ALPHA RYDER'S LUNA

CALEB'S POV

"I hereby introduce to you Layla as my mate." Everyone seemed to be happy, apart from one person who stood in the doorway with a very moody and sad expression, Maya.

I don't think she will expect me to name her as my mate and Luna, at least not after what her mother did to me 20 years ago.

Lady Luciana, Maya's mother, had been my mate, but she had rejected me in the most humiliating way by getting pregnant for my best friend, Kent. They had gotten married and ended up having a daughter, Maya, and now, 20 years later, the daughter of those who had caused me the greatest heartache was my mate.

To mark her will be over my dead body. How would I be with her? Luciana and Kent might have died early, thereby missing my chance to get my revenge on them, but their daughter was going to bear their sins.

"Caleb?" Layla called, and I turned my face back to her.

"He really needs to have a word with you," she said.

"Who?" I asked.

"My father, honor him," she added, her voice laced with excitement and fulfillment. It was a great thing to be my mate.

As I walked gently to my soon-to-be father-in-law, in the corner of my eyes, I could see Maya running out of the room with teary eyes, and her friend, Maria, ran after her.

"Caleb," her mother spoke softly, "so, since when have you known our daughter is your mate?" "Diana?" Layla's mother asked, grinning ear to ear. Instead of replying, I just smiled.

The rest went on and on as the whole pack celebrated; congratulations flew left and right to Layla and me.

"I haven't seen Layla; do you have an idea where she's at?" I asked Diana's mother.

"Just about to ask you the same thing; we were supposed to have a dance together, but I can't seem to find her anywhere," Diana explained, looking sideways to check if she could catch a glimpse of her daughter, but she didn't.

I took a walk around the room in an attempt to find her, but I still couldn't find Layla.

"Alpha Caleb?" Someone called out from behind me, tapping my shoulders. I turned to be met with a not-so-familiar face. I looked confused, giving the man a questioning look.

"Oh, I'm Thane, an omega. There's something outside you need to see, sir," the man who I now knew to be Thane said. I couldn't help but notice the sadness and urgency in his tone as he spoke. At once, I followed him.

Thane led the way; he led me outside and to the corner of the palace, and there it was.

My eyes met a very gory image of a lady lying lifeless on the cold floor; her face was ripped out, but I knew who it was. I knew that dress, that nail polish, that shoe, and that necklace; it was Layla's.

My new mate and Luna had been murdered on the night I marked her. Who would dare? my wolf growled in anger.

"Call me Tyler.'' I backed those orders out of my throat to Thane; he hurriedly scurried away and in no time appeared with Tyler, my right-hand beta.

Tyler stopped in his tracks as he saw the image before him. "Oh geez!" He covered his face in shock. "Is that whom I think it is?"

"I need to find who did this. We need to hunt them down. We need to show them no one messes with Luna of Nightshade and gets away with it," I growled to Tyler, who just nodded in affirmation. I might not have loved Sheila as much, but I sure as hell wouldn't allow anyone to get away with a direct attack on my wolf.

An attack on my mate was as well an attack on me. Soon after, the news reached the whole party, making everyone fretful for their lives. People began to leave one after the other. Diana rushed to the scene and began to scream and cry, and her husband, Raven, tried his best to hold onto his wife, but it was proving difficult. The tone of the party went from a happy one to a sad one.

"Did you find anything?" I asked as Tyler came back.

"Yes," he declared confidently, "but I'm not sure if you're going to like the results of this," he said, looking worried.

"Crack it," I ordered, but he was still hesitant. "Obey my order; I'm your alpha," I barked at him.

"Maya," Tyler mentioned.

"And what is with her?" I asked.

"Layla was seen talking to Maya a few minutes before Thane found her body," he dropped the bombshell.

"Maya? Maya has done this to Layla out of revenge? How dare Maya stand against me? How dare she?

"I want her in front of me, Tyler," I growled at him. "Find me Maya right now, and bring her to me. Search the premises; she must still be around. I will also join you in the search," I ordered and began to walk away.

The search for Maya went on, but it was beginning to prove unfruitful.

"Caleb, Maya has been spotted running away from the Pack's territory. What should we do?" Tyler asked.

"You stand there while she's running away? She must be real guilty, and there's only one thing to do: we hunt her down!" I growled at Tyler.

"Listen up, everyone, your Luna and my mate have been murdered by a young woman whom we all have, one way or another, cared for after she lost her parents, and this is how she repays us? And now, I want everyone to spread out and find her, bring her back to me alive, and let us show her Nightshade always repays what we owe.

"I ordered," and every werewolf growled in agreement at once, and soon.

"I don't think we should hunt her like this. She is the last person to be with Elena, but she is only an omega, and Elena is a beta. Do you think she could kill her? She is just a suspect, for now," Tyler said, trying to reason with me.

"If she wasn't guilty, why is she running?"" I asked, but he couldn't reply.

"Now I want you to hunt her down and bring her to me alive. I am going to teach that bitch a lesson. For the rest of her life, she will live in bondage," I spat in anger and walked out on Tyler, who followed behind.