<h4>Chapter 150: Still In love</h4>


    Dane’s POV


    Four yearster.


    The door to my room pushed open, and Catherine, my wife, and Luna stormed in, fuming. I didn’t even flinch. I was already used to this attitude of hers. A day never passed without her putting her spoiled character on full disy.


    As I watched her pace and mutter under her breath, my mind drifted back to how I ended up here in the first ce.


    It wasn’t love. It was never love.


    Two years ago, after the death of her brother—my best friend—the pack had turned to me. He was supposed to be Alpha, I his Beta, his right hand, his brother in all but blood. But fate had other ns. His illness, one that even the healers couldn’t cure, stole him away too soon. When he died, the weight of leadership fell squarely on me.


    The council gathered. The pack cried. And their father, the old Alpha, begged. I remember standing in the great hall, every pair of eyes on me, every heart pounding with fear of what woulde next.


    "Only you," they said. "We want no one else. You are the one he trusted, the one we trust."


    But there was a condition. To take the Alpha title, I had to marry Catherine. His daughter. His heir.


    I wanted to say no. Every instinct in me screamed against it. Catherine was... Catherine. Selfish, reckless, spoiled beyond reason. She wasn’t the kind of Luna I had ever imagined by my side.


    But the pack begged. Their father pleaded with me, tears in his eyes, telling me this was the only way to secure peace, the only way to keep the line intact. They needed me as Alpha, and Catherine’s husband was the only one who could im it.


    So I agreed. Against my heart, against my better judgment, I agreed.


    And here I am—stuck with her.


    Catherine’s heels clicked hard against the floor as she stopped in the middle of the room, her arms crossed tight over her chest. Her eyes burned with the same fury I had seen too many times before.


    "This marriage is a joke," she snapped. "Two years, Dane. Two years, and still no child."


    I kept my silence, though my jaw tightened.


    She stepped closer, her anger intensifying. "Do you know how many times you’ve touched me? I can count them. Four." She held up her fingers, shaking them in my face. "Four times in two years of marriage. Do you think that’s normal for a husband and wife? For an Alpha and Luna?"


    Her words struck because they were true. I had no defense, no excuses. Silence was all I could give her.


    Her lips curled in a bitter smile. "I know why. It’s not because of me. It’s because of her."


    My eyes flicked up at that, but she didn’t hesitate.


    "You’re still in love with that girl, aren’t you?" she hissed, her voice dripping with anger. "The red-haired one. The one whose passport you keep tucked in your wallet like a sacred treasure."


    My chest tightened, the weight of her words digging into old wounds I tried to bury.


    She stepped closer, her voice lowering, but sharper than a de. "Tell me, Dane. You are still in love with her."


    I clenched my fists at my sides, every part of me screaming to shut her up, but I stayed still. Because she was right.


    Her re remained fixed on me as she expected a reply, but I gave her nothing. No answer. No reaction. Just silence.


    And that silence—it drove her mad.


    Catherine’s face twisted, her lips curling into a snarl. "You can’t even deny it, can you?"


    Her voice grew louder, sharper. "You’re pathetic, Dane. A pathetic Alpha clinging to your ex’s memory. You don’t deserve me, you don’t deserve this title, and you sure as hell don’t deserve this pack."


    My fists tightened, but I stayed rooted in ce.


    She leaned forward, her eyes shing with hate. "Maybe I should just divorce you. Maybe I’ll marry someone else—someone who can actually touch me, love me, give me the heirs this pack deserves. Then he’ll be Alpha, and you—" she jabbed a finger at me "—you’ll be nothing."


    That broke my control.


    A deep growl ripped from my chest, my wolf surging forward. My aura burst into the room, heavy and suffocating, making the air itself shake. Catherine stumbled back a step, her eyes widening, but I didn’t stop.


    "Never," I snarled, my voice low but enraged. "Never threaten me like that again."


    I stepped closer, towering over her now, my power pressing against her until she shook. "I am Alpha. Mine is the blood this pack bows to, mine is the strength that keeps it standing. You think you can strip that away from me? You think you can rece me?"


    Her lips parted, but no words came out.


    I leaned closer, my re cutting through her. "I will do anything to be free of you, Catherine. Anything. But don’t forget—you may be Luna in name, but I am Alpha. And that will never change."


    The room went silent, her fury reced by something else—fear.


    "Get out," I ordered.


    Her lips parted like she wanted to say something else, but the look I gave her shut her up, and slowly she turned and walked out.


    The silence that followed was suffocating, but at least it was silence without her voice poisoning the air.


    I ran a hand through my hair and sank down on the edge of the bed, my fists still clenched. My aura slowly pulled back, though the tension in my muscles refused to ease.


    A knock came at the door.


    "Come in," I muttered.


    The door opened, and my Beta, Jake, stepped inside. He bowed his head slightly. "Alpha."


    "Report," I said, my tone clipped.


    He moved closer, setting a scroll of notes on the desk. "The southern borders are secure. The scouts confirm no rogue activity for thest three nights. The trade route with Fullmoon Pack has been reopened—no dys there. And the warriors havepleted their rotations without incident."


    I nodded absently, my thoughts already drifting elsewhere. "And the search?"


    Jake’s expression tightened. He knew exactly what I meant. "We’ve pushed beyond the river valley, as far as the eastern ridge. No sign. No whispers. Nothing, Alpha."


    The weight of his words hit me harder than Catherine’s venom ever could. Two years of searching. Two years of empty trails, dead ends, and silence.


    I leaned back, my eyes slipping shut for a moment, a hollow ache spreading through my chest.


    When I opened them again, Jake was still watching me, waiting.


    I dismissed him with a wave of my hand. "That’ll be all."


    "Yes, Alpha." He bowed once more and slipped out, leaving me alone in the suffocating quiet of my chambers.


    My gaze drifted toward the drawer of my desk—the ce where I kept it. Her passport. The only piece of her I still had. My fingers itched to reach for it, but I stayed where I was, my throat tight.


    "Hailee," I whispered into the empty room, my voice breaking before I could stop it.


    I clenched my jaw, my fists trembling as the words tore out of me again, louder this time.


    "Hailee... where the hell are you?"