C5

Elara Ashwolf

Vesper Blackveil was lying on my marriage bed, wearing my ceremonial white silk robe. When her green eyes caught sight of me, she flashed me a sweet, victorious smirk.

If I were not standing inside the Ashwolf Moon Lodge, I would have sworn I had stepped into a nightmare. Looking closer, her dark hair and sleek build confirmed it immediately—she was the rogue wolf from the memory crystal.

My skin flashed scorching hot. I surged forward, raising my arm to slam my claws across her smiling face. But before my hand could land, a thick wrist caught mine with brute force, yanking me back so hard my feet left the floor and I crashed onto the cold wood.

I jerked my head up in shock, staring right into the eyes of my Beta husband, Valen Duskbane.

Giving me a cold, detached glare, Valen turned around, kicked the heavy oak door shut, and stalked toward me step by step.

"It is one thing to keep a rogue mistress outside the border," I choked out, scrambling backward as my palms burned against the floor. "But you bring a rival she-wolf into our sanctuary? She sleeps on my bed? Wears my sacred Luna robe? Are you insane, Valen?"

Seeing him close the distance like a predator, I tried to push myself up, but he moved with Beta speed. He snatched me by the shoulders, yanked the heavy wolf-fur quilt off the mattress, and wrapped it tightly around my skinny body, pinning my arms to my ribs. My screams and curses meant nothing to him. His calm expression filled me with absolute terror.

The rogue woman on the bed stayed sprawled out, watching us like a lazy cat with that permanent, sickening smirk.

When I could not move a muscle, Valen lifted my wrapped form and shoved me hard onto the mattress. I tumbled helplessly, landing mere inches from Vesper’s bare thigh.

"What is the meaning of this, Valen?" my voice cracked, tears burning my eyes as my wolf thrashed uselessly beneath the tight blanket. "What are you doing?"

I had waited all day for an explanation, for a shred of remorse, but this horror was what welcomed me home.

"Did you not demand an explanation over the mind-link?" Valen’s lips curved into a dark, vicious smirk as he unbuttoned his leather tunic, letting it fall to the floor.

I had seen him undress a hundred times, but tonight, the sight made sour bile rise in my throat.

"I am going to give you a full explanation through action," Valen purred, stepping up to the edge of the bed. "A short crystal recording cannot capture the full truth, can it?"

My mind shattered into a million pieces. My chest heaved as I stared at him. Was this really the honorable Beta I stood under the full moon with?

"Valen... we are bound under pack law, for Goddess's sake!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, my throat raw. "You cheat on me with a rogue outcast, bring her into our bed, and feel zero guilt? You are a monster!"

Pure, unadulterated despair flooded my soul.

Stripped down to his trousers, Valen leaned over the mattress and clamped his large, calloused hand around my jaw, squeezing until my teeth bruised my inner lips. I thrashed my neck, but an Omega’s strength was nothing against his Beta grip.

"You were never pure when you came to my bed, Elara," Valen sneered, his dark eyes ablaze with months of built-up humiliation. "So why play the saintly Luna now? We repulse each other anyway, don't we?"

My eyes went wide. Everyone had a past before their formal mating ceremony!

"Do not look at me with those wide eyes as if you were an untouched maiden!" he spat, shoving my head back onto the pillows.

The moment his hand released me, Vesper slid forward over the sheets, wrapping her bare arms around his waist. She pressed her scent markers against his hip, pulling him down beside her while locking her eyes on mine in direct defiance.

I felt like my mind was tearing at the seams. If I had known my past would rot his soul like this, I would have rejected the arranged alliance no matter how much the Elders pushed. I agreed to mate him because I thought he was a decent male who would protect my place in the pack. Now, I was paying for that mistake in blood and humiliation.

Vesper purred softly, her claws lightly scraping down Valen’s chest as she looked down at my trapped, bound body. "She is so small, Valen. She cannot even give you a strong pup for the pack."

"She is nothing," Valen muttered, his broad hand coming down onto Vesper’s hip, digging into her flesh right before my eyes.

"Valen, please!" I sobbed, my voice breaking as the scent of their mixing hormones hit my nose, triggering an intense, painful spike of nausea deep in my gut. "Do not do this in front of me! Let me go!"

"You will stay right there and watch," Valen growled, his golden eyes flashing with dominant pack authority as he leaned down to bite Vesper’s neck. "You will see what a real female feels like."

My core twisted, not with desire, but with a sharp, violent cramp that pulled a gasping scream from my lips. My wolf whined inside my mind, retreating into the dark corners of my consciousness.

Vesper let out a loud, breathless moan as Valen pushed her down onto my pillows, his hand moving aggressively between her thighs.

I squeezed my eyes shut, tears streaming down into my hair, my body trembling so hard the bed shook beneath us. The sound of their heavy breathing, the wet skin against skin, and the sickening scent of their arousal filled the small room, suffocating me.

Just when I thought my heart would stop beating entirely, my phone on the bedside table buzzed, its bright light illuminating the edge of the dark mattress.

Valen did not stop, his hips moving in a rhythmic, heavy drive against Vesper, but my eyes snapped open toward the screen.

It was a text message from an unlisted number from the Crimson Dominion Quarter.

I am watching your pack link crumble, little wolf. Open the door, or I burn the Duskbane gates to the ground.