Betrayed By Two Alphas:Bound By One Fate

Chapter 2

Aurora’s POV
 (Three Years Later)

The pack still called me their blessing. “Luna Aurora brought our stability back,” they whispered with grateful smiles as I passed through the marble halls. I answered every one with the same practiced warmth I had perfected over three long years—spine straight, voice gentle as moonlight on still water.

Inside, stability tasted like cold ash on my tongue.

For three years I had played the flawless Luna: hosting gatherings where Liam’s hand rested possessively at my waist for the crowd, only to drop away the moment the doors closed. We slept in separate wings. Every rut that seized him pulled his pine-and-wildwood scent down the corridor toward her, leaving my wolf curled inward, whining in silent agony at the rejected bond. I had stopped hoping for anything warmer than indifference long ago.

I was the glue holding this pack together. A convenient Luna. Nothing more.

Tonight the food had gone cold again.

I sat at the head of the long oak table, hands folded neatly in my lap, staring at the untouched plates arranged between two empty chairs. Candle flames flickered low, wax bleeding down the sides like time itself mocking my patience. The roast, the glazed vegetables, the wine—everything waited in perfect, useless silence.

Liam never came.

He hadn’t come yesterday. Or the day before. Or any night that truly mattered.

A young maid stepped forward, twisting her apron. “My Luna… should I clear the table?”

I lifted my chin and offered the gentle curve of lips I had mastered. “Yes. The Alpha must be detained with important matters.”

The lie slipped out smooth as silk. The maids murmured soft praises as they cleared the dishes, heads bowed in deference. To them I was still the perfect, understanding Luna. They couldn’t see the tremor in my fingers beneath the tablecloth. They couldn’t hear the whispers that slithered through the halls after dark: The Alpha is with her again.

My chest squeezed, the mate bond twisting like a dull knife between my ribs. I pushed the ache down, rose from the table, and headed toward my solitary room.

Then the screech of tires ripped through the quiet from the driveway.

My traitorous heart gave one stupid, hopeful thud. He was back. There was still time—

I hurried past the maids, whose murmurs died into pitying glances, and stepped into the kitchen.

“The Alpha has returned,” I said, voice steady. “Let’s ready a simple plate for him.”

The youngest maid froze, eyes heavy with the sympathy she didn’t dare voice. “Luna… he came with a visitor. They went straight to his wing.”

The floor seemed to tilt beneath me. Liam always introduced me to visitors. Always.

“I’ll be back,” I murmured, forcing that empty smile once more.

My footsteps echoed down the corridor toward his private wing. As I drew closer, muffled sounds drifted through the heavy door and stopped me cold.

Low, throaty female moans. Beneath them—Liam’s deep, rumbling growl of pleasure. The exact sound my wolf had once ached to draw from him for us.

Nausea slammed into me. The mate bond flared hot and vicious, burning like silver pressed against raw skin. I braced a hand against the cool stone wall, breath shallow, then pushed the door open a crack.

There he was—his powerful body moving over hers on the bed that should have been ours. Her legs locked around his waist, nails raking down his back as she cried out his name in broken ecstasy.

The scent hit me next: thick, musky s*x layered over his wildwood pine and her cloying sweetness. It coated my tongue, my lungs, my soul.

I slammed the door shut. The bang cracked through the hallway like a gunshot. Stomach heaving, I turned and ran, feet pounding until I reached my own room. I shoved the door closed and slid down the wood to the floor, palms pressed hard over my heart as if I could hold the shattered pieces together.

He had never brought her here before. Never disrespected me where the entire pack would scent it on the air by morning.

Enough.

The word burned through me, quiet but final. Three years of dying slowly. Three years of smiling while he killed whatever was left of my wolf’s hope.

The suffering had to end.

***

“Where are you going, Luna? Aren’t you joining the Alpha for breakfast?” a maid called the next morning as I passed the dining hall.

I offered her a faint, weary smile. “No. I won’t be having breakfast with the Alpha anymore.”

Confused glances followed me, but I didn’t explain. Back in my room I sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the floor until the silence felt heavy enough to crush me. No more performances. No more waiting like a ghost at my own table.

A sharp knock shattered the quiet.

I stood and opened the door.

Alpha Liam filled the frame, his scent now laced heavily with hers—s*x, sweat, and betrayal. It slapped me like a physical blow. Out of years of habit, my gaze dropped to the floor.

“Raise your eyes,” he commanded, voice low and edged with danger.

I lifted my chin.

Fury carved deep lines into his face, eyes flashing wolf-gold. Before I could speak, his hand shot out, fingers tangling painfully in my hair. He yanked my head back and dragged me from the room.

“Hey—let go!” I hissed, claws pricking at his wrist even as my scalp stung. “You’re hurting me.”

He said nothing until we reached his bedroom door—the same room still thick with the stench of last night’s sin. He shoved me inside, slammed the door, and flung me onto the rumpled bed.

I scrambled backward across the sheets, heart hammering. My wolf whimpered inside me, torn between instinctive fear and the fading, treacherous pull of the bond.

Liam loomed over me, chest heaving. “What did I tell you, Aurora? Never let the pack question our union. Why the hell did you skip breakfast and give the maids something to gossip about? You are Luna. You don’t get to slip.”

I stared at him, the words I had swallowed for three years rising like bile.

“You f****d your w***e in the bed meant for your mate,” I said, voice low but steady. “You filled our home with her scent for the entire pack to smell by morning. And now you rage at me for refusing to sit alone at an empty table one more time?”

His eyes narrowed. He shoved a hand through his dark hair, pacing like a caged beast.

“Don’t pretend this is new, Aurora.”

The words were quiet—worse than a shout, laced with cold, dismissive truth.

Then he snatched a thick envelope from the side table and hurled it onto the duvet. It landed with a heavy thud.

Divorce papers.

“It’s been three years,” he said, voice dropping to icy calm. “Time to end this mistake.”

My fingers shook as I reached out and traced the sharp edge of the stack. Finally. The cage door was cracking open.

A single tear slipped down my cheek—not from grief, but from the crashing wave of relief that flooded every broken piece of me. I brushed it away, stood, and met his gaze with steady, wet eyes.

“Why are you crying?” he snarled, anger still simmering beneath the surface.

I looked straight into the eyes of the man who had never truly been mine and spoke softly, clearly, for the first time in years.

“Thank you,” I said. “Thank you for giving me my life back.”

Liam froze. His eyes widened, the cold mask shattering into raw, unguarded shock.