When My Alpha Betrayed Me

I'd spent three weeks perfecting the border defense strategy, mapping every vulnerable point along our territory's edge. My fingers were stained with ink, my eyes burning from late nights hunched over patrol schedules and terrain maps. But it was done. Finally.

The leather folder felt heavy in my hands as I climbed the stairs to Finn's office, my heart doing that stupid flutter it always did before seeing him. Three weeks until our Marking Ceremony. Three weeks until I'd finally be his Luna, officially and completely.

I didn't knock. After ten years, I figured I'd earned that right.

The door swung open, and the world tilted.

Finn had Summer pressed against his chest, his face buried in her hair. The room reeked of their mingled scents—his sharp pine and her sickly-sweet vanilla. But worse than that was the deliberate pulse of his Alpha pheromones, that soothing wave he only used for pack members in genuine distress.

He was comforting her. Intimately. Deliberately.

The folder slipped from my numb fingers, hitting the floor with a dull thud.

Finn's head snapped up. For one brief second, something like guilt flickered across his face. Then it hardened into that cold mask I knew too well.

"Elodie." His voice was flat. "You should have knocked."

Should have knocked. In my mate's office. Three weeks before our ceremony.

"What is this?" My voice came out steadier than I felt. "What's going on?"

Summer pulled back from Finn's embrace, and right on cue, tears started streaming down her face. "I'm so sorry, Elodie. I didn't mean to—I just—" Her breath hitched dramatically. "I felt a panic attack coming on. I couldn't breathe. I needed—"

"She needed safety," Finn cut in, his tone sharp. "Which I provided. As Alpha, it's my duty to protect pack members in distress."

I stared at him. At the way he still had one hand on Summer's shoulder. At the way he positioned himself slightly in front of her, like I was the threat.

"I'm your mate," I said quietly. "Doesn't that mean anything?"

"It means you should understand better than anyone." His eyes were cold, distant. "You're going to be Luna. You need to be strong enough to handle situations like this without falling apart. Summer is fragile. She needs more support than you do."

Fragile. The word hit like a slap.

I'd thrown myself in front of a Rogue King's claws for this man. I'd felt my wolf's strength tear away, felt my aura dim and fracture, all to keep him alive. And he called Summer fragile.

"Right." I bent down, picked up my folder with shaking hands. "Of course. How heartless of me."

"Don't be dramatic." Finn's jaw tightened. "This jealousy doesn't suit you."

Jealousy. He thought this was jealousy.

I left without another word, my wolf whimpering somewhere deep inside my damaged chest.

---

The pack elder meeting was supposed to be routine. Border security updates, patrol rotations, the usual. I sat in my designated seat—not at Finn's