths at the same time to accept each other’s offerings.

Ashton chewed with gusto. This was an indication to everyone that they would treat each other as equals, and he wouldn’t want it any other way.

People on the right stirred, and Violet looked that way to see Axel and Yasmin at the door, making their way into the garden. The row of people behind them were Moonrider kids, with the oldest ones first.

And it was not just them, but Meg, Kai, Tyler, Sandy, and many other ranked members from the Midnight Guardians pack. They were spilling into the garden and filling up any available spots.

Regular pack members came earlier, but the ranked ones waited to accompany Axel and Yasmin; they were just proxies, but Talia insisted they should be treated with the respect a real Alpha and Luna would have.

Violet kept an eye on the female behind Yasmin.

“Don’t,” Ashton said to Violet.

“What?”

“I want your attention to me.”

“You have it.”

“It didn’t look like it.”

“I am perfectly capable of multitasking,” Violet said in her defense.

“Then make all your tasks about me,” Ashton responded with a straight face.

Violet’s shoulders shook, and then she burst into laughter. She couldn’t believe he was so cheeky. And handsome. And hers.

Valeria plastered a smile on her face and kept walking after her parents. They went to greet their hosts first.

“We won’t take too much of your time, as we already congratulated the newly mated couple,” Axel said.

“Don’t worry about formalities,” Talia said. “We are family.” She glanced to the side and saw that Zina was already instructing Omegas to set up a table for the Moonrider family. Grown-ups and teens should have their places. The little ones can run around with other kids in their designated area where they had kid-friendly food and drinks and several responsible grownups watching them.

Talia gestured to Zina and spoke to Axel and Yasmin, “Enjoy food and drinks, and we will catch up later. We have a double-Alpha ceremony to plan.”

“Without us?” Violet asked.

Talia shook her head. “Some things need to happen even if you don’t like it. We expect you will give us a rough timeline for when you will step up as the Alpha. Shaman Gideon will calculate the best day for the ceremony.”

“What’s the rush?” Violet asked.

“We are not going to make you rush into this, but Ash is of age and overdue to take his role as the Alpha, and our people are eager to see you step up. Now that you found your mate, there is nothing to hold you back.”

Violet suspected there was more to it, but she didn’t want to ask for clarification in front of people. She will talk to her mother. Later.

Valeria sat at the table with her parents and Edgar.

“You can at least pretend you are happy,” Edgar said in a low voice to Valeria.

Edgar pushed a plate with food in front of her. “Eat, Val. I recommend that you come up with an amazing toast for our cousin, or people will think you don’t approve of Vi having a mate or you don’t approve of her being our Alpha. Either of those will paint you in a bad light.”

Valeria rolled her eyes. Edgar was off. Well, mostly off.

Valeria was bitter that Violet humiliated her the last time they met in front of the whole pack, and now Valeria needed to show up cheerful like the incident didn’t happen.

She understood the hierarchy and the consequences of defying it, but she felt wronged and bullied, and everyone telling her to suck it up was not helping. Damn it! It’s not like she had anything else to do. It was about studying and training, and she was great at both, but they came with a bitter aftertaste at the thought that it was all done so she could be Violet’s second.

The pinnacle of Valeria’s existence would be the role of Violet’s proxy, or maybe Violet’s Beta in the Midnight Guardians pack, and both of those meant that Violet was above her. It was like the whole life she was in Violet’s shadow, and it was suffocating.

Valeria was pushing the meat on her plate, and it looked delicious, but she didn’t feel like it.

There was only one thing she would eat no matter what.

Valeria checked her purse and frowned when she saw she had run out.

She nudged Edgar. “Give me some dried apricots.” Those were his favorite snacks also.

Edgar cocked an eyebrow at her. “What makes you think I have them on me?”

Valeria scrunched her nose. “If it’s not you, why do I smell them?”

Edgar sniffed the air. “I can smell many things, but apricots are not one of them.” Everything smelled of grilled meat, but now that she mentioned it, he could pick up a faint scent of apricots also. Did he imagine it? Or was he sensing Valeria’s craving through their twin bond?

“Let me go and check.”

Edgar stood up and walked away in search of apricots. He was going to check the grills and tables where side dishes were served. If there were none at the party, they should have some in the kitchen.

Edgar totally missed that his sister was frozen when he left the table.

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