Stealing My Best Friend’s Mate

15- Judy Has My Moonstone

Sloane's POV

Morning light barely filters through the cracked blinds of my tiny one-bedroom apartment. The events of last night come rushing back the moment my eyes flutter open, and instinctively, I brace for the pain.

Every muscle should ache, not from the tiny head bang but from my mate's unfaithfulness.

Yet... nothing.

Confused, I flex my fingers before cautiously sitting up. Not even a dull throb greets me. It's as though my body had healed overnight- my thoughts betray me, drifting back to Xavier's scent, the warmth radiating from his body, and the way he held me in his arms. Heat blooms across my neck and cheeks, and I groan into the pillow.

It's his alpha aura, I remind myself of what feels like the hundredth time. That's all this is.

My gaze drifts across the apartment, automatically knowing Xavier is gone, and I don't know why disappointment settles so quickly in my chest. Then I notice the pillow beside me.

It smells like him. Cedar, pine, and something uniquely Xavier. I didn't even realize I'd curled my fingers into the fabric until I caught myself breathing him in and my wolf sighing contentedly beneath my skin, awakening then. She relaxes into the lingering scent, while my own thoughts grow strangely sluggish, wrapped in a comforting haze I can't quite explain.

I squeeze my eyes shut. Ignoring the way Zia purrs- yes, purrs. Future Alphas have always carried a stronger presence. That's all this is. It has to be, because why else are we affected this way?

__

Without my car, Xavier picks me up again, just as he’s been doing since mine was totaled. He greets me as usual, but no conversation afterward. He does not mention last night and does not ask me if I am okay either. We have breakfast next door, where we get some stares that we ignore, then we walk onto campus together, gaining even more stares. The usual.

By breaktime, Judy finds me, even when I had been doing my best to avoid her and Kai. She is, as usual, impeccably styled in the team’s warm-up jacket. Flanking her is Darcy, twisting a strand of strawberry-blond hair around her finger, alongside Eileen and Nancy, both chatting about the upcoming regional match.

"Oh, Sloane," Judy says, stopping right in front of me so I can't get up from my seat under the huge almond tree. Her gamma voice is dripping with mock pity. "Look at you. Working so hard bright and early. After last night, we all assumed you’d be calling in sick."

I can’t believe this girl was someone I called a friend once.

Darcy and Nancy shift uncomfortably behind her, exchanging brief, guarded glances. They know how brutal last night was, but Judy holds rank, and no one crosses a Gamma when she's marking her territory.

“Yeah, I’m good.” Why does she want me to be suffering when she already has Kai? Wasn't he her goal? She has already won.

"Don't be so sensitive," Judy mocks me with her cheery tone. She casually reaches up, adjusting her collar to let a delicate silver chain slip into the harsh arena light.

Suspended from the chain is a raw, gleaming moonstone.

A sharp ache blooms beneath my ribs, and I can barely draw air.

It’s a sacred token, something a wolf only gives to the female he intends to claim forever. Kai had held my hand under the table when his mother brought it out to show me, saying this would be the one given to me.

Now, my engagement stone rests against Judy's collarbone.

‘This heifer.’ Zia nearly falls over. Not that it mattered to us anymore, but it still cut inside that Judy now wears it. It’s as if Kai had no real plans to actually dump her when I “regained” my memories.

"Isn't it gorgeous?" Judy touches the stone with manicured fingers, ensuring her voice carries across the quiet hallway toward Darcy, Eileen, and Nancy. "Kai gave it to me last night. He said some promises are meant for women who actually fit into his world, not an Omega who spends her life wiping down shelves."

Okay, there was this one time she came into the store where I work, and I had been wiping a bottle.

Eileen looks away, staring down at her shoes while Nancy bites her lip. They know the history of what Kai promised, as we all spoke on friendly terms sometimes. I had gushed about it and that it had been Lisa, Kai’s mother, who had shown it to me.

To have your boyfriend’s mother be close to you is the ultimate acceptance.

"It suits you," I whisper, forcing my voice to stay level, even as my hands tremble against the pen I held, on top of a book’s surface, resting on the table. "Affairs always look best on display."

Judy’s eyes flash a dangerous, golden yellow. She opens her mouth to snap, stepping closer to use her Gamma weight on me, but before she can utter a word, the girls all utter a warning.

Xavier walks towards us. His silver-gray eyes sweep the corridor, pausing briefly at Judy, then locking onto the pendant on her chest. A suffocating, terrifying aura ripples off him, and Judy stiffens, her smug composure instantly fracturing. She swallows hard, lowering her head just enough to acknowledge his rank, and steps back.

“Find something better to do,” he grates out, and Judy scoffs, but they leave.

Coming towards me, he quietly asks, “You know the moonstone?” He’s not asking if I know Kai’s, but in general.

“I remember what it signifies. I’m happy for them.” To add more to my fake memory loss, I say, “Did you have one for me?”

__

The hum of the fluorescent lights in the 24-hour convenience store three blocks off campus is the only sound keeping me awake.

It’s past eleven at night. My feet burn inside my cheap sneakers, and my back aches from stocking rows of energy drinks and cheap snacks. Between my classes at Shadow Pack University, working five shifts a week on campus, and grinding here four nights a week until midnight- plus whatever weekend hours I can snag- I’m running on sheer willpower.

The bell above the door chimes, cutting through the silence. I don't look up immediately as I wipe down the counter. "Welcome in, let me know if-"

"Sloane."

My hands freeze and tighten on the rag for a bit before I continue wiping as if unaffected, but Zia is chirping despite the pain she also feels.

Kai stands on the other side of the counter. He’s dressed in his varsity team hoodie, looking every bit the high-status Beta’s son. There’s an anxious, edge-of-his-seat energy radiating off him, but behind it lies that familiar, irritating arrogance.

"What are you doing here, Kai?" My voice is low, completely drained.

"I needed to talk to you,” Kai says, taking a step closer to the register. He reaches across the counter, his hands opening in a gesture of peace. "To see if you were okay.”

‘Wow, he took nearly twenty-four hours later to do this?’

‘Such a loser.’ I agree with Zia.

“But running off with Xavier? Letting his wolf mark territory over you in front of the whole pack?"

I stare at him, incredulous. "But he’s my boyfriend?”

“He- yes, but did he tell you that you broke up before the- the-”

‘Wow, this is definitely a new low, Sloane.’

Definitely. How pathetic he sounds right about now.

“Whether we broke up or not, that isn't important. We’re back together-”

“Sloane, no. You don’t know-”

‘Is he actually trying to sabotage Xavier?’ I frown, but I venture the question to my wolf anyway.

Her reply is swift. ‘Seems so.’

"Hey, congratulations on the stone. Judy showed me today." The words leave my mouth casually enough. Showed? Ha. More like she made sure I couldn't miss it. “You both make a great couple.

He reaches out, his fingers aiming for my wrist, but I tug my hand out of reach, still gripping the cloth.

"Touch her, and you lose the hand."

The temperature inside the small store plummets and Kai freezes instantly, his head snapping toward the entrance.

Xavier stands by the open glass doors, framed by the night outside. He’s wearing a dark jacket, his hands casually tucked into his pockets.

"Xavier," Kai sneers, dropping his hand but stepping back only an inch. "This is between Sloane and me. Butt out."

How could he speak so casually? As if he wasn’t just about to betray his friend, according to his thinking, from my perspective?

"She isn't your girlfriend," Xavier says, his voice dangerously calm as he walks down the narrow aisle, stopping right beside Kai. Xavier towers over him, his posture effortless yet dominant. "Judy is. And I don't appreciate you coming here while my girlfriend works to chat with her."

Kai’s jaw clenches, his wolf stirring beneath his skin, but he knows better than to challenge the future Alpha in human form without backup. “I won’t have to come here if she unblocks me.” He shoots me a desperate, lingering look, then he shoves past Xavier and slams the store door behind him, the chime ringing loudly in his wake.

I did indeed block Kai from my phone.

Silence settles over the store, and my knees feel like water.

"You shouldn't be working this late alone," Xavier murmurs, his silver eyes searching my pale face.

"I don't have a choice, Xavier," I whisper, opening my eyes to look at him. "I have rent. I have tuition. I don't have luxury money paying my way."

"I know," he breathes, his voice holding nothing but quiet understanding and a deep, unwavering respect that catches me off guard. "Your shift ends soon, and I just wanted you to know, I'm waiting in the truck to drive you home."