When I Rejected My Mate at His Wedding

Elder Marcus Stone's office sat at the top of the pack house, where the morning light couldn't quite reach. I climbed the stairs with my evidence clutched against my chest—the empty filing folders, the withdrawal slips, the guards' words still echoing in my head.

He looked up when I entered, his weathered face creasing with something that might have been guilt. "Vienna. I wondered when you'd come."

"You knew." My voice came out steadier than I felt. "About the records. About everything."

He gestured to the chair across from his desk, but I stayed standing. After a long moment, he sighed and pulled a leather-bound ledger from his drawer.

"Marcelo came to me eight years ago," he said quietly. "Right after your... ceremony. He said the timing wasn't right. That he needed to establish proper standing before making it official." His fingers traced the edge of the ledger. "I should have refused. But the King family—they used to be important. I thought I was helping."

"Helping." The word tasted like ash. "You helped him trap me."

"I didn't know what he was planning." Elder Stone opened the ledger, and my stomach dropped. Page after page of transactions, all in Marcelo's name. Pack resources funneled into private accounts. Funds that should have gone to communal needs—medicine, repairs, education—redirected to vaults I'd never known existed. "I discovered this last month. I've been trying to figure out how to approach the Council without—"

"Without admitting you enabled it." My wolf surged inside me, stronger than she'd been in years. "How much?"

He didn't meet my eyes. "Close to two hundred thousand."

The number hit like a physical blow. Two hundred thousand dollars. While I'd been stretching every penny for Jaliyah's medication, while I'd been mending clothes and skipping meals, Marcelo had been hoarding a fortune.

"There's more." Elder Stone pulled out a manila envelope, his hands shaking slightly. "I found these in the pack's outgoing correspondence files. They were supposed to be sent through official channels, but Marcelo used his family's old connections to bypass protocol."

I took the envelope. Inside were letters—dozens of them—written in Marcelo's precise handwriting. The first one made my vision blur.

*My dearest Blair,*

*As a lone wolf of pure bloodline, I've waited my whole life to find a mate worthy of my heritage. Your father's offer of alliance honors both our families. I promise to bring substantial resources to our union—the King legacy may have fallen on difficult times, but I've been rebuilding our fortune through careful investments and strategic planning.*

Lone wolf. Pure bloodline. Substantial resources.

No mention of the Omega who'd been funding his "careful investments" with her own labor. No mention of the sister he'd hidden away like a shameful secret.

I read through letter after letter, each one a knife between my ribs. He'd crafted an entire identity for Blair—the noble wolf fallen on hard times, working tirelessly to restore his family's honor. He'd promised her a dowry built on pack resources he'd stolen. He'd painted himself as everything he wasn't, using my sacrifice as the foundation for his lies.

"I need guardianship of Jaliyah." The words came out cold, clear. My wolf had stopped whimpering. She was growling now, low and dangerous. "Emergency guardianship. Today."

Elder Stone's eyes widened. "Vienna, that's—"

"He's been neglecting her. You know it. Everyone knows it." I pulled out my phone, showing him the photos I'd been keeping. Jaliyah during her episodes, bruised from falling when no one was watching. Jaliyah's medication bottles, empty because I couldn't access the funds to refill them. Jaliyah's room, bare and cold because Marcelo refused to waste money on "damaged goods." "I have eight years of documentation. Medical records. Incident reports. Every time he left her alone, every time he refused treatment, every time he called her a burden."

"If you do this—" Elder Stone's voice dropped. "If you take guardianship and expose him, there's no going back. The Council will have to investigate. His mating with the Thompson girl—"

"Will be exposed for the fraud it is." I leaned forward, planting my hands on his desk. "You said you should have refused him eight years ago. Here's your chance to make it right. Sign the guardianship papers. Agree to testify about his neglect. Help me document every dollar he stole, every lie he told, every law he broke."

His jaw worked. Outside, rain had started to fall, drumming against the windows like impatient fingers.

"He'll destroy you," Elder Stone said finally. "You're an Omega. He's got connections, charm, the Thompson alliance—"

"He's got nothing but lies." I straightened, feeling something shift inside me. My wolf, waking up after years of forced sleep. "And I've got the truth."

Elder Stone stared at me for a long moment. Then he reached for his official seal.

"The guardianship hearing is in an hour," he said quietly. "Bring everything you have."

I left his office with signed papers and a growing fire in my chest. Marcelo had spent eight years building his house of cards. Now I was going to burn it down.