Betrayed By My Husband, Mated To His Brother

I should have gone home that evening.

Adrian had told me he was too busy to attend the business event with me, and for a few minutes that afternoon, I had considered staying home instead. I had never been particularly comfortable at gatherings like this. There were always too many wealthy people, too many conversations about companies and pack alliances, and too many wolves who seemed to know exactly how much influence they carried.

I was a wolf shifter too, of course. I had grown up knowing that part of myself, just as I had grown up knowing that some wolves were born into powerful packs and that an Alpha’s authority could be felt even before he spoke. It had never seemed extraordinary to me.

What mattered was that I had spent most of my adult life beside Adrian.

After seven years of marriage, I had become so used to his presence that I had stopped questioning the things that should have bothered me. When he said the company was struggling, I believed him. When he told me we needed to be careful with money, I adjusted my spending. When he said he was too busy to come somewhere with me, I simply accepted it.

So when he told me that afternoon that I should attend the event alone, I didn’t think there was anything strange about it.

“It will be good for you to meet some of the people I work with,” he had said, barely looking away from his phone. “I have an important meeting, so I can’t come with you.”

I had smiled and nodded.

“Okay. I’ll go.”

He hadn’t even looked up when he thanked me.

At the time, I hadn’t thought much of it.

Now I wished I had.

I arrived at the hotel ballroom a little after eight. Soft music played beneath the hum of conversation while waiters moved through the crowd with trays of drinks. Men in expensive suits stood in small groups, discussing investments and business deals, while women dressed in elegant gowns laughed and exchanged greetings.

I recognized a few faces from previous pack gatherings, but I didn’t know any of them well enough to approach.

I stood near one of the tall windows, holding my purse against my side as I looked around the room. Adrian had mentioned that some of his business partners would be there, so I had expected to see at least one familiar face.

I couldn’t find anyone.

I was reaching into my purse for my phone when something caught my attention.

A moonstone pendant.

I stopped.

A woman standing several feet away was wearing a small silver necklace, and beneath it hung a pale moonstone with a tiny crescent carved into the center.

For a moment, I simply stared.

My heart gave a strange, painful beat.

I knew that pendant.

There was no way I could mistake it.

My mother had given it to me before she became seriously ill. She had worn it for years before passing it to me, and although it wasn’t worth a fortune, it was one of the few things I had left that belonged entirely to her.

I had kept it in my jewelry box for years.

Until one morning, I discovered that it was gone.

I searched everywhere.

I emptied drawers, checked beneath the bed, looked through old handbags and even searched the bathroom cabinets because I couldn’t remember the last time I had worn it.

Adrian had helped me look.

Or at least, I had thought he was helping me.

My eyes remained fixed on the woman.

I should have walked away.

Instead, I crossed the room.

“Excuse me.”

She turned.

Up close, she was even more striking. Her long brown hair fell neatly over one shoulder, and her dress looked expensive enough to cost more than several months of my old salary. There was a confidence in the way she stood that made it obvious she was comfortable around people with money and influence.

Her eyes moved over me before settling on my face.

“Yes?”

I looked at the pendant again.

“I’m sorry, but where did you get that necklace?”

Her fingers immediately touched the moonstone.

“This?”

“Yes.” I forced myself to remain calm. “I’ve seen one exactly like it before.”

Her lips curved into a small smile.

“Oh, Adrian gave it to me.”

For a moment, I didn’t understand her answer.

“Adrian?”

She nodded.

“My Adrian.”

Something inside me went completely still.

My wolf shifted faintly beneath my skin, responding to the sudden change in my emotions. I ignored her.

I forced a small laugh because there had to be some misunderstanding.

“You mean Adrian Veyne?”

She gave me an amused look.

“Of course. How many Adrians do you think I know?”

I stared at her.

She wasn’t embarrassed. She wasn’t nervous. She spoke about my husband as though she had every right to call him hers.

“Are you a business associate of his?” I asked, although something in my stomach already told me I wouldn’t like the answer.

She tilted her head.

“Business associate?”

A quiet laugh escaped her.

“No. We’re much closer than that.”

My fingers tightened around my purse.

Before I could ask another question, her eyes dropped to my left hand.

She looked at my wedding ring.

Then she looked back at my face.

The smile disappeared from her lips.

“You’re his wife.”

It wasn’t a question.

I swallowed.

“Yes.”

For the first time, genuine surprise crossed her face.

Then it disappeared just as quickly.

“So you’re Sera.”

A cold feeling moved through me.

“How do you know my name?”

She reached into her purse and took out her phone.

“Adrian talks about you sometimes.”

My chest tightened.

She unlocked the phone and turned the screen toward me.

The first photograph showed Adrian sitting at a restaurant table with his arm around her waist.

They were smiling at the camera.

Not the polite smile people used for business photographs.

They looked comfortable.

Intimate.

Like a couple.

I stared at the image, desperately searching for something that would make it less painful.

Maybe it was an old photograph.

Maybe I was misunderstanding the situation.

Maybe—

She swiped to the next photograph.

Adrian was kissing her.

The next showed him holding her hand.

Another showed him standing behind her while she opened a large gift box.

My chest tightened until breathing became difficult.

My wolf shifted again, restless beneath my skin, but this time I pushed her down harder.

I didn’t want to feel anything except anger.

“Why are you showing me this?”

She looked at me as though the answer were obvious.

“Because you asked.”

“I asked about the pendant.”

“And I told you Adrian gave it to me.”

My eyes returned to the moonstone around her neck.

“My mother’s pendant.”

She touched it almost casually.

“This?”

“Yes.”

“When did he give it to you?”

“Several months ago.”

My stomach dropped.

That was around the same time I had realized it was missing.

I looked at her face, hoping to find some sign that she was lying.

There wasn’t one.

Instead, she opened another folder on her phone and began showing me more photographs.

Shopping bags.

Jewelry boxes.

Luxury hotel rooms.

Expensive dinners.

Designer clothing.

Private trips.

The more I saw, the more difficult it became to recognize the man in those pictures as the husband I thought I knew.

One of the watches caught my attention.

I recognized the brand immediately.

Months earlier, I had seen the same watch in a store window and mentioned that I thought it was beautiful.

Adrian had laughed.

“You like that?”

“It’s beautiful.”

“You know we can’t waste money on things like that right now.”

I had understood.

At least, I thought I had.

Now I stared at the photograph on Celeste’s phone.

My eyes moved to the date beneath it.

Two days after I had asked Adrian for money for my mother’s medical treatment.

My throat tightened.

I remembered that day so clearly that it almost felt like I was back at our dining table.

I had been sitting across from Adrian, trying to remain calm while explaining how badly my mother needed treatment. I had been frightened, but I had trusted him enough to believe that he would help me.

He was my husband.

Who else was I supposed to turn to?

He had taken my hand.

“I’m sorry, Sera. The business is struggling. I can’t afford that amount right now.”

I had believed him.

I had even apologized for asking.

Now I was staring at a purchase made two days later that cost more than the amount I had begged him for.

“Where did he get the money for all this?”

Celeste slipped her phone into her purse.

“You really don’t know?”

I looked at her.

“Know what?”

“Adrian isn’t struggling.”

My heart seemed to stop.

“What?”

“He hasn’t been struggling for a long time.”

The room suddenly felt too warm. Conversations continued around us, music played softly in the background, and yet everything seemed distant.

Celeste leaned closer.

“He just likes letting you believe he is.”

I stared at her.

“Why would he do that?”

She shrugged.

“Maybe because you would ask too many questions.”

I looked away, trying to steady myself.

Seven years.

For seven years, I had believed we were building something together.

Whenever Adrian said money was tight, I spent less.

Whenever he said the company needed more time, I encouraged him.

Whenever he came home exhausted, I listened to him complain about his problems and reminded him that things would eventually get better.

I had made sacrifices because I thought they belonged to both of us.

All that time, he had apparently been spending money on another woman.

Celeste touched the pendant around her neck again.

“He does have good taste.”

My eyes immediately dropped to her hand.

“That belonged to my mother.”

She paused.

Then she smiled.

“I know.”

The casual way she said it made something inside me snap.

“You knew?”

“Adrian told me.”

I didn’t think.

My hand moved before I could stop it.

The slap echoed through the ballroom.

Celeste’s face turned with the force of it. For a second, neither of us moved.

My palm stung.

My heart was pounding.

My wolf was awake now, pacing beneath my skin, reacting to the anger I had spent the last hour trying to contain.

Several people nearby turned toward us.

I didn’t care.

Celeste slowly brought her fingers to her cheek and looked back at me.

There was no fear in her expression.

Only amusement.

Then she smiled.

“You really believed he was struggling all these years?”