“I can't have two mates at the same time, Aurora. I'm rejecting our bond. I want a divorce.”
Upon my Alpha mate’s declaration, my marriage and my whole life shattered into pieces.
***
Today is my third wedding anniversary, I want to prepare a most memorable celebration to impress my husband and my mate.
The candles are lit and the sunflowers I picked earlier today from our gardens sit in crystal bowls. I give our dining room, and then myself, one last glance. For the first time since I woke up this morning, I allow myself to fully exhale.
Everything is perfect.
As if on cue, I hear the crunch of my mate's boots on the path to our front door. Evander is a strict Alpha, often harsh, but he makes the same demands of himself that he expects from every member of the pack. Absolute punctuality is the least of it.
My heart sings as each step brings him closer to me, and I can't help but shiver with delicious anticipation. Every choice that I made for tonight was done with him in mind. I can’t wait for him to see how much love I put into it.
He opens the door and crosses the threshold, and my breath catches the same way it did three years ago on this very day – the day of our wedding. My Evander, my Alpha and King. My mate for life.
"Aurora," he says. There is something off in his voice, in his posture, and my bubble of bliss instantly bursts.
"Nalani woke up."
All the air whooshes out of my lungs at once, leaving me weak and shaking. Nalani. Evander's first mate.
Three years ago, she was mysteriously poisoned and fell into a coma. The depth of her unconsciousness destroyed the mate bond she had with Evander, leaving the pack without a Luna.
To everyone's shock – including my own – I became his second chance mate. As is so characteristic of him, upon learning of our match, Evander married me immediately. Through his decisive action, the pack had a Luna, the Alpha had a mate, and life went on as it should.
For three years, Nalani laid in a hospital bed, motionless and silent. But two days ago, she began to stir.
"She's back," my mate says, a tremble in his voice. "I felt it the minute she opened her eyes."
He swallows hard, as Adam's apple bobs in his throat. I watch mesmerized. I know to the depths of my soul that what he's about to say next will change my life forever. He's going to choose Nalani, my mind whispers. But, no! Please. Anything but that.
He meets my gaze, then speaks the words: "Our mate bond has returned."
The floor seems to drop out beneath my feet. "What about us?" The words fell out of my mouth, propelled into existence by my utter shock.
"Come on, Aurora," Evandar replies, clearly annoyed. "Let's be honest for once. You needed me – needed the title of Luna – to secure your place in the pack.”
He continues, “I was the only chance for you, but you were nothing more than a second chance mate for me."
His words are like a punch in the gut. My stomach clenches and I taste bile. "What?" I croak out. "You can't really believe that? I've only ever cared for you!"
There's a flicker in his eyes, the briefest hint of doubt. I see it because I know him so, so well. It's gone before it matters though, and his proud, rugged features soon settle back into chiseled stone.
"The fact remains: I can't have two mates at the same time. I'm rejecting our bond. I want a divorce."
I look around our dining room, at what was supposed to be our romantic celebration. I decorated it with such care, filling our home with third-anniversary charms and traditions. The crystal bowls are frail yet beautiful, like the love we were supposed to have built over the course of our young marriage. A love I thought was growing.
A love, it turns out, that might never have been real.
"Why her and not me?" I implore, trying anything to hold on to the life I knew. I thought all those pledges of love we shared were true. I thought they were an acceptance of our mate bond.
His face goes hard. Harder. "My wolf needs her."
Everything within me goes suddenly, devastatingly still. And there it is. The one thing I could never hope to compete with, the only thing I can never give him.
Nalani has a wolf inside her, one Evander can mind-link with whenever he pleases. I do not.
"This also solves the problem of having a proper heir," he goes on coldly. "No matter what we shared these last three years, without a wolf, you'll never bear me Alpha children."
I gape at him, thunderstruck. I know Evander can be harsh, I've felt the lash of his tongue more than once, but saying that… It's the first time he's ever been downright cruel.
Nothing we shared mattered. He literally said that. How did I ever believe that he loved me? I never thought of myself as someone who could be so easily deceived.
Nalani's replacement, a pitiless voice whispers in the back of my mind.
None of it was real. I was nothing more than a replacement. A tool for making legitimate, though second-rate, heirs. I bow my head and my shoulders slump. This new knowledge tears into me worse than any other. I lost him long before he crossed the threshold of our home tonight.
"I see you're beginning to understand," Evander says stonily. "Wait here."
It's a command, not a request, and I do as I'm told as he heads back to the front door. When he returns a few moments later, he brings a woman with him.
"Hello, Aurora."
Nalani is more beautiful than ever. Her skin glows and her eyes sparkle with…malice? No, that can't be right. Why would she hate me?
"I see no reason to delay the inevitable," Evander declares. He's in full alpha form now – regal, stoic, ruthless. I can feel the power rolling off him and the most primal part of my heart responds.
"Aurora, you will hand over the title of Luna to Nalani in a formal ceremony on the night of the next full moon, which is tomorrow night. As your first act in your new role in the pack, I want you to kneel before your Luna and swear your allegiance."
Nalani's smirk makes me sicker than I've felt in my life. I look to Evander, but he refuses to meet my gaze. He stands resolutely by Nalani's side, one hand on her shoulder.
The grandfather clock in the hall ticks off one second. Then, two. No one moves. No one speaks. I choke back the whimper that wants to escape my throat, my chest, my heart. My cheeks burn and tears sting my eyes, but I drop to my knees as instructed.
Evander is my alpha. My mate – despite his sudden, agonizing request. Three years ago, I swore before the entire pack to honor and cherish him. For my own pride, for the pride of the pack, that is not a promise I intend to break.
Not ever.
My mouth dry, my stomach in knots, I kneel before my new Luna. "I swear to submit my will to yours and offer you my undying devotion onto my death, my Luna." Each word of the ancient oath is like barbed wire in my throat.
"Well done, Aurora," Evander says, his voice low and approving. He reaches a hand down to me, and I take it, allowing him to help me to my feet. His skin is warm, his grip is firm, and my heart cannot help but stir at the contact. Does he feel it too? Has he ever?
"You can leave us now," Evander decrees. "You have my permission to stay in the guest bedroom until after the ceremony. Once that is complete, other arrangements will be made for you."
"Evander–"
"No," he says softly, but with firm authority. "You're dismissed. Go."
I want to argue, to beg, to try to prove my worth and love, but I know that forcing the issue – and challenging his word – will only lead to him hating me forevermore. That is not something I could bear.
I turn to leave, but my legs don't seem to want to hold my weight any longer. The room spins, taking my already upset belly with it. Saliva floods my mouth, the unmistakable forerunner of vomit.
"Aurora?"
I hear Evander's voice from a distance, as if from underwater. I stumble. The next thing I know is my cheek pressed against the cool, wooden floor. I absently note that I missed a spot under the table when I mopped earlier today, and then my whole world goes dark.
The light is too bright. It penetrates my closed eyelids, beaming into my retinas, searing the back of my skull."Aurora?"A man's voice. "Evander?" Why does his name stick in my throat? "Turn off the light.""Aurora, listen to me. This is Dr. Oliver. You're in the hospital. I need you to open your eyes if you can.""Hospital?" I open my eyes as the doctor asked, blinking under the harsh glare. As the world comes into focus, my memories return. Our anniversary. Evander. Nalani.The rejection.The doctor's low baritone fades into the background as I recall the shambles of my marriage. I'm about to become a former Luna, and not because I'm passing the crown down to my heirs like I always dreamed, but rather because my mate and Alpha no longer have any need of me. I've loved Evander since the moment we met. I always know my love for him is greater than his for me.But I am proved ridiculously wrong. I am nothing more than a tool, one that can be easily discarded when useless.How... how
A sob from deep in the shadows at the end of the hallway catches my ear, and when I investigate, I find my personal maid, Sylvie, slumped down and sniffling in the corner.Upon noticing my arrival, Sylvie only cries harder. "I tried to stop them, ma'am, I did. But they wouldn't listen." She looks up then, glaring at the staff entering and exiting my room.I hear her words, but all I can see is the faint outline of a handprint of her round cheek, the red, distinctive marks of a full-on face slap. Aghast, I hunch down beside her. "Who did this to you?""I did."The voice sends a shiver of revulsion down my spine. Anger curls my upper lip and I rise to my feet, ready to face my enemy head-on. "Why did you do this, Nalani?"I examine her as she makes me wait – the newly coiffed hair, her skintight silk dress, strappy six-inch heels, and layers of makeup. She doesn’t look like someone who just woke up from a coma. In fact, the transformation from the poisoned woman lying in a hospital bed
Silence meets my declaration, and my announcement seems to echo off the walls. I'm pregnant with your child! – I can't believe I blurted it out the way I did.I take some fierce gratification from seeing the shock on Nalani's face, her smug smirk nowhere in evidence now. My joy is short-lived, however. At first, I read surprise in Evander's gaze, then – dare I think it? – happiness. But that flash of brightness in his eyes is gone before it can take root, quickly replaced by cold, hard regard."You are all dismissed," Evander says to the servants, his gaze never leaving mine.The household helps scurries to get as far away from what is about to happen as possible. The tension in the air is electric, like the eye of a storm, and I fear I'm the one who's about to be struck by lightning."Wait, you," Evander says, pointing to the tattletale. "Get me my Beta. Tell Ralfi I want him here now.""Yes, sir," the servant replies, bowing his way out the door.Evander waits until the hallway is e
I keep my head down as Ralfi leads me to the guest room. I can’t bear to see the looks on the servant's faces when I pass them, though I can hear their whispers. Every member of the staff is abuzz with my rejection. The shame keeps my eyes on the ground, following Ralfi's feet through the meandering halls."Here we are," Ralfi says, opening the bedroom door for me. "Go on in, Aurora. This is where you'll spend your last night in the pack house.""Ralfi…""No," he says, holding up a hand to halt my words. "I serve my Alpha, and this is his command. You can go inside yourself, or I can carry you in. That is the only choice you have now."Rejected and dejected, I can only nod and enter the room under my own volition. Ralfi follows me inside, then holds out his hand to me. In the center of his palm rests a single pill. "I met with the Alpha and Luna while you were still in the hospital. Evander asked me to give this to you. Since you don’t have a wolf, the rejection will hurt you more th
The guards surround me, corralling me out of the guest room, down the corridor, then out of the house. I am led into the arena on the edge of the training grounds.Panic has me shaking, struggling to make even the tiniest sound. Nalani's poison is potent though and I remain mute as I'm guided onto the field. My stomach sinks even further when I catch sight of the wooden structure ahead of me – an elevated platform that reminds me all too much of gallows.I look up into the stands at the gathering crowd and find only cold indifference on the faces looking back at me. I have no allies in this pack, no friends, and everyone attending today makes that explicitly clear. There's no sympathy for a wolfless Luna. Only my dear, sweet maid, Sylvie sheds a tear for me.Once I'm on the platform, more guards join the first three, creating a tight circle around me. The crowd chitters, buzzing with excitement over my impending downfall, and all I can do is open and close my mouth, gaping like some k
Prince Mykal? I repeat stupidly to myself, unable to stop gaping at the breathtaking man before me. I knew the name, of course. It always pays to know the name of your enemy.Prince Mykal Boreal, eldest son of the Lycan King, and next in line for the throne.Everything in me stops suddenly. Wait, did he just say I was his mate? I look at him, aghast. How is that possible? He's a Lycan! I'm a Werewolf. We're enemies. And yet…His scent fills my head again and I know that this irrefutably strong response I feel toward him is our mate bond taking hold. I just lost my first mate, and now, instantaneously, I have a new one? How can this be?But even as I try to cast-off the thought as absurd, in my heart of hearts I know this man is my second chance mate.I found my second chance mate! "I thought our business was done, Mykal," Evander says, breaking into my whirlwind of thoughts. "We finished the trade our superiors commanded us to make. What are you still doing in my lands?"If the princ
"Let her go," Evander barks over my head at Prince Mykal."Not a chance," the Lycan sneers back, tightening his grip on my arm. "She's coming home with me. I felt the pain you inflicted upon her." He raises his noble chin, clearly looking down on someone he sees as a barbarian. "I will not allow you to hurt her anymore.""You dare!" Evander bellows, inexplicably enraged. He lets go of my arm, then throws his head back to snarl out a battle cry. He drops down on all fours, immediately shifting to his wolf. His nails dig into the wooden planks as he prepares himself to pounce.The prince shifts as well, and in his Lycan form he remains on two legs while his hands grow into razor-sharp claws. He shoves me aside, probably much harder than he intended, and I fall off the edge of the platform and onto the hard ground.I scramble to my feet, ready to climb back up the stairs, but the sight of the Lycans running onto the field freezes me in place. Petrified, all I can do is watch as they hurl
The blush on my cheeks morphs into anger as I look beyond the men and take in the scene around me. All this bloodshed, and for what? Their pride?"I can't believe the two of you resorted to this," I say, then stop. I spoke! I spoke real words out loud. I'm so relieved. Now I can rip into them properly. "Do you really want to solve your problems through violence? Putting civilians in harm's way? Is that how royalty and Alphas are supposed to behave?"The men have enough grace to look away abashed."Your voice," Prince Mykal says, deftly changing the subject. "It has returned as I knew it would. Lycan blood cures most things. You'll learn all about it and more when you come home with me.""I told you already, she's not going anywhere with you." I hear the snarl in Evander's tone and I know that if I don't do something right now, they will be at each other's throats again soon."Stop it, both of you. I'm not some prize to be fought over and won!" I can't believe how strong I feel. I don