When I Died, My Mate Was With His Sweetheart

I stumbled to the ground, my fingers. desperately reaching for the phone that had slipped from my grasp. My hand trembled as I tried to unlock it, ignoring the rogue wolves circling. me like vultures waiting for a dying animal. My breaths came in ragged gasps, every heartbeat louder than the last. I needed to hear his voice- Klaus, my mate, the future Alpha of Snowfall Pack. He had to help me. He had to

The dial tone echoed in the cold, lonely night. "Please, Klaus, answer... please," I whispered, blood soaking my clothes as I waited. And then, that familiar voice-just not his

"Hello, the number you have dialed is currently unavailable..."

The sound of the automated message sent a shiver through me, colder than the night air. Despair swallowed me whole. The howl of a rogue wolf cut through the silence, followed by the low growls of the pack closing in. My heart clenched with terror, not because I feared death-but because I realized he wasn't coming.

The rogues lunged, their sharp fangs tearing into my flesh. I screamed in agony as one of them sank its teeth deep into my shoulder, while another raked its claws across my chest, reaching my heart. I gasped as blood poured from the wound, life slipping away with every drop.

The phone slipped from my fingers as the world around me dimmed. My body grew heavier, sinking into the cold ground. I was alone. On this dark, unfamiliar path, I was dying without my mate, without anyone to hear my final words.

Klaus had promised me forever.

Instead, I got this.

***

We were supposed to be happy. Klaus and I had just gotten engaged. Our mating ceremony was in a week, and I had been counting the days, dreaming of the moment I would be his Luna, The Snowfall Pack would celebrate, and for once, I would feel like I belonged. My younger brother even said he wanted to make a speech at the wedding, something funny to lighten the mood.

But all of that had been taken from me. The warmth of my body was draining fast, replaced by a terrifying cold. My vision blurred, and with it, the memories of what once was.

I was dying. I could feel my soul peeling away from my body, like a delicate thread unraveling. I tried to hold on, but it was useless. There was nothing left for me to cling to.

My soul wandered, drifting helplessly. And then, like a cruel twist of fate, I found myself at a house I knew too well-Claudette's.

Claudette. The girl who had always lingered in Klaus's shadow, waiting for her moment. She was there, curled up in Klaus's arms, her head resting against his chest. They looked so peaceful, so content.

My heart would have broken if I still had one. My wolf, once so connected to Klaus, would have howled in agony at the sight. But now there was only emptiness.

Klaus stroked Claudette's hair, his fingers gentle, his gaze soft. He lowered his head to press a kiss to her forehead.

I wanted to scream. To shout. To tear them apart. But I was just a ghost now-powerless and forgotten.

His phone buzzed on the nightstand. My name lit up the screen-my final call. He glanced at it, frowning. Then, without a second thought, he swiped it away. Dismissed.

My laugh was bitter and hollow, echoing in the silence. He had ignored my call. The last desperate plea for help from the woman he had promised to cherish. Instead, he stayed here, comforting her..

"Klaus," I thought, my voice breaking in the void, "If you knew this was the last call I'd ever make to you, would you have answered? Would you have regretted missing it?"

I doubted it.

For five years, Klaus and I had danced around each other, tangled in a relationship that felt both fated and doomed. When we finally got engaged, I thought it meant something. That we had found our way back to each other after all the challenges.

But I was wrong.

Everything changed after the war between the Snowfall Pack and the rival pack. That was when I first noticed it. He wasn't the same after the fighting ended, after we discovered the witch's curse. The witch had been on the enemy's side, and during the battle, she had caged Klaus's wolf. He could no longer feel the mate bond.

And without that bond, it was as if he'd never loved me at all.

Claudette returned soon after. She had left our pack to chase after another Alpha, but that had fallen through. And now, she was back. Back in Klaus's life.

The day I died, we were driving home from the Alpha gathering, where Klaus represented Snowfall Pack because his father was too busy. He was tense, distant-more so than usual. Then his phone rang.

Claudette.

She was drunk, alone, and called him to come to her. I saw the way his entire demeanor shifted, how his knuckles whitened on the steering wheel. I knew what was coming.

"Don't answer it, Klaus," I had begged him. "Please, not tonight. We need to talk."

But he didn't listen. We argued. And in a moment of anger, he stopped the car and kicked me out, leaving me on the side of the road. He didn't look back.

I didn't know rogue wolves were lurking in the woods. But even if I had, what difference would it have made? Klaus didn't care. Not enough.

Now, as my soul pressed against the window of Claudette's house, I watched them. He held her close, torn between the engagement ring on his finger and the woman lying in his arms.

"Klaus, you're disgusting," I thought, my voice bitter as the darkness closed in around me.