Chapter 18

Derek’s POV

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“Beta Derek, is it true?”, Shailey asked me as I entered the packhouse’s kitchen to grab some water.

“What are you talking about, Shailey?”, I asked in confusion.

“Are you seeing Luna?”, She asked. I started coughing while drinking water and spilled half of it from my mouth. “I am so sorry, Beta Derek. Please don’t mind my question. It’s just Alpha, I mean former Alpha Adam was telling everyone that you are.”, She added.

I should have known that the bastard couldn’t keep her mouth shut. It made me wonder what else he would be saying about me and Stacey?

I was not sure whether I should tell the truth to Shailey or not. I knew she was a good and trustworthy person but at the same time, I knew she was an omega and later on she might get threatened by another higher rank wolf to spill the truth. That’s why I had to watch what I was saying and doing to her because it could ruin everything. I rattled ideas around my head about what to do and say, deciding to keep it simple.

“What do you think, Shailey?”, I asked, winking at her. “By the way, don’t forget to bring her Black coffee.”

“Sure, Beta Derek.”, She replied. I started walking away from her toward Stacey's office. “Plus, if this is true what am I listening to then I am happy for you two, especially Luna. She deserves a loving mate and she cannot get a better mate than you.”

I smiled at her words before walking out of the kitchen and heading straight to Stacey’s office. That’s when I saw Stacey walking inside her office angrily. She was so pissed off that she didn’t even acknowledge my presence. I checked my watch and wondered what made her come late today! And why was she in such a sour mood?

I stopped at her office door, praying for a while for not being the victim of her anger. I knocked on the door and after hearing ‘Come in’ from her, I walked in.

She still looked pissed.

“You alright, Luna?”, I asked formally.

“Adam.”, She hissed his name. “He had guts to show up today again. The patrolling warriors didn’t let him in as per my orders, that’s why he created a scene over there. I don’t understand what is wrong with him! What I am doing with you is none of his damn business. I cannot wait to break this mate bond. If he is not going to break it by marking that bitch then I might end up marking someone as my mate.”, She said angrily. Deep down, we both knew that she wouldn’t be able to do this.

Well, not this soon.

I stood there, staying silent and not sure if I should comment anything on it in case she snapped at me. She groaned in annoyance, running her hand through her hair before she finally looked up at me.

“Don’t worry. I won’t snap at you. It’s just he is pissing me off that is all.”, She said.

I really wished he would leave her be. Let her live peacefully and have a life without him getting in the way.

At the same time, there was another knock at the door. I knew it was Shailey who had brought Stacey’s black coffee.

“Come in”, After hearing this, Shailey walked in and made her way over to her desk, handling her coffee which she thanked her for. Once she left, Stacey’s eyes were back to me.

“What happened? It seems like you want to tell me something?”, She said.

“Nothing like that.”

“Derek, take a seat and tell me what is going on in your mind?”

I nodded, taking a seat on the chair that was on the other side of her desk. I looked up at her, giving her a small nervous smile.

“You lied to someone, didn't you?”, She guessed with a small smile on her lips.

“How did you know that?”

“Well, you can say that I am a good observant. Now tell me, what’s the matter?”

“I ran into Shailey in the Kitchen. She asked me if I was seeing you because apparently, this is what Adam is telling everyone around. I was not sure what to do or say since she might disclose our secret in pressure. And also, we never really discussed what I was to say to everyone in the pack.”, I said.

All the time, Stacey's eyes were on me, an amused look on her face.

“So what did you do or say?”

“I said, ‘What do you think?’ winked and walked away.”, I answered. She let out a loud chuckle before smirking at me.

“Nicely played. The more pack members that think something is going on, the more believable it will be.”, She said. “I am glad that you do that.”, She winked.

She had a point. The more pack members that know, the more believable it would be to everyone. We both sat in silence for a while. Stacey took a sip of her coffee and started thinking about something.

I stood up on my feet to leave the cabin but before walking out, I did something which I guess I shouldn’t have done.

“I am leaving, Luna.”, I muttered to gain her attention.

“It’s Stacey for you.”, She said and looked at me. I nodded my head, reaching in, pushing a stray hair away from her eyes that had fallen. She let out a small groan, not expecting me to do that.

“I...I should get going.”, I said and started to leave.

“Yeah. By the way, Derek, you can take two days leave from tomorrow onwards because I made you work on Saturday and not to forget, even today.”

“Really?”

“Hmm”

“Thank you, Stacey”, I gave her my best smile. I left her to get on with her work, heading back to my work and telling everyone about their duties in my absence.

After I explained the duties of every guard, I saw a figure appear in front of me. I looked at him, finding Adam’s one of the favorite warriors, who was also acting as a spy for Adam, even though he works and stays in our pack.

He was glaring at me. My first thought was here we go.

“What happened, Stefan?”, I asked.

“What do you think you are doing seeing Stacey? You do realize her and Adam are still mates? You are trying to break the mate bond which Moon Goddess has made.”, He snapped at me, causing everyone’s attention. Here the drama began.

I took a deep breath, wanting to stay calm and not make a scene at work.

“I am trying to break their bond? Are you serious right now? Adam cheated on Stacye...he left her for someone else. They are separated, soon they will reject each other, and Stacey can see whoever she wants.”

“Men are allowed to do anything they want but this doesn’t apply to women. And if they try to copy men, we have given a perfect name for these types of women.”

“Excuse me? It is like it is OKAY for Adam to do what he wants while Stacey is not allowed to doing anything. You need to grow up, man. Even women have their life and they have the right to stay happy by moving on. Won’t you wish for your daughter’s happiness if something like this happens with her in the future?”, I snapped back at him.

“Don’t bring up the topic of my daughter. That’s not the point.”

“Oh really? Then what’s the point?”, I said, getting annoyed how people couldn’t apply something in their life but expect others to do.

He soon fell silent, an annoyed look on his face, but no words seemed to come out.

“Stay away from my friend’s mate.”, He warned.

I really wanted to hit that bastard’s face when someone else interrupted me.

“No. He will not stay away from me. What is going on between Derek and I is none of your business. It is none of Adam damn business either.”, Stacey roared in front of everyone, behind him. “Remember Stefan, you are still in my pack and I don’t appreciate you talking to your Beta like that. If you have a problem with him, with me, with him and I seeing each other, then you can leave the pack with your family.”

The expression on Stefan’s face soon turned to panic, clearly not expecting to get a reply from Stacey. He slowly turned around, hanging his head in shame.

“Sorry, Luna”, He muttered.

“Leave”, He quickly walked away after listening to Stacey’s orders. Well, I couldn’t blame him even though my wolf whimpered in fear for a while, when she used her Alpha tone.

She looked at me and then the rest. One by one everyone started walking back to their position and their respective works.

“I am sorry for this, Derek. I know you hated this type of attention and scenes but because of me, today you had to face this.”, She replied and the regret was written all over her face.

To make her feel good, I smiled at her. “It’s fine. I was somewhere prepared for this. By the way, thank you, though.”, I said.

“Anytime.”, She winked before heading back to the packhouse. I wondered who would have informed her about it?

Nevermind. I was not sure how she was standing up for me, that way was going to go down with everyone else. I hope they didn’t think that because I was seeing the “Luna”, I could do whatever I want, get away with it, that was the last thing I wanted because I had worked hard to get here.

“Stop thinking nonsense!”, Rex growled.

I nodded my head at his words. Tonight was the night for which everything had started in the first place. I was hoping Adam would not cause too much drama and embarrass everyone.

‘God! I am already feeling nervous with the thought of everything.’

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#TBC