~HUNTER~

 "What is this about you embarrassing yourself and tarnishing the family name that I've been hearing?" Father lashed out the minute he walked into his office. 

With a loud thud, the door closed behind him, and the harsh sound of his boot hitting the floor announced the presence of his anger as he walked over to take a seat behind his desk. 

 "I don't know what you're talking about, father." I pretended not to know, even though I was fully aware of what he could be talking about. 

A passive expression crossed his face as he fixed me with an icy glare. "Do not take me for a fool, child." His glare was unyielding as he snapped. "Reports of your foolishness have gotten back to me, and I do not like what I am hearing." 

 "Why do you have people snooping on me, father? I'm a grown man; I can do anything I want." 

 "Your penchant for misbehaving is the reason I have people spying on you. I do not generally care what you do with yourself, but what I care about is when your actions begin to affect this family name. You were not raised to turn into such an embarrassment; what has gotten into you?" He reclined into his seat as he asked. 

 "Nothing has gotten into me. I am simply a man with a torn heart. Forgive me for trying to seek relief for my pain. How else am I supposed to deal with this? I am hurting, and just because I decide to deal with it the way I know best, you call me an embarrassment." Father snarled at me as I hissed my response. 

 "You are not the first man with a broken heart, Hunter. Having issues with your mate is not enough of an excuse for you to go out there and be seen with different women, and men, I might add, hanging off your arms. That right there is a bad image for this family's reputation; I did not work hard all these years; your grandparents and great-grandparents didn't work their asses off only to have their names smeared with nasty rumours of adultery."

 "I am not the one who ruined the family's reputation to begin with. Also, you and I both know this is not just any issue that can be shoved aside like it didn't happen. She cheated on me. My mate, the one woman who was supposed to be loyal without a fault, cheated on me, and I'm doing my best to deal with this constant anguish in my heart. These past years, I have loved and respected her in all the best possible ways that I know; I stayed faithful and gave her a home. How else am I supposed to deal with this? Go home and pretend like we are a happy couple. Laugh and smile with her as if I hadn't discovered her completely naked with another man." 

An aching tightness wrapped around my heart in a vice as I was taken back to that morning. 

The night before, Jade had told me that she had no plan to stay long at the party. I didn't want her to go when she told me about Arya's invitation, but she insisted. She had complained that her sister was leaving, and she wanted to send her off.

I didn't even understand the need for a send-off party. I knew there was no reason for the party to stretch late into the night, yet I waited for Jade's return until late at night and ended up giving up and going to sleep. I had contemplated going over to Arya's place to bring her back home, but then I realised that would only upset Jade and possibly cause her to say I was too controlling and trying to split her and her sister apart. 

What did I do wrong? I trusted her too much; I should've listened to my intuition. I knew something was odd, and there was always that nagging feeling whenever I would get cheated on in the past. I had that nagging feeling but shoved it aside because I didn't want Jade to tease me about being insecure. I chose to trust her, only to end up finding her in bed with another man. 

A knife stab couldn't compare to the pain I felt that morning, seeing the woman I loved with another man, the woman I had made solid plans for the future with, and she wasn't just any woman; she wasn't merely my chosen mate but my fated mate. No, the feeling of a knife pushing into my heart was nothing compared to the pain I felt when my heart constricted at the sight I was met with. It was nothing compared to the pressure I feel in my heart every time I think of that morning. 

 "What I expect is for you to act like the Alpha that you are, not some high school boy going through his first heartbreak." Father lashed out, uncaring for my feelings, and I sighed. 

"I wouldn't expect you to understand; you weren't the one to witness your mate with another man," I replied, rolling my eyes as he scowled. 

 "Do you think you are the only man on this planet to ever get cheated on? To ever have his heart broken?" He asked with a serious expression on his face. 

 "I do not say I am; every man handles things differently. This is how I choose to deal with my pain." I murmured begrudgingly. 

 "Here is the thing, Hunter." Father leaned forward; his expression hardened, and his brows pinched. "You are not just any man; you are an Alpha Heir with responsibilities. You are an exemplary figure, not just a commoner who can do as he pleases; you fail to realise that you are respected by how you carry yourself. How you choose to present yourself to your pack determines how they see you and how much respect they will accord you." He continuously stabbed the paper before him with the pen in his hand as he spoke.

 "I did not raise you to become a pup who sulks around his pack members over a broken heart. I thought I raised a better Alpha than that, one who knows that putting his duties first is more important than anything else." 

 "So you expect me to be a robot who doesn't feel? I should just act like I am okay when I am not." I gritted out, and my father shrugged. 

 "I expect you to act like an Alpha. You are not a teenager; you are past the age where you make stupid decisions or let your emotions control you. You are an Alpha with responsibilities, with a pack waiting to be led.  How do you intend to lead the members of this pack if you are emotionally driven and lash out when things don't go your way? This situation with your mate could've been kept under wraps until the council gave their verdict, but it has now become a topic of gossip amongst pack members because you couldn't keep your emotions in check. If you so badly needed to cope with your pain, you could've waited until she was proven guilty, or at least did so in private. But you chose to act out shamefully in public, before your subjects."

I sighed as my father continued to drill words into me. 

'I told you the same thing; I told you not to do anything rash. If she truly cheated on us, we should've felt the extremity of it through the mate link.'  

Alaric, my wolf, grumbled with disapproval, and I shut him out before he could continue.

 "I am sorry, father." When he gets like this, it is better to concede and accept defeat.

 "Do you see the importance in my words? Do you realise the wrong in your ways?" He asked in his usual stern voice that's always coated with a fake sense of concern, and I nodded. 

 "Yes, father, I see that now." 

 "Someday this pack will be yours to lead; a good leader leads with logic, not with his emotions."

 "Of course, father," I replied stiffly. 

 "Good. You wouldn't want me to remind you of this again, would you?" He asked, I shook my head but proceeded to open my mouth to offer an answer as his eyes narrowed. 

 "No father." 

 "Good, you are dismissed."

~JADE~

 "Please wait here, Luna; the elders will call for you shortly." Said one of the two guards who had escorted me to the council hall upon request by the council elders. 

Closing the door of the council hall behind him, the guard moved to the other side of the hallway, looking away from me, while the second guard proceeded to walk a few feet down the hallway away from us.

I had woken up this morning with an aching heart and bile rising up my throat like every other morning since the morning my life took a drastic turn. After the argument with Hunter in his kitchen two mornings ago, he stopped coming home. 

I have not the slightest clue where he goes, but I sure as hell know what he does, if the pain I feel every time is any indication. It still baffles me how easy it is for him to switch up on me like this. He didn't even care to give it time, or at least wait until a verdict had been passed. And if I am being honest, I have already given up hope of any sort of reconciliation between us. 

Will the council find me guilty or innocent? I have no idea how they intend to run the trial. Will they try Darren? I haven't heard anything from him since that morning. The last time I saw my sister Arya was that evening at my parent's house. If there's a chance that Darren will be at the trial, maybe he will tell the truth and prove my point that nothing happened, but at this point, I don't even know what's the truth anymore. 

Besides, whatever the verdict of the elders turns out to be, it wouldn't matter anyway since Hunter has already rejected me. Perhaps if there's a chance I am found innocent, will they make him take back his rejection? Even if he does, how well will that bode for us? Will it be possible for us to just go back to being the happy couple we once were and pretend like none of this ever happened or that I haven't been waking up in pain these past nights due to his frivolous ways? 

 "You." I raised my head to the sound of Arya's voice. 

I guess I was so lost in thought that I didn't even hear the sound of her footsteps down the hall. 

 "Why are you so selfish?" Arya asked with a heavy tone of disdain. 

 "Selfish?" I mumbled my confusion as the lines on my face creased. "I am the one who got drugged, Arya. The one who can't remember what happened to her-why are you acting like I wanted any of this to happen? Why would I want to become a subject of mockery when I already had the perfect life and the perfect home with my mate? What would I possibly want with an ordinary Delta wolf? What can a Delta like Darren give me when I have everything I could ever need with Hunter?" 

Arya sneered at my words, her eyes full of hatred as she stepped closer, inserting herself into my space. Usually, I would flinch and cower before her stares because I never understood why she had always hated me. Even while I was in the Philippines, the rare times Aunty allowed me to have supervised calls, Arya would always make nasty comments over the phone, and when I came back here, she never hid her dislike for me. 

 "He might've been an ordinary Delta, but that ordinary Delta was my boyfriend. Darren was my man, and you shamelessly fucked him. You wouldn't be acting like a victim if you weren't caught; perhaps you might not have slept with him for material gain, but we both know you did it for your selfishness and greed to always covet what is mine." Arya grits out, spitting on my face in the process. 

I held back the sneer on my lips as I also pushed back the need to cower. I am a beta, one whose wolf took so long to manifest due to all the drugs my aunt was feeding me. It is quite humiliating for me as a beta wolf to always cower before my sister. First, it was because I respected her as my older sister, and at some point, I did so because I sought her approval and for her to like me. But now? Not so much, because I am not sure if I ever knew her at all. 

"I don't know what point you are trying to drive, sister, but I have never coveted anything of yours. I don't know what happened that night, but I didn't sleep with your boyfriend. I would never hurt Hunter like that. Never." I wiped her spit off my face, and Arya scoffs. 

"Lies, all lies, Jade, and only a fool who doesn't know how self-centred you are would believe you. You don't care who you hurt, as long as you get what you want. It didn't matter to you if your actions would hurt your mate or me; you wanted my boyfriend, and you went for him. Only the goddess knows how many women you've done this to in this pack that no one knows about." Arya commented, shaking her head as she poked at my chest. 

"What the hell are you on about? I have done nothing of that sort to anyone. I have never cheated on Hunter, not before now. Will it kill you for once to act like you like me and take your sister's side? Do you not wonder why I don't remember any bloody thing? Does it not concern you that your boyfriend possibly took advantage of me and might've done so to other women? Act like my big sister and help me find the truth; instead, you are accusing me of things I didn't do while calling me names. No matter how hurt you are, Arya, shouldn't family come first? Is that not what Mama and Papa have always taught us?" I hissed in a hushed voice, slapping at her hand poking my chest. 

Shaking her head as she stepped away from me, Arya wiped at her bleary eyes. I noticed the corner of her eyes moved, and she seemed to be stalling for the guards' attention. The minute both guards shifted their attention to us, Arya let out a broken sob like a performing actress. 

 "You are still the same selfish girl; here I thought you wouldn't be so self-absorbed after living away from us for so many years, but nothing has changed. You always make everything about you; no one else is more important than you. And you don't care what you take from me; you just keep taking. First, you stole my chance to move to the Philippines with Aunty. I'd been preparing for months, and when she arrived, you couldn't stop gushing about how much you wanted to visit the Philippines and how fantastic it would be to live with her. And you managed to get her to agree to take you, even though I was the one she came for. Then what did you do after you came back?" Arya paused to sob into her hands. 

Shaking her head, she continued. "Twelve years and nothing changed; you came back, and you stole the love of my life from me. Everyone knows how hard I worked and trained for years, and our love was no secret to anyone. I was supposed to be Luna, and then you came and took that and the man I loved away from me. Despite how heartbroken I was, they told me to let it go, and I did, because why? Fate has chosen; it was fate. I buried my anguish and accepted my fate, and now that I've moved on and finally found another man to love me the way I deserve, you went and slept with him, just because you couldn't bear the thought of seeing me happy. Because you can't stand seeing me have what I want, and heaven knows I despise you for this, Jade. I hate you." Arya spat, just as the door to the council hall opened right at that moment, as I stared stupefied at my sister's face, unable to form a coherent speech. 

 "The elders are ready to attend to your case now. Jade, Arya." Whoever opened the door announced, Arya hastily turned their way, acting like she hadn't expected to be caught in such a vulnerable state as she wiped at her face hastily. 

 "Of course, we are behind you." She replied with a warm smile, while I remained glued to the spot, trying to piece together what I just heard.

~JADE~

My body moved on autopilot as I walked into the wide expanse of the council hall. The hall was mostly used for large gatherings in the pack, for pack ceremonies, parties organised by the Alpha family, and sometimes rented at a discount for pack members who needed it for personal ceremonies, like birthday parties, or sometimes parties held after mating was completed.

Only a few select people celebrated their union, and Hunter and I were supposed to celebrate ours officially after his ascension ceremony. 

I was told it was customary, although we already marked each other and were mated by common law, Hunter being of noble blood, even though he might not be a royal, being an Alpha heir made him of noble blood, and it was customary that after his ascension as Alpha, he ought to have an official mating ceremony during which his fated luna or chosen luna would be blessed by a high elder or priestess presiding over the ceremony, and the luna would be officially welcomed by every pack member who would come bearing gifts. 

That was what I was told, and for the past two years, Hunter's mother has emphasized the importance of the mating ceremony in my ears. I had to meet up with her every day for several hours to learn about pack affairs and my expected duties when I became Luna.

 She always said being a Luna was more than just being the pretty thing that hung off the side of an Alpha; there were affairs that only the Luna of the pack saw to. We may not dabble in pack politics, but when it came to being aware of the needs of the pack members, meeting those needs, being a listening ear, sometimes handling finances, being in charge of ceremonies, and hosting meaningful gatherings between other packs for prospective alliances, all those were Luna's duties. A pack's Luna may not have as much authority as the Alpha of the pack, but she has a significant role to play in supporting her Alpha. 

All these things I had to learn because I wanted to be the best Luna for Hunter and this pack. I didn't want to lack knowledge when he finally completed his ascension; I wanted to do my best, and for two years I had learned diligently. While I thought this was my destined role, I had no idea that once upon a time my elder sister was also trained for the same role I thought I was destined for. 

My eyes moved around the large hall, my gaze roaming over the faces of the people seated around the large acacia wood table in the far corner. I've been told that the council hall was occasionally used for important council meetings that couldn't be discussed in the Alpha's office, especially those meetings that included elders and Alphas from other packs. 

Alpha Orion sat in the largest chair at the head of the table, with Luna to his left and Hunter to his right. A few unfamiliar faces sat around each side of the table-some elders I knew and some I didn't. My parents were seated side by side, and Arya stood a few feet behind them. 

As I took in each face, my thoughts wandered to a few questions–Had they all known? Were they ever aware of Hunter and Arya's relationship? Had they been preparing her to take on the role of Luna? Had Hunter been planning to take her as his chosen mate before I arrived? How long were they together, and why did no one think it was necessary to share this piece of information with me? 

My gaze landed on my mom, who immediately averted her eyes like she didn't want to be caught looking at me. I shifted my gaze to my dad, whose face looked stone cold, while his eyes trained to the empty chair on the other side of the table. Pressure built up on my chest, and my guts twisted. They knew about Hunter and Arya's history but never thought to tell me. Why? Their betrayal stung deep, and my stomach twisted in a knot as pain speared my heart. Why had they kept it a secret from me? Didn't I deserve to know that the man who was my mate shared a romantic history with my sister? If I had known, perhaps I could've known to attach that to the reason why Arya hates me, and I would've known to avoid her. 

"Now that all parties are seated," An elder cleared his throat; the sound carried his voice to where I stood, breaking me out of my rigid state, and I withdrew my glance from my parents. 

"Excuse me," I muttered before the elder could continue. "Pardon my manners." I apologised as sharp gazes cut to me like I wasn't expected to speak until they permitted it. But I continued either way; if that was a rule, I had already broken it, so I might as well get on with it. "Please, I would like an audience with my mate before we proceed with this." 

I didn't miss the way all the attention in the room now centered on me: Alpha Orion's left brow quirked in a silent question, Hunter's mom narrowed her eyes, and the elders all shared a confused look amongst each other. 

"I won't take more than a few minutes; I must speak to my mate in private. –  If the elders will permit it, of course." I added the last bit so it would seem like I was making a polite request and not rudely making a demand. 

"You have five minutes." The elder, who sat at the other end of the long table, spoke, and I nodded. "Alpha Hunter, please grant your mate's request." His gaze flicked to Hunter, and my mate rose from his seat, growling in disapproval as he marched towards me, and all I could see in those ocean blue eyes I once fancied was deep-seated loathing, all aimed at me.