Alpha's Costly Mistake

The evening pack dinner had always been my favorite time of day. The great hall filled with warm chatter, the scent of roasted meat and fresh bread, and Alessandro beside me at the head table where we belonged together as Alpha and Luna. Tonight should have been perfect—I was finally showing, my hand resting protectively over the small bump that held our future, and for the first time in months, Alessandro had been... present. Attentive, even.

Then she walked in.

The hall fell silent as if someone had cast a spell. Conversations died mid-sentence, forks paused halfway to mouths, and every head turned toward the massive oak doors. Lola Freeman stood in the entrance like something out of a dream—or a nightmare, depending on your perspective. Two years of training with the European Lycan Council had transformed her from the eager young wolf I remembered into something magnificent and untouchable.

Her auburn hair caught the firelight, longer now and styled with an elegance that spoke of European courts. The simple traveling clothes she wore somehow looked more expensive than my formal Luna gown. But it was her posture that commanded attention—shoulders back, chin raised, every inch of her radiating the confidence of someone who had trained among werewolf royalty.

"Lola." Alessandro's voice was barely a whisper, but in the absolute silence of the hall, it might as well have been a shout.

I felt him tense beside me, his fork clattering to his plate. The warmth that had been building between us over the past few weeks—the gentle touches, the protective gestures toward our unborn pup, the hope that maybe, finally, he was learning to love me—evaporated like morning mist.

"Alessandro." Her smile was radiant as she stepped into the hall, and I watched my mate's face transform. The careful Alpha mask he wore dissolved, replaced by something I had never seen directed at me: pure, unguarded joy.

He stood so abruptly his chair scraped against the stone floor. I reached out instinctively, my fingers barely brushing his sleeve, but he was already moving. Already leaving me.

The pack watched in stunned silence as their Alpha crossed the hall in long, urgent strides. When he reached Lola, he swept her into an embrace that lasted an eternity. Her laughter rang out, bright and musical, as he lifted her feet from the ground and spun her once before setting her down.

My hand fell to my lap, empty.

"I can't believe you're here," Alessandro murmured, his hands still on her shoulders as if afraid she might disappear. "You didn't tell me you were coming home."

"I wanted to surprise you." Her eyes sparkled with mischief. "The Council released me early. They said I'd learned everything they could teach me."

Of course she had. Lola Freeman had always been exceptional at everything she touched.

I sat frozen at the head table, acutely aware of every pair of eyes in the hall. Some watched with curiosity, others with poorly concealed excitement at this unexpected drama. A few of the older she-wolves looked at me with something that might have been pity, and that was somehow worse than the rest.

Beta Marcus leaned forward in his seat, his expression calculating. "Welcome back, Lola. The pack has missed you."

Gamma Ryan nodded his agreement. "Your timing is perfect. We were just discussing the upcoming territorial negotiations."

Lola's gaze swept the room, taking in the formal dinner setting, the pack hierarchy displayed in the careful seating arrangement. When her eyes found mine, something flickered across her features—surprise, perhaps, or recognition. But it was gone too quickly for me to interpret.

"Luna Mackenzie," she said, inclining her head in a gesture that was perfectly respectful and somehow felt like mockery. "You look... radiant."

The word hung in the air, and I knew she had noticed my pregnancy. Everyone had, of course, but hearing it acknowledged by her made my protective instincts flare. My hand moved to cover my bump more fully.

"Thank you," I managed, my voice steady despite the turmoil inside me. "Welcome home, Lola."

Alessandro finally seemed to remember where he was, though his attention remained fixed on Lola. "You must be exhausted from traveling. Are you hungry? We can have the kitchen prepare—"

"I'm fine," she assured him, but her gaze drifted to the empty chairs at the head table. "Though I wouldn't say no to sitting down."

The suggestion hung in the air, and I felt the weight of the entire pack's attention. There were empty seats at various tables throughout the hall, but I knew—we all knew—where this was heading.

Alessandro turned to me, and for a moment, I thought I saw a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes. But it was gone as quickly as it had appeared, replaced by the expectant look of someone who assumed compliance.

"Mackenzie," he said, his tone carefully neutral. "Perhaps you could—"

"Of course," I interrupted, rising from my seat with as much dignity as I could muster. The chair that had been mine for five years, the symbol of my position as Luna, suddenly felt like a trap I needed to escape.

As I gathered my skirts and stepped away from the table, I caught Lola's expression. For just a moment, her confident facade slipped, and I saw something that looked almost like regret. But then Alessandro was guiding her to the seat that was still warm from my body, and she was smiling up at him with that radiant expression that made him look like a man seeing sunlight for the first time.

I made my way to an empty chair at one of the lower tables, my head held high even as whispers followed in my wake. The irony wasn't lost on me—I had spent five years trying to earn Alessandro's love, and Lola had accomplished it simply by walking through a door.