When My Alpha Chose Her Over Me

I couldn't sleep that night. The bed felt wrong—too small, too far from where I belonged. The mate bond within me throbbed like an infected wound, sending pulses of wrongness through my entire being. I needed answers, and I needed them now.

*Luna?* I called internally to my wolf. *We need to reach Ryan through the mate bond.*

My wolf stirred weakly, a faint whimper echoing in the recesses of my mind. I closed my eyes, focusing on the thin thread of connection that still linked me to my mate. Two years in a coma shouldn't have weakened it this much. A true mate bond was eternal, unbreakable—or so I'd always believed.

"Ryan," I whispered, pushing my consciousness along our bond. "Ryan, please answer me."

Instead of his warm, familiar presence, I encountered something like static—a fuzzy interference that blocked my path. Behind it, faintly, I heard something that made my blood run cold: a feminine purr, satisfied and possessive, wrapping around what should have been my mate's consciousness.

I jerked back, gasping, my hands clutching at my chest where the bond pulsed weakly. That wasn't right. That wasn't possible. No one could interfere with a mate bond blessed by the Moon Goddess herself.

Unless...

I swallowed hard, fighting back nausea. Unless something had happened during those two lost years—something unthinkable.

Sleep was impossible now. I paced the small room, watching the minutes tick by on the clock. As the first pale light of dawn crept through my window, I made my decision. If Ryan wouldn't tell me the truth, I would discover it myself.

I dressed quickly in the unfamiliar clothes from the wardrobe, grimacing at the formal blouse and slacks that felt nothing like my usual style. My legs were weak from disuse, but determination pushed me forward as I slipped out of my room and into the quiet hallways of the pack house.

Ryan's scent was easy to follow—pine and earth and power—but it was consistently mingled with that same feminine scent I'd detected earlier. I tracked it through the main hall, past the kitchens where early risers were beginning breakfast preparations, and out onto the dew-covered grounds.

The morning air was crisp, filling my lungs with the scent of the forest and the distant river. Ryan's trail led east, toward the secluded glade near the river where couples often went for privacy. My heart pounded harder with each step, dread pooling in my stomach like ice water.

*This is wrong,* Luna whimpered in my mind. *Something is very wrong.*

"I know," I whispered back, pushing through the underbrush as quietly as I could.

I approached the glade cautiously, crouching behind a cluster of ferns. The morning sun filtered through the trees, casting dappled light across the clearing. And there, standing in a shaft of golden light, was Ryan—my Ryan, my mate, my Alpha.

He wasn't alone.

A woman stood with him, her back to me, her long hair the same shade as mine, her figure eerily similar. As I watched, frozen in horror, Ryan pulled her into his arms, pressing his face into her neck where a mate mark—my mate mark—should be.

"We need to be careful," I heard him murmur. "She's asking questions."

The woman turned slightly, and I caught a glimpse of her profile—so similar to mine it was like looking in a mirror. At their feet, a small white-furred wolf pup played, tumbling through the grass before curling contentedly against the woman's leg.

The sight of that pup—that living proof of betrayal—sent a bolt of agony through me so intense I couldn't breathe. Luna howled in anguish within me, the sound tearing through my mind like a physical wound.

My mate. My Alpha. With another woman who looked exactly like me. With their child.

The world tilted violently, darkness creeping in at the edges of my vision. I pressed my fist against my mouth to stifle the scream building in my throat, tears burning hot trails down my cheeks.

In that moment, as the morning sun illuminated the perfect picture of the family that should have been mine, something inside me shattered beyond repair.