Rejected Mate's Revenge

The Silver Crest pack house blazed with warm light, every window glowing against the darkness as I stumbled up the front steps. The mate bond pulled me forward like a fishing line reeling me in, Dylan's emotions still thrumming with that strange excitement that made my stomach churn.

I could hear voices inside—laughter, celebration, the clink of glasses. Through the large windows, I caught glimpses of pack members dressed in their finest clothes, as if attending some kind of ceremony. My heart hammered against my ribs as I pushed through the front door, still weak from blood loss but driven by a desperate need to understand.

The scene that greeted me stopped my world cold.

Dylan stood at the center of the main hall, wearing a formal black suit I'd never seen before. His dark hair was perfectly styled, his face glowing with happiness I hadn't seen in months. And beside him, radiant in a flowing white dress that looked suspiciously like a mating gown, stood Tiana.

My best friend. My pack sister. The woman who'd held my hand through every miscarriage, who'd sworn she understood my pain.

They were holding hands.

"What is this?" The words tore from my throat, raw and broken. Every head in the room turned toward me, and I became painfully aware of how I must look—pale, disheveled, still wearing the blood-stained clothes from my latest loss.

Dylan's face went white, then flushed red. But instead of guilt or shame, I saw something else in his expression. Annoyance. As if I were an unwelcome interruption to his perfect evening.

"Amaris," he said carefully, his voice carrying the practiced authority of his Beta position. "You shouldn't be here."

"Shouldn't be here?" I laughed, the sound sharp and hysterical. "This is our pack house, Dylan. The place we've called home for three years. And you—" I gestured wildly between him and Tiana, "—what the hell is this? What kind of ceremony requires you to abandon your mate while she's losing your pup?"

The gathered pack members exchanged uncomfortable glances, and I caught whispers rippling through the crowd. But Dylan's expression hardened, his jaw clenching in that familiar way that meant he was about to lie.

"My mate?" He stepped forward, and his scent hit me—pine and earth, but wrong somehow, tainted with Tiana's floral sweetness. "Amaris, I think you're confused. Tiana is my mate. We're celebrating our mating ceremony."

The words hit me like a physical blow. I staggered backward, my hand instinctively flying to my neck where his marking scar burned beneath my fingers. "What are you talking about? Dylan, we've been mated for five years. You marked me. We have a bond—"

"We have nothing." His voice turned cold, dismissive. "You're a delusional she-wolf who's been stalking me for months. I've tried to be gentle about it, out of respect for your... condition, but this has gone too far."

The room spun around me. Condition? Stalking? "Dylan, please. This isn't funny. Tell them the truth. Tell them about our apartment, our life together, the babies we've lost—"

"Enough!" His Alpha tone slammed into me like a wall, making my knees buckle. The authority in his voice was absolute, commanding, designed to make lesser wolves submit. "You will stop this delusion right now, Amaris. You're embarrassing yourself and disturbing our ceremony."

Pack members began laughing—quiet chuckles at first, then louder guffaws. Someone whispered, "Poor thing, she really believes it." Another voice added, "Rejected she-wolves sometimes lose their minds like this."

I pulled down the collar of my shirt with shaking hands, exposing the raised scar tissue on my neck. "Look!" I cried desperately. "Look at his mark! You can all see it, can't you? The Moon Goddess blessed our bond—"

"That's not Dylan's mark," Tiana spoke for the first time, her voice sweet and concerned. She stepped closer to Dylan, pressing against his side like she belonged there. "Honey, she's been showing that old scar to everyone, claiming different males marked her. It's so sad."

Tears streamed down my face as I stared at the woman I'd trusted with my deepest secrets. "Tiana, how can you say that? You know the truth. You've been to our apartment. You've comforted me through every miscarriage—"

"I've been trying to help a disturbed she-wolf who keeps harassing my mate," Tiana replied, dabbing at her eyes with a delicate handkerchief. "She's been threatening me for months, saying horrible things. I've been too afraid to report it."

The pack members' laughter grew louder, more cruel. I felt their judgment like claws raking across my skin, their disbelief and mockery crushing what remained of my dignity. But beneath Tiana's perfect performance, I caught something else—a flash of triumph in her eyes when she thought no one was looking.

A smirk that told me everything I needed to know.

This wasn't delusion. This was betrayal.