MATED TO THE SECRET ALPHA-Chapter 227: Causing Chaos

And Luna Reana entered.

Every head turned.

She wore no jewels, no elaborate silks or trailing cloak like she-wolves did. Just black leather pants and black shirt inside a black hooded cloak that kissed the floor, and swallowed her whole.

It was Ryder’s.

And yet, she eclipsed them all.

Men who had torn out hearts without flinching now lowered their eyes or stiffened at her approach. Her presence burned into their souls – fierce, regal, and impossible to ignore.

The air seemed to shift around her, heavy with the scent of winter and something they couldn’t pinpoint.

"Still choking on my name, I see."

She’d been staying by the door and heard everything they said about her.

"Luna Reana," Alpha Alexander, Alpha of the White Crescent Pack, a man with great build – who’d never joined them in talking behind her back – greeted.

Reana nodded calmly towards him.

"We were discussing the matter of your... losses." Alpha Dren sneered.

Her eyes, pale as winter’s dawn, hidden behind her cloak, flicked over them all. "My mates, you mean."

Dren scoffed under his breath.

Dennis muttered, "Or your victims."

She turned to him, tilting her head. "If I were killing them, I’d start with you. But alas, the goddess hasn’t given me that mercy."

Gasps and barely-muffled laughter rippled across the table. Alpha Julius nearly spat out his drink.

Beta Theon coughed into his fist. Finally they’ve been shut up.

Ronan exhaled slowly, gesturing for her to take her seat. "Let’s not waste time with venom. We need to discuss why we’re here. And most importantly..." He paused. "The creature that tore the servant apart."

"My mate." Reana asked flatly. "You had seven days to discuss the monster but clearly, none of you did. You were busy discussing a grieving woman." Reana sneered. She never had respect for these Alphas, but tried to be diplomatic, but after knowing what they thought about her, she couldn’t be bothered to give them face anymore.

A hush fell again.

Reana didn’t move to sit. She stood at the end of the table instead – beside Ryder’s seat.

"You had seven days," she repeated, voice low and dangerous, "and not one of you lifted a claw to find the thing that tore into my mate."

Her words hit like stone. Even the fire seemed to dim.

Of course, Reana knew what fought Ryder, but she wasn’t going to tell them anything. She’d heard that no one was on her side – everyone here feared Dennis and were supporting his opinion, which of course, was Malric’s ascension. So, she’d destroy this meeting. If she and Theon wouldn’t win, no one else should.

Moreover, winter was here already and a few months or weeks from now, their packs would be destroyed and some of them might come begging at her gates.

That was when she’d show these misogynistic bastards what being a cursed woman truly was.

Alpha Dren leaned back with a forced smirk. "Forgive us for assuming your grief didn’t cloud your judgment. You’ve been... emotional."

Reana’s eyes slowly lifted to his.

"You mistake fury for fragility," she said. "And it’s a mistake only fools make twice."

Silence. Then a soft, amused snort from Alpha Julius, who always did enjoy watching men dig their own graves.

Reana has told him what she wanted to do, and he’d make sure she achieved it.

Ronan scoffed. "Luna, if you have anything productive to—"

She turned her head toward him slowly, a predator humoring prey. "Do you want productivity, or do you want to keep chewing the same bone because it’s easier than admitting you’re afraid?"

A few Alphas shifted in their seats.

Alpha Rhys scoffed. "Afraid? Of what? A grieving Luna and her dead mate’s ghost?"

Reana let out a breathy chuckle, bone-dry. "No, Rhys. Afraid of what you saw and pretended not to."

She began walking along the edge of the table, cloak whispering against the floor like death’s hem.

"You all remember, don’t you? The disaster, the figure who flew out, the strange energy in the air..."

Silence. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"But of course, it’s easier to sit around a table like cowards to discuss a woman you cannot fuck than face reality like my brave mate did. A servant, like you called him, will ever be braver than you all, ass-licking Alphas combined."

Dennis slammed his hand on the table. "We’re not cowards!"

Reana halted. "Then prove it," she said, voice light as snow. "Go out there and bring the monster’s head, Alpha Dennis. You have the largest pack, don’t you?"

He didn’t move.

She smiled coldly. "Exactly." She mocked. "More like the largest pack of cowards."

Alpha Dennis growled, eyes blazing but the sight of Markkus behind her didn’t let him act. If he fought and lost to a Zeta, it would be the end of his authority.

Alpha Rhys, Dennis’ defender, stood slowly, eyes narrowed. "You think you’re above this council, above protocol. You think a title makes you untouchable."

"No," Reana replied. "But I know your titles don’t make you brave."

He snarled. "You bitch."

She raised a brow. "How original." She continued, "I assumed you’d have come up with new terms by now, ’bitch’ is what you call every woman who won’t scratch your itch. But unfortunately, that thing that’s stuck to your neck is decorative at best, not for thinking." Reana finished, voice as smooth as falling snow, but sharp as a blade beneath. "Try using it before you speak."

A few Alphas exchanged glances. The tension was sharp enough to slice through steel, yet no one dared interrupt her now.

Rhys opened his mouth again, then closed it. He was short of words from extreme rage. Attacking the Luna and teaching her a lesson was not ideal for him. Her pack was larger than his, and her warriors were stronger. He’d be begging for war if he laid a hand on her.

Seeing none was speaking for now, Reana scoffed and moved to her seat at the far end of the table, her man’s cloak dragging like a storm cloud in her wake. Her every step was deliberate, silent, yet commanding.

Markkus followed behind her. On getting to her seat, he pulled it out for her, but her gaze was fixed on Alpha Snow’s red throne. Her throat tightened as she envisioned him sitting there, right beside her.

"Luna," Markkus mumbled softly, snatching her attention back to the room. She took a deep breath and sat down quietly.