Realized I Was Just His Stand-In Mate

The sacred bonding altar of Eclipse Pack rose before me like a monument to everything I'd worked eight years to achieve. Moonlight filtered through the ancient oak canopy, casting silver patterns across the ceremonial stones where generations of Alphas had claimed their Lunas.

My hand-sewn ceremonial gown—three months of painstaking embroidery depicting our pack's history—rustled against the polished granite as I took my position.

The weight of the Beta mate's ring on my finger felt heavier than usual, its sapphire catching the flickering light from the ceremonial torches. Around us, Eclipse Pack members filled every available space, their faces expectant, proud. Elder Morrison's voice carried across the gathering as he began the ancient rites, but my attention was fixed on Damon.

Alpha Damon Howard stood opposite me, magnificent in his ceremonial robes, yet something felt wrong. His dark eyes kept drifting past my shoulder, scanning the crowd with an restlessness that made my stomach clench. When I followed his gaze, I saw nothing but familiar faces—pack members who had watched me transform Eclipse from a struggling territory into a thriving empire.

But it was his chest that made my breath catch. There, visible through the deliberately low neckline of his ceremonial shirt, was the tattoo I'd begged him to remove. Not just any tattoo—a pair of eyes, hauntingly beautiful, unmistakably feminine. Isabella's eyes.

"The sacred bonds that unite Alpha and Luna transcend the physical realm," Elder Morrison intoned, his weathered hands raised toward the moon. "They represent the joining of strength and wisdom, protection and nurturing, leadership and—"

A collective gasp rippled through the crowd, cutting through the elder's words like a blade. I turned, following hundreds of startled gazes, and felt the world tilt beneath my feet.

Isabella St. James stood at the edge of our sacred circle, ethereal in a flowing white lace dress that seemed to glow in the moonlight. Her golden hair cascaded over bare shoulders, and her green eyes—those same eyes tattooed on my mate's chest—were wide with what appeared to be innocent surprise.

"Oh," she breathed, her voice carrying perfectly in the sudden silence. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt. I was just... walking by, and I heard the ceremony. It's so beautiful."

The pack members shifted uncomfortably, uncertain whispers beginning to buzz through the crowd. Protocol demanded that uninvited wolves be escorted away from sacred ceremonies, especially ones from outside our territory. But Damon... Damon was staring at her like he'd seen a ghost.

"Isabella?" His voice cracked on her name, eight years of buried longing bleeding through in that single word.

My hands trembled as I clutched the bridal bouquet—white roses and moonflowers I'd carefully selected to represent new beginnings. The thorns pressed into my palms through my silk gloves, a sharp reminder that I was still here, still real, still his mate standing at the altar.

"Damon," I whispered, but he didn't hear me. His entire being was focused on the woman who had shattered his heart and then