My Mate Believed My Sister’s Lies and Banished Me

The scent of vanilla and pine was supposed to be the only thing I remembered from the night of my Mate Ceremony. It was Cole’s scent. Alpha Cole Brooks, my fated mate. Instead, the memory is forever choked by the acrid, suffocating stench of wolfsbane and charred wood.

It happened in a heartbeat. One moment, I was standing before the altar in my white gown, the strongest female warrior of the Silver Mist Pack ready to accept my place as Luna. The next, the Pack House doors blew open. Rogues poured in like a tide of shadow and teeth.

Fire erupted, unnatural and green, licking up the wooden pillars. Wolfsbane smoke blinded us. I tried to shift, to call upon my wolf, Nova, but the toxic fumes paralyzed my lungs. Above us, a massive, burning support beam groaned. It snapped, plummeting straight toward where my younger sister, Iris, and I stood.

Cole didn't hesitate. He didn't think. His Alpha instincts took over, and he dove, his massive body tackling me to the stone floor, shielding me from the crushing weight and scorching heat.

But he didn't shield Iris.

Through the roaring flames, I saw her. The beam had crashed down, cutting her off from us entirely. Two massive Rogues grabbed her by the arms. Her terrified eyes locked onto mine.

"Chloe! Cole! Help me!"

Her screams tore through the crackling inferno, growing fainter as they dragged her into the rainy night. I fought against Cole’s grip, coughing up blood and smoke, but he held me down to keep me safe. By the time the pack warriors rallied and the fires were subdued, Iris was gone. Presumed dead.

The rain that night in Seattle was merciless, turning the smoldering ruins of our Pack House into a swamp of gray sludge. I stood shivering in my ruined dress, staring at the tree line.

"It should have been you!"

The sharp crack of my mother's hand across my face snapped my head to the side. I tasted copper.

"Mom—" I choked out.

"Don't call me that!" Mrs. Bennett shrieked, her face twisted in a mask of pure agony. She lunged at me again, only to be caught by my father. But Mr. Bennett didn't look at me with sympathy. His eyes were cold, filled with a disgust that hollowed out my chest.

"The Moon Goddess saved the wrong sister," my father spat, his voice carrying over the quiet, mourning crowd. "Your survival is a curse on this family, Chloe. You were our lead warrior. You were supposed to protect her!"

I looked desperately to Cole. He was my mate. We hadn't completed the marking, but the bond was there, thrumming between us. I needed him to defend me, to tell them it was chaos, that we couldn't have saved her.

But Cole was staring at his blood-stained hands. Beside him stood Beta Marcus Stone, whispering poison into the young Alpha's ear. I couldn't hear the exact words, but I saw Marcus gesture to the angry, grieving elders, then to me. The pressure of leadership, the guilt of failing to protect a pack member—it was crushing Cole in real time.

When Cole finally looked up at me, his eyes were empty. The warmth of the mate bond, that beautiful, golden thread connecting our souls, suddenly went freezing cold.

*Click.*

It was a physical sensation in my mind. Cole slammed our mind-link shut. He turned his back on me, ordering his belongings to be moved into the administrative office building. He didn't speak a single word to me. He just walked away.

That was three years ago.

Three years of living as a ghost in my own pack. I went from being the respected head warrior to a pariah. The pack members whisper when I walk by, their eyes heavy with blame. My parents refuse to acknowledge my existence.

And Cole? He is a wall of ice. He never formally rejected me, but he emotionally abandoned me. He buried himself in pack politics, ruling with an authoritarian iron fist to compensate for his perceived weakness.

Inside my mind, Nova whimpers. *Mate,* she cries, her spirit curling into a miserable, trembling ball. *Mate hurts us. Mate ignores us.*

"Shh, Nova," I whisper to the empty walls of my small, drafty room. "I know."

Whenever I see Cole in the training yards or the dining hall, I can feel his wolf, Titan, thrashing beneath the surface. Titan wants us. But Cole forces him down, suppressing his own wolf beneath layers of crippling guilt and cold duty. He treats me with icy indifference, looking through me as if I am nothing but a stain on his perfect Alpha record.

I am Chloe Bennett. I survived the fire. But as I sit alone in the dark, feeling the agonizing, hollow ache of a rotting mate bond, I realize my parents were right. The fire didn't kill me, but the ashes are burying me alive.