Chapter 10

Arielle

For several seconds, I couldn’t breathe.

I stared at Joss.

His words kept repeating inside my head.

She’s my second fated mate.

No.

It couldn’t be true.

I’d heard the words.

I understood what they meant.

But my mind refused to accept them.

A second mate?

Joss already had a mate.

Me.

I was his mate.

His Luna.

His future.

His everything.

At least, that’s what I’d believed.

“You’re joking.”

My voice came out barely above a whisper.

Joss’s expression broke my heart.

He looked devastated.

“No, Arielle.”

I pulled my hands from his.

“Then tell me you’re lying.”

“I can’t.”

My chest tightened.

“Tell me this is some kind of mistake.”

“It isn’t.”

I stared at him.

Around us, the party continued.

Music played.

People laughed.

Glasses clinked.

Couples danced.

Yet somehow, it felt as though the entire world had stopped.

“It's her... isn't it?” I asked him quietly.

Joss hesitated and that hesitation hurt more than anything.

“Clare," he stated.

I repeated the name silently.

Clare.

The woman who had been standing beside him.

The woman who had looked at him in a way I had never seen another woman look at him.

The woman whose scent had apparently changed everything.

“Where is she?”

“Arielle—”

“Where is she?”

Joss looked toward the crowd.

I followed his gaze.

I found her almost immediately.

Clare was standing with several members of the Golden Fern Pack.

But she wasn’t talking to them.

She was watching us.

Watching me.

Our eyes met.

For one brief second, I saw something in her expression.

Not guilt.

Not sympathy.

Something else.

Something that made my stomach twist.

She looked almost…

satisfied.

I looked away.

“How long have you known about her?”

“Only a few minutes.”

I laughed bitterly.

“Minutes?”

Joss stepped closer.

“I swear to you, I didn’t know before tonight.”

“How convenient.”

“Arielle.”

“Don’t.”

I held up my hand.

I couldn’t stand him being close to me.

Not right now.

I couldn’t stand the thought of another woman being connected to him.

The same man who had held me this morning.

The same man who had kissed me.

The same man who had told me how beautiful the party was.

Had he already felt something for her then?

Had he looked at her and felt the same things he’d once felt when he’d first found me?

The questions tore through me.

“I need to get out of here.”

“Arielle, please.”

“I said I need to leave.”

I turned before he could stop me.

I walked as quickly as I could toward the other side of the ballroom.

I needed somewhere quiet.

Somewhere away from him.

Away from her.

Away from everyone.

“Arielle!”

I ignored him.

The ballroom doors were only a few metres away when a hand caught my arm.

I spun around.

Tori.

Her eyes immediately filled with concern.

“What happened?”

I opened my mouth.

Nothing came out.

Tori glanced over my shoulder.

Then she saw Joss.

She looked back at me.

“What did he do?”

My eyes filled with tears.

“He found his second mate.”

Tori froze.

“What?”

I nodded.

“Joss has another fated mate.”

Tori’s face went pale.

“No.”

“Yes.”

She pulled me toward a quieter corner of the ballroom.

“Come with me.”

I followed her blindly.

The moment we were away from the crowd, my control broke.

Tears spilled down my cheeks.

“I don’t understand.”

Tori wrapped her arms around me.

“I know.”

“He already had me.”

“I know.”

“We’ve been together for four years.”

“I know.”

“I thought…”

My voice cracked.

“I thought I was enough.”

Tori pulled back and held my face between her hands.

“Listen to me.”

I looked at her through my tears.

“This has nothing to do with you not being enough.”

“Then why?”

“Because sometimes life is cruel.”

I shook my head.

“No. The Moon Goddess is cruel.”

Tori sighed.

“I know.”

I wiped at my tears angrily.

“Why would she give him another mate?”

“I don’t know.”

“Why me?”

Tori frowned.

“Why you?”

“Why does this have to happen to me?”

She pulled me back into her arms.

I clung to her.

“I was happy.”

My voice was muffled against her shoulder.

“I was so happy.”

“I know.”

“I thought I had my forever.”

“You still have a future.”

“Do I?”

Tori didn’t answer immediately.

That silence frightened me.

I pulled away.

“Do I still have a future with him?”

Tori looked into my eyes.

“I don’t know.”

The honesty hurt.

But somehow, I needed it.

“I don’t want to lose him.”

“I know.”

“I love him.”

“I know.”

“But I’m angry.”

“You have every right to be.”

I shook my head.

“I don’t want to be angry with him.”

“Then don’t force yourself not to be.”

I looked at her.

“You can love someone and still be furious with them.”

Her words settled over me.

Because that was exactly what I was feeling.

I loved Joss.

I loved him so much that it hurt.

And right now, I was furious with him.

Not because he had chosen this.

I knew he hadn’t.

But because somehow, another woman had been given a place in his life that I had always believed belonged only to me.

“Does she love him?”

Tori’s expression hardened.

“I don’t know.”

“I saw the way she looked at him.”

“So did I.”

I looked at her sharply.

“You noticed?”

Tori nodded.

“She wasn’t looking at him like a stranger.”

My stomach twisted.

“Do you think she wants him?”

Tori didn’t hesitate.

“Yes.”

The answer hit me like a punch.

“Then what am I supposed to do?”

Tori stepped closer.

“Whatever you need to do to protect your heart.”

I stared at her.

“But what if Joss chooses her?”

Tori took my hands.

“Then you will survive it.”

I shook my head.

“I don’t know if I can.”

“You can.”

Her voice was firm.

“You have me.”

I looked at her.

“And Sam.”

A tiny smile appeared on my lips despite everything.

“Definitely Sam,” she added. “Although he’ll probably try to murder the chocolate fountain before this night is over.”

A broken laugh escaped me.

It was the first one since Joss had shattered my world.

Tori smiled.

“There she is.”

I wiped my eyes.

“I’m terrified.”

“I know.”

“What if everything changes?”

Tori squeezed my hands.

“Then we face it together.”

I looked at her.

“You mean that?”

Her expression became serious.

“I swear it.”

She stepped closer.

“I don’t care what happens between you and Joss. I don’t care what that woman wants. I don’t care what anyone else says.”

She squeezed my hands harder.

“You are my friend. You are my Luna. You are family.”

Tears filled my eyes again.

“I will never choose her over you,” Tori continued. “I will never abandon you. And if she thinks she’s going to walk into this pack and push you aside, she has another thing coming.”

I gave a shaky laugh.

“Tori…”

“I’m serious.”

“I know.”

“She might be Joss’s second mate.”

Tori glanced toward the ballroom.

“But you’re his first.”

My heart ached.

“I don’t know if that means anything anymore.”

“It means everything.”

I looked toward the ballroom.

Through the open doorway, I could see Joss.

He was standing alone.

He looked lost.

Broken.

Just like me.

For a brief moment, our eyes met.

His face filled with pain.

Mine filled with tears.

Then Clare appeared beside him.

She said something to him.

Joss turned toward her.

And something inside my chest cracked all over again.

Tori followed my gaze.

Her expression hardened.

“Don’t let her make you feel like you’re second in your own life.”

I swallowed.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

“You don’t have to decide tonight.”

I nodded.

For the first time since hearing those devastating words, I allowed myself to breathe.

I had Tori.

I had my friends.

I had my pack.

And somewhere deep inside me, beneath the heartbreak and the anger, there was still a tiny piece of the woman I’d been this morning.

The woman who had believed her life was perfect.

But that woman was changing.

Because tonight had taught me something I had never wanted to learn.

A fated mate wasn’t a guarantee.

Love wasn’t a promise that nothing could ever come between two people.

And sometimes, the person standing between you and the future you’d dreamed of…

was another woman who had been given the same man by the Moon Goddess.

I looked back at Clare.

She was still standing beside Joss.

And this time, when our eyes met, I didn’t look away.

Neither did she.

Something passed between us.

A silent understanding.

A warning.

This wasn’t over.

Not even close.

And somehow, I knew that Clare wasn’t going to be satisfied with simply being Joss’s second mate.

She wanted more.

She wanted what I had.

And she was going to do whatever it took to get it.