When My Alpha Lost Me to the Lycan Prince

I packed my duffel bag with a small, quiet smile. Today was the day. After seven years of waiting, Rhett and I were finally heading to the Colorado mountains for a joint pack retreat. This trip was supposed to finalize our Mate Ceremony. I touched the silver pendant resting against my collarbone. Rhett had given it to me three years ago. *A promise,* he had said, kissing my forehead. My inner wolf, Reya, let out a soft whine of hope. Maybe this time, things would be different. Maybe I would finally be treated like his Luna.

The drive up the mountain in the pack convoy was beautiful, but the silence in our car was heavy. Rhett kept checking his phone. His jaw was tight, his fingers drumming against the steering wheel. I didn't know then that Paris was already texting him. I didn't know she was claiming she couldn't be alone, trailing right behind our convoy uninvited.

We arrived at the Alpha lodge by late afternoon. It was a stunning log cabin with a roaring stone fireplace. But my fragile joy didn't even last two hours.

A silver car pulled up the driveway. The door swung open, and Paris stumbled out. She was clutching her chest, tears streaming down her pale face.

"Rhett!" she cried out. Her breathy, trembling voice immediately grated on my nerves.

Rhett was out the door before I could even blink. "Paris? What are you doing here?"

"I'm so sorry," she whimpered, collapsing against his chest. "I tried to stay home, but my wolf... the anxiety is just too much. The drafts in my house triggered my nightmares. I can't breathe, Rhett. I'm so scared."

I stood on the porch and watched his arms wrap tightly around her. My chest tightened. Through our mate bond, I felt his protective instincts flare up like a beacon. Not for me. For her.

"It's okay, Paris. I've got you," Rhett murmured. He looked up at me, his eyes already making the decision. "Claire, she's having a severe panic attack. She needs the heat from the lodge to calm her wolf."

Before I could even process the humiliation, Rhett was moving my bags. He didn't ask. He just relocated my things to the old outpost at the very edge of the territory.

The outpost was a nightmare. The windows were cracked, letting in the biting wind, and the furnace was completely dead. I sat on the edge of a dusty, bare mattress, shivering in my winter coat. The mountain air was freezing, but the cold inside my heart was so much worse.

Through the mate bond, I could feel Rhett. I felt his warmth, his steady heartbeat, his soothing energy. He was pouring all of it into Paris. Hours passed. The sun set, plunging the broken room into icy darkness. Every pulse of the bond felt like a knife twisting in my gut. Seven years. Seven years of swallowing my pride. Seven years of standing in the shadows while he