My Second Mate Took My Heart

CAITLYN

The scream tore from my throat before I could stop it, my body instinctively scrambling backward, desperate to escape the horrific scene unfolding before me.

This had been my life for the past three years.

A life forced upon me by the man who I learnt was Derek Thane—the Alpha of one of the most powerful packs in the country and, even more chilling, the CEO of a multibillion-dollar empire.

He had threatened my family to force me into a marriage I would never want, locking me away in his mansion as if I were some prized trophy in his distorted view of love.

He’d done everything to win my affection, going as far as firing all the servants because I only spoke to them, taking the responsibility of doing everything for me but all I felt was hatred even as my wolf stirred within me, craving the bond he sought, I refused to mate with a psychopath like him.

The realization of his cruelty sank deeper into my bones as he stood over the man he had just ripped apart with his claws.

The intruder, curious about what Derek kept hidden, had broken into the mansion and now he was dead.

I fought back the bile rising in my throat, forcing my eyes away from the severed hands and the empty eye sockets of the lifeless body sprawled on the floor.

Derek spoke, breaking the silence as if he hadn’t just dismembered a man right in front of me. “If you keep pushing me, Caitlyn, you’ll witness far worse.”

“There are thousands of women who would kill to be in my position,” My voice cracked, tears streaming down my cheeks. “I don’t want this—please, just let me go.”

He dismissed my pleas like they were nothing. “Clean yourself up. There will be consequences if I return to find you a mess.”

With that, he turned his back and walked away, leaving me in the aftermath of his brutality. I don’t know how long I sat there, wishing for an end to this nightmare, until I forced myself to crawl over the dismembered body and stumbled toward the shower.

The water did little to wash away the pain and as I put on my clothes, I tried to gather my thoughts when I heard voices drifting in from the hallway.

“Are you sure we should be up here? Mr. Thane specifically said this mansion was off-limits,” one voice trembled.

“Oh, please.” Another voice, sultry and confident, interrupted. “Derek practically worships the ground I walk on. He won’t mind. Besides, he keeps visiting this place four times a week. I want to see what he keeps hidden here.”

My stomach twisted with dread. Not one, but two people had snuck in this time, and it wouldn’t end well for them when Derek found out. Part of me was curious about the woman’s confidence, but that was irrelevant right now; they had to leave or risk losing their lives.

Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I stepped outside the door.

The moment the door closed, their heads whipped around. My breath caught in my throat when my eyes landed on the woman in the middle and it took me a moment to realize there were three of them, not two—because she looked exactly like me.

“Oh my goodness, this is desperation on another level,” one of them said, breaking the stunned silence. “She made herself look just like you, Lydia.”

I blinked in disbelief.

My lookalike—Lydia—smiled, her eyes glinting with malice as she stepped forward. “It never ceases to amaze me how pathetic some women can be. You thought you could get a number of surgeries to look like me and sneak up here to try to steal my man?”

What the hell was happening?

I couldn’t wrap my head around it, but right now, I needed them to leave.

“Look, I don’t know who you are or how you managed to get in here,” I forced my voice to remain steady. “But you have to leave. If Derek comes back and finds you here, you won’t like what—“

My words were abruptly cut off when Lydia lunged forward, claws extending, slicing across my face. My eyes widened in shock as she stepped closer, her expression twisted in hatred. “Don’t you ever say his name, you cheap whore, coming in here thinking you can replace me. I’ll show you what happens to sluts who try to take my place.”

My wolf surged to the surface, ready to retaliate, but I wasn’t fast enough. Lydia struck again, knocking me to the ground.

“I am Derek’s destined love, and you pathetic slut will suffer for trying to imitate me,” she taunted, and with a swift motion, she turned to her friends. “Strip her.”

I struggled to shift, but the attacks came fast and furious. The other two women clawed at my clothes, vowing to make an example out of anyone who dared to challenge Lydia’s claim.

Consciousness began to slip away as I gasped for breath, fighting through the pain then I screamed. “I am Derek’s mate!”

The beating halted. Lydia stepped closer, her face twisted in rage and disgust. “You really are pathetic,” she spat. With a flick of her hair, she revealed a mark on her neck. “I am Derek’s mate, and in two days, we will have an official mating ceremony.”

It suddenly clicked into place. His obsession had festered so deep that, since I refused to love him, he had sought out an almost perfect lookalike, feeding her lies in the hope that I would accept him if he threatened to replace me.

His madness had no bounds.

“You are nothing,” Lydia sneered, raising her claws. I braced myself too weak to move as they came down, striking my chest, and the last thing I saw was her face, a sick reminder of the twisted world I was trapped in.

Then everything faded to black.