Betrayed By The Alpha, Claimed By The Rogue King.

Estelle

“Have you ever fucked someone off-limits? Married? Engaged or taken?”

All eyes turned to Lara whose cheeks suddenly dotted up with pink as she tucked a loose strand and smiled.

The rule of the truth and dare game was simple. You skip the question and would have to endure the throat-burning aftermath of having to chug down three hot shots of Zinfandel.

I could see the hesitation in Lara’s eyes as her eyes cut to Claudia. She was about to reach for the small glass and I was not about to watch my daughter’s nanny get drunk. “Lara is innocent. She’s never even kissed before—“

“I’ve done that before. The kiss…” her eyes locked on mine, hand dropping to the side. “…and fucking someone who is taken,”

I sucked in a gasp. No way. The other girls chortled at the confession, Sana smirking at me with eyes that said ‘your nanny isn’t so innocent after all’. Claudia wriggled her index fingers at Lara. “You’re not a girls girl,”

Lara chuckled, knees pulled closer to her chest. “Never claimed I was one,”

It was the night of my bridal shower party. The fascinating part about this was that I didn’t even plan it. They all wanted to spend one more night with me before I was officially married to Alpha Eden and crowned as the Luna of the Blackfang pack.

The bridal shower was a lingerie-themed one—thanks to my friends and many thanks to them for including Lara in the planning. While the other four were friends whom I had known for a long time, dating as far back as when I was a child, Lara wasn’t.

She was a victim of the ruin that the psychotic Rogue King caused. Having lost her parents to King Riordan's recent attacks on her pack, she wanted to hang herself to death when I had saved her and brought her along with me.

The plan was to give her enough money to start a new life but she declined the offer, claiming that I’d saved her life and she would serve me for the rest of her life. Lara also seemed to have a connection with my daughter who was four months old then.

Seeing how much she loved and cared for Maeve, I hired her as the nanny. Since then, she’s been by my side as a friend, a confidant.

Lara was the sister I never had.

I clicked my tongue against my teeth in disappointment—texting Kaleb immediately. “Not even a single chance for you in hell,”

Kaleb's response came. “Ouch”

Kaleb was the pack’s beta, my childhood friend and he was the one who made me put Claudia into this game of asking about Lara’s love life. I mean, I had only asked Claudia to pry, not to ask questions about whether she was involved with someone else's man, woman, or whatever.

I tossed my phone back to the pink fluffy couch we were all sitting on, swerving my gaze back to Lara. “That is not nice, Lara,” I blurted.

She winced and winked at me. “I know. I can’t just stop,”

“So are you like in love love with him or just fucking around?”

A smile slowly stretched her face. “Both,” she was blushing.

I clutched my heart, the same time everyone gasped. “What the…”

Lara laughed softly. “I know. Crazy right?

I slowly released a sigh, shifting closer to her as I helped her pull back the strap that was already slipping off her shoulders. “Yeah, and I feel bad for who that woman could be,”

“He fell out of love with her a long time ago. I know this speaks badly of my character but I can’t let him go. He is literally my fated mate,”

Jaws dropped as I swung a hand over her shoulder and pulled her closer to me. “That is complicated. If he isn’t in love with her anymore, he should end their relationship. And if they are married, he should divorce her,”

“Let me give you some advice on what to do,”

Lara’s blue eyes perked up to mine. “Tell me. I’ve been conflicted on what to do…”

“Tell him it’s either he chooses you or her. Since he’s already cheated, he should let the woman go,”

Her face broke into a smile as she pushed to her knees and wrapped her hands around me. “You are a lifesaver,” she said, kissing me on the cheek.

I would still talk to her about this bad behavior. But, not here. Not with everyone watching.

My phone buzzed and as Lara pulled away, Claudia was already reaching for my phone. “Oh my goodness. The baby monitor just went off. I think Maeve needs your attention, Lara,”

My heart rate sped up. Maeve had developed a fever and whenever she was ill, she was always crying. . A sense of urgency flashed through Lara’s eyes as she shoved to her feet, grabbing her silk robe. “I will be right back,”

I wanted to stand up too but her hand landed on my shoulder. “No, enjoy your party. I will feed her medicine and put her to sleep,”

I placed my hand on her shoulder and returned her smile. “Thank you, Lara. You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me,”

She slipped her hands into the silk robe and my eyes followed her until she disappeared from my sight.

An annoying noise sounded from Vanya’s throat as I whipped my head to her, watching the small tilt of her head as her eyes clashed with mine. “I don't know if it’s just me, but the things you allow Lara to wear in the pack-house are outrageous. Those lace shorts she’s wearing are barely covering her ass,”

“It doesn’t rub off on you in the wrong way?”

All the other girls seemed to nod in agreement while I tossed a grape into my mouth and chewed. “No. It doesn’t. Her body, her choice,”

“Moreover it is a lingerie party and if you are scared of Eden’s eyes wandering,nah! He doesn’t even like her,”

Eden and I have been together for eleven years and even though we weren't mates because of my dormant wolf, he had eyes only for me and me alone.

We talked, took numerous selfies, and danced under the moonlight until it slowly hit me that Lara wasn’t back.

She must be having difficulties putting Maeve to sleep. I would take over and make her return here to have fun.

“Girls, I will be right back,” I grabbed my robe and made it straight to the hallway.

I was about to take another step when a sound made me stop dead in my tracks. I heard a ruffle, a moan, or my hearing had to be impaired right now.

My gaze lingered on the crack of my bedroom door and as I stepped forward, my heart almost jumped into my throat.

On my bed was a woman with her blonde hair spilling over the pillows, knees lifted to her chest as he slammed his cock inside of her—the sound of his balls slapping against her skin bouncing off the wall.

Something weird coiled in my chest and as I took a step to have a clearer view of who it was, that was when my heart stopped.

Eden.

My own Eden and the woman…

Lara.

I slapped my hand over my mouth to smother the gasp that was about escaping it—stumbling back and slowly it started making sense to me. The ‘taken’ man she was in an affair with was Eden. I? The woman Eden didn’t love anymore.

Anger boiled up in me like an unstoppable wave and in a fit of rage, I stormed into the room, flicking on the lights.

Eden jolted apart from her, face blanching as he shouted at me. “Geez, Estelle. What happened to your manners? What happened to knocking,”

I scoffed at the effrontery while Lara groaned as someone who was just interrupted as she turned her head to me and my heart slammed against my ribcage. She remained on the bed like it was hers, eyes holding mine without a single hint of remorse in them.

Then she tore her gaze and rolled her eyes. “When you are done, please use the door. Eden and I haven't finished yet,”

Those emotionless words hit me like a sledgehammer to my chest, fueling my anger. Was this a dream? How did we go from having the fun of our lives at the rooftop to this mess of her fucking Eden?

No. There was no way this was real. But it was. The more my gaze lingered on Lara’s naked body, it hit me that it was real.

“How dare you, Lara! After everything that I’ve done for you,”

Lara rolled over to her stomach, hands tucked under her head as she said. “Why are you causing a scene when I only followed your advice? You clearly told me to go for what I want and I went for Eden,”

I had had enough!

“Fuck you, Lara,” I shouted, and was about to pounce on her when Eden’s hand circled my stomach, lifting me off the ground as I kicked and thrashed in his arms.

Lara sat, laughed, and shook her head like I was pathetic.

“We can talk this out, instead of causing a scene like a mad woman,”

Mad woman? He called me a mad woman?

Those two words were the last trigger and before I knew it, I grabbed the perfume bottle and slammed it hard against his temple. Eden growled, releasing me while Lara’s eyes widened in shock.

I had never felt so much pain, so much rage as my chest heaved up and down.

“Fuck you both,” I screamed, feeling the tears pressing at the back of my eyelids. “This whole wedding thing is canceled. By the time I return, I want you two out of my pack,”

I chose Eden to rule the pack but now, I was done.

Like done.

“No wait—”

I didn't wait to hear what they had to say. I was already out the door. I could hear Lara’s panicked footsteps behind me and as her hand rested on my shoulder—it riled me up so bad that I spun to deliver a slap to her face.

But she had already lost balance.

In the blink of an eye, she was already tumbling down the stairs.

I didn't care.

Was too mad to even give a fuck.

With anger clogging my throat, I yanked my phone out and with trembling fingers, I texted Kaleb. “I just caught Lara in bed with Eden. Please take me out of here before I set the entire pack house on fire.”