Alex stood at the grand window, staring out over his land. Below him, the pack territory stretched for miles. His pack was one of the most powerful in the region, and Alex was a respected, feared Alpha. Few dared to cross him, and even fewer dared to question his decisions. He had everything—strength, control, and power.
Women came to him often, from royal families and powerful wolf kingdoms. They came to be his Luna, to share in his power. Each time, they were beautiful and well-mannered, eager to please. But none of them were his mate. They were only there for the title, for the position. None of them stirred anything in his heart.
He had long since stopped believing in love. For years, he had searched for a connection, a spark that would make him believe in the mate bond, but it had never come. Each woman who came into his life was just another face in the crowd, no different from the last. He had stopped expecting anything more.
His thoughts were interrupted by the quiet sound of footsteps approaching the door. He didn't need to turn to know who it was.
He had never once believed in love and didn't think it was ever going to happen.
A knock came at the door almost immediately.
"Who dares interrupt my peace?" he thundered.
"Ma...master, your mother is here," the watchman stammered.
"What does she want?" Alex said exasperatedly as he stood up and went to meet his mom.
"Oh, my son, here you are!" his mother said excitedly.
"What do you want?" he said coldly.
"What do I want?" She walked close to him and hit him playfully. "You keep forgetting I'm your mother."
"I won't ask again," he said as he grabbed a wine bottle and sipped.
"Well... we are having a visitor tomorrow," she smiled.
"Okay," Alex said, trying to walk away.
"You won't even ask me who he or she is?" she asked.
"I don't care," he glanced at her and walked away.
"Well, you have to prepare yourself to meet your bride!" she shouted excitedly. She turned to the maids. "Prepare a nice outfit for my son; his bride will be coming tomorrow, and make sure you prepare very expensive meals!" They nodded their heads.
Alex was tired of telling his mom to stop bringing him women to marry. He needed his mate, and none of them matched. She only kept bringing him ladies who wanted to be his Luna because they knew how powerful he was.
A soft knock came at the door.
"Leave!!" He roared.
"Master, dinner is ready," the young maid said. She didn't wait for him to say any more words; she opened the door.
It was her...
The lady he had wondered why she never flinched at the sound of his voice. She was calm and had a soothing voice. She never dropped her gaze in fear or tried to get his attention. She simply did her job day in and day out.
As she entered the room, holding a tray of food in her hands, Alex looked at her briefly—she was just a maid, after all.
She placed the tray of food in front of him without a word, her hands steady.
Alex watched closely as she turned to leave.
"Your name?" he asked immediately.
"Mira, master," she said calmly.
"Don't you ever knock on my door to disrupt my peace again!" he said harshly.
"Yes, master," she said calmly again. "I'll take my leave." She bowed and left.
Why was she so calm? Wasn't he intimidating enough for her? Well, he didn't care; he just didn't want to see her anywhere near him.
Her presence suddenly seemed to have calmed him from whatever must have been on his mind the moment she entered. But there's no way he would be convinced that she was the reason he was suddenly calm.
---
Mira walked into the kitchen to see the heap of plates waiting to be washed. She wondered if there were invisible people who ate and dropped thousands of dishes for her to wash today.
She was in charge of washing the dishes and also delivering food to the master, but she didn't understand where the hundreds of plates came from.
Her assistant had been sent home sick and wouldn't return until she was better. Sometimes she wished she could take a break from all these but she needed to keep sending her parents something to be able to feed ,she didn't want her parents to work anymore , they were no longer strong enough to be able to work tirelessly.
She had to do everything herself until her assistant was back.
Mira sighed heavily as she began washing.
She thought of the type of foods they would cook for the visitor tomorrow.
Mira wondered why the master kept rejecting all the beauties his mother brought, both far and near, or maybe he was into men, just like the rumors that had spread around the kingdom. This made his mother desperate to get him a Luna.
"I hope he accepts this one. I wouldn't have to worry about cooking another expensive meal for another fake Luna," she muttered to herself.
"Who are you talking to?" a voice said from behind. Mira flinched. It was the head cook.
"Nobody, my lady," Mira said softly.
"Fake Luna, I heard you say that?" the head cook asked.
"No, my lady. I never mentioned such a thing," Mira bowed.
"That's okay. Have you taken away the plates you served our master earlier?" she asked.
"No, my lady, it hasn't been long since I took it to him."
"It's been three hours, young lady!" the head cook fired.
"Three hours? Oh no!" Mira quickly ran to the master's chambers.
She knocked immediately, but the sound of moans she heard made her stop.
She wasn't used to hearing sounds like this, so she closed her ears and counted from 1 to 100 while waiting.
The door suddenly opened, and Alex came out naked.
Mira screamed as she passed out.