The Alpha's Other Woman by Vielle Nye (best ereader under 100 txt) 📕

Carrie

Hours later, I still couldn’t believe that I had issued a challenge against the luna.

"What am I going to do?" I moaned as I sat on Anna's couch with another bottle of wine.

"Well, you issued a challenge, so I guess you're going to fight," my ever logical Samantha said.

Anna gave her a bit of a warning expression, like she was concerned I’d get upset.

I groaned. "No, Anna. She's right. I lost my temper and now I just have to deal with it."

Samantha frowned. "Still, it's understandable. I can't believe he said that in front of you. I mean, you're still a part of his pack, even if he's transformed into an absolute insensitive piece of shit. It's his responsibility to take care of his members, just as it's our duty to respect him. I still can't believe he was making you teach her. Of course the situation would blow up in his idiotic face. The male's clearly thinking with his wolf, or maybe another part of his anatomy, but definitely not his brain—if he even has one, which I'm beginning to question."

Even Anna didn't flinch at the disrespect this time. Samantha's rant made me feel a bit better.

I took a swig of wine. "It would have been better if she was even cut out to be luna. She's just so... I can't even hate her. She's sickeningly nice, like an open book. Fighting her is going to be like kicking a pup. And the worst part is that I don't even want the position anymore, I don't want to be his acting luna after all the shit he said. I should have challenged the jerk alpha instead." They didn’t bother to respond, we all knew I didn't have the physical strength to take out an alpha.

Anna shrugged. "You could throw the fight."

I sighed. "I'll probably end up banished if I lose." The alpha did not have to do so, but it almost always happened to the losers of such fights to prevent future contention.

I clung to my bottle as if it held the answer to all my problems.

"Maybe it's for the best," Samantha mused. "I can see what you mean about her not being luna material. Maybe there was a mistake this time."

I scoffed.

"You were a great acting luna, Carrie. Already we're starting to run down on a few supplies at the school. Which we can deal with, but what about if it comes to the pack clinic? We could be in real trouble some day."

I sighed. "I told Heidi to do that."

"My point, exactly. She might grow into the position in time, but you're here now. Maybe you're meant to fight this challenge and win."

"Maybe," I said mournfully. The prize of having to deal with Dane for the rest of my life seemed like a nightmare now. He wasn’t going to be more reasonable once I stole his mate’s position. And I wasn’t stupid enough to believe that he would suddenly want me back just because she wasn’t luna anymore. I’d be luna in name only, and I’d have the constant drama of the alpha’s mate to deal with. Why had I said something so stupid?

I leaned my face down in my hands and groaned.

"You've been a good luna these last few years," Samantha said.

"Acting luna," I corrected.

"You were a luna in every way but the mate bond, Carrie. The pack needs you. Forget about the jerk alpha, just think about the pack."

"Fine," I agreed and returned to the bottle.

"Good," Samantha said, and Anna nodded her agreement. Then my best friend plucked the bottle from my hand.

"Hey!" I tried to grab it back, but she was too coordinated.

"Now, you've got to get training."

"No, I don't. Give me that back, Sam."

She gave me a stern look. "The alpha's already got his mate training, and you're out of shape since you spend so much of your time in an office lately. Let's go."

I glared at Samantha.

"We just don't want to lose you," Anna added.

How could I argue with that? I gave up my attempt to reclaim my bottle and pushed off her couch. "Okay. I'll train."

—————

It was a shame that Samantha already loved her work in the clinic, because she would have made a fantastic drill sergeant. My ill-conceived challenge against the luna was set for the day of the full moon, the traditional time of challenges when our wolves were at their strongest. That gave Heidi and I both two weeks to prepare.

I was glad I did what Samantha had ordered, because by the time I dragged myself back to Madeline's home every night, I was exhausted, and every morning I woke with a whole new compilation of aches and pains.

The woman who I had once merely dismissed as an eccentric pack member turned out to be a pillar of support. Besides giving me a place to stay away from the furious alpha and way to avoid the pack house, she fed me and listened while I talked to her as if we were old friends. I supposed we had a bond deeper than others in the pack, since we were both the lonesome extras in the world of mates.

"You don't have to worry so much," she assured me as I ate my breakfast the day of the full moon. "Most people in the pack are sympathetic to you, even if they don't want you to beat the alpha's mate. You did a wonderful job as acting luna, I don't think the pack was ever so organized before you took over. Already they're feeling the pain with the gamma trying to take care of everything you used to do until the challenge is over. I don't think anyonen will be happy if he banishes you, if you somehow happen to lose. I'm sure you'll win, though."

I nodded. I had heard through the grapevine that Heidi’s fight training was going only marginally better than her luna training had gone. I was even more glad I had listened to Samantha. Now that I was in better shape, it should be easier to take her down without hurting her too much.

"I wonder, if I win, if I could just pass the title back to her," I mused. I wanted to stay in the pack, but every time I caught a glimpse of Dane my feelings for him died a bit more. My wolf was still angry and was more agitated than ever with the full moon upon us, but overall I was feeling more and more resigned. I just wanted to be able to keep distance between me and him.