Divorcing My Cheating Alpha to Marry the Alpha King

CELINA BEAUMONT POV:

"We should be heading back, My Luna," my handmaiden, Lana, murmured, her hand hovering near my arm.

I nodded, the list of provisions for my Beaumont Pack clutched in my hand. Even here in Silvermoon, the capital, I was responsible for the people my father had left behind.

But as we moved toward our carriage, a chill that had nothing to do with the autumn air crept over my skin.

The nobles in the central square, men and women who usually tripped over themselves to offer me a greeting, now averted their eyes.

"There she is—the Beaumont heir, standing alone while her Alpha shows off his whore."

"He brought the bastard child to the capital. Publicly. She didn't have a clue."

"A Luna whose husband flaunts his mistress and her brat? She's a laughingstock."

Their whispers followed me, sharp and stinging. My stomach twisted.

Lady Annabel, the pack's most notorious gossip, rushed toward me, her face a mess of pity and embarrassment. She was always the first with gossip.

"Celina, Bennett... he's back."

I forced myself to keep my expression placid, the way a Beaumont heir should.

"I see," I said, my voice even.

"My Luna, you're pale," Lana whispered, her warm hand finally gripping my arm. Her loyalty was the only real thing in this gilded cage.

A sudden commotion ripped through the square.

A lavish carriage, emblazoned with the snarling wolf of the Carlisle Pack, rolled to a stop in the center of the plaza. All eyes, including mine, were drawn to it.

The door opened.

My husband, Bennett Carlisle, stepped out. He was dressed in the bespoke uniform of the kingdom's dueling champion, as handsome as any hero from the old tales.

But he didn't look for me.

He didn't look for his wife.

Instead, he turned, extending a gallant hand back into the carriage.

A petite Omega woman, cradling a swaddled infant, took his hand and stepped down.

Daisey. His mistress.

Bennett stood beside her, his stance possessive as he gazed down at the infant, a perfect picture of a happy family.

I caught fragments of their whispers, sharp as broken glass.

The ground felt like it was tilting beneath my feet. I was a clown in a public spectacle, stripped bare for all to see.

The future we were supposed to build, the sacrifices I had made to drag his failing pack out of debt, shattered into jagged pieces right before my eyes. The humiliation burned like acid in my throat, threatening to choke me.

I forced my spine to straighten. My nails dug into my palms, the sharp pain a welcome anchor in the swirling vortex of humiliation. The Alpha blood of the Beaumonts would not let me fall. Not here.

As if on cue, a cold drop of rain hit my cheek. Then another. Within moments, the sky opened up, a merciless downpour mocking my misery.

Lana fumbled with an umbrella, but someone in the jostling crowd knocked it from her hand. Icy water soaked through my gown, plastering my silver hair to my skull.

Through the sheets of rain, I saw Bennett and Daisey being ushered under an awning by servants. He never once looked back.

Not even a glance.

I stood alone in the deluge, my strength draining away. My vision blurred. My body began to sway.

Just as I thought I would collapse, a large, black umbrella appeared over my head, shielding me from the downpour.

I looked up, startled, and met a pair of golden eyes, deep and intense as a starry night.

A tall, imposing man stood beside me. He wore a simple black cloak, a half-mask covering the upper part of his face, revealing only a strong jaw and thin, determined lips.

His scent hit me first.

Snow-dusted pine after a blizzard. Crisp, clean, and radiating an undeniable Alpha power that instantly soothed the frantic wolf within me.

A strange sense of familiarity, of safety, washed over me. It was a scent I felt I had known a lifetime ago, a scent my soul recognized even if my mind could not. Later, I would understand this was the recognition a wolf feels for their fated mate, but in that moment, my shock and confusion were too overwhelming to process it.

Before I could speak, he shrugged off his own cloak and draped it over my shivering shoulders. It was heavy, warm from his body, and enveloped me in that intoxicating pine scent.

"A Luna should not be treated this way," he said. His voice was a low, magnetic rumble that vibrated through my very bones.

The tears I had been holding back finally broke free, mixing with the rain on my face.

He said nothing more, but his arm came around me, a steadying presence as I stumbled. A silk handkerchief, tucked into my sleeve, slipped out and fell to the wet cobblestones, but I had no strength to retrieve it.

Lana, having recovered our umbrella, hurried to my side, her eyes wide with a mixture of fear and curiosity at the stranger.

The man escorted me to my carriage, only releasing me once Lana had a firm hold. He looked at me, one last, deep look that felt like it saw straight through to my soul.

Then he turned and melted back into the rain, as if he had never been there at all.

Who was he?

Why did he help me?

Lana helped me into the carriage. As it began to move, I looked back through the window. I saw the leering faces of the crowd, and the silhouette of Bennett's "family" disappearing into a nearby building.

I wiped the tears from my eyes. The cold in my chest was now a glacial resolve. My blue eyes held nothing but ice.

This game, they had started it.

But I would be the one to finish it.

I clutched the wolf-head sigil on the necklace my father had given me. It was his legacy. It was my strength.

The carriage rolled on, carrying me back to the gilded cage I called home.