Chapter 34

NADIA

It has been two weeks since I arrived at the Silver Moon Pack and everything has been going so
smoothly that a part of me feared that something was bound to disrupt the peace I feel inside.

Every day I woke up enveloped in the warmth of my mate. He would never leave my side unless I had
awoken or he would wake me up to let me know where he would be for the whole day.

And it made me happy every Goddess-given day. I never even dreamt of this because I knew my life
was never bound to find this kind of happiness. But the Goddess surprised me when She gave me
Riley. I got more than I bargained for.

But I should have leamed from my experience. Good days would not last long, and the past would
always return to remind you that life was never meant to be fair, that it would mock you every now and
then.

So even if my heart was soaring with happiness, a part of in was waiting for that moment when life
would crush me again

I still had an hour to go for my afternoon training session with Jenny, but I was already sweating
profusely and my body was tired already. I ended my training earlier so I could shower and visit my
mate at his office, and I could spend a little more time with him before my next training, which would be
with him as well.

Later today, Riley would be taking me to his outdoor archery range just around the corner from the
training ground. He set up an area just for me so I could leam at my own pace and he did not need to
touch his own target range.



I was still far from good. My arms couldn’t hold the bow still, and I could only count on one hand the
number of times I hit the target face, and it was not even inside the goal.

Riley wanted me to work on strengthening my arms and my grip, so I had afternoon sessions with
Jenny. He said it would help in keeping my arms still while I aimed for a shot.

For almost two weeks now, I’ve been trying my hardest, but I just couldn’t seem to hit a goal.

But Riley has been patient with me. He had never snapped at me for being lousy. In fact, it seemed to
me that he didn’t care at all that I wasn’t hitting anything at all. He was more focused on getting his
hands all over my body while he was training me than fussing around about my missed goals.

He never pushed me hard enough to hit the target. It was probably the reason I couldn’t hit anything at
all because his touch and his smell were distracting me.

I smiled despite myself at the thought of him as I turned the corner and approached the pack house
grounds, only to be left stunned at the sight of a car parked in front of the house. This was it.

Reality was here to remind me that I could never run away from my past. My heart thumped loudly in
my chest as I sprang inside the pack house, my feet rushing in towards Riley’s office. in front of me as
my body stood frozen by the door.

Elliot.

What was he doing here?

All eyes in the room flew in my direction, but my gaze was stuck on the man I loathed the most. I felt
my eyes water as his mouth slowly tugged into that evil grin he would always flash at me before he
turned his whole body around to face me.

RILEY



“Alpha, a man named Elliot Castello is asking permission to meet with you. He said he’s from the Moon
Stone Pack and he knew Nadia.”

I was just listening to my Beta as my eyes continued to scan the documents in my hand, but my ears
perked up the moment he mentioned Nadia’s name.

“How did he know Nadia?”

“Tristan said he claimed he was Nadia’s fiance.”

The monster

For the past week, I’ve been discretely looking for this man, but I couldn’t even get his name. And the
only person who could provide me was being held in one of Darvin’s cells, and I didn’t have the
audacity to ask for Darvin’s help after he had already laid out the punishment I wanted for him. And I
didn’t want Nadia’s uncle to know that I was looking for this man.

But now he’s here. It only meant one thing – he still wanted Nadia.

And as much as I hated this man, I wanted to meet him. I wanted to see if he was anything like me.
Maybe I was a better man than he was. Then maybe I could forgive myself for everything I did to
Andrea.

“Alpha?” Beta Dominic snapped me out of my thoughts and my gaze turned to him. His brows furrowed
as he looked at me.

“Should I decline the request or do you want to meet him there?”

I let out a deep sigh before my eyes darted to the clock overhead. Nadia still has one hour and twenty
minutes before her training with Jenny ends. I needed to make this quick.



“Take him here. If he has a vehicle, make sure it is thoroughly searched before allowing entrance and
let someone escort him here.”

“Noted, Alpha.” He bowed his head before his eyes flecked white, a signal that he was reaching
someone through his mind.

I had no idea what to expect. All I knew was that he must be in his late forties. Nadia didn’t say
anything about his physical appearance except that she didn’t like the way he smelled of tobacco and
alcohol.

The fifteen-minute wait felt like an eternity. But eventually, he arrived.

I was expecting an old-looking man clothed in baggy clothes who looked homeless, but instead, I was
facing a man who looked younger than 40, clean-shaven with his hair neatly combed.

He looked nothing like the way I envisioned him from Nadia’s story. If I was being honest, he was fair-
looking, and it made me cringe more internally.

I saw myself in him.

My Beta let him inside my office and pointed him to a seat on the couch, but he refused.

‘Alpha Riley, thank you for taking your time.” He then turned his head around and scanned my whole
office.

“I was expecting to see Nadia. Is she not aware that I was coming?”

My hand under my desk coiled into a fist as I stared at him with a stoic expression. I was trying not to
show him how I felt about him.



“I am under the impression this meeting is between you and me, so no, my Luna is not aware you’re
here. Let’s get to business. Why are you here?”

“I came here to collect what I was owed.”

“And by that, what do you mean? I don’t fucking owe you anything.”

We were staring at each other, but the fucker wasn’t backing down. I had no fucking idea who he was
and what connection he had, but it looked like he didn’t fear that I was an Alpha.

“No, you don’t. But your Luna does.” He blurted it out arrogantly.

“Go straight to the point. I don’t want to waste my time on you.”

“I’m not sure how much you knew about your Luna, but I owned her.”

My claws were threatening to come out. My nails were already digging deep into my skin as I kept my
hand in a coiled fist.

“Relax. I can feel your aura here. Hear him out. If you attack him, you will never get to the bottom of
this.’

My Beta’s words dug into my head, and I shoved my wolf off to the back of my mind.

“Explain.”

“Nadia was sold to me. I paid his uncle for her, but she came home marked. Our deal was for her to
find the wolf who marked her and get her rejection. I paid the full amount. How was I to know she was
marked by an Alpha? And from the looks of it, you fancy m y sweet Nadia. Now, I don’t have my money
and I don’t have a mate.”

My forehead creased, but I kept my mouth shut.



“I tried to get my money back, but I couldn’t find her uncle and her aunt. So I guess my money just
disappeared with them. That’s why I’m here. I want her back.”

“No fucking way. You’re not taking her away from here.”

I wanted to kill him, but a part of me kept reminding me that I was once him. And I could understand
Caspian’s ordeal at this point.

“Then pay me back.” His mouth twitched into a smug grin.

“How much?” And he was taking too long to answer.

“Answer me before I rip your throat!”

The fucker just laughed, sliding his hands into his pockets.

“Fifty thousand, but I wanted more, for the hassle, for the time wasted. In addition to keeping my dick
inside my pants. If I knew that…”

He was not able to finish his words. But before I could even get up from my seat, my Beta was already
holding his neck, choking him.

And I was glad he did because Hunter was out to kill him.

“You will get your money and more. Now fuck off! Take him away here!” I was done with this
conversation.

Beta Dominic let him go, but before they could move, the door swung open and revealed Nadia,
panting from all the running she might have done.

My heart dropped at the expression on her face as her eyes fixated on Elliot. The color was drained off
her face as she stood frozen b y the door.



“Well, just the person I wanted to see.” The fucker chuckled as he turned around to face my mate.

“What are you doing here?” Nadia’s voice came out broken, but she was trying to hold her ground, but
her emotions came surging in through our bond.

Fear.

Did she ever think I would not be able to protect her?

“Come here, Nadia…” Elliot extended his hand, and my ears heat up.

“Stop right there, fucker!” I growled at him, pushing my chair back with so much force that it almost fell
backward as I stood up.

But he simply ignored me. “I came for you, sweetheart. Didn’t I tell…”

This was fucking it!

In a swift motion, I was already in front of the motherfucker, my hand gripping his collar tightly as I
slammed his back twice against the nearest wall without letting him go.

“If you address my Luna without any respect again, I will fucking kill you!” I growled at him, my eyes
dilating into full black.

I slammed his back once more against the wall before letting him go.I moved beside Nadia, snaking an
arm around her waist before pulling her into my chest.

Nadia was shaking, and the fear radiating from her body was making me feel fucking guilty.

The fucker snickered and straightened up his shirt before looking at us.



“It looks like you were smitten with her as well. Little temptress, isn’t she?”

“Take him out of here before I end up murdering that fucker!” My words were directed at my Beta, and
he immediately went beside Elliot, gripping his arm.

I was still growling in anger while clutching Nadia in my chest. The only thing that was holding my
sanity together was my mate, who was clinging to me for strength.

“I want my money.”

“Give him the fucking money and throw him out!” I told my Beta before snapping my head back to
Elliot.

“And I never want to see your face again! I swear to the Goddess, if you come near my mate again, I
will fucking rip you apart!”

“Riley, what money? Why are you paying him?” Nadia asked in a whisper, but it was enough for me to
hear.

‘‘We’ll talk about this later.’’ I answered her through our mindlink as Beta Dominic dragged Elliot away
from the office.

Nadia pressed her body closer to mine as Elliot passed us. His eyes were still looking at Nadia, and I
saw desire swirling in them, and it was taking all my effort not to react violently.

I didn’t want to prolong his presence in my house and in front of Nadia. I rolled off my Alpha aura and I
saw his body flinch as he hurried out of the office.

The moment the door closed, I sent a mindlink to Jenny, my Gamma Female, to take Nadia to our
room. I wanted Nadia away from m e for a while while I was still trying to control my anger and my guilt.



“Riley, I’m sorry. I didn’t know he would come here.”

I shook my head and cupped her face before I opened my mouth to speak, “Not your fault, it’s okay. Go
to our room and rest. I will see you later.”

“What do you mean? Are you going somewhere?”

I didn’t know what to answer her, and I was thankful that the door opened and Jenny came in.

Nadia’s eyes darted to the door, and I took it as an opportunity to get away from her hold.

“Jenny will take care of you.” I moved back and just as she was shifting her gaze back at me, I turned
around and went for the window, flinging it open before jumping out of it and running towards the forest
line.

I heard Nadia calling after me before I leaped into the air and shifted into my wolf form and let Hunter
take over.I knew a good mate would have stayed behind and held onto their mate, assuring her that the
monster wouldn’t come back for her anymore. But I couldn’t do it.

The moment I saw Nadia with her body shaking and the color draining from her face out of fear, it sent
me flashes of Andrea shaking and begging in my arms while I threatened to mark her in front of
Caspian.

I was fucking worse than Elliot.

He only asked for fifty thousand compared to the fifty million I was asking for from Caspian. And now I
fully understand why Caspian was willing to sell his soul to the devil just to get Andrea away from me.

I was a fucking monster.

And Nadia didn’t deserve this — to be mated to a monster after running away from one.



Hunter just kept running while I blocked off my emotions, so Nadia wouldn’t feel anything. I blocked off
my mind too. I didn’t want anyone in my head while I sorted out my next step.

I was expecting my wolf to berate me for everything I did in the past, but he kept quiet. Hunter did like
Andrea, but he was not always in agreement with my ways, and it was often the reason we didn’t get
along.

But he wasn’t blaming me today. He was sharing my grief, and I was thankful for that.


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