My Mate Stole My Child's Heart So I Ruined Him

Selena’s POV

On the sixth anniversary of our mating bond, I went to Cole’s office with two gifts to surprise him.

Alpha Cole Hale had been obsessed for months with a limited-edition Lycan Venator, it was the most expensive car in the werewolf territories. So I pulled every string I could, and called in debts just to get it for him. The keys were inside a black velvet box.

In my other hand was something far more precious. It was a pregnancy test with two clear lines. We had a pup to continue the Hale bloodline.

A wide smile was on my face when I walked into his office without knocking.

I wish I hadn’t. Because what I saw shattered everything.

Cole wasn’t alone.

He was with my best friend, Lydia.

Lydia sat on his desk like it belonged to her. Her blouse was open, her hair tousled, her lips swollen. She trailed her fingers lazily over his chest while he stood between her knees, his tie undone and his hand gripping her thigh possessively. My wolf could smell the scent of their arousal that was thick in the air.

My heart slammed against my ribs as my wolf screamed in pain inside me.

My best friend.

My mate.

For a moment, I couldn’t even breathe. The shock rooted me to the floor.

Lydia, the same woman who had stood beside me in the delivery room when Nora, my daughter, was born.

Lydia, the Beta’s cousin and my daughter’s godmother, and now she was in my mate’s arms, moaning into his mouth.

The betrayal hit harder than anything.

My chest tightened painfully as tears welled up in my eyes. I wanted to scream, to shift, to tear her off him, but I couldn’t move. I stood frozen in the doorway, the gifts trembling in my hands.

Then Cole’s phone rang. He groaned in irritation and pulled away from Lydia’s lips to answer it, but his hand stayed right where it was on her thigh.

“What the hell do you want now?” he snapped into the phone. “I paid you to keep quiet. Don’t push me.”

Lydia pouted as she traced circles on his chest.

“I already gave you enough money for the transplant,” Cole hissed. “You know how much I’ve spent to bury this.”

The word struck me like a blade. Transplant?

My stomach turned. I strained to hear the other voice, but couldn’t.

“I already paid you,” Cole continued furiously. “You gave the heart to Lydia, not to Nora. Nora is dead now, so why are you calling me?”

The ground tilted beneath me.

What did he mean?

My daughter’s heart was given to Lydia?

No. That wasn’t possible.

I couldn’t process it. My ears rang. My heart pounded so hard I could barely think.

Cole’s voice dropped to a threatening tone as he used his Alpha voice. “If this leaks, I’ll destroy you, Healer. Don’t ever call me again.”

When he hung up, Lydia smiled, resting her hand over his heart.

“I still can’t believe you did that for me,” she whispered, but it was loud enough for my enhanced hearing to catch. “You gave me her heart, Cole.”

He kissed her wrist with adoration in his eyes. “I told you, Lydia. I would do anything for you. Selena was too stupid to even notice. She signed the authorization herself. I told her it was for a pack alliance agreement, and she didn’t even read it.”

A choked gasp escaped me, but Lydia’s giggle covered it.

My legs trembled. His words echoed through my skull.

Two months ago, when the pack healer called to say a heart had become available, it felt like a miracle. Nora had been on the waiting list for three years. She had a rare defect, something that only affected one in a million werewolves. I remembered falling to my knees in relief when they told me there was a perfect match.

“We have a perfect match, Luna Selena,” the healer had said.

I prayed. I thanked the Moon Goddess for answering at last.

Two days later, Nora died on the operating table.

Cole told me it was a complication. He blamed the healers, and I believed him.

But it wasn’t an accident. He murdered our daughter.

He stole her heart for his lover.

Lydia had always complained about her weak heart, something that could be treated easily with medicine and magic. But she was lazy, and reckless. She ignored her treatments, then whined about the pain.

And now I understood why she hadn’t been at Nora’s funeral.

My best friend. The Beta’s cousin. My mate’s lover. My child’s godmother—and her killer.

I trusted her with my life, and she let me sob in her arms… while my daughter’s heart beat inside her chest.