My Mate Chose My Rival

I smoothed down the front of my navy dress for the third time, checking my reflection in the hallway mirror. The table behind me was set with Lucas's favorite—rosemary lamb chops, roasted vegetables, and a bottle of the Cabernet he'd been eyeing for months. Six years together, and I still got butterflies when he came home from pack events.

My wolf, Silver, had been restless all evening, pacing in tight circles at the back of my mind. I tried to soothe her with gentle mental touches, but she only growled low and anxious.

"What's wrong?" I whispered to her.

"Something's coming," she replied, her voice sharp. "Something wrong."

The elevator chimed. My heart leaped, and I turned toward the foyer with a smile already forming on my lips. The doors slid open, and the smell hit me like a physical blow.

Fermented wolfsbane. Thick and cloying, the kind that lingered after the Blood Moon Festival's traditional ceremonies. But underneath it—something else. Something musky and raw and utterly wrong. The scent of two wolves who had marked each other, their essences permanently intertwined.

My smile froze.

Lucas stepped out of the elevator, his dark hair disheveled, his shirt half-untucked. He wasn't alone. Sutton Bradley walked beside him, her hand clasped in his, her blonde hair tangled and her lips swollen. They both looked like they'd just rolled out of bed.

My wolf snarled, a vicious sound that reverberated through my skull.

Lucas's eyes met mine. For a split second, something flickered across his face—guilt, maybe, or fear—but it vanished so quickly I might have imagined it. He dropped Sutton's hand and stepped forward.

"Maya," he said, his voice too casual, too light. "We need to talk."

I couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. The scent was overwhelming now, filling my lungs with every inhale. Mated. They were mated.

"What—" My voice cracked. I swallowed hard and tried again. "What is this?"

Sutton stepped forward, her chin lifted in defiance. She was wearing one of those cheap festival dresses, the kind sold at vendor stalls for twenty dollars. The neckline was askew, revealing a fresh bite mark on the curve of her shoulder—angry red, still weeping slightly, unmistakably a mating mark.

My stomach dropped.

"Lucas," I said slowly, my healer's training kicking in, forcing my voice to remain steady. "Explain. Now."

He had the audacity to look annoyed. He reached up and yanked down his collar, revealing an identical mark on his neck. The sight of it sent a wave of nausea through me so powerful I had to grip the back of the nearest chair to stay upright.

"The Moon Goddess fated us," he said flatly. "We discovered it at the festival. The bond—it was too strong, Maya. We couldn't fight it."

Sutton's lips curved into a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "It was meant to be," she added, her voice dripping with false sympathy. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way."

Silver was howling now, a sound of pure rage and betrayal that made my hands shake.

"You marked each other," I said, each word carefully enunciated. "You completed the mating bond."

"It was an accident," Lucas said quickly. Too quickly. "We were drunk on wolfsbane. The festival brew—you know how strong it is. We didn't mean—"

"Bullshit," I snapped, and his eyes widened. I never cursed. Never raised my voice. But something inside me was fracturing, splintering into a thousand jagged pieces. "You don't accidentally complete a mating ceremony, Lucas. It requires intent. It requires—"

I couldn't finish. The words died in my throat as Lucas brushed past me, heading straight for the bar cart in the living room. He poured himself three fingers of my Macallan 25—the bottle I'd been saving for our anniversary next month—and downed it in one gulp.

"Look," he said, turning to face me with the empty glass dangling from his fingers. "I know this is hard for you. But we've been together for six years. We're practically common-law mates. This estate, everything here—we built this life together."

My blood turned to ice.

"What are you saying?"

He set the glass down and crossed his arms. "I'm saying I have rights, Maya. Legal rights. I'm not just going to walk away from everything because the Moon Goddess had other plans for me."

Sutton moved to stand beside him, her hand sliding possessively around his waist. "We think the best solution is for all of us to live here," she said brightly, as if she were suggesting we all go out for coffee. "You and Lucas were never fated anyway. This way, you won't be alone, and we can all be one big happy family."

The rage that flooded through me was so pure, so absolute, that for a moment I couldn't see. Couldn't think. Silver was screaming for blood, clawing at the edges of my control, demanding I shift and tear them both apart.

But I didn't.

Instead, I smiled.