Marked by the Wrong Alpha

Genevieve’s POV

The day we committed my father’s body to the earth, my mate never appeared.

Wolves from our pack formed a wide, silent ring around the grave, their dark coats immaculate, the scent of leather, steel, and restrained power thick in the wind. Even in human form, their dominance pressed against the air. My father had been Alpha for decades—unyielding, strategic, feared beyond our borders. Neighboring packs that once challenged him had sent wreaths woven with rare mountain herbs as a final gesture of respect.

But Nikolai did not come.

The last shovelful of soil had barely struck the coffin when my phone vibrated inside my gloved palm. For one foolish heartbeat, I thought it was him. An explanation. An apology. Something worthy of a mate.

Instead, the sender’s name made my stomach turn.

Sabrina.

My stepsister had also been absent from the burial.

I opened the message without thinking.

The first image tilted the world off its axis.

Nikolai—my mate, the reigning Alpha of the Virelli pack—was kneeling before her. His large hand was splayed possessively over her abdomen, and his mouth pressed against it with unmistakable reverence. Not lust. Not obligation.

Reverence.

The caption beneath it read: Looks like the Virelli pack is finally getting its heir.

For several seconds, I simply stared. My mind refused to translate what my eyes were seeing. My hands began to shake so violently the phone nearly slipped from my grasp into the loose soil at my feet. I blinked again and again, trying to force the image into distortion, convincing myself it had to be manipulation—clever editing meant to provoke tension between bloodlines.

Then another photo arrived.

Sabrina stood before the tall mirror inside the Alpha suite of the Virelli estate—the bedroom that had been mine since the night the Moon Goddess bound Nikolai to me. She wore my silk robe, loosely belted, her lips curved in a satisfied smile. Behind her, stretched across our bed, Nikolai slept bare-chested, completely at ease.

No caption was necessary.

Air refused to fill my lungs. The truth lodged inside me like shattered bone.

My mate had marked my stepsister with his child.

Tears streamed down my face before I consciously realized I was crying. A sharp, crushing ache bloomed in my chest, so intense it felt like claws had pierced straight through my ribs. On the very day I buried my father, the two people I had trusted most in this brutal world chose to disgrace me.

The earth over my father’s grave was still damp and uneven. When my knees gave out, I fell forward, my hands sinking into the soil as sobs tore through me. I broke there, at the graveside of the man who had raised me to survive among wolves.

I should have recognized the signs. Conversations that stopped when I entered a room. Glances exchanged too quickly. The way Nikolai’s attention had begun to wander whenever Sabrina laughed.

But I had never believed betrayal would come from within my own bond.

My phone buzzed again.

This time, it was Nikolai.

Couldn’t make it. Pack business required my attention. We’ll speak tonight.

I stared at the message through blurred vision. There was no regret in it. Only expectation.

That night, he returned to the estate.

He did not return alone.

The carved oak doors opened, and Sabrina stepped inside as though she already belonged there. A sleek suitcase rolled behind her. Nikolai followed, composed and unreadable, like an Alpha announcing territory expansion rather than dismantling his marriage.

“She’ll be staying here,” he said evenly. “Given her condition, she requires pack protection.”

Her condition.

As though she were a strategic asset instead of the woman carrying my mate’s child.

Sabrina offered me a soft, carefully practiced smile. “I never intended to hurt you. I told Nikolai we should wait before telling you, but the pup’s well-being comes first. I’m sorry this happened today of all days.”

I didn’t respond. I stood in the foyer of my own home while they reorganized my life without my consent.

Nikolai stepped closer, lowering his voice. “She’s pack. You wouldn’t want harm to come to her.”

Pack.

The word tasted like ash.

He exhaled slowly, as if burdened by my silence. “What happened wasn’t planned. But my feelings for you haven’t changed.”

I studied his face and wondered when it had become so unfamiliar.

“It was a lapse,” he continued. “And we’ve discussed what follows.”

A quiet, humorless sound left my throat. “She’s carrying your pup. You call that a lapse?”

His expression didn’t flicker. “When the child is born, you’ll raise it. You’ve always wanted one.”

The implication hung between us, sharp and humiliating.

“You’ll have the family you couldn’t give me,” he added smoothly. “And the pack secures its heir.”

Heat flared through my veins, steadying me instead of breaking me. “You betray me with my stepsister, impregnate her, and expect appreciation?”

His jaw tightened. “I expect maturity. This is bigger than emotion. We can stabilize this.”

Behind him, Sabrina’s eyes shimmered with theatrical tears. “Maybe I should leave. I never wanted to come between you.”

“Then leave,” I said evenly.

Nikolai’s gaze hardened instantly. “Mind your tone. Stress is dangerous for her.”

“She has no place in this house.”

“You’re hardly in a position to dictate terms,” he replied coldly. “Remember whose name you carry.”

Something inside me splintered, but I refused to let it show.

“I want the bond severed,” I said quietly.

The words cracked through the room like a gunshot.

Nikolai stared at me as though I had spoken nonsense. “You’re not thinking clearly.”

“I’ve never been clearer.”

He let out a short, disbelieving laugh. “You would abandon your position over this?”

“Over betrayal. Over public humiliation. Over you bringing her here on the day I buried my father.”

“You’re letting grief cloud strategy.”

“And you’re disguising cruelty as leadership.”

He stepped closer, his voice lowering to a dangerous calm. “You don’t walk away from an Alpha. Not from this pack.”

“I am not territory to be claimed.”

“You swore yourself to me under the full moon,” he replied. “That vow binds.”

“Yes,” I answered steadily. “And I regret it.”

For a moment, his restraint faltered. “You have no allies beyond me. No inheritance. No pup. Outside these walls, you are unprotected.”

The threat beneath his words was unmistakable.

“I’ll survive.”

He moved subtly, positioning himself between me and the staircase. “You’re not leaving.”

“I’m going upstairs.”

“You’re staying.”

His tone shifted then, colder than before. “If you attempt to disappear, I will track you. And if you think to use your father’s sanctuary as leverage, reconsider. I won’t hesitate.”

The mention of the orphaned wolf sanctuary my father and I had built together made my throat tighten painfully.

“Why?” I asked, my voice raw. “Why do this to me?”

“You left me no choice,” he replied, though we both knew that was false.

He reached for me, his touch almost gentle. “Sabrina’s pup can be ours. You lose nothing.”

I looked past him at her.

There was no remorse in her expression.

Only victory.

Something inside me went quiet.

Nikolai wanted to cage me, humiliate me, replace me.

Fine.

“I reacted too quickly,” I said softly. “I won’t make impulsive decisions. I’ll remain. For now.”

Relief flickered across his features. He pressed a kiss to my forehead like an Alpha granting mercy.

That night, I lay alone in a guest chamber while he installed Sabrina in the Alpha suite. I wept until my body felt hollow, grieving my father, my bond, and the naive she-wolf I had once been.

When no tears remained, I reached for my phone.

There was only one wolf alive who could challenge Nikolai without fear.

The only man in the Virelli bloodline more dangerous than the reigning Alpha.

My thumb hovered for a moment before I selected the number I had sworn never to call.

Kael Virelli.