Chapter 6: Whispers of Betrayal
The pack hall erupted in chaos the moment Leo announced Lily’s true parentage.
“A half-blood heir?” Elder Marcus sneered, his yellowed teeth bared. “The child of a rejected mate cannot inherit the Alpha title!”
Lily hid behind my legs, her tiny fingers clutching my pants. I could feel her trembling.
Leo’s voice cut through the uproar like a blade. “My blood runs in her veins. That makes her my heir.”
Beta Ryan stepped forward, his face unreadable. “Alpha, the laws are clear—”
“I am the law!” Leo’s roar shook the rafters.
For a heartbeat, no one dared breathe.
Then a new voice sliced through the silence.
“Then you are no true Alpha.”
Every head turned toward the speaker—Elena.
Leo’s long-lost mate.
The woman who had replaced me.
The Return of the True Mate
She stood in the doorway like a vengeful spirit, her golden hair cascading over her shoulders, her blue eyes burning with fury.
The pack gasped.
I felt Leo stiffen beside me.
Elena’s gaze locked onto Lily, then me, her lips curling in disgust. “So this is why you called her back? To legitimize your bastard?”
Leo moved before I could react—his hand around Elena’s throat, slamming her against the wall. “You will not speak of my child that way.”
Elena choked out a laugh. “Your child? You mean the mistake you made with her?”
Something inside me snapped.
I was across the room before I realized it, my claws at Elena’s jugular. “Say one more word about my daughter,” I whispered, my wolf surging to the surface, “and I’ll rip out your tongue.”
The pack froze.
No one had ever seen me like this—feral.
Elena’s eyes widened in genuine fear.
Then Lily’s whimper broke through the red haze in my mind.
“Mama, I’m scared.”
I released Elena immediately, rushing to gather Lily in my arms.
Leo’s voice was deadly calm behind me. “Elena is banished. Anyone who questions my heir shares her fate.”
The Traitor’s Move
That night, as I tucked Lily into bed in the Luna quarters (Leo had insisted we stay there), a knock came at the door.
Beta Ryan entered, his face grim. “We have a problem.”
He spread a map across the table. “Shadow Fang isn’t just attacking—they’re being led by someone from inside our pack.”
Leo’s eyes darkened. “Who?”
Ryan hesitated. Then—
“Elena.”
My blood ran cold.
Leo’s fist shattered the table. “She was my mate!”
Ryan met his gaze steadily. “And she’s been poisoning you for years. Slowly. Making you weak. Making the pack vulnerable.”
A horrible realization dawned on me.
“That’s why you rejected me.”*
Leo’s head snapped toward me.
I stared at him, pieces clicking into place. “Elena returned right before you cast me out. She manipulated you—made you break our bond so she could take my place.”
Leo looked sick.
Ryan nodded. “And now she’s finishing what she started—destroying the pack from within.”
The Bond Reawakens
After Ryan left, Leo and I stood in silence, the weight of the truth between us.
Finally, he spoke, his voice raw. “I didn’t know.”
I turned away. “It doesn’t change what you did.”
His hand caught my wrist. “Selene—”
The moment his skin touched mine, fire erupted through my veins.
The mate bond—fully alive—screamed between us.
Leo gasped, his pupils dilating. “You feel it too.”
I tried to pull away. “It doesn’t matter—”
“It matters more than anything!” He crowded me against the wall, his breath hot on my lips. “The bond never broke because you’re my true mate. Elena was the lie.”
My heart pounded. “Prove it.”
Leo didn’t hesitate.
He kissed me.
And the world exploded.