30 Days, I'm Not Your Luna

Chapter 3

Theo’s POV

The whiskey burned down my throat, but it was the only thing that took the edge off the image of Selena’s tear-stained face from last night.

I sat in the shadowed corner of my private study, far away from the prying eyes of the pack. Across from me sat Lexus, my only true friend and also the alpha of The River Styx Pack. The large desk between us was covered in file folders, maps, and photos.

To anyone else, these documents looked like a nightmare. They showed reports of brutal rogue attacks on our borders and "injured" warriors and "destroyed" supply lines. They painted a picture of the Sirius Pack being weak, vulnerable, and on the verge of collapse.

But to us, they were a masterpiece.

"It’s working, Theo," Lexus said, leaning forward. He tapped a photo of a 'bloody' skirmish near the northern border. "Your father is terrified. He thinks the rogues are organizing a full-scale invasion. He actually shook when he read the casualty report this morning."

I swirled the liquid in my glass, a dark satisfaction curling in my gut. "Good. And the warriors involved?"

"Safe," Lexus assured me. "The 'dead' are hiding out in the safe house in the mountains, enjoying a paid vacation. But Michael doesn't know that. He thinks his legacy is crumbling around him."

I nodded, leaning back in my leather chair. This was the game I had to play. My father, Michael Kensington, was a tyrant. He had controlled the pack with an iron fist for decades, and even though I was the Alpha by title, he still held the purse strings. He controlled the finances, the council, and the major decisions. He treated me like a puppet.

But not for much longer.

The only reason he made me the alpha is because the pack wanted him to retire due to his age and he had to step down but he still has people in the council who enable him so he constantly interferes with my decisions and his insubordinates follow through with his orders instead of mine and I'm tired of it because it's given him more power over the pack than I have.

"He called me into his office a few days ago," Lexus said, and I raised an eyebrow. "He’s desperate and panicked, he's convinced that you need help and a strong ally, and he wants my help.”

We knew this was coming, and it's happening exactly how we predicted.

He fell into my trap.

However, he made a request that was not part of my plan.

I took a long sip of whiskey as Lexus went on, "I told him I would do it. But I gave him a condition. He gives you full control over the Pack because I can't work with a Pack led by two alphas, but unfortunately he's a bit more clever than we give him credit because he managed to throw a condition too by proposing a marriage between you and Claire in exchange.”

I didn't expect things to go smoothly, but I also didn't expect this complication, not that it will stop me from getting what I want.

“He spoke to me about it,” I confessed. “He is obsessed with the power he holds over the pack, but fear is a powerful motivator, and unfortunately he has another condition for me. He won't sign the transfer papers until I am officially divorced from Selena and publicly engaged to Claire. He wants to see the ring on Claire's finger before he hands over the keys to the pack."

“He's cunning. Once Claire and I are engaged, you won't be able to back out, and you'll have no choice but to support our pack.” I scoffed at my father's scheming. “But he doesn't know you're on my side."

Lexus let out a low sigh. "But for the plan to proceed, you must accept his orders. You have to divorce Selena."

The name hit me like a physical punch. Selena.

I closed my eyes, and I could see her. I could see the way she looked at me last night, so full of hope and love. She offered to give me a child. She begged to stay, and I crushed her. I handed her a pill and told her she was just a contract.

"I had to be cruel, Lexus," I whispered, opening my eyes. "If I had shown even an inch of weakness, she would have tried to fight for me. And if she fights then I might fall weak, and I need to be level headed right now."

"She thinks you hate her," Lexus said softly. "And you’re trading her for power."

"I have no other way out," I snapped, standing up and walking to the window. I looked out and sighed painfully. "I am trading her for power, but not permanently."

I turned back to Lexus, my eyes burning with intensity. "This engagement to Claire, it’s a sham, and I know that's not what you want for your sister, and I'm asking a lot from you—"

"I know, and Claire is on board with everything.” Lexus interrupted. "But Selena doesn't know."

"She can't know," I insisted. "Not yet. I need the divorce to look real and the engagement to look real. I need my father to sign those papers and hand over the power. Once the control is mine, once the council answers only to me... my father will have nothing."

I walked back to the desk and picked up a small velvet box that was hidden under a stack of papers.

I haven't opened it in months, but I knew what was inside. It wasn't the flashy diamond ring my father had picked out for Claire. It was a custom design ring made of white gold, twisted like a vine, holding a rare sapphire that matched Selena’s eyes.

"Just 30 days. Once I have the power," I said, my voice thick with emotion, "I’m going to end the 'engagement' to Claire publicly. I’m going to expose my father’s manipulation to the council. And then... I’m going to go to Selena and get on my knees, and I’m going to tell her everything. I’m going to tell her that the divorce was a lie. I'm going to tell her that I've fallen in love with her. And I’m going to propose to her properly."

"You’re playing a dangerous game, Theo," Lexus warned. "Thirty days can break someone’s heart. You might push her too far, and she might not take you back."

"She loves me," I said, though a seed of doubt planted itself in my chest. "I felt it last night. She gave up everything for me. She’ll understand when I explain that I did this to protect her, to build a future where my father can never hurt us again... she’ll have to understand."

I remembered the look on Selena's face when I gave her the pill. The light in her eyes died instantly, and it killed me to do it, but I couldn't risk a pregnancy now. The plan cannot be withdrawn. If my father discovered that Selena's pregnancy would destroy the alliance between the two packs, he would imprison her or kill her.

I'll fix this and us.

In 30 days, I'll make her the happiest woman in the world.