I should've turned around the second I heard the giggle. I should've ignored the instinct, walked away, and gone straight to the pack house like a sane person. But I couldn't. My wolf wouldn't let me. So I pushed the door open quietly.
And my world stopped.
Reina, my sister, even when her back was to me, I knew it was her. Her hands were on River's chest, her head thrown back in a soft, breathless moan. She was on top of him, bare, moving with a slow rhythm I couldn't unsee no matter how hard I wanted to. Her skin flushed, her hair a mess of dark curls spilling down over his face.
And River, my mate, was beneath her. Kissing her. Holding her. His eyes closed. His jaw was tight, like he was trying to lose himself in the moment, like he wanted this.
I didn't make a sound. I couldn't.
It was like all the air had been sucked out of the room and replaced with ice. My heart didn't even have the decency to race; it just… dropped. Flat and cold.
Reina turned slightly, maybe sensing something. Her gaze met mine over her shoulder. She froze. River's eyes snapped open a second later.
He saw me.
The way his entire body went still told me everything I needed to know.
This wasn't a mistake. It wasn't some accidental, drunken slip. This had been happening. And he knew exactly what it was. I didn't speak. Not a single word.
There was nothing to say.
I stepped back, slow and deliberate. My hand left the door frame like it burned me. And then I walked away. Down to the stairs and out the front door. Going back into the cool morning air that no longer smelled like home.
My legs moved on instinct, but my thoughts were silent. Numb. The bond between us, the one I had protected, cherished, and trusted, had snapped.
Not frayed but snapped and in ruins.
I didn't cry. Not yet. My wolf was too stunned. My body was too rigid. I walked like a soldier retreating from a battlefield I hadn't even known I was losing.
They didn't come after me. That said everything. I didn't hear him approach, but I felt him. That tug in my chest, the bond, or whatever was left of it, tightened the moment River stepped into the clearing. I didn't turn around. I couldn't. I was afraid of what I'd see in his face. Guilt? Regret? Or worse the lies
"Raven."
His voice was low, almost cautious. Like he already knew I wouldn't make this easy for him. I stood in front of the old tree behind the pack clinic, where he first kissed me as a teenager when we learned we were mates. Now, it felt like a tombstone.
"Don't," I said, without looking at him. "Don't say my name like it still means something to you."
"I didn't want you to find out like that."
I turned slowly, the wind catching my hair, my eyes burning.
"But you still let it happen," I said. "You let her take everything that was mine."
River flinched, but he didn't deny it.
"I never planned for this, Raven. I swear to you, it just… happened. Things got complicated while you were gone."
"Complicated?" I laughed, bitter. "That's what you're calling sleeping with my sister behind my back? Complicated?"
His jaw clenched.
"You left."
"I left to build something for us! For the pack!" I snapped. "To train. To get my license. To take my father's place, like we planned. Like you promised."
"I know," he murmured, almost too quietly. I stared at him for a long moment, heart thudding against my ribs like a war drum. "How long?" I asked.
River's brows furrowed.
"What?"
I stepped forward.
"How long were you cheating on me?"
His eyes flickered, pain, shame, hesitation, and that was all the answer I needed.
"River," I said again, slower this time, daring him to lie.
"Almost a year," he admitted, voice barely above a whisper.
A year.
I blinked, taking a step back like the words had physically struck me.
"Why?" I choked. "Why her? Why my sister?"
His silence said everything before his words could reach me.
"She was here. You weren't. The pack needed a Luna, and Reina…she stepped in," he said. "At first, it was just duty. But then things changed. I changed. She helped carry the weight when I was at my breaking point. And then-"
"Don't," I whispered. "Don't you dare turn this into a love story."
His expression darkened, like he knew he deserved that.
"There's more," he said carefully.
I looked away, but he kept speaking.
"She's pregnant."
The world blurred.
"What?" I breathed.
River looked down, rubbing the back of his neck.
"We weren't trying, but it happened. I found out two weeks ago."
"And that's it, then?" I asked, voice raw. "You chose her over me, your mate."
He nodded.
"I had to."
"No," I said, sharp and broken. "You wanted to. Don't pretend this was some noble sacrifice. You chose her, River. While I was gone, busting my ass to become the Luna you said this pack needed, you replaced me!"
He didn't answer.
That silence screamed louder than anything he could've said.
I stared at him, at the man I once thought I'd spend my life with, and felt something inside me crack. Not just the bond. Not just my trust. But the illusion that this place, this mate, had ever truly been mine.
"Congratulations, Alpha," I said coldly. "I hope she was worth it."
And then I walked away. Not stumbling and broken. He didn't follow, so I called Hennessy and told her to meet me at the Cave. We're going wild tonight.
-
The bass hit like a heartbeat, loud, steady, alive. "Cave" looked like every other upscale club tucked into the heart of the city, all neon haze and expensive drinks, but beneath the surface, it was made for wolves like us. Most humans didn't even know what they were walking into.
It didn't matter.
I didn't come here for the music. Or the crowd. Or the sleek interior with its hidden scent barriers and padded walls built to handle a wolf's temper.
I came here to fall apart and to cry my heart out.
Hennesy found me at the bar, just like she always did. My oldest friend, my anchor, and more like a sister to me than Reina. She didn't ask why I was already two shots in with a third on the way; she already knew.
"He did what?" she asked, wide-eyed, after I finally stopped talking.
I wiped my face, too tired to care about appearances. "Reina betrayed me, and he got her pregnant, Hen. While I was gone, training for a future that didn't even exist anymore."
Her lips thinned into a hard line. "I'll rip his throat out."
I let out a short, humorless laugh. "Get in line."
The night blurred after that. The drinks kept coming. I danced a little. Maybe too much. I screamed along to a song I barely knew, and then cried in the bathroom like a girl who'd never been broken before. Hennessey tried to take me home twice, but I told her I needed a few more minutes. She could go home. Even though she was hesitant, I told her I could manage.
Big mistake.
I stepped outside just past midnight, still dizzy, still clutching my jacket like armor. The alley behind the club was dim and quiet, too quiet. I should've known better.
I didn't even smell them until it was too late.
A van screeched behind me, tires scraping against wet pavement. Shadows moved fast, two men, maybe three. No pack scent and no warning.
"What the-" I staggered back, instincts kicking in too late.
Hands grabbed my arms. I fought hard. Threw a punch. Caught one of them in the jaw. But I was off-balance, off rhythm, and drunk.
One of them hit me. Not hard enough to knock me out, but enough to send me to my knees.
"Get her in the van," one of them muttered.
I screamed, but the music inside drowned me out. My wolf howled in rage, but I couldn't shift, couldn't focus. Everything spun. My limbs were heavy.
I fought until my vision blurred, claws tearing through my fingertips, but not fast enough.
They dragged me in.
The doors slammed shut.
And then everything went black.