My Sister’s Fiancé Is My Mate

The entire Mooncrest Pack had gathered to celebrate my sister’s future.

Music filled the pack hall as wolves laughed, danced, and raised their glasses. Long tables covered with food and wine stretched across the room, while silver decorations reflected the warm glow of hundreds of candles.

Tonight was about Selene and Kael.

My sister stood at the center of the hall beside the man she had been promised to since childhood. Almost every eye was drawn toward them, and I couldn’t blame anyone for staring.

Selene looked beautiful.

Her dark hair fell neatly over her shoulders, and the silver dress she wore caught the candlelight whenever she moved. She looked exactly like the woman Mooncrest expected to become its future Luna.

Someone beside me leaned closer.

“They look perfect together.”

“They do,” I replied.

And I meant it.

Selene was more than my older sister. She had always been the person who protected me when I was younger, especially when other children teased me for being too quiet. Whenever I doubted myself, she reminded me that I mattered.

I loved her.

That was why seeing her beside Kael made me happy.

Kael Blackwood was going to be her husband. Their families had arranged their future years ago, and everyone in Mooncrest had grown up expecting the same thing. In a few weeks, they would be married, and eventually Selene would wear the Luna crown beside him.

That was how it had always been.

So I had never questioned it.

I picked up my glass as Kael stepped forward, and the conversations around the hall gradually faded.

Kael didn’t need to raise his voice to command attention. Tall and broad-shouldered in his black suit, he carried the quiet authority expected of an Alpha.

He smiled at Selene.

She smiled back.

Something about the sight made me feel as though I was intruding, even though I had every right to be there. I looked away because this was their night, and I had no reason to stare at my sister’s future husband.

I lifted my glass again.

Then Kael walked past me.

His scent reached me before I could understand what was happening.

Everything inside me stopped.

The glass slipped from my fingers and shattered against the marble floor. The sharp sound cut through the music, but I barely noticed because the entire room seemed to disappear around me.

The laughter became distant.

The music faded into the background.

All I could smell was him.

Dark cedar.

Rain.

Something warm and strangely familiar that seemed to settle beneath my skin.

My heart slammed against my ribs.

Then my wolf woke.

She had always been unusually quiet, so quiet that I had sometimes wondered if something was wrong with me. While other wolves spoke freely to their hosts, mine rarely did.

But she wasn’t quiet now.

Her voice crashed through my mind with a certainty I had never heard before.

Mate.

My breath caught.

No.

I must have misunderstood her.

Then she said it again.

Mate.

Slowly, I raised my eyes.

Kael had stopped walking.

He was staring directly at me, and the controlled expression he usually wore as Alpha had disappeared. Shock was written clearly across his face.

His wolf had felt it too.

My heart began racing.

Not him.

Anyone but him.

My gaze moved past Kael.

Selene was still standing near the center of the hall, happily speaking with one of the elders. She hadn’t noticed what had happened.

She couldn’t know.

Not yet.

I turned and hurried toward the doors before my legs could give out.

“Liana?”

Someone called my name, but I didn’t stop.

I pushed through the doors and stumbled into the quiet corridor. My hands were shaking as I pressed them against my sides and tried to steady my breathing.

“Please,” I whispered. “Tell me this isn’t real.”

My wolf answered immediately.

He is ours.

“No.”

Mate.

I closed my eyes as guilt twisted painfully inside my chest.

How could fate be this cruel?

Kael was Selene’s. Their families had arranged their future years ago, and the entire pack expected them to marry.

I couldn’t do this to her.

The door behind me opened.

I didn’t need to look.

I already knew that scent.

“Liana.”

“Don’t.”

Kael quietly closed the door behind him.

For several seconds, neither of us spoke.

Then he asked, “You felt it.”

It wasn’t a question.

I forced myself to look at him. His jaw was tense, and his eyes were darker than they had been in the hall.

“Go back.”

His brows drew together.

“What?”

“Go back to Selene.”

“Liana..”

“Please.”

He took a step toward me, and I immediately stepped back until my shoulder touched the wall.

“Don’t come closer.”

He stopped.

“Did you feel the bond?”

I looked away.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” he said quietly. “I felt it.”

My chest tightened.

“Then forget it.”

His expression hardened.

“You think I can forget my mate?”

The word made my entire body tremble.

“Don’t call me that.”

“But you are.”

“No.”

“Liana.”

“My sister is inside.”

That silenced him.

Selene.

The woman he was supposed to marry.

Kael dragged a hand through his hair before speaking again.

“Selene and I are getting married in a few weeks.”

“I know.”

“You’ve always known?”

“I’ve known my whole life.”

He studied my face.

“Then you know what this means.”

A bitter laugh escaped me.

“It means nothing.”

“You don’t believe that.”

“I have to.”

I pushed myself away from the wall.

“I don’t care what our wolves say. I don’t care what fate says. You’re my sister’s fiancé.”

His expression changed.

“And you’re my mate.”

My heart twisted painfully.

“I won’t take you from her.”

“I didn’t ask you to.”

“You don’t understand.”

“Neither do you.”

His voice softened as he looked at me.

“Neither of us chose this.”

“I know.”

“But you’re acting like you’re the only one responsible.”

His words silenced me because I knew he was right.

Neither of us had chosen this.

But someone was going to get hurt.

And I already knew who it would be.

Selene.

“I love my sister,” I whispered.

His expression softened.

“I know.”

“So this ends here.”

The words hurt more than I expected, but I forced myself to mean them.

Kael stared at me for a moment before taking another step closer.

My wolf reacted instantly.

Warmth rushed through my body, and my knees almost weakened. I hated how easily my own body betrayed me.

Kael noticed.

Neither of us moved.

Then footsteps sounded beyond the door.

“Kael?”

Selene.

My heart stopped.

Kael glanced toward the door before looking back at me.

“You need to stay here.”

Before I could answer, he opened the door.

Through the small opening, I saw Selene walking toward him. The moment she saw Kael, her face brightened.

“There you are. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“I needed some air.”

Selene slipped her hand into his.

My chest tightened, and I looked away.

This was how it was supposed to be.

Selene and Kael.

Not me.

Never me.

I waited until their voices disappeared before leaving the corridor.

When I returned to the celebration, everyone was still laughing and talking as if nothing had happened.

As if my entire world hadn’t just shifted beneath my feet.

Then Selene saw me.

Her smile faded slightly as she walked toward me.

“Liana, where have you been?”

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

She studied my face.

“You look pale.”

“I’m fine.”

She didn’t look convinced.

“Did something happen?”

My heart began pounding again.

I forced a smile.

“No. Nothing happened.”

Selene watched me for another moment before reaching for my hand.

“Come on. I want you beside me when we make the announcement about the wedding.”

I let her pull me toward the center of the hall, even though every step felt heavier than the last.

As I walked beside my sister, I tried to convince myself that I could bury what had happened and pretend the bond had never existed.

But deep down, I already knew the truth.

Her future husband was my mate.