My Dearly Beloved Luna

Chapter 10

My stomach tightened.

“What are you talking about?”

Father picked up a folder from his desk and slid it across the polished surface.

“You won’t have to wonder for long.”

I didn’t touch it Instead, I stared at him.“Say it.”

His expression remained unreadable.

Then he said, “Sylvia starts at Headquarters tomorrow.”

Immediately a strange feeling of unease settled over me.

“Doing what?” I asked.

“Working under you,” he answered.

For a moment, I forgot how to breathe.

“No. i refuse” The word left my mouth before I could think.

Father didn’t react.“Her position at headquarters has already been approved.”

“No.” I repeated, this time I was already standing.“Put her somewhere else.”

“Elias…”

“I don’t care where.”I shoved the untouched folder back toward him.“Finance. Public Relations. Training. Legal. Put her anywhere but my floor.”

His brow lifted slightly.“You seem unusually invested in where she works.”

“I’m invested in keeping my department running. and my team doesn’t have time to carry someone who’s never worked inside Headquarters” I muttered. The lie sounded convincing enough.

“Sylvia earned her degree for this,” Father said

“So have hundreds of applicants.”I crossed my arms, forcing myself to sound detached.“Choose one of them.”

“I already have.”He nodded toward the folder.“I chose Sylvia.”

Frustration flared inside me.“She spent years away from this pack.”

“So?”

“So she doesn’t know how this place works.”I began pacing before I realised I was doing it.“Headquarters isn’t a classroom.”

“It isn’t.”

“People there don’t care whose child she is.”

“They won’t have to.”

“They’ll tear her apart the first time she hesitates.”

Father watched me in silence. The longer he stared at me, the more exposed I felt.“You’ve put more thought into this than I expected.”

I looked away.“I know how demanding my department is. I know.”

His voice remained calm.“That’s exactly why she’s going there.”

I stopped pacing.“What?”

“If Sylvia succeeds under your supervision, no one in this pack will ever question whether she belongs.”

I laughed once. It sounded hollow.“You’ve got six department heads.”

“And I trust one.”He pointed at me.“You.”

“No, I refused”.

His eyes narrowed.“No?”

“I won’t do it.”

“You will.” he pressed.

“Then I’ll resign first.” I threaten.

The room fell silent.

Father leaned back slowly, studying me with an intensity that made my skin crawl.

“I’ve watched you build that division for years.”

He folded his hands together.“You’ve turned it into the most efficient department in Headquarters.”

Another pause.“If anyone can prepare Sylvia for life in this pack…”

His gaze settled firmly on mine.“It’s you.”

Every instinct screamed at me to refuse.

To tell him the truth. That asking me to mentor Sylvia was impossible.

That every hour beside her would become another battle against the bond threatening to consume me. Instead, I swallowed every word.

“Enough”. Father’s voice carried the unmistakable weight of an Alpha’s command.

“This isn’t open for discussion.” He slid the folder toward me again.“Tomorrow morning, Sylvia reports to you.”

My fingers curled into fists.

“You’ll introduce her to your staff. You’ll train her. And you’ll make sure no one in that building has a reason to doubt her.”

I stared at the folder without reaching for it.

The gods had already handed me the cruellest punishment imaginable. Now Father had made it my full-time job.

“This is ridiculous.”

“No.”Father rose from behind his desk.“This is family.”

He rounded the desk until we were standing only a few feet apart.

Even after all these years, his presence could fill an entire room without him raising his voice. It was one of the reasons the pack followed him so willingly.

“You’ll do exactly as I’ve instructed,” he said.

I held his stare.“I’m your second-in-command. A bitter laugh escaped me. Not Sylvia’s personal bodyguard.”

His expression didn’t change. You’re also my son. The room seemed to tighten around us. And while I am still this pack's Alpha, my word isn’t something you can disregard.

I could have refused. Walked out.Accepted whatever punishment that followed. But refusing would invite questions. Questions I couldn’t answer.Because the truth was far worse than disobedience.

Then Father’s voice softens and he says.“Sylvia has always trusted me.”

The words struck harder than his command. I looked away because he wasn’t wrong which was exactly the problem.

“I think having you beside her will make the transition of moving back home easier on her,” he added.

If only he knew that standing beside Sylvia every day wouldn’t make things easier. It would destroy every ounce of control I have left.

“When you’re sitting in this office as the next Alpha,” Father continued, nodding toward his desk, “you’ll have every right to make decisions like this.”

His gaze settled firmly on mine.

“But until that day comes…”

His Alpha presence rolled through the room…you follow mine.

Silence stretched between us. My hands slowly curled into fists. Every instinct urged me to keep fighting. To find another excuse.Another solution.Anything.But there wasn’t one. Not without exposing the secret clawing at my chest.

…Fine. I muttered, the word sounding like defeat.“I’ll take her to Headquarters.”

A hint of satisfaction crossed Father’s face.“I knew you would.”

He returned to his desk as though the matter had already been forgotten, reaching for another stack of paperwork.

The issue was over. For him.Not for me.

I turned toward the door before my temper got the better of me.

My hand had barely closed around the handle when his voice followed me.“Elias.”

I stopped without looking back.“What?”

“Go for that run.”

His tone had lost its edge.

“Whatever’s weighing on you…”

A brief pause.

“…don’t carry it into tomorrow.”

I sighed If only it were that simple. I pulled the door open and froze the moment I saw Sylvia Fidgeting in the hallway.

She was still wearing the dress from dinner, though she’d wrapped a cardigan around her shoulders to guard against the evening chill. A loose strand of hair had escaped the knot at the back of her neck, framing a face that had gone completely pale.

Her hand hovered in midair, as though she’d been contemplating whether she should knock.

Her eyes lifted to mine.

Wide.

Unsteady.

There was hurt in them.

Confusion.

And something that looked dangerously close to heartbreak.

My pulse crashed against my ribs.

How long had she been standing there?

Long enough.

I saw it in her expression.

She’d heard enough to believe every lie I’d forced out of my own mouth.

For one reckless second, I almost reached for her.

Almost told her none of it was true.

Instead, I stood perfectly still.

Watching the distance I’d tried to create between us shatter in an entirely different way.