‼️ Swapped Luna part 15

PREVIOUSLY…

My feet come to a stop when I don't see it there anymore. There's no way I imagined that. There was definitely a person there in the trees.

"Luna?"

I snap out of my daze. "Sorry. Just thought I saw something."

"Must have been a deer."

I clear my throat. "Yeah. Must have."

PRESENTLY…

THORNE

I shouldn’t be softening.

Maeve–Victoria–whatever the fuck I should call her, is very much my captive. I shouldn’t have spoiled her with a leisure walk around the pack. But that’s exactly what I did. Imagining her locked in that windowless room makes me toss and turn at night. Even Fang seems angry at me. He’s been avoiding me for my perceived cruelness.

But I can’t set her free. Not when she fucked my beta. Lorcan paid for his betrayal, and now so is Maeve.

The only problem is that she might be having a last laugh by sending me on this wild goose chase. I’ve already set things in motion, sending a telegram over to Europe through a costly fucking source.

Getting a response from the hospital will not take weeks like I told Maeve. I just wanted to see her sweat. If the thought of being in that room for weeks would be enough to make her crack and beg for my forgiveness.

I was surprised to see her hold her stand. She looked confident that the ‘truth’ would prevail, no matter how long it takes.

I won’t hold my breath.

There are a thousand other things to keep me distracted. Someone keeps setting fucking fire to my territory, and we have no idea where to start looking. I’m convinced that this isn’t child’s play anymore. An adult is nefariously setting the woods ablaze, and I fear that one day we won’t put it out on time. Acres of farming land and homes are at risk.

Not to mention that the Council is on their way here. They want me to answer for Lorcan’s murder. I wonder what their judgement will be. It’s not every day that Alphas murder their Beta when the two bloodlines have ruled together for centuries. But here I am. Unashamed. I would kill him a second time if he was reincarnated like Maeve claims to be.

Whispers are rippling through the pack, I’m sure. Questions of my sanity. But insane or not, I’ve never failed this pack. They have flourished ever since I took it over from my father’s hands, whose superstitious sanctions on the farmers all but brought on a blight and starved the pack for years. We had to trade with other packs to sustain ourselves, because he wasn’t hearing otherwise and was forced to abdicate to me.

I’ve failed no one. The pack can’t question that. And no other male in this pack will lead it like I have. I feel secure in my position. The Council will also know better than to challenge my title.

Somehow in the middle of all of this, it seems like Maeve is the immune one. She keeps disrespecting me and only getting slaps on the wrists. As a Luna, she’s protected. I could never harm or banish her, and maybe that makes me weak.

I consider seeing her again. Pushing her buttons further to see if she will stop her theatrics. I can’t stop thinking about the evenings we spent by the lake and how she seemed so genuine. How she was so clueless about some things, even innocent. How Fang suddenly loved her, as if fooled just like me.

Does she truly have it in her to fake all that?

I grumble lowly, turning my attention to my work. Forget Maeve. I must rearrange patrols. A third fire can’t happen.

—

I spend the entire day in my office. Pausing only to eat and scowling when a slice of cake is brought in for dessert. It reminds me of Maeve and her ridiculously good baking.

The maids know I typically don’t eat sweets, but maybe they’ve seen a change in me. Maybe they can sense that deep down, I’m starting to miss that exhausting woman. And they’re trying to cheer me up.

I return the untouched cake to the kitchen.

That evening, I fight the urge to see Maeve again. There is no need to. We spoke and she gave me the information I needed. The telegram has already been sent and now the only thing left to do is wait for a response.

I chalk it up to the mate bond. It’s making me miss her.

I don’t like this. We’ve only been apart for a day, and I’m already feeling like a clingy schoolboy.

Tomorrow, when she goes on her walk, I will catch a glimpse of her. Perhaps that will tame my wolf.

That night, I lay on my bed alone. On the same sheets that Maeve slept on because I forbade the maids from changing them. I’m not sure why. It’s this nagging feeling in my gut…this doubt, that maybe she’s telling the truth. By clinging to the sheets that faintly smell like her, I cling to the possibility that her insane theory is real.

I should prepare for the worst, not entertain hope. Maeve is known for disappointing me.

I step out of my bedroom, figuring that I won’t sleep tonight. A shift and a run around the pack will calm me. Maybe I’ll run into Fang, who has been avoiding me.

On my way out, I pass a maid who coyly glances at me. Pausing to lower her head and wait for me to pass. She’s a pretty girl, young and unmated. And she clearly wants to warm her Alpha’s bed.

I’ve got options. Hundreds of females willing to sleep with me. And yet I leave my bachelor days in the past. Unwilling to sleep with another female ever since I met Maeve. I don’t want to be a hypocrite. Don’t need to hurt Maeve by sleeping with another female, because I know that her tarnished reputation hurts her more than I could ever.

She has always been shallow.

I ignore the small voice in my head that argues Victoria is different.

—

The next two days, I decided against seeing Maeve. I don’t want to look at her even from a distance. It’s better this way.

Instead, I focus on my pack. I hear from the Council that they want to meet me “with urgency.”

Since Lorcan has been permanently dismissed from his position, I’ve placed a cousin of mine as temporary beta to lead the pack’s training. But I know it’s not enough. Eventually, we will have to find a permanent beta.

Lorcan’s family is up in arms about his murder, but there’s nothing they can do. The only judge here is the Council.

My telephone rings, and I pick up the call.

“Hello?”

“Alpha! Please, you must come. The Luna is…”

I rise from my seat, squeezing the telephone. “Speak!”

“She’s inconsolable! She’s ranting about seeing a woman. A ghost in the woods.”

A ghost? This all but confirms that Maeve is not mentally well. She really is unstable after all.

“What ghost? What woman?”

“She said she saw…herself? The nurse and guard saw nothing. She must have hallucinated this.”

In the background, I hear shouts and sobbing. It’s Maeve. She’s having some sort of episode.

“Sedate her. Calm her down before she hurts herself. I’m on my way.”

READ PART 16>

A/N: 👻Halloween came early! The Real Maeve is back, in Victoria’s body, and she wants her title back. The climax of the story is coming in the next 2 chapters and then SMUT TIME!!!

Fuck you, Maeve. Go back to the hole you crawled out of! It’s smut time! 💃