Chapter 1

My Cheating Mate

Emma pov

The scent hit me first—jasmine and vanilla mixed with Jeremy's pine and earth. My wolf recoiled instantly, a wounded howl echoing through my mind that I barely managed to keep from escaping my throat.

I'd come to surprise him. Stupid, naive me. I'd actually baked cookies, his favorite chocolate chip ones, still warm in the container I clutched against my chest like armor that had already failed to protect me.

The door to Jeremy's office wasn't fully closed. Through the gap, I could see everything.

Jeremy—my mate, my Jeremy, the man who'd promised me forever just six months ago when the mate bond snapped into place—had Vanessa pinned against his desk. Her legs were wrapped around his waist, her perfectly manicured nails digging into his shoulders as he thrust into her with an urgency he hadn't shown me in weeks.

"God, Van, I've missed this," he groaned, his voice rough with pleasure.

Vanessa laughed, breathy and triumphant. "Mmm, worth the wait? I told you that little mouse wouldn't satisfy you for long."

Little mouse. The nickname made my stomach turn. I'd heard her call me that before, always with a sweet smile that never reached her cold blue eyes. Jeremy had laughed it off. "She's just teasing, Em. Don't be so sensitive."

The container slipped from my numb fingers, hitting the floor with a dull thud. Cookies scattered across the hallway tile like broken promises.

They didn't even stop. Didn't even hear.

How long? The question screamed through my mind. How long had this been going on?

I thought back to all the times Jeremy had told me not to worry about Vanessa. His "best friend since childhood." The woman who'd been at his side for every pack event, every dinner, every moment that should have been ours.

"She's family, Emma. You're being paranoid."

"I can't just cut her out of my life because you're insecure."

"Why can't you be more understanding? More mature about this?"

He'd made me feel crazy. Made me swallow my instincts, my wolf's snarls of warning every time Vanessa touched his arm, whispered in his ear, looked at him with those predatory eyes.

And now here they were. Not even trying to hide it in some seedy motel or tucked-away corner of pack territory. Right here, in his office, in the heart of the Crescent Moon pack house where anyone could walk by.

Where I could walk by.

The realization hit me like a physical blow—they wanted me to find out. Or at least, they didn't care if I did.

Vanessa's moans grew louder, more theatrical. "You should just reject her already. We both know I'm your real match. We were meant to be together, Jeremy. You've always known it."

"I know, baby, I know." Jeremy's voice was strained. "Soon. I promise. I just need to handle it carefully. Her father's the pack Beta—"

"So? Your father's the Alpha. What's he going to do?"

The mate bond twisted in my chest, a searing pain that stole my breath. My wolf howled again, this time in rage as much as hurt. Every fiber of my being screamed at me to burst through that door, to shift and tear them apart, to make them feel even a fraction of this agony.

But I couldn't move. I could only stand there, frozen, as my entire world crumbled around me.

"My father expects me to produce an heir," Jeremy said, his rhythm never faltering. "Emma's... compliant. Easy to control. I'll get her pregnant, wait until after the heir is born, then reject her. The bond will be harder to break after we've consummated it, but not impossible."

Consummated. The word made bile rise in my throat. Every time he'd touched me, every moment of supposed intimacy—it had all been calculation. A breeding program. While he gave his real passion, his real desire, to her.

"You're terrible," Vanessa purred, clearly delighted. "Making that poor little mouse think you love her."

"I never said I loved her." Jeremy's voice was cold now, matter-of-fact. "I said the mate bond chose her. There's a difference."

The pain in my chest intensified until I thought my heart might actually stop. The mate bond was supposed to be sacred, the Moon Goddess's gift. Finding your fated mate was meant to be the greatest blessing a wolf could receive.

But Jeremy saw it as a curse. As an obligation to be fulfilled and then discarded.

I needed to leave. Needed to get out of this hallway before they finished and found me standing here like the pathetic "little mouse" they thought I was.

My legs finally obeyed, carrying me backward on silent feet. Years of training to be the perfect Beta's daughter—graceful, quiet, unobtrusive—served me well now. I made it to the stairwell before my knees buckled.

I pressed my back against the cold concrete wall, sliding down until I sat on the floor, and finally let the tears come. They fell hot and fast, each one carrying a piece of the future I'd imagined—the home we'd build, the children we'd raise, the lifetime of love and partnership I'd believed was mine.

All lies.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. A text from my best friend, Aria: "Still on for movie night? I'll bring the good ice cream 🍦"

Normal. Everything looked so normal from the outside. This morning I'd woken up as Emma Smith, mated to the future Alpha, living the life every young she-wolf in the pack envied.

Now I was just... nothing. A broodmare with an expiration date.

No.

The word formed in my mind, quiet but firm. My wolf pushed it forward, lending it strength.

No.

I wasn't going to be their victim. Wasn't going to let them use me, break me, and toss me aside like garbage.

I didn't know what I was going to do yet. But I knew I couldn't stay. Couldn't pretend. Couldn't let Jeremy touch me ever again.

I pulled myself to my feet, wiping my face with shaking hands.

The Emma they'd known—compliant, easy to control, naive enough to believe their lies—that Emma died in that hallway.

Whatever came next, whoever I became, she would be someone else entirely.