The Alpha's Contract Mate

The chimes of the Full Moon Festival echoed through the night air.

I fought down the nervous flutter in my chest and shot a text to Beta Lucas.

"When are we telling the pack, Beta Lucas? When do we finally mark each other?"

"I was still holding my breath when my brother, Alpha Ryan, suddenly raised his hand."

He pointed at the Sacred Oak in the middle of the plaza, his voice laced with surprise.

"Hey, Elena. Isn't that Lucas?"

"He's holding a girl's hand. Looks like the pack's in for a celebration."

I followed Ryan's gaze on instinct.

In that split second, my wolf went completely cold.

Lucas was kissing the girl in his arms, deep and passionate. I recognized her right away.

It was Sarah, the rogue wolf Lucas had brought back from the forest border the week before.

Word was she'd saved Lucas's life.

I must've been staring too hard, because Lucas suddenly looked up and locked eyes with us.

His pupils shrank the second he saw me.

A few seconds later, he slowly let go of the girl in his arms.

"Ryan, Elena. Let me formally introduce you two."

"This is Sarah, my chosen mate."

When he got to me, Lucas's eyes darted away.

He glanced quickly at my pale face, then turned to the Sarah beside him.

"This is Elena, Alpha Ryan's sister. She's like a little sister to me, too."

We'd shared a bed countless nights. And all I got in the end was the label of sister.

Fine, then. If your little sister marries another Alpha, you'll surely bless me, won't you?

...

Sarah turned her head. Her eyes glinted with victory.

"Elena, I'll be living in the pack from now on. Please take care of me."

She leaned in to Lucas, her hands clutching his arm tight.

"After all, Lucas is swamped as the future Beta. Pack business keeps him buried."

"He barely has the energy to look after a newcomer like me."

I stared at the matching promise rings on their ring fingers.

My eyes burned, and my inner wolf scratched frantically at my chest.

Lucas was busy, all right.

Busy lying to me, saying he was stuck in a Council meeting for the Full Moon Festival.

Busy holding another girl's hand, accepting the pack's blessings.

Busy kissing someone else under the Sacred Oak while I waited for his reply.

The tips of Lucas's ears turned pink.

He looked down at Sarah, his tone soft with a tenderness I'd never known.

"Don't say that. No matter how busy I am, I'd never neglect you."

"Whenever you needed me, didn't I show up right away?"

His words sent a bitter acid rising from my heart to my throat.

It felt like swallowing a handful of wolfsbane powder.

I thought back to the week before, when I'd gone to gather herbs to treat his wolfsbane poisoning.

I'd slipped off a cliff by accident and broken my leg.

I texted him for help in the pouring rain.

He only replied that he was handling a border conflict.

Told me to crawl back to the Healing House on my own, then went radio silent.

It turned out he wasn't short on time.

His time just never belonged to me.

Just then, Ryan clapped Lucas hard on the shoulder.

His voice was brimming with warmth.

"That's amazing, Lucas. You're the Beta now, and you've got your chosen mate. I'm happy for you."

He spoke, then turned to me, his eyes twinkling with teasing.

"Speaking of which, Elena's got a boyfriend too."

"I heard they've been dating in secret for a year, but she won't tell me which wolf it is."

"At first, I secretly thought it was you and Elena."

"You're childhood friends, and you both serve in the Pack Guard together."

Ryan laughed heartily and took a big swig of his malt ale.

"But seeing your chosen mate today, I realize I was way off base!"

Cheers and howls from the pack exploded all around us.

They only made my paper-white face look paler.

Lucas spoke almost at once, his tone perfectly natural, no flaw in sight.