Becoming My Ex's Luna Step-Mother

The first crack of the mate bond came the moment I stepped through the door to my house. It didn't feel like pain, but a collapse of something deep in my heart that could have been the first of many walls that came crumbling down that night. I glanced around in confusion despite a voice in my head telling me to stop, to turn around and leave, but something didn't feel right. My chest tightened when a laugh drifted down the hall, the sound light and familiar. For a heartbeat, I smiled despite the ache growing in my chest. Soryn's laugh was my favorite, with all its rough edges worn smooth. I'd imagined on many occasions hearing that sound in the home we'd build together someday, imagined waking to it after every full moon, when a wolf's passion was at its peak and the males succumbed to their need to mate, imagined our children with his stubborn grim and my quiet patience. His scent hit me straight in the heart as I started down the hall, only this time, instead of invoking happiness, it tightened the burning ball of nerves coiling behind my ribs. Cedar and rain. The wild spice that belonged only to my mate. But another fragrance, just as familiar, clung to it, mixing into a scent so sweet it turned my stomach turned. Lavender, honey and a splash of vanilla. Liori. The scent of my sister's wolf and the perfume she dabbed behind her ears every morning because she claimed it made people pay attention to her. My fingers tightened around the styrofoam box in my hands, the one I'd brought home from the bakery after my shift. Not even the scent of fresh bread and herb butter could stop the sinking in her gut as she crept toward Liori's cracked bedroom door. The moment I'd heard Soryn's laugh, I'd been prepared to give it to him and claim I'd already eaten when he asked, because taking care of him had become as natural as breathing. He'd had to lead training today for the juvenile wolves and I wouldn't be surprised if he hadn't eaten yet. But now, the box in my hand was completely forgotten about as I crept closer to that stream of golden light spilling into the hallway, my heart pounding in my throat with every trembling step. Then his voice came, trickling out along that golden spill of light. "She's going to be home any minute. I need to get going." His words slid between my ribs like a knife, and my wolf lifted her head in my consciousness, alert and uneasy, just as I was. Why was Soryn in Liori's room? And was he talking about me? That he needed to leave before I got home? Why? I closed the remaining distance, needing to see what was beyond that door. Needing the confirmation of the suspicions pounding through my veins, but every step felt slow and disconnected, as though my body was fighting against me. The room smelled suffocatingly alive, mating pheromones thick enough to coat the back of my tongue until breathing tasted bitter. "But I don't want you to go yet. You promised you'd stay this time." Liori. "I already stayed longer than I should have." His voice was gentle, a tone I'd grown to love and adore. One he only ever used on me after he had spent hours mating me. "I thought we agreed to tell her," Liori whined, her voice muffled as if buried in something. "I'm tired of sneaking around. I want everyone to know you're mine." The styrofoam box slipped from my fingers, thudding to the floor and spilling the contents along the threshold as they came into view. Soryn and Liori naked in bed. Together. Their heads snapped up, locking on me where I stood, staring wide-eyed at them through the crack as if the image would miraculously shimmer away like a mirage. Soryns eyes widened, but there was little remorse or guilt present. Liori barely bothered to pull the blanket over herself. She lounged against the pillows with a smile that unfolded slowly. I recognized that smile. The one she wore when she got what she wanted, when she stole credit for someone else's work or turned an argument into a performance that left everyone apologizing to her by the end of it. Only this time she wasn't stealing attention. She had stolen the future I had built around a bond the Moon Goddess herself had blessed me with. "Goodness," Liora murmured, tilting her head with infuriating calm though her voice sounded guilty, "What are you doing home so early?" Then she glanced at the food scattered across the floor. "Oh. You brought him dinner." She laughed softly. "That's almost embarrassing." Liori knew what she was doing, but I ignored her, searching Soryn's face. Not a trace of the man the Moon Goddess gifted me present. He was a stranger wearing his skin, although I did see a flash of what I supposed would pass for guilt. "Rowan," he said, his voice that same gentle tone he'd used on Liori just seconds ago and my chest caved. He climbed from the bed without hurry, gathering his trousers from the floor like I had interrupted an ordinary conversation between the two instead of a scene that tore open the center of my life. "You...you weren't meant to find out like this." His voice remained level. Patient. Almost inconvenienced. "I...wasn't meant to find out?" The question left my mouth in a whisper so faint I scarcely recognized it as my own. "It certainly didn't sound like that just moments ago." Soryn sighed, rubbing the back of his neck with a frustration he didn't deserve to feel, not when he was the one betraying me. "Why would you do this to me? We're mates!" He sighed again, irritation slipping into his tone. "Because you're boring, Rowan." I blinked back the tears threatening to spill over. "You make everything in my life harder than it has to be. I have to tip toe around you all the time because of your insecurities and make sure I don't look at a girl too long or in a certain way. When Liori...he paused and sighed again, as if he couldn't be bothered by this conversation. "I kept trying to spare your feelings because you're...gentle, but I don't love you anymore. The Mood Goddess made a mistake." Every syllable scraped against the mate bond. I could feel it resisting. Stretching. Bleeding. "A mistake? Soryn, I loved you." The confession escaped before pride could stop it. "I rearranged my entire life around you. Every choice I made, every plan I dreamed of, every time I stood beside you while everyone else demanded more than I could give—it was because I believed we were building something together." Soryn's expression softened. "I know you believed that, but I'd stopped choosing you long ago." My wolf snarled, the sound echoing inside my skull until it drowned out everything else. He betrayed us. Our mate... She slammed against the inside of my skull with enough force to blur my vision. Kill them. Rip out his throat. Break every bone in hers. Let them choke on the bond they mocked. I tasted blood before I realized I'd bitten through the inside of my cheek. I could picture exactly how easily my claws would sink beneath Liori's jaw. She would never smile at us again. The thought should have horrified me. Instead, my wolf purred. What they didn't know was when my wolf wanted blood, she'd get blood. And she wanted theirs. My glare turned to Liori as she slid from the bed, slipping on Soryn's shirt. The fabric hung loosely from her shoulders, and she smiled when I noticed it, when Soryn's wolf rumbled softly at the sight of her in his clothes. "How could you," I hissed, allowing some of my wolf to slip to the forefront of my mind. I could feel her, feel the fur rippling along my arms. Liori just smiled, as if she knew I wouldn't do anything as she slowly walked forward. I recoiled at the mix of their scents together, a nauseating combination that was like a bolt through my heart. "I tried to tell you but you didn't listen. You know what your problem is? You think you deserve him. You don't." Her smile was venomous. My hands balled into fists. "And you do?" Her nose twitched, and she looked back toward Soryn, whose gaze was locked on her, his eyes filled with lust that tore through my heart. "Yes." She reached a hand out, and he took it without hesitation, bringing it up to his lips to press a chaste kiss to her knuckles. He used to do that to me too. Her gaze drifted lazily back, roving over my tear-bright eyes. "He's an Alpha, Rowan. He needs a mate who can lead the pack when he ascends the title. He needs someone with passion, who challenges him instead of agreeing with everything he says because she's terrified of conflict." "I always agreed with him because I trusted him." "No," Liora corrected softly, each word dipped in honey and venom alike. "You agreed because that's what you've always done. You keep everyone comfortable and call it happiness. You smile when people disappoint you. You forgive before anyone apologizes. Eventually, people stop seeing you as someone whose heart can break. That is not someone suited to the title of Luna." I stared at my sister. She always got her way. And this time would be no different. But I once thought I'd found something she couldn't take from me. The day I saw Soryn on my eighteenth birthday was the happiest day of my life. When our eyes locked, the bond snapped into place, pulling him to me. I was standing with my family, my sister at my side and his eyes were only on me. He picked me up and declared me his mate. I had truly thought I'd found happiness then. And like all the other times before, my parents were likely to do nothing. I replayed everything. Every birthday I had to share because Liori felt left out. Every scraped knee was bandaged together even though I was the one who bled. Every cruel remark excused because she had another difficult day. Every time our mother had whispered, She's emotional. Don't make things worse. Every silent thought I'd swallowed settled heavily in my chest until breathing itself became work. Soryn stepped up beside Liora. Not behind her. Beside her. Inside me, my wolf threw back her head and roared. They thought they'd stolen our future. They had no idea they had just written the beginning of theirs. Somewhere beneath the agony, beneath the bond tearing itself apart inside my chest, something colder unfurled. They would regret choosing each other. One day, they would beg for mercy. My wolf intended to make sure there was none.