At my mating ceremony, the massive moonstone display suddenly projected images of me tangled in a den with Alaric Nightfall's sworn enemy.
Before I could react, Alaric had already handled the chaos with chilling efficiency, his Alpha command silencing the gasps and growls of the gathered pack members. Then he calmly walked me through the rest of the bonding ritual as if nothing had happened.
When the feast finally ended and I tried to explain, I found him pinning my stepsister to our mating bed, claiming her with savage abandon.
My screams and tears earned me nothing but his dismissive reply:
"What's this? A heat-addled Omega like you putting on a devoted mate act for me?"
After that night, Alaric showered Seren Ashvale with affection—private dens, moonstone jewelry, gifts beyond counting.
They paraded their bond everywhere, turning me, the Alpha's claimed mate, into the laughingstock of Capital Territory.
For three years I fought to win him back. It took a healer handing me pup-loss papers to finally wake me up.
If the bond was already dead, why was I still clinging to its corpse?
——
As the healer delivered the news, attendants' voices drifted in from the corridor, dripping with envy:
"Alpha Nightfall cherishes Omega Seren so much! She just had a little scare, and he walked away from a territory alliance pact without blinking—stayed by her side the whole time. Her recovery chamber is overflowing with healing herbs and moon-blessed supplements. I just saw him hand-feeding her bone broth himself!"
"That's so sweet! This is what real devotion looks like when an Alpha has power. But wait—isn't Alpha Nightfall already mated?"
"Oh, you mean that notorious bond-breaker? She shared heat with another wolf before the ceremony. Tainted goods. Alpha Nightfall's just too honorable, letting her keep the title. As if someone like her deserves to be called his Luna."
Bond-breaker.
The word dragged me back to my mating night, when Alaric had spat it at me with the same contempt.
I'd walked into the bedchamber still wearing my ceremonial silks, words of explanation ready on my lips—and froze.
Two pale bodies tangled on our mating bed, their scents mingled in a way that made my wolf howl in agony.
The moment I recognized Alaric and Seren, something inside me snapped. I grabbed everything within reach and hurled it at them, screaming.
Alaric shielded her with his body. Dressed her with gentle hands. Called an escort and sent her away with tender care.
Only then did he look at me.
I was shattered, sobbing, demanding to know why.
He flicked ash from his smoke-herb, utterly unmoved.
"Lyra Ashvale, the devoted-mate act really doesn't suit a heat-crazed Omega like you."
I cried until I retched. "Alaric, you can't do this to me! And why her of all wolves?"
"You know—you know—it was Seren and her mistress mother who drove my mother to take her own life!"
Something flickered in his amber eyes. Then they went blood-red, his wolf surging to the surface.
His foot slammed into the wooden table, sending it crashing into splinters.
"Lyra, so you do know how that feels?"
"I put you on a fucking pedestal. All these years, I held back—never marked you before the ceremony no matter how badly my wolf demanded it, terrified of overwhelming you. And you turned around and shared a heat-den with Kael Duskthorn?"
"What the hell am I to you?"
The image. Of course.
The day before the mating ceremony, Kael and I had both been poisoned with heat-scent. We woke up in the same den.
I'd gotten examined by a healer immediately. Between the scent-trace results and both our fragmented memories before blacking out, we'd confirmed nothing happened.
I'd planned to explain everything to Alaric after the bonding ritual. I never imagined someone would display that damning image at the ceremony itself.
The pain crushed my chest. All I could do was sob out the truth:
"I don't know why Kael and I were set up, but nothing happened between us! Nothing! The healer confirmed my scent was untouched!"
Alaric's laugh was ice.
"Lyra. Do you really think I'd believe you?"
I looked up at him, tears streaming down my face.
"If you don't believe me—then why go through with the bonding? Why claim me at all?"
