MATED TO THE SECRET ALPHA

The former guards, who had been stationed in the dungeon, were now waiting at the field, outside the pack house, their faces somber and their eyes cast downward. Nobody had informed them of their next course of action yet, but they instinctively knew that their sudden replacement was not a good omen, and a sense of unease settled in the pit of their stomachs as they exchanged nervous, sidelong glances.

On the other hand, after Reana finished her breakfast, she retreated to her chambers to indulge in a leisurely nap, leaving the guards to wait in anticipation. Every minute of not knowing what fate had in store for them seemed to stretch into eternity.

They were restless, anxious, and on edge, fidgeting under the sun.

…

Reana finally emerged in the evening, feeling refreshed and rejuvenated from her nap, her eyes cold as usual as she made her way to the field, where not just the guards were, but even some members of the pack hung around to witness the unfolding drama, their faces filled with a mixture of morbid curiosity and fearful anticipation, sensing that something significant was about to transpire.

"Luna!" they all chorused when Reana appeared, the crowd creating a path for her like a divided sea.

"I heard you serve a more powerful master. I'm curious to know who it is, so we could all serve him together." She didn't beat around the bush, directly going straight to the point as she stood in front of the guards, eight of them, their faces pale and sweaty, their eyes darting nervously between Reana and each other, lost.

"L-Luna, we don't know what you're talking about," one of them stuttered, his voice trembling as he took a step forward, while the others remained frozen in place.

Reana's expression remained unreadable, but her eyes seemed to bore into the guard's soul. "Is that so?" she arched her brow when they nodded, "Then, I must either be deaf, or my informant must be a liar."

Saying that, she stuck a finger into her ear to clean it, the gesture dripping with sarcasm. "But it seems to be the former."

The guards' eyes widened in alarm, cold sweat forming on their brows. Suddenly, one of them dropped to his knees, shaking uncontrollably. "N-no, Luna! We wouldn't dare!" he stammered, his voice cracking as he begged for mercy, his eyes fixed on Reana's impassive face.

Immediately he said that, the others also knelt down, echoing the spokesperson.

"Saying, we wouldn't dare when you're bold enough to dare, is a very strong form of denial, but I give you that," her lips curled ever so slightly. "You're bold. At least, I taught you that, not your other master," Reana said, her voice dripping with amusement and a hint of pride.

She'd indeed taught them to be bold, but not bold enough to defy her.

She took a step closer to the kneeling guards, her eyes glinting with a cold, calculated light. "Unfortunately–"

"Luna, I've been searching for you. What are you doing?" Beta Ryan barged into the loose circle, looking a bit frantic. His eyes scanned the scene before him, taking in the kneeling guards and Reana's imposing stance.

He rushed over when he got a whiff of what was going on. Fortunately, Reana hadn't coerced a confession from the guards just yet - his secret was still safe.

But what truly baffled him was her decision to confront them openly, in plain sight. What was this woman thinking!?

Meanwhile, the guards exhaled collectively, their tense bodies relaxing ever so slightly as they gazed up at Beta Ryan with a mixture of gratitude and desperation, their eyes silently pleading for him to intervene and spare them from Reana's wrath.

"What's so important that you needed to rush in here? Are you perhaps scared of them revealing something incriminating?" Reana's lips curled when she saw the look of horror on his face.

She could swear that his heart flew to the moon goddess and back in just mere seconds. But that was just the beginning. She was going to torture him so badly that he'd beg for death. "Don't give me that weird look, I'm not a monster," she chuckled, unamused.

Ryan's suspended heart slowly calmed down. He returned the chuckle as he closed the distance between them. His eyes glued on her. "I wanted to apologize for how I behaved at the meeting earlier," he said, his voice smooth as silk, but his eyes betrayed a hint of wariness, as if he was tiptoeing around a sleeping dragon, unsure when it would awaken and unleash its fury.

Reana arched her brow, "What do you mean? Did something happen?" tilting her head, she regarded Ryan with an air of feigned innocence, her eyes sparkling with amusement, as if she knew exactly what he was referring to, but was determined to make him spell it out. "Oh, you mean when you said omegas in the pack were dogs at your feet?"

Collective gasps escaped the pack members' lips, who turned their incredulous gazes at Beta Ryan.

How could he see the Omegas as dogs? Omegas might be the lowest members of the pack, a few of them may be bullied for whatever reasons, but they were not considered inferior beings. They were still pack, still family. The very idea that Beta Ryan would diminish their value so callously sparked outrage and disgust among the onlookers.

Beta Ryan's face paled as if he had been slapped, his gaze darting around the pack members, who were now staring at him with a mix of shock, disgust, and accusation, their eyes burning with a silent condemnation that seemed to sear his very soul. He took a step back, his eyes wide with a growing panic, as if he was just realizing the gravity of his mistake.

"But I know you might have said that out of anger. After all, you looked quite angry that you were unwilling to accept the idea of fortifying our territories and saving our pack members from having to throw away their lives in endless wars with monsters and rogues. Your reaction was...telling," Reana said, her voice dripping with a subtle venom.