The Alpha's Forsaken Feisty Mate

After seeing off Nina, Radulf didn’t go to the chamber. Instead, he headed to the office to spend alone time there.

"Did the Alpha fight again with his Luna?" Savio’s voice reached his ears.

"Don’t preach a single word about her," Radulf warned him. "Do you know what she did?" His insides burned with rage. "Well, never mind!" he muttered.

"Do you truly not want to share with me what happened?" Savio pressed.

"She thought I lust for her," Radulf finally said with a frown on his forehead. "How could she think like that? I did everything to keep her happy. But in the end, she chose to ignore my efforts. I am lustful in her eyes," he complained, feeling angrier.

"And why did Zenna think like that? Have Alpha put a thought on that?" Savio asked.

"Because in her eyes, I still hate her," Radulf replied. "I clarified to her it wasn’t hate. Why can’t she believe me? I even apologized to her for what I did, but nothing of all this matters to her," he murmured.

"Radulf, initially, you were attracted to Zenna because of the mate bond. Is it the same for you now? You want to get intimate with her because of her pheromones only, or do you feel more for her?" Savio asked, trying to find out what exactly was in Radulf’s head toward Zenna.

"What do you mean?" Radulf knitted his brows together in confusion.

"What I mean to say is, do you want her body to satisfy your needs, or do you want her to love you?" Savio asked him.

"Aren’t they both the same?" Radulf questioned.

"They aren’t," Savio answered. "What your Luna wants is your love more than your craving for her body. Pleasure is momentary. Being a man, you should know that," he muttered, disappointed in Radulf for not understanding this simple thing.

"She also likes it," he murmured.

"Radulf, do you feel restless when Zenna isn’t around you? Don’t you feel anything for her apart from those crazy pheromones that always surround her or get intensified around you?" Savio questioned him.

"Restless? Yes, I feel that. What I feel... I... I..." Radulf realized that he had no answer for it. He felt lost and confused.

Savio sighed. "Then figure it out, Alpha. You’re not just a beast following instinct. You’re a man, and a wolf resides within you." With that, he took a step back. "Good night." He turned and left, his footsteps fading into the silence.

Radulf contemplated for a while, not understanding anything. So, after a long pause, he reached for the bottom drawer of his desk. His fingers brushed against a stack of letters—letters that might hold pieces of Zenna he had yet to understand. He pulled them out, hoping to find answers in her words.

~~~~~

"Luna, you shouldn’t be here. Didn’t you and the Alpha agree to remain in the chamber?" Pia asked, her voice laced with concern as she approached Zenna.

Zenna let out a bitter chuckle, her fingers tightening around the fabric of her dress. "Not anymore. He wants me as far away from him as possible. And I have my dignity too—I refuse to stay where I am not wanted," she murmured, feeling low.

Pia’s brows knitted together in worry. "But everything seemed fine between you two. What happened so suddenly?"

Zenna exhaled sharply. "Radulf craves my body more than my heart. He does not care about what I feel or what he should feel. I confronted him about it, and we argued. His solution?" She let out a hollow laugh. "He commanded me to stay at least five miles away from him. So I will. If that’s what he wants, then so be it."

"What about your dinner then, Luna?" Pia inquired.

"I’ve no appetite. I’ll go to bed and sleep. I am tired," Zenna said and rose to her feet before disappearing into the bedchamber. Pia quietly went out, hoping everything would turn better between them.

Zenna tossed and turned on the bed, but sleep refused to come. An unsettling restlessness gnawed at her, and no matter how hard she tried to ignore it, the absence of Radulf weighed heavily on her mind.

"Did I overreact?" she murmured, staring at the ceiling. "But if I don’t stand my ground, he’ll keep doing it. I hate it when he talks like that."

She sighed, pulling the duvet tighter around herself. Just as she was about to close her eyes, the door creaked open.

"Pia, I don’t want dinner. You should retire to your chamber too," Zenna said, assuming it was her maid.

But the door remained open, and the silence stretched longer than it should have.

Frowning, she turned her head slightly to check. In the dim glow of the bedside lamp, she saw a familiar figure standing next to the bed—Radulf.

Her breath hitched. ’Why is he here?’

Without a word, she pulled the duvet over her face, shielding herself from him.

"Let’s have dinner," Radulf said in a soft tone.

Zenna remained silent. Her lack of response made his frustration evident as he ran a hand through his hair. With a sigh, he stepped closer and reached for the duvet, attempting to lower it.

But Zenna held on tightly, refusing to let him.

"There’s no use in fighting me," Radulf muttered. Then, after a pause, he exhaled deeply and said, "Fine. I admit I was wrong. I should have been more considerate of your feelings. Just... give me a chance. And..." He hesitated for a moment before adding, "I won’t do that again. I promise."

Zenna slowly loosened her grip, lowering the duvet just enough to meet his gaze.

"You told me to stay five miles away from you," she reminded him.

"I said that in anger. I didn’t mean it," Radulf admitted without hesitation.

A silence settled between them before he spoke again, softer this time. "It’s not that I don’t feel anything for you. But lying and saying I love you would be wrong. I told you—I no longer hate you." He paused, his gaze darkening slightly. "And... you do bother me."

Zenna’s fingers clenched around the fabric of the duvet. "I am hungry. Let’s have dinner," she said and sat up.