Stealing My Best Friend’s Mate

14- Bond Betrayal

Sloane’s POV

The sound that rips from my throat doesn't feel human. It isn’t. Inside me, Zia claws at the walls of my chest, thrashing in a frantic, desperate attempt to escape the agony. It’s a rawness I’ve never known, an excruciating tearing deep in the center of my chest, right where our bond used to pull.

Seeing them like that- flesh against flesh, sharing something that was supposed to be holy- makes the air freeze in my lungs. It feels like someone reached into my chest with bare hands and ripped my heart clean in two. Every nerve in my body is screaming.

Zia whines, a broken, agonizing sound that echoes in my mind, her spirit collapsing under a weight we were never meant to carry. A shattered, ragged sob that vibrates through every bone in my body.

The mate bond doesn't just hurt; it feels like it’s actively tearing itself out of my soul, thread by bloody thread. I press both hands over my chest, gasping for air that won't come, trying to hold together a heart that is disintegrating from the inside out.

‘Moon Goddess, spare me,’ I plead when my eyes find the almost full moon.

Farther out, the great black wolf pauses. Moros lifts his heavy head, turning his glowing eyes back toward the fire. His ears flatten slightly when he sees me on the floor, and my hand reaches out towards him. His head turns, and he spots Kai and Judy, who had no idea what had happened to me, their heat so intense that even the giggles around us don’t penetrate them.

I hear Xavier’s wolf- more like I sensed his concern as he raced back towards me, growling loudly.

It was this warning growl that broke the hot couple apart, and the other wolves who had run off already came back into the clearing, everyone staring at me. Or maybe Xavier, who was now beside me.

Moros licked my cheek before he nudged my face with his snout, his eyes silver-gray, glowing beneath the moonlight, the faint crimson ring around each iris impossible to mistake. Even in wolf form, anyone who looked into those eyes knew exactly whose wolf stood before them.

Zia whimpers, and he sneers, backing away a bit, then runs around me as if unsure what to do. He licks my face again, and I feel Zia respond to it. By this time, Kai had made his way towards us, and with a jacket concealing his private area, he kneels in front of me but Xav- Moros snarls, and he falls backward, a confused expression on his face.

V calls to Zia as Kia rushes towards us. Kia’s wolf and Zia’s mate.

A familiar tug buried so deeply inside me that my chest tightens before I even realize what's happening. Zia stirs immediately, instinct urging her toward him. Toward the wolf the Moon Goddess had chosen for her.

For one terrifying heartbeat, she almost answers. Then another sensation brushes against us- a low ripple of warmth that doesn't demand.

Moros. The strange tingles spread through me again, soft enough to make Zia hesitate. Confused, she withdraws into herself, no longer reaching for V, but refusing to acknowledge whatever it is she keeps sensing from Xavier's wolf.

Across the clearing, Judy watches everything unfold. Her brows knit together, yet she doesn't move from that position. She simply stands there, her arms folded tightly across her chest, as though she's trying to convince herself none of this concerns her.

Around us, murmurs spread through the pack. Faces that had mocked me only moments ago now wear expressions of concern. Some step closer and others hesitate. Not because they're worried about me, but because the future Alpha is.

Kai's face hardens. Ignoring Xavier's warning, he reaches for me again, his hand beneath my head lifting, sending the mate sparks through me. "I've got you-"

Before his hand can touch me, a massive black blur slams into him. The impact sends Kai sprawling across the forest floor with a startled grunt.

My own head strikes the dirt as I lose what little balance I have left and pain explodes through the back of my skull. I gasp, the sharp sting replacing the familiar warmth that always accompanies my mate's touch.

Everything hurts. Everything.

A savage snarl rips through the air, and V surges forward. His massive gray-white coat gleams beneath the moonlight, thick and striking against Moros' sleek, jet-black fur. The two wolves crash toward one another, black meeting silver, their combined Alpha presence washing over the clearing like a living force.

Every sound dies.

Conversations cut off mid-sentence. Wolves instinctively lower their heads. Even the insects seem to fall silent, as though the forest itself recognizes the power colliding before me.

The growls continue, low and threatening, until V's ears slowly flatten. His head lowers to submission, and the tension breaks almost instantly.

My own body, however, refuses to cooperate. It's as though I'm trapped inside it.

Kai… my mate and Judy…my friend…The image of them kissing, naked bodies pressed against each other in what should have- it keeps replaying behind my head until another wave of hurt crashes over me.

A groan escapes before I can stop it as I try to roll onto my side and strong hands immediately steady me.

The familiar tingling returns. Xavier.

"Easy," he murmurs. The warmth of his touch grounds me just enough to slow the frantic pounding of my heart. “I’m here, everything is okay.”

I believe him because I feel the ease in me.

Then the warmth disappears.

"No..." The word leaves me before I can stop it. Panic rises so suddenly it steals what little breath I have left. My fingers reach weakly toward where he'd been.

"Don't-" My voice cracks. "Don't leave me."

"I'm coming right back." His voice is calm. "I just need my clothes." Then his tone hardens. "Kai."

Silence.

"Don't touch her."

By the time I force my eyes open again, he's already back.

He has jeans pulled on now, though his chest remains bare. His T-shirt hangs over one shoulder while he bends beside me once more. Without even looking up, he points toward the edge of the clearing. "Someone grab her bag."

Another pause. "And my shoes."

Before I can protest, one arm slides beneath my knees while the other supports my back. The world tilts, but he lifts me as though I weigh nothing at all. By the time I realize where we're headed, the lights of the Pack House come into view beyond the trees.

"No-" The word comes out little more than a whisper. I can't go back there.

Xavier simply makes a low, soothing sound deep in his chest. The gentle rumble vibrates against my cheek where it rests against him, somehow easing the panic clawing at my ribs. Without breaking his stride, he carries me past the Pack House altogether.

Toward his truck.

__

“I’m staying the night, behave,” Xavier is once again rumbling the sounds in his chest, and I melt back into him.

Currently, we’re on my bed, with him spooning me, and Kai is the last thing on my mind.