When Moonlight Came Too Late, He Regretted It

I fell asleep in Silas Gray's study. When I woke up, I found my hair had been hacked into uneven chunks. The floor was covered in my long hair. Vivian Hayes, Silas's secretary, waved the scissors at me with a taunting smile. "Your split ends were terrible, so I trimmed them for you. No need to thank me." I lunged at her like a woman possessed, claws shooting from my fingertips. My wolf roared inside my chest. But Silas grabbed my wrist before I could reach her. "Vivian was nice enough to trim your hair. Was that really worth losing your temper over?" A sickly sweet scent crept into my nose. It wasn't my usual light fragrance. And it wasn't Silas's cologne, either. He hadn't been home in three days. Vivian turned from the window and tapped the desk lightly. "Silas was worried I wasn't skilled enough to cut the children's hair at the charity event, so he had me practice on you. "You've always been so easygoing. You wouldn't get mad over something so small, would you?" Chapter 1 I ignored her and traced the source of that scent. The cloying smell of white peach clung to Silas's collar. My heart plummeted, and my wolf snarled restlessly inside me. Every instinct recoiled at the scent of another female. My lips parted, but my throat was bone-dry. "Silas, why do you smell like an Omega?" For an Omega's scent to permeate an Alpha's collar, they must have stayed close for a long time. He casually adjusted his collar, trying to mask the scent. But when he saw how pale I'd gone, he instinctively stepped toward me to explain. But Vivian caught his arm first, pressing herself against him. "It's mine. He picked it up this morning when we were discussing business in the study." Her voice was as saccharine as that suffocating perfume. Silas froze. Vivian relaxed her shoulders and tilted her head at me, all innocence. She deliberately toyed with Silas's collar. Silas didn't push Vivian's hand away. He addressed me instead. "Work's been busy. She's been staying in the room next to mine. Don't overthink it." The study was so quiet I could hear my own breathing. My mind went completely blank. Silas never let me handle his clothes. He was obsessive about cleanliness and order. He couldn't stand the thought of anyone else touching what he wore, not even me, his mate. But now he'd broken that rule for Vivian. His secretary. A bitter ache swelled in my chest. I stared at the hair scattered across the floor. My beautiful golden hair, the one thing I'd always been proud of, was now nothing but ugly, uneven stubble. I said nothing. The room fell deathly silent. Silas opened his mouth to speak, but when he saw my reddened eyes, he just frowned slightly. He turned to Vivian, his voice low. "Vivian, apologize." Vivian burst into tears. "Apologize? Silas, you really want me to apologize to her? "Weren't you the one who said I could trim her split ends? How is it my fault it went wrong? "Besides, hair grows back. Why are you forcing me to apologize?" Silas's brow furrowed as he moved partly in front of her. "Vivian, just do it!" Vivian wrenched free of his protective arm, her voice cracking. "Don't touch me! "What did I even do wrong? Now you're ganging up on me too? "Fine. I'll apologize. Happy now?" She bent at the waist, lowering her head enough to bare the back of her neck. "Sophia, I overstepped." At the sight of the stubborn set of her mouth and the tears shining in her eyes, tenderness flickered across Silas's face, and his tone softened. Silas turned back to me, frowning. "Vivian already apologized. She didn't mean it. "This is mostly my fault. I should have told you beforehand. "Can you stop holding this against her? I'm begging you." Chapter 2 One corner of my mouth twitched in bitter amusement. My mate, standing right in front of me, defending another woman... Silas walked over to me, trying to smooth down my ruined hair. "Sophia, don't be so petty. She was just joking around and went a little too far." My nails dug into my palms. It hurt, but nothing compared to the pain in my chest. The year the Silverthorn Pack was disbanded, I was the one who pulled Vivian from the rubble. Her pack had been absorbed, her parents killed at the territory border. After I put her through college, I could have walked away. But I couldn't bring myself to abandon her, so I asked Silas to give her a job at the company. Back then, Silas complained about her constantly, saying she didn't know how to do anything. She couldn't work the copier, booked flights at the wrong times, and kept losing track of contracts. Every time he brought her up, his brows would knot together. "Sophia, this isn't a shelter. If she keeps causing problems, I'm sending her packing." I shot him down and told him to be more patient. "Give her one more chance. She was just a teenager when her pack was wiped out." But I never could have imagined this. I'd helped her escape that nightmare with nothing but good intentions, and she'd turned around and stabbed me in the back. Silas ran his warm palm gently through my hair. A thick clump of short golden hair came away in his hand, heavy and tangled. Vivian approached, holding a cup of warm tea. "Sorry, Sophia. Here, have some tea to calm down." She swung the cup just a bit too wide, and the tea splashed all over me. "Oops, butterfingers. Sorry." She raised an eyebrow and smirked. I bit down on my lip. In the puddle on the floor, I caught my own reflection. Makeup smeared across my face, wet hair plastered to my cheeks. I looked like a complete clown. Vivian hid the smile tugging at her lips and put on a look of concern. "Silas, the charity event starts in twenty minutes. "Sophia can't exactly show up looking like this..." Silas glanced up at the clock on the wall. "Sophia, this event is important. Vivian will attend in your place this time." Silas straightened his cuffs in the mirror. "Be good. Wait for me to get back." Vivian walked beside him, wearing my champagne-colored gown. Right before stepping out, she turned back and flashed me a taunting smile. I called out to Silas, clinging to my last shred of hope. "Silas, I'm your mate." He turned back to me, brow furrowed deeply. "Sophia, don't throw a fit right now. Looking the way you do, you'd only embarrass our Thorncrown Pack." Without hesitation, he took Vivian's arm and walked away. The last flicker of hope in my heart went out. Vivian nestled against Silas and cast me a cautious look. "Silas, what if Sophia holds a grudge and comes after me?" Silas patted Vivian's back gently. "Don't worry. As long as I'm here, nobody touches you." Their voices faded into the distance, leaving me cold inside. I'd been planning to introduce Silas to my family's pack connections and help him with the company. Now, there was no point. I looked down and twisted the ring on my right ring finger. A pack member who had served me from the shadows for years stepped silently to my side. "Tonight, Silas will take Vivian to the charity event. "Bring her back to me. There's no need to spare the Alpha's face." Chapter 3 Back at the villa, Mrs. May, the head housekeeper, hurried over to me. "Mr. Gray just took Ms. Hayes into your dressing room. He said she needed a set of jewelry." My brow furrowed, and my voice rose slightly. "What? Nobody stopped him?" "Mr. Gray said that since you're married, your belongings should belong to both of you." I sighed. "What's missing?" "The ruby necklace," Mrs. May said quietly. A ringing filled my ears, and my thoughts ground to a halt. My grandmother had placed it in my hands on her deathbed. It was a Lycaon heirloom passed down through generations, a symbol of the family's standing within the Moonbane Pack. Everyone who had ever seen, touched, or worn it was recorded in the pack's registry. On her deathbed, she'd told me to wear it on my wedding day. Now the spot where the necklace belonged was empty. And something inside me emptied with it. In a daze, I suddenly remembered how Silas's eyes had shone like stars the first time we met. "Sophia, meeting you is the greatest miracle of my life." And now, he'd put my grandmother's necklace around another woman's neck to prop up her image. Mrs. May carefully tidied what was left of my hair, her eyes full of heartache. "Ms. Lycaon, how could they do this to your beautiful hair? "You treat it with honey and milk every day. It's insured for more than three hundred thousand dollars." I stared at my ashen reflection, and my wolf's voice echoed in my mind. "Do you still consider him your Alpha?" "No. He doesn't deserve to be. I'm ending this marriage." My phone chimed. A message came in from my friend Lily Bennett, along with a video of Vivian working the room at the pack gathering as if she owned it. "Is Silas an idiot? How does he keep falling for that sweet little act of hers?" "Did you know she's been copying everything about you? A lot of the guests mistook her for the Luna." "When I saw that smug bitch, I wanted to tear her apart." Then came Vivian's Facebook post. Photos from the charity gala. Silas had his arm around her waist. To anyone watching, they looked like the perfect couple. The comments were full of congratulations, with the occasional question. "Where was Sophia?" Vivian had replied with a photo, a candid shot someone had taken of me. I looked ghastly in it, wet hair stuck to my face, a complete wreck. She'd written, "How could she show up looking like that? Doesn't she have any shame?" "Someone younger looks much better by Silas's side." My friend video-called me, her face tight with worry. "People in our circles are laughing at you, saying you can't even keep your own husband. They're even saying Silas and Vivian have already..." I gripped my phone until my knuckles turned white. "Sophia, don't you dare let that manipulative woman get away with this." I nodded, then said quietly. "Don't worry. They'll both pay for this." The words had barely left my mouth when the bodyguards brought Vivian in, bound and struggling. "How dare you? I'm the Alpha's secretary. "Aren't you afraid he'll come after you? He's the Alpha!" I looked down at her and tilted her chin up with my finger. The ruby necklace still glittered at her throat. I unclasped the necklace and placed it carefully back in its velvet case, my voice cold. "Vivian, do you know my full name?" She jerked away from my hand. "What do you mean?" "My name is Sophia Lycaon." Vivian's lips began to tremble. Of course she knew. The Lycaon family was the most powerful bloodline she could never hope to reach. Vivian tried to force herself to stand, but her voice came out thin and hollow. "You're lying. The Lycaon family? You think an ugly woman like you could belong to them? "It's just a necklace. Silas has given me plenty of jewelry. Take it all if you want." I scoffed. "I don't want filthy things. I don't want filthy people, either." I had the bodyguards hold her down and brought out a set of clippers. The color drained from Vivian's face. I nodded to the barber. The cold blade touched her scalp, and she screamed. Brown hair slid to the floor in sheets as she begged and apologized. But the clippers didn't stop until the last strand was gone. Vivian collapsed on the floor, her bare scalp gleaming under the light. I raised my teacup, my tone even. "I was only joking around. You wouldn't get mad over something so small, would you, Ms. Hayes?" Chapter 4 Vivian's hair lay in heaps on the ground. She touched her bare scalp in disbelief, then bolted out to find a mirror. A familiar voice came from the doorway. Silas's shoes clicked on the floor as he pushed the door open, a large bouquet of lavender in his arms. "You said last time that the lavender from the south slope smells better than the north. I picked these for you." I froze. I'd said that in passing three months ago. I saw my own reflection in his eyes, and then I noticed the red mark on his neck. It was impossible to miss. When an Alpha bit an Omega who wasn't his fated mate, the bite mark turned an irregular, angry red. Nausea churned in my stomach. I threw the lavender to the floor. Vivian burst in and stumbled to the floor, exposing her shaved head. "Silas, help me." She sobbed pitifully. "If Sophia wants me gone, I'll go. There was no need to humiliate me like this." Silas was visibly moved. His brow furrowed. "Sophia, how could you be so cruel? "She still has to meet with important guests. You've ruined her. "How can you be this vicious?" I stared at the face that had once looked at me with such tenderness. I thought of the promises he'd once made me and swallowed the tremor in my voice before I spoke. "Did you ever think about me? "Did you ever think I'd cry over losing my hair? That people would laugh at me?" Silas faltered. Guilt flickered across his face, but in the very next second, Vivian clutched her stomach and cried out in pain. "Silas, I'm carrying your child." My blood ran cold, and the wolf in my mind reminded me, its voice perfectly calm. "Sophia, he's already betrayed you." My nails gouged into my palms until they bled, but I couldn't feel the pain. Silas was overcome with joy. He scooped Vivian up carefully, then turned to glare at me. "Sophia, you've gone too far! "Listen to me. That baby is my flesh and blood. I have a responsibility and an obligation to keep Vivian safe. "Sign this blood oath. Swear in blood that you will never harm her again!" A pack member stepped forward, holding a piece of parchment. I glanced at the blood oath and refused. "If anyone here needs to sign something, it isn't me." Silas's voice was ice. "Sophia, I want you to understand that you're not the only woman who could be my wife. "I want a Luna with real grace, not a jealous she-wolf. "If you insist on this, I'll have no choice but to banish you for good!" He raised his hand and ordered his men to surround me. They grabbed my shoulders and tried to drag me out. Vivian curled up in Silas's arms, looking down at me as if I were a stray pulled from the gutter. "Sophia, stop struggling. "Without Silas protecting you, you're nothing!" I looked at the two of them and suddenly smiled. "Is that so? Silas, I hope you can handle the consequences of banishing me." The very next second, the front gates of the villa crashed open, and dozens of luxury cars bearing the Lycaon crest pulled up in formation.