My Alpha Chose His Brother’s Widow Over Me

Seven years ago, at our bonding ceremony, my Alpha was placed under a curse.

To save him, I volunteered to take on the Soul-Blight Blood Curse. I never regretted it.

Until I was on a luxury yacht for a vacation, an anonymous video was sent to my phone.

In the video, Gabriel’s Alpha friends were laughing. "Seven years. You really kept up the act."

"Tricking your own Luna just to transfer the curse to your late brother's widow?"

My mate, the man I’d loved for seven years, spoke without emotion.

"The curse would have shattered Irene's soul. But Aria has her precious bloodline blessing. For her, it's just pain, not death. A small price to pay."

I clutched my belly, five months pregnant with our pup, my mind went blank.

I was about to confront him, but then I saw Irene Ashworth scream and fall from the deck.

A second later, a gut-wrenching roar tore from my mate’s throat.

"Irene—!"

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1

Irene Ashworth fell from the deck. My heart seized.

Before I could process it, a violent force shoved me aside.

Crash!

A vase shattered next to me. My head slammed hard against the ship's railing, and blood gushed from the wound.

Gabriel Stormwind rushed past without a single glance, completely ignoring my gushing head wound.

I pressed a hand to my bleeding temple, staring at him in a daze.

"Gabriel..."

Just the other day, when he found out I was pregnant with our pup, he held me so carefully, as if I were the most fragile treasure.

But now, he was leaning over the railing, frantically directing the rescue, not even sparing me a single look.

In just a few short minutes, Irene, who had been scratched by the silver ornaments under the boat, was pulled back on board.

I was dizzy from blood loss.

The video flashed through my mind, and I struggled to ask him the question.

"Gabriel, the curse transfer..."

Irene's sobbing cut me off.

"I'm sorry, Aria... I was too greedy. I shouldn't have..."

Her words were deliberately vague.

I opened my mouth to speak, but my mate's icy voice sent a chill down my spine.

"Aria, did you do this?"

His cold glare made my heart clench with a fresh wave of hurt.

It was true, my sister-in-law and I had never gotten along.

Every time I came back from my sculpting studio, I could smell her scent lingering in our bedroom. I’d even found her intimate clothing in our drawers.

Several times, I'd found Irene lounging on our bed wearing nothing but Gabriel's shirt, her long legs shamelessly exposed.

Out of ten trips we planned for just the two of us, she was in the room next door for nine of them.

Her behavior had become more and more brazen since his brother died.

Sometimes, it felt like we were sharing a mate.

But for seven years, Gabriel had always managed to soothe my doubts with his unique Alpha possessiveness and tenderness.

Now, reality was revealing that seven years of sweetness had all been a carefully planned lie.

Come to think of it, Gabriel never stopped Irene's inappropriate behavior.

Wasn't that a form of silent approval?

I tried to explain, "I didn't—"

But my words died on my lips.