01. An Affair

Thessaloniki, Greece

Esme’s POV

The last month had been exhausting, fighting for a major project I’d just won, not only to help our company, but because our wolf pack needed it desperately. As their Luna, it was the least I could do.

My pack was also hosting the annual New Moon Festival. It was my husband Calvin’s dream, and though he was the pack’s alpha, I was the one who worked hard to achieve that dream for him. But that had meant a month of running low on sleep and barely getting to spend time in the pack house. It also meant I had barely gotten any time with Calvin.

But I would that night.

After finishing my last call, I packed my bag and left my office without delay. My heart skipped with excitement just thinking about seeing Calvin. I missed him so much—

“Winning against humans isn’t something you should be so proud of,” Silvan’s familiar voice rang out behind me as I exited the building.

My hair stood on end as I paused, using my senses to confirm there were no humans around. Once I did, I turned to him. “I won against you. Or is your representative now human, since you failed to win this huge project for your ruthless wolf pack?” I asked, knowing there was no way I would have won had I actually gone against him.

Silvan scoffed as he closed the distance between us. Even with the nonchalant smirk he wore, I couldn’t help but curse his looks.

Too perfect. Especially on a devil like him. The bastard probably wouldn’t have even had to talk if he’d gone for the project. He could have just stood there and let his devilishly handsome face charm the pants of the judges.

He was too damn successful, too.

He’d created his pack about three years ago, yet was already far ahead of us, and he made sure to annoy me about it every chance he got, too. But winning this project was going to give my pack the resources and income to have a chance against him. Finally.

“It won’t be yours for long, Esme,” he said with a devious glint in his eye. “The Lycian Empire has their eyes on this one.”

The Lycian Empire? My mind whirred. Surely, he had to be joking. The Lycian Empire not only ruled our world, they had several multi-billion-dollar companies. A project like the one I’d won wasn’t big enough to make them interested. Besides, if they’d had an interest, they could have simply sent down the order, and we wouldn’t have even dared try for it. So it had to be a lie, a tactic to make me worried.

I shook my head. “You’re just bitter because my pack is hosting the annual festival this year, and now we get to flaunt this win tomorrow.”

“The New Moon Festival?” Silvan asked with a raised eyebrow. “I remember being the one who chose your pack to host. Although, I should say I chose you, since your man seems to enjoy playing the absent card.”

“That’s not true,” I said, my hackles rising. “I’m just better at planning while Calvin works better with…” I searched my mind and came up with nothing. My assistant and best friend were the ones managing the pack right now. Calvin didn’t do a thing.

“You know, Esme, when you turned down our marriage arrangement, I assumed you’d found someone better. Guess I was wrong.” He turned, and I watched as he got in his car and left.

Then I got into my car, thinking about what he’d said about Calvin.

It wasn’t that Calvin played the absent card. It was that I handled all the planning and logistics because I was better at it, so it simply made sense for me to do it. Besides, what mattered between a couple was love and devotion. Anything else was irrelevant.

The two-hour drive home felt like ten, especially with how anxious I was to see Calvin. The thought of transforming and running back in my wolf form crossed my mind, but the risk wasn’t worth the gain.

Eventually, I saw the gates to our pack, and relief rushed through me.

After a welcome from the guards, I made my way to our house at the pack’s center and saw Calvin’s car there. “Thank goodness he’s home,” I said to myself as I parked. Calvin loved late nights. Often, we barely spent time together, as he was always out when I got home from work.

I grabbed the approval contract, then rushed out of the car and into the house. As I entered, my nostrils picked up the familiar scents of my husband and my best friend, Stella. What was she doing there so late?

I checked my phone: no notifications from her and no emergency in the pack. I dropped my bags and took off my shoes. “Calvin, I’m home!” I yelled as I opened the study. No one there. Maybe Stella’s scent was just lingering? She probably visited earlier on pack business and then left. Good. I wanted time alone with my husband.

After a quick search through the first floor without finding Calvin, I made my way upstairs. As I reached the top, a muffled moan sounded in the hallway. I froze, listening. The second time, there was no mistaking Stella’s voice. “Ahhh! Calvin!” she said from inside our bedroom.

I shook my head, thinking I had to be hearing things. Somehow, my feet moved me down the hallway and closer to our bedroom.

“Do you like when I ride you? Does Esme make you feel this good?”

My eyes grew wide. Then Calvin moaned in response, and I could barely breathe. A lump formed in my throat. I couldn’t be hearing what I thought I was hearing. I simply couldn’t be.

Stella, my childhood best friend… and my husband? I stood frozen in front of the door, unable to process the thought and unable to find the courage to look inside.