The Mate He Rejected Was His Uncles
Chapter 1
The wedding dress suddenly felt too tight around my chest.
I stood outside Cassian’s penthouse suite with my hand frozen over the door handle, trying to ignore the sick feeling twisting inside me.
The music from downstairs still echoed faintly through the hotel.
Our engagement party.
Tomorrow, I was supposed to become Luna of the Ashford pack.
My childhood best friend.
My future Alpha.
The man I had loved for eighteen years.
So why did my wolf feel like it was dying?
Another sound came from behind the door.
A low groan.
Then a woman’s breathless laugh.
My stomach dropped.
No.
No, Cassian wouldn’t—
Another sound.
The bed creaking.
My heart slammed painfully against my ribs.
I pushed the door open.
And the world ended.
Cassian was in bed.
Half naked.
His hands wrapped around another woman’s waist while she sat in his lap, her fingers tangled in his dark hair.
For one second, nobody moved.
Then the pain hit.
It exploded through my chest so violently that my knees gave out beneath me.
I collapsed onto the floor with a choking gasp.、
Something was wrong with the mate bond.
It felt like claws tearing through my heart.
“Lyra—”
Cassian’s voice sounded distant.
The woman slowly turned around.
And I stopped breathing.
Because she had my face.
Not identical.
But close enough that my wolf instantly recognized the blood connection.
Wide silver eyes.
The same mouth.
My lips parted shakily.
“…Selene?”
Fifteen years.
I hadn’t seen my twin sister in fifteen years.
Not since our parents divorced.
Not since my father took me away and banned any contact with my mother and the daughter who left with her.
For one brief second, I saw it.
The mockery in Selene’s eyes.
Sharp.
Then suddenly, tears filled her eyes instead.
She hurried behind Cassian like she was frightened of me.
“I told you this was a bad idea,” she whispered weakly. “She’s still my sister…”
Cassian immediately pulled her against his chest protectively.
And something inside me cracked.
“She’s my mate, Lyra.”
The words sliced straight through me.
“You know twins often carry similar scents. For years, I thought you were my mate because of that. But I finally understand now… Selene is the one my wolf has been searching for. I was wrong about you, Lyra. Just a mistake.”
Eighteen years of growing up together.
Eighteen years of him holding my hand beneath school desks.
Sneaking into my room during storms.
Promising me forever.
Reduced to:
a mistake.
Cassian sighed impatiently.
“So I think you should change out of the wedding dress.”
I stared at him. Waiting for the punchline.
Waiting for him to laugh and say this was some disgusting joke.
But he only looked relieved.
Like he had finally solved a problem.
“What about us?” My voice shook. “Even if she’s your mate, you still chose me first.”
Cassian’s expression hardened.
“That was before I understood the bond.”
“And my father?” I asked desperately. “He’s one of the major shareholders in Ashford Group. What exactly are you planning to tell him?”
Cassian actually laughed.
“Come on, Lyra. You’ve lived in luxury your entire life while Selene had nothing.” His hand brushed gently through her hair. “It’s just a marriage arrangement.”
His eyes softened as he looked at her.
A look I had spent years believing belonged to me.
“And honestly?” he continued quietly, “I think I only loved you like a sister.”
My wolf whimpered painfully inside me.
“I confused comfort with love.”
Then he kissed Selene.
Right in front of me.
The pain became unbearable.
I grabbed my chest, gasping for air.
It felt like my heart was literally being ripped apart.
Cassian frowned.
“Seriously?”
I looked up weakly.
He sounded annoyed. “You’re not my mate, Lyra,” he said coldly. “So stop pretending the bond hurts you.”
Pretending?
I could barely breathe.
“Get out,” he snapped. “You’re ruining the night.”
Selene suddenly climbed off the bed and walked toward me carefully.
“Lyra…” she whispered softly, reaching for my arm.
Then her lips moved near my ear.
So quietly that Cassian couldn’t hear.
“My poor little sister.”
The softness vanished instantly from her voice.
“When you were living in mansions, I was begging for food in the slums.”
My body went cold.
“And do you know why Father finally brought me back?”
Her nails dug lightly into my arm.
“To marry me off to Lucien Ashford.”
I blinked.
Cassian’s uncle.
The brilliant executive CEO.
The man everyone respected.
The man born without a wolf.
Selene gave a small laugh.
“Who would want a broken Alpha with no wolf?” she whispered cruelly. “I suffered for half my life.”
Her eyes darkened.
“So now you can suffer for the rest of yours.”
I shook my head desperately.
“I didn’t know—”
Suddenly Selene stumbled backward.
A cry escaped her lips.
Cassian immediately rushed forward.
“Selene!”
Tears streamed down her face.
“I was only trying to help her up…”
She looked terrified.
“I didn’t mean to upset her. I just—I can’t fight the pull toward my mate…”
Before I could even react—
SLAP.
My head snapped sideways violently.
The entire room went silent.
Cassian stood above me breathing hard.
Disgust filled his eyes.
“I never realized you were this vicious.”
My cheek burned.
“You shoved your own sister?”
I stared at him in disbelief.
Cassian opened the door roughly.
“Enough.”
His voice turned icy.
“Go put on an appropriate bridesmaid dress and attend tomorrow’s ceremony like an adult.”
Bridesmaid. Not bride.
His eyes swept over my wedding gown one last time.
And for the first time in eighteen years—
there was absolutely no love left in them.
“Now leave.”
The door slammed shut in my face.
A second later—
the sounds started again.
The bed. The laughter. Cassian’s low voice.
I stood there in my white dress while my mate slept with another woman only a few feet away.
And somewhere deep inside me—
something began to break.
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