He Abandoned Me for His Fragile Human Mate

The announcement came three days after the garden incident.

I was in the training hall with Gabriel when the whispers started—low, urgent murmurs that rippled through the pack like wildfire. My brother's hand shot out to steady me before I even knew why I needed steadying.

"Astrid," he said quietly, his Gamma instincts already on high alert. "You need to hear this."

Chelsea was pregnant.

The words hit me like a physical blow, even though they shouldn't have. Lennox wasn't mine anymore. He'd made that choice. But somehow, hearing that he'd gotten her pregnant—that they'd created a life together—made everything feel horribly, permanently real.

Lyra whimpered in my mind, a sound of grief I hadn't expected.

"It's fine," I said, my voice flat. "It doesn't matter."

Gabriel's expression said he didn't believe me, but he didn't push.

By evening, the entire pack knew. Chelsea had made sure of it, standing in the main hall with Lennox's arm around her waist, one hand pressed protectively over her still-flat stomach. She looked fragile and radiant all at once, tears streaming down her face as she thanked the Moon Goddess for this blessing.

Lennox stood beside her, his expression unreadable. But when his gaze found mine across the crowded room, something dark flickered in his eyes. Not regret. Not apology.

Possession.

I turned away before he could see my hands shake.

That night, Ian came to me. Not to the pack house—my father had made it clear that particular boundary still stood—but to the clearing near the border where we'd been meeting in secret. The moment I caught his cedar and rain scent on the wind, the knot in my chest loosened.

He pulled me into his arms without a word, and I let myself break just a little. Just enough.

"I heard," he murmured against my hair. "Are you alright?"

"I don't know why it hurts," I whispered. "I don't want him. I haven't wanted him since—"

"Because you're grieving what you thought you had," Ian said gently. "That's allowed, Astrid. You're allowed to feel this."

I pulled back to look at him, this fearsome Alpha who'd waited three years for me, who'd built walls around himself to keep me safe even when I didn't know I needed protecting.

"I want to move forward," I said. "With you. With us. I don't want to give him any more of my time."

Ian's eyes darkened with something that made my pulse race. "Then let's make it official. Let's announce our engagement. Plan the ceremony. Show every wolf in this territory that you're mine and I'm yours."

The word 'mine' should've made me bristle. Instead, it sent heat flooding through my veins.

"Yes," I breathed. "Yes."

The formal announcement happened two days later, with both packs gathered in neutral territory. My father stood beside Ian's Beta, their presence together a statement of unity that made several wolves shift uncomfortably. Rival packs didn't unite. Not like this.

But Ian's hand was steady in mine as we faced our people, and when he spoke, his voice carried that Alpha command that made even the most skeptical wolves listen.

"Astrid Hughes is my fated mate," he declared. "In one month's time, under the full moon, we will complete our marking ceremony. The Silver Moon and Blood Eclipse packs will be united through our bond."

The crowd erupted—some in celebration, others in shock. But I barely heard them. All I could focus on was the way Ian's thumb traced circles on my palm, grounding me, reminding me I wasn't alone in this.

Then Lennox stepped forward.

The crowd parted for him like water, and Chelsea clung to his arm, her eyes wide and frightened. But Lennox's expression was cold, calculated. This wasn't the wild desperation from the garden. This was something worse.

"Alpha Hughes," Lennox said, his voice carrying across the clearing. "I request permission to hold my own marking ceremony with Chelsea. On the same night. Under the same moon."

The silence that followed was deafening.

My father's face darkened. "Lennox—"

"The elders have already approved it," Lennox interrupted, and the disrespect made several wolves growl. "Pack law states that any mated pair may request a ceremony during the full moon. You cannot deny us without cause."

He'd backed my father into another corner. The bastard was good at that.

Ian's grip on my hand tightened, his aura flaring with barely contained rage. But he stayed silent, letting my father handle pack politics.

"Very well," my father said finally, each word clipped. "But you will hold your ceremony on the eastern grounds. Astrid and Ian will have the sacred clearing."

Lennox's jaw tightened, but he bowed his head in false submission. "Of course, Alpha."

As he turned away, his eyes met mine one last time. And in that moment, I saw it clearly—the madness lurking beneath the surface, the obsession that had twisted him into someone I didn't recognize.

This wasn't about Chelsea or their pup or even the mate bond.

This was about me. About control. About refusing to let me go.

Ian pulled me closer, his cedar and rain scent wrapping around me like armor. "He's not going to stop," he murmured, too low for anyone else to hear.

"I know," I whispered back.

Lyra stirred in my mind, her voice steady and fierce. "Then we'll be ready."

The full moon was one month away. Thirty days to prepare for a ceremony that should've been the happiest night of my life.

Thirty days for Lennox to make his move.