He Chose My Sister Over His True Mate

The dungeon smells like iron and old fear. My head throbs where it hit the stone floor when the guards threw me in. The wolfsbane is still in my system, making everything fuzzy at the edges.

I don't know how long I've been here. Hours? Days? Time moves differently in the dark.

Footsteps echo down the corridor. Heavy boots. Multiple sets. The cell door screeches open, and hands grab me, hauling me upright. My legs barely hold.

'Move,' someone growls.

They drag me up stone stairs, through hallways I used to walk freely. Pack members line the walls, their faces twisted with disgust. Someone spits. It hits my cheek, warm and humiliating.

The Great Hall is packed. Every wolf in the territory must be here, crammed into the space, their anger a living thing pressing against my skin. The Council sits at the high table—seven elders, their expressions carved from granite.

Lainey stands to the side, her face a perfect mask of sorrow. Derek won't look at me.

They force me to my knees in the center of the hall. The stone is cold through my torn dress.

'Avery Wood.' Elder Thorne's voice booms across the space. 'You stand accused of adultery, breaking the sacred mate bond, and treason against the Pierce Pack. How do you plead?'

My voice comes out hoarse. 'Not guilty.'

The hall erupts. Wolves howl their rage, the sound battering against me like fists.

'Silence!' Thorne slams his staff against the floor. The noise dies to angry muttering. 'The evidence speaks clearly. You were found in a compromising position with Derek Henry. Your dress torn. His shirt removed. The scent of guilt thick in the air.'

'I was drugged,' I say. 'Wolfsbane. I didn't—'

'Lies!' someone shouts from the crowd.

Lainey steps forward, dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. 'I wish it were lies. I wish my sister hadn't betrayed us all.' She pulls something from her bag—a small vial filled with dried herbs. 'But the betrayal goes deeper than one night of weakness.'

My stomach drops.

'These are scent-masking herbs,' Lainey continues, her voice trembling. 'The same herbs Avery used three years ago to infiltrate this pack. To deceive Alpha Sebastian. To steal the Luna position through fraud.'

The hall explodes again. This time Thorne doesn't call for silence.

'She's a spy,' Lainey says, raising her voice above the chaos. 'Sent by rival packs to weaken us from within. To corrupt our Alpha's judgment. To destroy us.'

'That's not true!' I try to stand, but the guards force me down. 'I never—Sebastian knew—'

'Alpha Sebastian was deceived,' the Former Luna says, rising from her seat beside the Council. 'Manipulated by a wolfless omega who used dark magic to cloud his judgment. My son is a victim here, just as we all are.'

The crowd roars approval. I see it in their faces—they want blood. My blood.

'The law is clear,' Thorne says. 'The penalty for adultery and treason is death.'

Death.

The word echoes in my skull. This is it. This is how it ends.

The dungeon is colder the second time. Or maybe I'm just numb.

I don't know how long I sit there before I hear him. His footsteps are different from the guards'—measured, controlled. The cell door opens.

Sebastian.

He stands in the doorway, backlit by torchlight. I can't see his face.

'Everyone out,' he says. The guards leave without question.

We're alone.

He steps inside, and the door closes behind him. In the dim light, I finally see his expression. It's carefully blank, but his jaw is clenched so tight I can see the muscle jumping.

'You know I didn't do it,' I say. My voice sounds dead even to my own ears.

He moves closer, crouching in front of me. His hand reaches out, fingers brushing my cheek where someone spit on me. 'I can smell the wolfsbane. The fear. No arousal. No desire.' His voice is low, meant only for me. 'I know.'

Hope flares in my chest. 'Then tell them. Tell the Council—'

'They have proof, Avery. Documents. Witnesses. The scent-masking evidence.' His hand drops. 'Even if I vouched for you, they'd override me. The pack wants blood.'

'So that's it?' Anger cuts through the numbness. 'You're just going to let them kill me?'

His eyes flash. 'Trust me.'

'Trust you?' I laugh, and it sounds broken. 'You're asking me to trust you while I'm locked in a dungeon waiting to die?'

'Yes.' He stands, backing toward the door. 'Trust me, Avery. No matter what happens next.'

'Sebastian—'

But he's already gone.

The message arrives at dawn. A guard brings it to the Council, and within an hour, the entire pack knows.

Victor Kane, Alpha of the Northern Coalition, has sent an ultimatum. Purge the traitor Luna, or he'll consider it an act of war. He's already mobilizing his forces.

I hear it through the dungeon walls—the shouting, the panic. The pack is terrified. And they blame me.

When they come for me this time, I don't fight.

The Great Hall is even more crowded than before. Wolves pack every inch of space, spilling out into the corridors. Visiting dignitaries from allied packs line the walls, their faces grave.

Sebastian stands at the center, and the sight of him steals my breath. He's in full Alpha regalia—black leather, silver clasps, the Pierce Pack crest emblazoned across his chest. He looks like a king.

He looks like a stranger.

They force me to my knees in front of him. The entire pack watches.

'Avery Wood.' His voice fills the hall, cold and absolute. The Alpha tone makes every wolf in the room flinch. 'You have betrayed this pack. Betrayed your mate. Betrayed everything we stand for.'

I look up at him, searching his face for something—anything—that tells me this is part of a plan. That he meant what he said about trust.

His eyes are ice.

'I, Sebastian Pierce, Alpha of the Pierce Pack—' His voice cracks like thunder. The bond between us pulls taut, sensing what's coming. '—reject you, Avery Wood, as my mate.'

The bond doesn't just break.

It shatters.

Pain explodes through my chest, white-hot and all-consuming. It feels like someone's ripping my soul out through my ribs. The mark on my neck burns, the skin blistering and peeling away.

I scream.

The sound tears from my throat, raw and animal. I can't stop it. Can't control it. The agony is everywhere, in every cell, every nerve.

Through the haze of pain, I see Sebastian's face. For just a second, his mask cracks. I see anguish there, mirroring my own.

Then it's gone.

'Get her out of my territory,' he says, his voice flat. 'Exile her to the Rogue lands. And if anyone kills her—' His eyes sweep the crowd. '—they answer to me. She's not worth the effort.'

The guards grab me. I can't stand. Can't breathe. The pain is still tearing through me, the severed bond screaming.

As they drag me toward the doors, I look back one last time.

Sebastian stands alone in the center of the hall, surrounded by his pack. He doesn't look at me.

He doesn't look at anything.

The last thing I see before the doors close is Lainey's smile.