The Rival’s Fake Mate

Chapter 4. Silver

"Don’t call me that right now.”

The words hit like a slap.

“You stood in front of the entire pack and humiliated this family.”

Tears burned my eyes again. “Keal rejected me.”

“And you should have accepted it quietly!”

His voice thundered through the small house.

“Instead you attached yourself to that monster.”

Monster.

My throat tightened.

“You think becoming Logan Thorn’s mate fixes this? It makes it worse.”

“I didn’t ask for any of this.”

“No,” he snapped. “You created it.”

My mother whispered, “Please, both of you—”

He ignored her completely.

“Twenty-two years old. No proper wolf. No shift. And now the whole territory will talk about how my daughter threw herself at a rival Alpha the moment she was rejected.”

Each sentence drove deeper.

I backed toward the wall.

“You are a disgrace to this family, Silver.”

The room blurred.

“I tried,” I whispered.

“Clearly not hard enough.”

Something inside me cracked.

The tears came hard and fast now, impossible to stop. I pressed a hand over my mouth, shoulders shaking as years of humiliation crashed down on me all at once.

Defective.

Unwanted.

Disgrace.

Even here, even in my own home, nobody wanted me.

My father looked away first, disgust written across his face.

“Get your things,” he said coldly. “If you’re leaving with Logan Thorn, then leave.”

I stumbled to my room.

The door closed behind me and I slid to the floor, sobs tearing out of me so violently my chest hurt.

I cried for the bond that never had a chance.

I cried for the girl who had spent years believing if she tried hard enough, smiled brightly enough, behaved perfectly enough, someone would eventually choose her.

I cried because a stranger had defended me when my own father couldn’t.

By the time I finished packing a small suitcase, my eyes were swollen and raw.

I washed my face with cold water until the skin turned numb.

Then I practiced smiling.

The reflection in the mirror looked wrong.

The smile sat on my mouth like something borrowed from another person.

Perfect.

That was familiar territory.

When I stepped back outside, the pack house had quieted considerably.

Guards watched me nervously as I approached the Alpha’s office.

Logan sat exactly where he said he would.

Tall. Motionless. Black coat catching the moonlight.

His silver eyes found me immediately.

He looked at my face for one second too long.

“What happened?”

I tightened my grip on the suitcase. “Nothing.”

His gaze sharpened.

“Your eyes are swollen.”

I forced the smile wider. “Family discussion.”

He stepped closer, studying me with an intensity that made the fake smile ache.

“Silver.”

The gentle way he said my name nearly broke me again.

I looked away before he could see it.

If I started crying now, I might never stop.

So I lifted my chin, kept the smile that didn’t reach my eyes, and said the only thing left to say.

“Let’s just go to hell"