My Alpha Replaced Me For Her

of the family curse that took his mother in childbirth, and he

not to celebrate me, but to create a public stage for my rejection. He told his most t

he performed a sacred life-force ritual meant only for a dying mate, a blasphemy that horrified our pack. At a formal

s a passionate, claiming kiss that finally shattered my heart. He thought I

d myself. The next morning, I signed his papers, took none of his blood money, and w

pte

ide of the

cool against her fingertips. It was a stark contrast to the warmth that

er home, since the day the Moon Goddess had declared them mates. But now, it was tainted. Underneath the fa

a F

pacing restlessly in the back of h

om, trying to soothe the beast within as much as h

lt hollow, worn t

g shadows across the manicured lawn. And there, near the ancient oak tree, stood Kade. He wasn't conducting pack busin

t caught the dark strands of Lila's hair, styled so deliberately to look like

g to feel something, anything, from him, Elara closed her eyes. She reached out with her mind, not to speak, but

into place, but there w

spasser. An eavesdropp

ed, grim resolve. He wasn't speaking to her. He was speakin

ghts were sharp, decisive. "Lila is human. She'll

at claimed she-wolf mates in chil

h. "But Elara is the one the Goddess chose... To reject her

ecti

her heart stopped. It wasn't a beat it missed. It

birthday party, I'll hold the ceremony. She will accept the r

ning for her. It wasn't a celebration. It wa

hys, ever the pragmatist, added

a's spirit is gentle... it's what I love about her. But that gentleness wouldn't survive the curse.

ain so profound it felt like her soul was being torn in two ripped through her

g in the confines of her skull. It wanted to break free, to tear through the l

wn on her own wolf. She mentally grabbed the r

her own mental voice a

now. If he sensed her presence, he would know she ha

Her breathing was shallow, ragged. With a final, monumental effort, sh

m was the frantic, broken

of the window. A pale, wide-eyed woman stared

depths of her deep brown eyes. A tiny,

le soul who would bow her head and accept

o

tion. She would play the p

m his world so completely it woul

d become

, crazy strategy taking root in the fertile ground of her shattered heart. How to escape

o become a ghost

of plain, worn jeans and a simple grey sweater. She went to her nightstand and took the lav

usual pack network and diving into the shadowy, digital underbelly of their world. In a heavily firewalled browser, she typed a single search query, a whisper from her past, a h

faintly, disgustingly, of Lila's sweet perfume. He found his Luna sitting quietly

ing, the last flicker of guilt in Kade's

ld go off wi