Dead Mate, Living Nightmare

Frank couldn’t hold back any longer. He kissed her, breathing like a beast, his tongue forcing its way past her teeth while Zerra moaned in satisfaction.

They kissed passionately, tearing at each other’s clothes. Frank’s hands roamed her body, kneading her soft breasts as she writhed against him, wrapping her legs around his waist.

But just before the final step, Zerra pushed him away.

“No! She’s still your mate, and she’s carrying your pups. I can’t… possess you at a time like this!”

Frank’s eyes burned with desire. “Fine,” he said, his voice hoarse. “I won’t let you down.”

“Just wait a little longer. I’ll sever the mate bond with her soon.”

“And then, you will be my one and only Luna!”

He placed a tender, longing kiss on her forehead, as if he were protecting a priceless treasure.

Zerra’s lips curved into a triumphant smirk.

Frank might not have seen it, but I did.

She didn’t want to ruin our relationship? The thought was so absurd it was almost funny.

She had come to me time and again, gloating that even if I was pregnant, I was just an incubator for her. That my children would one day call her “mother.”

So what was this act?

Zerra had moved into my home under the pretense that she was weak, cursed with wolfsbane by an enemy pack.

She flirted with Frank at the dinner table so brazenly that even our cook spoke up, mocking her. Zerra immediately turned the tables, accusing the cook of poisoning her food and demanding she be fired.

I was pregnant and had no appetite for anything except that cook’s meals. As Luna, I went to Zerra and offered to hire a private chef just for her. She responded by slapping me across the face.

“Her cooking is irrelevant,” she’d snarled.

“What matters is that she understands who the real mistress of this house is! Martha, let me tell you something today: Frank will have only one mate, and it will be me!”

To prove Frank’s love for her, she would curl up in his arms like a kitten, sobbing about how she was cursed and might never be able to give him healthy pups. Then she’d mention how seeing my pregnant belly walk by was just too painful for her.

“I’ve tried my best to avoid Martha, but I still see her every day. Maybe I should just move out. It’s too heartbreaking to live here!”

That was all it took for Frank to lose control.

His face went cold as he backhanded me, sending me to the floor.

“You know Zerra gets upset seeing pregnant women, and you deliberately parade yourself in front of her?! What are you trying to do?!”

“You’re vicious! You don’t deserve to be a mother!”

“I’m locking you in the basement to teach you a proper lesson!”

His Betas grabbed my arms and legs and threw me into the cold, damp cellar.

“The healer told me to go to the medical center for the birth! If I’m there, she won’t have to see me!” I cried, clinging to the doorframe, begging him to let me go.

But Frank just sneered. “If you’re going to lie, at least make it believable. Your due date is days away!”

He ignored my pleas and slammed the door shut.

The door slammed on my fingers, crushing them. The agony made my inner wolf howl. I pulled my hand back, speechless.

Frank shot me a triumphant look and locked the basement door.

Just as they were whispering sweet nothings, Kevin ran up, breathless and panicked. “Mrs. Martha… she’s gone!”

“Gone?!”

Frank shot up, annoyed that Kevin had interrupted him.

Kevin wiped the sweat from his brow. “The basement… it’s full of blood. Mrs. Martha, she’s…”

He couldn’t finish.

Frank straightened his rumpled shirt.

“What blood? Oh, I get it. She’s going into labor, so there’s blood, right? Fine. Send her to the medical center.”