He Called Me a Pet, His Brother Called Me Mate

Inside the VIP room, the football team laughed. Their words were slick with mockery.

“So Chloe’s just a toy to you.”

“Want me to text her not to come? Keep her from crawling into your bed while you’re in rut. Seriously, girls who throw themselves at you are always so cheap.”

Justin stopped him. His body burned with fever as he growled.

“Forget it. If I tell her not to come now, what will she think?”

“She’s a toy, yeah. But she’s one I’ve protected since we were kids. I don’t want to humiliate her.”

“When she gets here, I'll see if I can keep my hands off her.”

“There are some things I don’t want to say out loud. This is a good chance for her to learn her place.”

I wanted to storm in. I wanted to scream in his face.

You don’t want to humiliate me? You let your friends laugh while you call me a pathetic pet begging for scraps. And I was supposed to love you for all these years?

But I held back. I turned and walked away. No tears. I wouldn't waste them on him.

I thought for a moment. Then I called Garrett’s Beta back.

“You said you need me to soothe Garrett?”

“Send me the address. I’m on my way.”

Thirty minutes ago, the Beta told me a truth Justin had deliberately hidden.

“Chloe, remember five years ago? Justin took you out on his yacht against the rules. You were swept into a riptide and drowned.”

“The Alpha led us. We searched the stormy sea for three days and nights. He found you washed ashore. No pulse. No breath.”

“The Alpha told Justin a pureblood Alpha can tether his soul to his Mate. He just had to mark her on a full moon.”

“It’s a deep marking. A soul-for-a-soul kind of bond.”

“Once done, he sees you as his only Mate. Forever.”

“But Justin wouldn’t do it. He didn’t want you to die, but he wouldn’t make the sacrifice. He just held your body and cried like a coward.”

“In the end, the Alpha saved you.”

“You were lucky. It was a full moon.”

“To save you, the Alpha forced the marking. He bit your neck. He tethered his Alpha soul to yours. Now, he can only ever have you as his Mate.”

“But Justin begged the Alpha never to tell you.”

“For five years, on every full moon, the Alpha locked himself away. Survived on sedatives. He never bothered you. He strictly forbade us from saying a word.”

“But he can’t make it through tonight. He’s seriously injured. He’s dying. And now the full moon rut is hitting him. Without you to soothe him, he won’t survive.”

“Please. Can you come help him?”

My mind went blank.

I had died once? I never knew.

Justin claimed he loved me. But he let me die.

It was his terrifying Alpha brother, Garrett, who dragged me back from hell.

But even after hearing all that, my first response to the Beta had been cold.

“I’m sorry. Justin’s first rut is tonight. He needs me more.”

I chose to be an ungrateful monster. I rushed to Justin’s side.

Only to be mocked as a pet he could summon at will. A cheap plaything.

Yeah. I’m a real idiot.

I deserve to be looked down on.

But I won’t make that mistake again.

I wiped my eyes. My grip tightened on my phone.

“I want to repay him for saving my life,” I told the Beta. “Is it too late?”

“If Garrett really needs me tonight, I’ll go. Right now. Whatever he wants, I’ll give it to him.”