When My Mate Rejected Me for His Ambitious Mistress

The last brushstroke of silver paint gleamed under my workshop lamp as I set down my tools. Five years I'd been crafting ceremonial pieces for the Silver Moon Pack, and this chalice might be my finest work yet. The intricate wolf motifs spiraled up the stem, each detail painstakingly etched by hand. I'd even embedded a tiny crystal at the base—a fragment I'd brought from my old life, back when I was still my father's daughter instead of Jeremy Wagner's overlooked mate.

The crystal caught the light, throwing rainbow fractals across my workbench. It held no magic, no Moon Goddess blessing. Just a pretty stone with residual energy from the royal vaults where it had sat for decades. A touch of home in an otherwise ordinary piece.

The front door slammed hard enough to rattle the windows.

"Hayley!" Jeremy's voice carried that edge it always had lately—sharp, demanding, entitled. "Where are you?"

I barely had time to stand before he burst into my workshop, his eyes scanning the space like a predator searching for prey. They locked onto the chalice immediately.

Something shifted in his expression. His pupils dilated, nostrils flaring as he stepped closer. I'd seen that look before—on wolves who'd caught the scent of their mate for the first time. But this wasn't desire. This was hunger.

"What is that?" His voice dropped to a whisper.

"It's for the harvest festival. I just finished—"

He lunged forward and snatched it off the table before I could blink. His fingers wrapped around the stem possessively, and I watched his knuckles turn white.

"Jeremy, be careful, it's not—"

"This is it." His words came out breathless, reverent. "The Lost Chalice of the First Alpha. I can feel the power radiating from it."

My stomach dropped. "No, you don't understand. I made that. It's just a prop for—"

"Don't lie to me!" He whirled on me, and I instinctively took a step back. "I know ancient energy when I sense it. Where did you get this?"

I reached for the chalice, trying to keep my voice steady. "Jeremy, please listen. I crafted it myself last week. The crystal is just decorative, it doesn't—"

His hand shot out and grabbed my wrist, yanking me forward. Pain flared up my arm as his grip tightened. "Stop. Talking."

I froze. In five years of being mated to him, he'd never laid hands on me like this. Never looked at me with such cold dismissal in his eyes.

The front door opened again. I didn't need to turn around to know who it was—her scent hit me like a slap, all jasmine and calculated seduction.

"Jeremy, darling, you found it!" Angel Patterson glided into my workshop as if she owned it, her red dress hugging curves she made sure everyone noticed. She didn't even glance at me as she pressed herself against Jeremy's side. "I told you your little mate was hiding something valuable."

Little mate. The words stung more than they should have.

Jeremy