Betrayed by My Alpha Mate

The morning after my birthday, I found myself carrying a stack of fresh linens toward the east wing of the Sterling Pack House. My arms still ached from yesterday's humiliation, and the revelation about Victoria being my sister had left me hollow inside. Eight million dollars to disappear. My own mother looking through me like I was nothing but air. These thoughts circled in my mind as I approached Alexander's private chambers.

I hesitated at the ornate double doors. Omegas weren't permitted in the Alpha's quarters without explicit permission, but the Beta had ordered these linens delivered before noon. Taking a deep breath, I balanced the stack against my hip and knocked softly.

No answer.

After waiting a respectful moment, I used my keycard—one of the few privileges I still maintained as a servant—and slipped inside. The room was immaculate, as always. Sunlight streamed through floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating the massive four-poster bed with its crimson sheets. I moved to place the linens on the dresser when a scent stopped me cold.

Floral. Intoxicating. Victoria's perfume.

It wasn't faint either—it permeated the air, clinging to the sheets, the pillows, the very walls themselves. My hands trembled as I set down the stack, my eyes drawn to the rumpled bed. Against the deep red pillowcase, several long blonde hairs caught the sunlight like golden threads.

My stomach lurched. I'd known, of course. The photos made it clear. But seeing the evidence so intimately displayed in the space that should have been ours...

I reached out, fingers hovering over one of the strands, when the bathroom door swung open.

Alexander stood in the doorway, a towel wrapped around his waist, water droplets still clinging to his broad chest. For a moment—just a heartbeat—I saw a flash of the man I'd fallen in love with. The soft eyes that had looked at me with such tenderness in our little cottage by the sea.

But it vanished instantly, replaced by the cold, hard stare of Alpha Sterling.

"What are you doing here?" His voice dropped to that low, commanding tone—the Alpha voice that made wolves cower and submit.

"I—I was delivering fresh linens," I managed, clutching the edge of the dresser for support. "Beta Ronan asked me to—"

"You have no right to be in my private chambers." Each word fell like ice between us. "Return to the Omega wing immediately."

The mate bond between us twisted painfully, sensing the proximity yet feeling the emotional chasm. I wanted to scream, to remind him of what we'd been, of the mark he'd left on my neck that bound us eternally.

Instead, I lowered my eyes. "Yes, Alpha."

I moved toward the door, but paused, unable to stop myself. "Her scent is everywhere," I whispered.

His jaw tightened, that muscle in his cheek jumping—the tell he'd had since I'd known him. "That's none of your concern."

"I'm your mate," I said, the words burning my throat.

"You're an Omega," he corrected coldly. "And she will be my Luna."

I fled before he could see my tears.

---

Three days later, the seasonal pack gathering filled the great hall with laughter and conversation. I moved between tables with a tray of coffee mugs, keeping my eyes down, trying to be invisible. The revelation about Victoria being my sister had spread through the pack like wildfire, adding a new layer of humiliation to my already precarious position.

I approached the head table where Alexander sat with the pack elders, Victoria at his right hand, her fingers possessively intertwined with his. My mother sat across from them, still refusing to acknowledge my existence.

"Coffee, Alpha?" I asked softly, offering the tray.

Alexander barely glanced at me, giving a curt nod. I carefully placed a mug before him, then moved to serve Victoria.

"Oh, Isabella," Victoria purred, her amber eyes—so like my own—glittering with malice. "How thoughtful."

As I extended the tray, Victoria's arm jerked suddenly. The mug of scalding coffee tipped, its contents pouring directly onto my exposed forearm. White-hot pain seared through my skin as the liquid burned into my flesh.

I bit back a scream, the tray clattering to the floor as coffee splashed across the polished wood. Several nearby pack members laughed, watching the clumsy Omega's mishap with amusement.

"Oh dear," Victoria gasped with theatrical concern. "How terribly clumsy of you."

The pain was blinding. I clutched my arm, feeling blisters already forming on the angry red skin. Through the haze of agony, I felt something stir in the mate bond—concern, alarm.

For one desperate moment, I thought Alexander would help me. That he would see through Victoria's act.

But then I heard his voice, not spoken aloud but through the mind-link he shared with her: "Did you burn yourself, my Luna?"

His concern was for her. Not me. Never me.

I stumbled backward, cradling my injured arm, as Victoria smiled sweetly up at him. "I'm fine, my love. Though we might need a new server. This one seems rather... accident-prone."

More laughter rippled through the crowd as I retreated, my vision blurring with unshed tears. The burn on my arm throbbed in time with my heartbeat, but it was nothing compared to the searing pain of the truth I could no longer deny.

Alexander wasn't just playing a role. He wasn't secretly protecting me while maintaining pack appearances.

He had truly, completely abandoned me.