The air feels like it's turned to stone.
Charles chuckles, brushing it off.
"You're scared your hold's slipping, aren't you?" he says, voice tight. "I've said it a hundred times-there's no tie between me and Colette. You'll always be my bond-mate, the cubs' mother. That won't shift."
He carries on like nothing's wrong.
"Enough of this. Adrian and Ivy are having birthday soon. Start planning their birthday feast."
A sour pang twists in my chest. Every year, I pour my heart into their birthdays. That trust fund I tried to set up?
It was meant to be their gift. But I'm not their mother, so I couldn't even give them that.
When I don't respond, Charles assumes I'm on board.
Then, almost as an afterthought, he adds,
"Colette shares their birth moon. What a serendipity of the moon, huh? Arrange her celebration alongside theirs-it'll make the gathering more howl-worthy."
My brain explodes with a roar, my whole body shaking with rage.
Back when I was carrying the twins, my belly got so huge in the final months that the healer urged a C-section.
But Charles insisted we wait.
"One more day in the womb is better for them," he said.
I wanted what was best for the pups, so I agreed without a complaint.
The last two weeks were hell-I couldn't sleep, stretch marks ripped across my skin like wildfire.
I love feeling beautiful, and I cried in secret, but I told myself to be strong, to be the fierce she-wolf a mother needs to be.
I endured until the day Charles picked for the C-section.
Now I see it.
All that suffering wasn't for me or the pups-it was so his real family, him, Colette, and their pups, could share a birthday, tying their bond even tighter. It's laughable. Pathetic.
The day of the birthday feast arrives, held at our house.
I stand among the crowd, invisible.
Colette, though-she's the star.
She sweeps in wearing a rose-diamond-encrusted mermaid gown that clings to her sleek silhouette, draped in one-of-a-kind gems Charles just fetched for her at auctions. Adrian's in a mini tuxedo, Ivy in a matching pink floral dress. The four of them step in, linked hand-in-hand, a polished little clan-every bit the image of a tight-knit unit, as if they've always belonged that way.
A guest, none the wiser, trills, "Mrs. Sterling's got quite the luck! Her mate's handsome, pack-wealthy, and true, plus those perfect twin cubs-spitting images of her, too."
Someone tugs her sleeve, hissing, "Quiet! That's not his mate-just Charles's old flame, slinking back. They call it 'friendship,' but please-she's the one his heart's always howled for."
"No wonder he tied his knot to such a plain she-wolf," another adds, snickering. "She's just a shadow of her. And Colette? Never bore cubs, so she's got that lunar glow, a sleek pelt-like figure, pulling off pink like it's second nature."
I slip out to the garden, letting the cool air hit my face as I count down the days until I'm free.
"You know you're just a stand-in. Why cling to what's not yours?"
Colette's voice cuts through the quiet, smug and lofty as she steps up beside me.
"I'm back to claim Charles, no matter what it takes. You're about to be kicked to the curb."
She expects me to crumble, to panic. Charles probably told her I'm just a clueless house-she-wolf. But I keep my cool.
"Go ahead and try."
Charles makes his own choices.
No matter how much he loves her, the Sterling-Fontaine feud and his pack's ancient laws stand in the way. He won't bind with her.
"You dare challenge me?" Colette's eyes darken.
"Think those little mutts you raised make you untouchable? I'll show you who matters more-me or a cheap substitute like you."
She yanks off her ring and flings it over the railing.
It arcs through the air, splashing into the pond below.
Then she raises her voice, all fake outrage.
"Charles and I are just companions! Even if you don't trust me, you had no call to fling my ring into the creek. Go fish it out!"
Charles hurries over, his face tight. He hesitates, then says,
"Colette, Isabel's been under the weather. Maybe it was an accident. The water's cold tonight-not safe to go after it. I'll get you a few better rings instead."
Colette's voice cracks, tears welling up.
"There's no replacing it! That's the one you auctioned me!"
Charles's expression shifts.
He scoured the world to get it for her.
"She threw it herself," I say calmly.
"Check my phone."
I had extra phone installed, just in case.
Colette's eyes flash with panic-she didn't expect me to be prepared.
Charles notices, suspicion creeping into his gaze.
Before he can say anything, Adrian and Ivy dart forward like little beasts, planting themselves in front of Colette.
Their small voices ring out, fierce and certain.
"Don't check! We saw who did it!"
"It was Mommy!"
