He Married Her, I Wed the Alpha King

My boyfriend, Soren Hale, was Moonskar Pack's Alpha heir. On our wedding day, just as we were about to exchange rings, his first love, Ella Dawson, burst in to stop the ceremony and claim him for herself. Soren stopped the wedding on the spot and replaced me with Ella. Then he told me, "The wedding is only a formality. You'll still be my only true mate." I was so furious that I broke our mate bond right there and chose a wolfless man from among the guests as my new groom. Everyone dismissed him as a loser because they believed a wolfless man could never have a fated mate. Everyone laughed at me. None of them knew the man they called useless was actually the powerful and widely respected Crown Prince, Leo Hartwell. After 5 years, my husband, Leo, hosted a charity gala at the heart of the royal territory to strengthen ties among the packs. I had barely entered the ballroom when I spotted several familiar faces. Soren was among them. A group surrounded him, including several of his old friends. Ella stood at his side with one arm looped through his, smiling as she listened to their conversation. One of Soren's friends said, "I heard Crown Prince Leo will be here tonight." "He married quietly 5 years ago and kept the Crown Princess completely out of sight. No one's ever seen what she looks like. She's supposed to attend tonight too. I brought a special gift. If I can make a connection with the royal family, every pack will have to show me more respect." Soren motioned to his assistant, who brought out a jewelry box. Inside lay a sapphire necklace. The stone was exceptionally clear and bright, flashing under the ballroom lights. His friend stared at it in delight. "Isn't that the sapphire necklace that sold for 3 million at Greywick Auction House recently? Soren, you really went all out." I almost laughed when I heard them. I had dated Soren for 6 years. For an Alpha heir, he had been remarkably cheap with me. Almost every gift he gave me cost less than 10 dollars. Now, ironically, he was willing to spend a fortune on a gift meant for the royal couple. Ella noticed me first. "Oh my God. Isn't that Violet Reed, the one who said she'd marry a loser at her wedding to Soren 5 years ago?" Soren set down his glass so quickly that wine sloshed inside it. Panic flashed through his eyes when he saw me, but he quickly recovered his usual air of superiority. He seemed completely certain I had come back to beg him. "Didn't you say you'd never come looking for me again? It's only been 5 years. Couldn't stay away any longer?" I frowned. "Soren, don't you think a little too highly of yourself?" His friends immediately burst out laughing. "Violet, who are you trying to fool?" "We were all at that wedding. Everyone knows you grabbed some random loser and made him your mate just to make Soren angry." "Now you hear Soren is attending the Crown Prince's gala and suddenly you show up dressed like this. Obviously you're here to beg him to take you back." I was one of the evening's guests of honor, so naturally I had dressed for the occasion. Somehow, they took that as proof I had dressed up for Soren. I might have done something that foolish 5 years ago. Now, Leo and I were deeply in love. Ella folded her arms and looked me over critically. "You're wearing Armani and Chanel, and that jewelry looks like Bulgari. Finding this many convincing fakes couldn't have been easy." Every piece of clothing I wore had been carefully chosen by Leo, and the jewelry was from him too. I gave her a cold smile. "What makes you so sure any of it is fake?" Ella scoffed. "You expect me to believe it's real? Do you even know those earrings alone cost 2 million? Could you afford that?" Soren also assumed I was bluffing. He walked toward me with the condescending air of someone offering me a favor I had never asked for. "I know you're still angry. Back then, I only changed brides because Ella's fated mate had died. She'd never had a wedding of her own and desperately wanted to be a bride, so I asked you to let her have the ceremony." Soren kept talking as if his logic were obvious. "Didn't I tell you then? The place beside me as my mate was always going to be yours. Once I became Alpha of Moonskar Pack, you would've naturally become the Luna." He spoke as if that were perfectly reasonable. To him, the past 5 years of my life had been nothing but a tantrum while I waited for him to come back. The whole thing was absurd. Soren and I had once been fated mates. We met at 18, fell for each other almost immediately, and soon accepted each other as mates. We stayed together for 6 years. There were warm, happy times and plenty of explosive fights. Every time I considered leaving him, I remembered how Soren had stayed beside me after my parents died. So I was always the first to give in and apologize, even when I had done nothing wrong. That made Soren believe I would never be able to leave him. When I stayed silent, he assumed I was wavering. He lifted his chin. "If you admit you were wrong and beg me properly, I might consider restoring our mate bond."