Betrayed By My Mate Saved By His Rival

For our seventh anniversary, my mate, Alpha Ethan, sent my daughter and me to the Moon Goddess Altar.

He told me it was a surprise—to give our daughter her dream of watching a meteor shower from the highest peak in the territory.

But Ethan never came. The protective runes at my feet sputtered, then died. The ground beneath us began to crumble.

My daughter screamed, her small body sliding toward the abyss. I lunged, grabbing her hand just before she went over the edge.

I screamed his name through our mind-link. Ninety-nine times, he refused to answer.

On my hundredth cry, the link didn't just open—it was ripped wide.

It wasn’t his voice that answered. It was his senses, flooding mine.

I saw it all. Him. Another she-wolf. And him, buried deep inside of her.

"I knew you loved me, Ethan," her sickly-sweet voice purred. "You even sacrificed Marcus, just to save our Leo from the soul-sickness. I'll do anything for you."

Ethan’s voice was velvet and ice.

"Stop. If Sera hadn't betrayed me, you never would have had the chance to carry my heir. Once I get rid of her other pup—Jullian's bastard—we can be perfect again."

My world shattered.

My son... Rogues. I'd always believed rogues had stolen him. But it was his own father. He sacrificed him for a lie.

With my last ounce of strength, I called Julian.

"I'm breaking my bond with Ethan," I snarled into the new link. "Make me your Luna. In return, I will help you burn his pack to the ground."

The Moon Festival. Our seventh anniversary. My mate, Alpha Ethan, promised me a surprise. He sent his Beta to escort me and our daughter to the Moon Goddess Altar, perched on the highest cliff of our territory.

I thought he was finally giving our daughter, Lydia, her biggest wish—to see a meteor shower from the place closest to the Goddess herself. I was a fool. I never imagined he was sending our daughter to die.

Just minutes ago, I was carrying my daughter up the steep stone steps, following the Beta.

The height made my head spin, but a smile was plastered on my face.

I thought Ethan and I would soon be watching the stars together.

"Mommy, when is Daddy coming?" Lydia whispered, her arms tight around my neck.

"Soon, baby. Very soon."

The moment our feet hit the platform, the protective runes etched into the stone flared once, a brilliant silver.

Then, they went dark.

The altar shook violently. Lydia was thrown from my arms, sliding toward the cliff's edge.

"HELP!" I screamed in terror.

I glanced back for help, but the guards had already pulled back to a safe distance, their faces impassive. No one moved.

Below, the river churned like a hungry beast.

My wolf was screaming. Howling in terror.

I desperately reached for Ethan through our mind link. We were fated mates. Nothing was supposed to sever that connection.

I screamed for him. Again. And again. Ninety-nine times, my calls were met with a wall of silence. On the hundredth, the link didn't just open. It was torn apart.

But I didn't hear his voice. I saw through his eyes. Felt what he felt.

The touch of another woman’s skin. The cloying, sweet scent of her perfume. Her breathless moans.

It all flooded through the bond that should have been ours alone.

He was so lost in his pleasure, he forgot to block me.

"Ethan, when will you make me your Luna? I gave you a true heir. A pure-blood."

"Know your place, Lilith," his voice was a low growl. "The Luna title belongs to Seraphina. Always. As for you... you gave me a son. I suppose I can reward you for that."

"But she betrayed you! She gave you a bastard!" Lilith shrieked.

"Yes, she's tainted." A cold chuckle echoed down the bond. "But I already sacrificed Marcus for Leo's sake. Tonight, I'm getting rid of the other one. Once Jullian's bastard is gone, she'll be my clean, pure Sera again."

Sacrifice?

The word pierced my heart.

My son, Marcus. He went missing when he was three.

I always believed he was taken by rogues. I never thought he was murdered by his own father.

He thought killing my pup was his idea of a "fresh start"? With me?

He didn't just kill my son. He was trying to kill my daughter, too.

And it was all because of a ridiculous misunderstanding he never even confronted me about.

He thought I cheated on him with Jullian?!

I remember when his pack was on its knees.

Their mines had collapsed. Their so-called allies scattered like rats from a sinking ship.

It was I who went to Julian, calling on the old friendship we’d forged at the Academy.

His price was simple: I had to help him fulfill a single wish he’d held since we were students.

When I told Ethan, he didn’t utter a single word of doubt.

He just pulled me against his chest, wrapping me in his scent, a powerful Alpha calm that chased away all my fears.

“I trust you,” he had rumbled, his voice a promise against my skin. “We are fated mates. You would never betray me. And I will never betray you.”

And now?

After all that, he dares to look at my pup—our pup—and see another man’s pups?

Seven years of love. My unwavering loyalty. It was all worth nothing to him.

"Mommy!" Lydia's desperate shriek pulled me back.

She was dangling off the edge of the platform, my hand the only thing keeping her from falling.

Through the link, their grunts and laughter continued, a filthy soundtrack to my agony. I didn't cut the connection. I let it slice me apart.

When my daughter screamed again, my tears had run dry.

I closed the link to Ethan. The pain was like ripping out my own soul.

Gasping, I used my last bit of strength to make another call.

"I am severing my bond with Ethan," I choked out, my voice raw and broken. "I will be your Luna. In return, I want you to destroy him. All of him. Right now, my daughter and I are trapped on the Moon Goddess Altar..."

The other end was silent for three heartbeats.

Then, a deep, steady voice answered.

"I am seven days away. But my elite warriors will be at that altar in three minutes. Don't let go."