My Second Mate Took My Heart

DEREK

I was thirteen years old when I first drew blood.

And that was the day my parents labeled me with what they considered a “disability.” But even at that age, I knew better. I saw it for what it truly was—a compulsion that gave me power.

That gave me freedom.

I always knew I was different. I didn’t view the world the way other kids did. My mind moved too fast, processing things others couldn’t see, things others wouldn’t dare acknowledge and that was why, when my father forced me to attend a Christmas party hosted by an Alpha who had threatened him, I seized the opportunity. I attacked the Alpha’s son, leaving a scar to remind him that my family was powerful.

We didn’t take likely to threats.

But that act, what I thought was loyalty, what I thought would make my parents proud, was the very thing that made them see me for what I was. Dangerous. My father looked at me as if he had birthed a monster, and my mother’s eyes held a fear she could never quite hide.

So I tried to end it two years later.

Though maybe if I was gone, they could breathe a little easier but fate had other plans, and in that darkness, in the depths of my own despair, I first saw her face. Caitlyn. She saved me, and in doing so, imprinted herself on my wolf. From that moment, she was my light in a world that had only ever shown me darkness.

I spent years trying to make myself better for her. To prove that I was worthy. I became a multibillionaire, worked my way to the top, showed my father I could handle the pack. I just needed a little more time before I claimed her but she went ahead and tried to mate with someone else, shattering every plan I had for us.

Caitlyn was mine.

And my obsession with her, something I’d nurtured and guarded all these years, knew no bounds. I had a thousand demons clawing at my insides, demons I tried to cage because of her but as I stood here, frozen, staring at the scene in front of me, I knew the last of my restraint was slipping.

My eyes moved from where a couple of women had just fled from to Lydia to Caitlyn’s unconscious form on the floor. The question left my lips in a low, deadly whisper, “What the hell happened here?”

Lydia stepped forward, a plastic smile stretched across her face. “Derek, you’re back. You wouldn’t believe what happened. This imposter,” she sneered, pointing at Caitlyn, “snuck in here, trying to pretend to be me.”

Irritation flared in me. This mess was my fault. Caitlyn’s relentless hatred toward me had driven me to find a look-alike, someone to fill the void. Lydia had been my distraction, someone I could project my fantasies onto. I’d gone so far as to mark her, an accident fueled by a desperate need to pretend she was Caitlyn and now she flaunted that mark as if it was a ticket for us to get married.

Not that I had cared for before because it would never happen and soon enough, once I made Caityn fully mine, she would be discarded.

My wolf stirred, clawing beneath my skin, furious. I fixed Lydia with a glare that could turn stone to dust. “I specifically told you not to step foot in this house. Not only did you disobey, but you dared to touch what’s mine.”

Fear flickered in Lydia’s eyes, quickly masked. She straightened, her voice trembling as she insisted, “Derek, I don’t know what she’s told you, but it’s me, Lydia. You marked me. I’m the one who belongs to you.”

In a blur, my hand shot out, wrapping around her throat. “The moment you disobeyed me, you became worthless,” I hissed, tightening my grip just enough to remind her of her place. “I’ll spare you, only because I was foolish enough to involve myself with you in the first place. But you have five seconds to disappear from my sight.”

I released her, and she stumbled back, gasping for air.

“Five.”

She scrambled to her feet, her face pale as she turned to run. I watched her, my voice low, lethal. “Tell those who helped you that they now have twenty-four hours to live. And if I ever see you again…”

I let the threat hang in the air, satisfaction coursing through me as her eyes flashed from fear to hatred. She turned and fled, leaving a trail of bitterness behind her.

The urge to unleash my anger, to let my wolf loose and tear through everyone who had dared to touch Caitlyn, surged within me but I forced it down telling myself all in due time just like the mark on Lydia would fade and soon she would be nothing. I took a breath, steadying myself, and knelt to lift Caitlyn’s unconscious form into my arms, carrying her to her room.

Hours passed as I stood by the window, waiting. I watched the sun dip below the horizon, casting shadows across the room, until a faint stir behind me caught my attention. I turned, and our eyes met. She froze, and I could feel the tension radiating from her. For three years, I’d kept her hidden, tried to protect her from this world and from myself.

This was the consequence of my choices.

I moved closer, making sure my tone left no room for arguments, “Tomorrow, I’m going to announce you to the world as my fiancée.”

Her eyes widened, surprise flickering across her face.

Before she could respond, I added, “And three days from now, you and I are getting married, then I am going to claim you as my mate.”