Chapter 12

Joss

I barely noticed the music anymore.

The party was still going on around me, but my mind was somewhere else entirely.

Arielle was standing with Tori on the other side of the ballroom.

Clare was nearby.

And I was caught between them.

I had spent the last few minutes trying to convince myself that there had to be another way.

Some way to keep this from becoming what I knew it would become.

But there wasn’t.

A hand landed on my shoulder.

I turned.

Carlos.

“We need to talk.”

I nodded.

Carlos glanced around the room before lowering his voice.

“You need to tell your pack.”

My stomach tightened.

“About Clare?”

He nodded.

“Yes.”

“I was going to.”

“When?”

I didn’t answer.

Carlos sighed.

“Joss, your pack deserves to know.”

“I know.”

“They’re celebrating tonight. They’re happy. They trust you.”

“I know.”

“Then you owe them the truth.”

I looked toward Arielle.

She was talking quietly with Tori.

Her face was still pale.

She looked nothing like the woman who had been laughing only an hour ago.

“I don’t want to humiliate Arielle.”

Carlos’s expression softened.

“This isn’t about humiliating her.”

“It will hurt her.”

“Probably.”

I looked at him.

He didn’t sugarcoat it.

“But hiding the truth won’t stop it from hurting her,” Carlos continued. “It will only make things worse when everyone eventually finds out.”

I rubbed a hand over my face.

“I don’t even know what I’m supposed to say.”

“Tell them what happened.”

“And then what?”

“Then you deal with whatever comes next.”

I looked across the room again.

Carlos followed my gaze.

“You’re an Alpha, Joss.”

“I know.”

“Your pack will take their lead from you.”

That statement made my chest tighten.

Because I knew he was right.

If I appeared ashamed of Clare, the pack would treat her like an intruder.

If I welcomed her openly, Arielle would feel like I’d chosen Clare over her.

There was no decision that didn’t have consequences.

Carlos gave my shoulder a squeeze.

“Do it now.”

I took a deep breath.

Then I walked toward the centre of the ballroom.

I raised my hand.

The music slowly faded.

Conversations stopped.

One by one, the members of the Ice Lake Pack turned toward me.

A strange silence settled over the room.

Arielle looked at me.

Her eyes widened.

She knew what I was about to do.

I hated the pain I could already see in them.

“Everyone,” I called.

The room became completely silent.

I looked around at the people I had led for years.

My pack.

My family.

The people who trusted me to protect them.

“There is something I need to tell you.”

Whispers immediately began spreading.

I swallowed.

“Tonight, something happened that none of us expected.”

I glanced toward Clare.

She was watching me carefully.

Then I looked at Arielle.

My heart broke.

“I discovered that I have another fated mate.”

Silence.

Absolute silence.

Then the room erupted.

“What?”

“Another mate?”

“How is that possible?”

“He’s already mated!”

“Who is she?”

I raised my hand.

“Please.”

The room slowly quieted.

“My first mate is Arielle.”

I looked directly at her.

“That hasn’t changed.”

Her eyes filled with tears.

I forced myself to continue.

“But tonight, the Moon Goddess revealed that I have a second fated mate.”

I gestured toward Clare.

“Her name is Clare, and she is a member of the Golden Fern Pack.”

Every eye in the room turned toward her.

Clare stood tall.

She didn’t look ashamed.

She didn’t look frightened.

If anything, she looked determined.

The whispers began again.

Some were shocked.

Others were angry.

A few looked toward Arielle with sympathy.

I heard one of the older warriors mutter,

“Poor Luna.”

Another voice replied,

“It isn’t Clare’s fault.”

“Neither is it Arielle’s.”

“Then what is Joss supposed to do?”

“Reject the second mate.”

“Can he?”

“I don’t know.”

The room became louder.

I raised my voice.

“I understand you have questions.”

That stopped some of the conversation.

“The bond between Arielle and me remains. Finding another mate does not erase our existing bond.”

I paused.

“And I want everyone to understand that Clare did not choose this any more than I did.”

A man near the back spoke loudly.

“But she can be rejected.”

I looked at him.

“Yes.”

The room went silent again.

My eyes moved toward Clare.

She was watching me.

I could see the question in her expression.

Would I reject her?

I didn’t answer.

Not yet.

Someone else spoke.

“What about Luna Arielle?”

I looked at my mate.

She looked devastated.

“I love Arielle.”

My voice was steady.

“That hasn’t changed.”

A few pack members nodded.

But others remained uncertain.

One woman spoke up.

“Then why does Clare need to be here?”

The question hung in the air.

Clare’s expression tightened.

I answered before she could.

“Because she is my fated mate.”

A murmur swept through the room.

Another voice called out,

“Does that mean she’ll become Luna too?”

I felt Arielle flinch.

“No.”

The word came immediately.

“Arielle is my Luna.”

Clare’s face changed.

Only slightly.

But I saw it.

A flash of hurt.

Then anger.

She quickly masked it.

I continued.

“This situation is new to all of us. I don’t expect anyone to understand it tonight.”

I looked around the room.

“But I will not allow anyone to mistreat Clare.”

My gaze moved toward Arielle.

“And I will not allow anyone to mistreat Arielle.”

The room remained divided.

Some people looked sympathetic toward Arielle.

Others looked curious about Clare.

A few seemed fascinated by the unusual situation.

And some clearly believed Clare should leave.

I knew there would be arguments.

Questions.

Rumours.

Sides would be chosen.

And there was nothing I could do to prevent it.

I had hoped this night would be remembered as the greatest party our pack had ever had.

Instead, it would be remembered as the night everything changed.

I looked at Arielle.

She was crying silently.

Tori had her arm around her.

Then I looked at Clare.

She was standing alone, surrounded by strangers.

My wolf pulled painfully toward her.

Mate.

I hated that instinct.

Because every time it surfaced, I could see the pain it caused Arielle.

And suddenly I understood that this wasn’t going to be a single difficult conversation.

It was going to be a battle.

A battle between love and instinct.

Between the life I’d built and the bond the Moon Goddess had suddenly placed in front of me.

And as the whispers grew louder around the ballroom, I realized something else.

My pack had heard the truth.

But now they would have to decide where they stood.

And once they chose a side…

There might be no bringing us all back together.