1. BETRAYED
THE LUNAS OF EMERALD CITY SERIES
BOOK 1
THE BASTARD ALPHA KING AND HIS DISGRACED LUNA
DUAL POV
CHAPTER ONE: BETRAYED
MAEVE’S POV
Thursdays at the family-owned restaurant were quite overwhelming and usually by the time I closed for the night, I would be deadass tired. Every limb in my body would be aching and were it not for Oliver’s massage with Peppermint oils, I would probably keel under the fatigue. The Walsh Restaurant had come into existence when my great-grandmother first moved into Southern part of Emerald City in the early nineteen hundreds. It had been passed down through the generations and now here I was, running it. But more than the restaurant, there was Oliver Hardwick; the love of my life. I’d known we were destined to forever be together, when he flashed a pearl-white grin at me in seventh grade. He was my world; a world I never thought would ever come crashing down on me. A world I believed was so fortified, nothing could cause even a mere crack and boy, was I wrong. And usually, its something you never saw coming.
There were a million ways this world as I saw it, would come to an end according to my wild thinking. Maybe it could be another world war. Perhaps the rise of monsters that are immune to magic and all it comes with it. Or even, despite being high on the fiction scale, an alien attack. But not once did I think the world would come crashing down on me, the cause being single-handedly the man I’ve loved for as long as I can remember.
The pain slashed through me, cutting deeper than a double-edged sword the more I stared at the spectacle unfolding before me; my hand still on the door knob. Right on my matrimonial bed, my husband had his fingers gripping a mop of dirty blonde hair, his groans of pleasure overshadowed by the moans of the woman bended over in bed as he drove inside her with want. They had their backs on me; very caught up in the act that they couldn’t notice there is someone else in the room with them.
“sh*t! Babe,” Oliver finally seemed to notice me; probably through his wolf sensing the distress in mine.
He pulled out, covering himself hurriedly with the bed sheet while I stood rooted on the ground, my gaze falling on the woman before me. She could barely meet my gaze; let alone look a little remorseful. Instead, she turned away, eyes looking anywhere else but at me. I wanted to say something; yell, maybe cuss but words seemed stuck in my throat. Tears burned the edges of my eyes but I couldn’t let them see me so damn vulnerable.
I turned around, walking out while a pair of feet scrambling after me. I needed to get away from here, thankful there was no one in the hallways of this huge mansion I’ve called home for the past two years.
“Please wait. I can explain babe,” Oliver finally caught up with me, panting and I couldn’t tell if it was from the sex or from running.
“Explain what?” I asked, pulling to a halt, “That you called me, talking about how you wish I was here with you for lunch and I actually made the effort, despite how busy I was at work. Then I show up here and you are what? Screwing my sister?”
“Half-sister,” He corrected me.
“And how is that any different?” Anger bubbled through me in way I never thought possible. The guilty now hooded over his gaze did little to calm me down. This was not how I’d pictured my day would go and well, thanks to two people I considered an invaluable part of my life, my day had gotten sh*tty in barely a minute.
“Its not what-“
“Not what it looks like?” This time I screamed at him, angry tears rushing down my cheeks before I could stop them, “I just walked in on you f*cking my sister on our matrimonial bed and the one thing you can tell me is that its not what it looks like? What do you think I’m? A moron? f*ck! Oliver,” My voice was now reduced to a shaky whisper, “My sister, Oliver. She is my f*cking sister,”
“You think I wanted to hurt you like that?” The veins in forehead pulsed and all I could do was stare at him in complete disbelief. Did he just try to justify what I’d laid witness to with my own two eyes?
“You are a f*cking piece of sh*t, Oliver,” I pulled my hand from his grasp, walking away while fighting the tears still flowing down my face.
The engine in my car was still running and I got inside, immediately driving back to the restaurant. I took a minute in the parking lot, letting all that I had just transpired back inside there finally sink in. My husband of two years, Oliver Hardwick, had just betrayed me in the worst way possible. I trusted him. I trusted my sister. So, what the f*ck was that?
The sudden knock on my car’s window almost had my heart jumping out of its ribcage. With one hand on my heart, I turned, rolling the window down. Carlos, the chief of staff at my restaurant, looked at me with sudden concern in his eyes, the earlier excitement diminishing.
“Hey, are you okay boss?” He questioned. He insisted on calling me boss despite us being friends from college.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I forced a smile, “Is the influencer here already?”
He glanced at his wrist watch, shrugging, “She should be here in the next forty minutes,” he then leaned over the edge of my car window, “Seriously though you don’t look okay,”
“I’m okay, Carlos,” I reiterated, a fragile effort to convince myself, “Just give me a minute and I’ll be inside,”
He straightened up, “Actually I think you should come in now, if possible,”
I puckered up in surprise, “Why? Did something happen?”
This is why I never leave the restaurant until the last of the customers has gone home. This restaurant was my life and if anything were to go wrong, I’d be more than devastated. Heck, I’d rather die. I’d breathed this restaurant since that first moment I’d fallen in love with cooking; at the tender age of nine. I’d listen to my late grandmother’s tales of her adventures with cooking in sheer delight.
“Not really but you’ll never guess who showed up here,” He didn’t give me a minute to guess before he blurted out the one name I did not see coming, “The Alpha King,”
“The Alpha King?” I repeated, “In my restaurant? But no one of werewolf royalty has ever showed up in my restaurant before,”
“Exactly,” he said, motioning with his head, “So come on. You being present will add more points to us. Who knows? Maybe we’d get that publicity we’ve been looking for,”
“Just a second. Stall them for me,” He nodded already, making his way back inside.
I opened the vanity mirror inside the car, hating my slightly puffy eyes. No. I had to look my best before the Werewolf royalty. Pushing every other thought in the back of my mind, I took one deep breath before exhaling. Grabbing my make-up kit, I put on a bit of concealer then re-did my lipstick.
“You got this, Maeve,” I forced a smile as I gave myself one last look in the mirror.
I stepped out of the car, heading inside through the back door. The Royal family, according to Carlos, was occupying the rooftop section of the restaurant. With each step I took, the more suffocated I suddenly began feeling. The image of my husband in bed with my sister looped in my mind, every thrust I laid witness to, becoming too loud in my brain and entwined by their moans. My heart ripped with each step, the well-practiced smile on my face faltering and it didn’t help that Hera, my wolf, wanted to claw out, take control and rip them both apart. The pain was too much; rising in my throat till I could taste the bile.
“Are you sure you are okay, boss?” Carlos whispered; his tone filled with concerned. That for a moment, took me out the fit of pain coursing through me at an inexplicable speed.
“Of course, I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be? “ I fixed my smile, my gaze now focused on the table just a couple of paces away from me.
The Alpha King, Dmitri Kozlov along with his Luna Cecilia Racheal Kozlov, their three sons and the infamous bastard son from the Alpha’s king long-term affair, were all chatting happily. Well, except for the bastard son; Viktor Kozlov who kept to himself but then suddenly he looked up, his gaze burning right through me; I almost started back. For a second, it seemed like he looked surprised by something, but then his gaze turned into somewhat of a frown. I quickly averted my gaze, smiling at the Alpha King.
“Your Majesty,” I acknowledged his presence. He stopped talking to his wife, a smile quirking on his lips. Standing before royalty was an honor not many werewolves got the privilege to enjoy. I just wished it would have been some other day; you know, when I’m in my full element and don’t have to try hard to keep myself from breaking down in front of the Alpha King.
“Luna of Blue Creek. Quite an honor for me and my family to be here. I have heard a lot of about this restaurant and well, all I can say is that, it has lived to its reputation,” His pleasant words did little to raise my mood.
“I’m the one who is honored, Your Majesty,” I replied, smiling enthusiastically nevertheless.
He leaned forward, his face contorted into seriousness, “ If its not too much to ask, how would you like to host the coronation of the next Alpha King’s ceremony?”
For a second, it felt like my breath hitched. Not underestimating myself, but I didn’t exactly run a five-star hotel and to think that the Alpha King himself was here, let alone wants to hold the coronation ceremony of his successor here, seemed almost unbelievable. Never in the history of its existence, had the Walsh Restaurant hosted such an extravagant event. The Coronation of the Alpha King was no joke. It was the event that most werewolves would give anything to attend. I’d never gotten the privelege to be invited to one, let alone host it.
“Say something,” my wolf, Hera poked at me, making me snap out of it.
“I’d be honored, Your Majesty,” There was a slight tremble of excitement in my voice.
Relief skidded through his face, “Well, the details will be sent to you through my secretary. I really do strive for perfection and I can tell that’s a quality we both share, Mrs. Hardwick. Now that I’m in this part of the city, how would you like to join my family for dinner with your husband?”
Oh, for f*ck’s sake! How was I supposed to turn down the Alpha King when he had just offered me the deal of a lifetime? Its not everyday a royal member walks into my restaurant and literally hands me a once in a lifetime chance on a silver platter.
“I’m sure he’d be delighted,” I replied.
“Then I’ll see you tonight. Eight o’clock at my beach house down by the lake,” he smiled.
“Yes, Your Majesty. Thank you for your kindness,” I bowed slighly before walking away. I had to see to it that they their orders were top tier. I would only have myself to blame if I blew this deal.
