The other woman

Kiki

———-

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about being married to an Alpha, it’s that drama doesn’t wait for an invitation. It just barges in, kicks the door open, and sets your peace on fire.

I crossed my arms and stared at my husband… my formerly sane husband who had just dropped the “fated mate” bomb on me like it was an afterthought.

“Explain,” I said, my voice calm. Too calm. The kind of calm that made Dan’s eyes flicker because even he knew I was two seconds away from turning into a storm.

He rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding my gaze like the coward he suddenly was. “Rita… she’s from another pack. She was kidnapped, forced to work as a slave in the rogue camp. She’s malnourished, weak, and—”

“—and has you acting like her personal hero,” I cut in.

He winced. “She has no one to rely on, Kiks. She’s been through a lot.”

“Oh, poor thing,” I said with enough sarcasm to poison a room. “And what now, you want me to braid her hair while you feed her soup?”

“Kiki…” he started.

I held up a hand. “Don’t Kiki me right now, Daniel.”

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. Goddess help me, I was trying to stay rational for the baby, for my blood pressure, for the fragile remnants of my sanity. “Fine,” I said finally. “We’ll help her. I’ll help her. She can recover here.”

He looked relieved. Rookie mistake.

“BUT,” I said, pointing a finger at him, “after she’s all healed and shiny again, you’re going to reject her.”

Dan blinked. “Reject her?”

“Yes, reject her,” I snapped. “Like a bad loan application.”

He froze. “Kiks… I can’t.”

“You can’t?” My voice went sharp. “You mean you won’t.”

He shook his head. “She’s too weak right now. Rejection could kill her.”

“Oh, so now it’s my fault she’s fragile?” I threw my hands in the air. “You can lift a tree with one hand, but you can’t reject your fated mate because she might get a headache?”

His jaw tightened. “I’m your husband, Kiki. But an Alpha with a true mate is the strongest Alpha. I have to stay strong for the pack. I can’t reject her.”

Something in me cracked, tiny and sharp. I didn’t want him to see it, so laughed instead.

Then he added, “But I will always love you, Kiki. Please, understand my position.”

Oh, the audacity. The bravery. The pure stupidity of that sentence.

I took a step closer, smiled sweetly, and said, “Do you really think I’ll share my husband with another woman? You’re insulting me, Daniel Kane.”

The air went cold. Even the Moon Goddess probably held her breath.

Then I turned on my heel, marched back to the pack house, and slammed the door so hard the walls shivered. I waited desperately for my husband to come knocking and tell me he will reject her, but the knock never came… I know throwing a tantrum was the best way to handle this matter but I just couldn’t help it… I asked before our marriage what he will do if he ever find his mate, he promised or rather he looked me dead in the eye and said he will reject her. He said the idea of not having the right to choose who to spend the rest of your life with was a stupid thing.

Why was he like this same stupidity now.

—-

Morning came, dragging me out of a night that didn’t include one second of sleep. My pillow was damp, my eyes puffy, and my patience gone. Dan hadn’t come home. Big surprise.

I felt awful dizzy, hot, and a little nauseous. Probably stress. Or heartbreak. Or both. So I grabbed my bag and went straight to the hospital.

Tia took one look at me and groaned. “You look like you fought a bear and lost.”

“I feel worse,” I muttered, dropping into a chair.

She ran a few tests while I tried not to cry on her floor. When she came back with the results, her face was serious too serious.

“Okay, mama,” she said carefully, “you’re pregnant with twins.”

My mouth fell open. “Twins?!”

“Yes, ma’am,” she said. “But before you start shopping for double strollers, listen to me your body’s under a lot of stress. You’re showing signs of a threatened miscarriage. You need rest. No stress. No drama.”

I laughed weakly. “No drama? In this pack? With my husband’s new miracle mate living down the hall? Tia, are you insane?”

She sighed. “Have you told Dan yet?”

I looked away. “No. He found his true mate. I didn’t think… he’d care.”

Tia’s eyes softened. “Oh, Kiks. You don’t give that man enough credit. He loves you. You should talk to him. He deserves to know.”

“Does he?” I mumbled, rubbing my belly. “Because yesterday he said an Alpha with his fated mate is stronger. Apparently, his wife doesn’t make the cut.”

Tia ignored my bitterness and flipped through her chart. “Speaking of the new addition,” she said, “Rita came in yesterday.”

My head snapped up. “She what?”

“Yeah,” Tia said, lowering her voice. “Rita, she refused to let any doctor touch her. She screamed, cried, totally lost it. It took three nurses to calm her down. But guess what?”

I crossed my arms. “What?”

“She only calmed down when your Dan arrived.”

I stared at her. “Of course she did.”

“She was acting terrified, unstable,” Tia went on. “Poor thing might be traumatized, but… she kept saying his name like he was her savior.”

I groaned. “Tia, please don’t make me feel sorry for her right now. I’m hanging by a hormonal thread.”

Tia smiled sadly. “All I’m saying is talk to him. Tell him about the babies. He’ll be over the moon.”

“Yeah,” I muttered. “Or maybe he’ll be too busy building a throne for his fated mate.”

Still, as I left his office, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

He deserved to know.

My babies deserved that much. And I need to calm down and hear my husband out, he loves me too much to break is promises.

So I went to his office. His scent lingered in the air that familiar mix of pine and smoke that made my chest tighten. But the room was empty.

I frowned and turned toward the door of his study.

That’s when I heard voices.