After My Alpha Chose His Mistress

The silver tray trembled in my hands as I approached Nathan's office. Three years as Luna of the Silvermoon Pack had taught me the exact way he preferred his afternoon tea—one spoon of honey, a splash of milk, and precisely three minutes of steeping time. Today I'd added fresh mint leaves from the garden, hoping to ease his tension after the morning's territory negotiations.

I balanced the tray carefully, mindful not to spill the steaming liquid onto the documents I'd organized for him. Nathan had been increasingly distant lately, spending long hours with his new secretary. A rogue she-wolf named Rebecca Hayes who'd joined our pack barely two months ago.

'It's just work,' I'd told myself repeatedly. 'He's Alpha. The pack needs him.'

My wolf, Lyra, whined softly in my mind. *Something's wrong. I can feel it.*

I dismissed her concerns as I had so many times before. Nathan was a good mate—considerate, respectful. Yes, we lacked the sacred mate mark due to his weak wolf condition, but he'd always treated me with dignity.

The heavy oak door to Nathan's office stood slightly ajar. Strange. He usually kept it firmly closed during meetings. I shifted the tray to one hand, preparing to knock, when I heard it—a feminine giggle followed by a deep, masculine groan.

My heart stuttered. Surely I was mistaken.

I pushed the door open with my hip, the words 'Your tea, Alpha' dying on my lips.

Nathan had Rebecca pressed against his mahogany desk, his hands tangled in her auburn hair, his mouth devouring hers with a hunger he'd never once shown me. Her blouse was unbuttoned, revealing lacy black lingerie that certainly wasn't standard pack secretary attire.

The tray crashed to the floor. Porcelain shattered. Hot tea splashed across the imported carpet.

They broke apart, Nathan spinning toward me with rage flashing in his eyes before recognition dawned.

'Sophia.' My name sounded like an accusation on his lips.

Rebecca didn't even have the decency to look ashamed. She smiled, slowly rebuttoning her blouse with deliberate movements.

'What is this?' My voice emerged as a whisper, though Lyra was howling inside me.

Nathan straightened his tie, transforming before my eyes into the cold, calculating Alpha I occasionally glimpsed during pack disputes. 'You should have knocked.'

'I—I don't understand.' Tears burned behind my eyes. 'You and Rebecca?'

He sighed, exasperation evident. 'This isn't what you think.'

'Really?' Anger sparked through my shock. 'Because it looks exactly like you were kissing your secretary.'

Rebecca slid from the desk, her hip brushing against Nathan's possessively. 'Perhaps I should leave you two alone.'

'No.' Nathan's command was firm. 'Stay, Rebecca.'

He turned to me, his expression softening into something almost pitying. 'Sophia, you know about my condition. Kael's weakness requires... alternative therapies.'

'Therapies?' I echoed, disbelief coloring my tone.

'Rebecca has experience helping wolves heal. This is therapeutic for Kael's condition.'

Lyra snarled viciously. *He's lying!*

'You expect me to believe that kissing her is medicinal?' My voice cracked.

Nathan's eyes hardened. 'I don't expect you to understand pack matters beyond your station. This is Alpha business.'

'Alpha business,' I repeated numbly.

'Yes. Now clean up this mess and leave us. We have important matters to discuss.'

I stared at the shattered porcelain, tea seeping into the carpet—much like how the truth was seeping into my consciousness, staining everything I thought I knew.

'Of course, Alpha.' I knelt mechanically, gathering broken pieces as tears blurred my vision.

Rebecca's smug smile burned into my back as I left, carrying fragments of porcelain that mirrored my fracturing heart.

That night, sleep evaded me. I lay in our cold bed—Nathan hadn't returned—staring at the ceiling as Lyra paced restlessly in my mind.

*He's betrayed us. He's always betrayed us.*

'We don't know that,' I whispered into the darkness, though doubt had taken root.

Exhaustion eventually pulled me under, into that liminal space where wolves sometimes drift into accidental mind-links with their mates. I hadn't experienced this with Nathan before—another oddity of our bond—but tonight, something changed.

His voice filtered through my consciousness, distant but clear.

'...never had a weak wolf, Becca. Kael is as strong as any Alpha's.'

Rebecca's sultry laugh. 'Then why tell her that pathetic story?'

'Political alliance. Her family's connections were useful. But a true mate bond? Please. The Moon Goddess had nothing to do with it.'

I jolted awake, gasping for air as Lyra howled in anguish. The pain was unbearable—three years of devotion, of believing, of hoping—all built on lies.

My body contorted as Lyra took control, forcing the shift. Silver fur erupted across my skin as bones cracked and reformed. I barely made it to the balcony before the transformation completed.

Under the cold light of the moon that had supposedly blessed our union, I threw back my head and howled—a sound of such raw agony that birds took flight from nearby trees.

I ran. Through gardens, past startled guards, beyond the pack house grounds. Lyra drove us forward, desperate to escape the suffocating weight of betrayal.

I didn't realize I'd crossed Silvermoon borders until I collided with something solid—another wolf, massive and bronze. I scrambled backward, hackles raised, only to freeze as the wolf whined softly, recognition in its amber eyes.

The bronze wolf—Ryker—circled me cautiously before shifting. Alpha Michael Chen emerged, his expression a mixture of concern and something deeper I couldn't name.

'Luna Sophia?' he asked softly. 'What's happened?'