She Eyed My Spot, My Alpha Let Her

Leia's POV “Oh, I'm sorry I came a little late, Pete. We were stuck in traffic.” My sister-in-law, Sharon, cued at my husband Pete, who stood at the door, welcoming her from work. Sharon Artemis has been living in our Alpha house in the pack since her husband, Lionel, died ten months ago. She waltzed in, leaving her coat and handbag on top of the pedestal at the entrance like she owned the house. Anybody watching would swear that she was the Luna, and I was the maid. She kissed his cheek and made a beeline to the dining table, where we’d been waiting for her for over an hour. Her pup ran to her and hugged her. Food was already cold from waiting for her. I had to rewarm the food when my husband gave me a side eye. Pete Artemis, the Alpha of Whiteblood Pack, one of the largest packs in North America, had turned soft towards Sharon and literally became harsh toward me. He would justify it as just being nice to her and to keep her happy so she doesn't abandon the pack. Lionel Artemis died from a rogue attack while traveling back from securing a deal with the royal house of King Steven Tate. The pack’s business, located in the human capital, was in Lionel and Sharon's hands. Lionel was the CEO, and Sharon was his deputy. They were both the brains that grew the business, enabling good welfare for all pack members. Pete literally worshiped them, and now Sharon, having taken over the running of the business, was literally his goddess, and he had been groveling at her every demand since. At first, I assumed he was just comforting her for a while, but I guess I was wrong. They looked intimately into each other's eyes all the time, and each time, my heart would painfully twist inside my chest. I tried ignoring the little gestures, such as holding hands when Pete thought I wasn't looking, spending time with her and her son Bryan, leaving me at home, abandoning our plans for theirs, rushing off to the infirmary in the middle of the night because she was “sick,” then spending the whole night holding her hand by her bedside when she was supposedly unconscious. Pete would bark at me for refusing to serve Sharon and her son at their beck and call. He had become a total stranger to me, or rather, I became invisible to him. He only came to our room to shower and change and had stopped sleeping there. The little intimate kisses and hugs we shared before our bonding ceremony night was long forgotten within ten months. Unmarked and therefore with no Luna title meant I was the unrecognized Luna in the pack. Even the pack members gave more importance to Sharon than me. Lionel's attack and demise happened mid–our bonding ceremony, before Pete could mark me and give me the identity and Luna position. I remember being left all alone there when a guard rushed in to announce the attack. Pete had shifted right away, shredding his suit, all the warriors and everybody followed suit, including his parents, the former Alpha and Luna. Everything else changed then; everyone’s attention from then on fell on Sharon and her pup, Bryan. When I tried complaining, I was labeled as jealous and playing the victim. “Sorry I had to trouble you again, Luna Leia,” Sharon said, looking at me remorsefully. Behind that remorseful look, there was always a smirk whenever my mate chose her over me or used unkind words toward me. It was as if she revelled in my misery. I had known a long time back that she deliberately wanted things to be so, so she could replace me, and I knew I couldn't fight her for his attention, even if it was goddess-given and rightfully mine. I just nodded as usual, a lump choking my throat as I put the warmed bowl of hot stew on the table. Pete, who didn't see my nod since his eyes were fixated on her, barked at me without a glance. “It's rude to not respond when Shaz is talking to you, Leia!” Wait, Shaz? We now have a pet name for her? Oh so now I'm rude? Is what he is doing to his mate not rude? His once soft and loving tone to me had changed to Alpha-commands. That softness had now been shifted toward Sharon rather than me. The Alpha-commands stung because they basically worked on me. I wasn't yet his equal since he was yet to mark me. I stood there, thoughts cruising in my mind, holding back tears that threatened to fall in a tornado-like form. I came back to my senses when his left hand banged on the table, threatening to split it apart. I cleared my throat and muttered, “It's okay, Sharon,” with a shaky voice. I felt embarrassed and humiliated and couldn't stay there. Over these ten months, the humiliation I've had to suffer from my mate was a knife that curved a deep bleeding wound in my heart over and over. I could accept others' mistreatment but my mate? I was about to bolt out when he commanded me to stay, using his Alpha-command again. My hands trembled with anger as I balled them, nails digging into my palms. I sniffled as I turned to sit, not missing Sharon's signature smirk, always directed at me. I barely touched my food throughout. I was angry with myself for hoping that his mate bond would make him treat me better or that he would show me affection. They all stood to leave the table before I could stuff a third forkful of the spaghetti into my mouth. I looked at the table. Bryan’s side was messier. He had already started treating me like a maid at four, and I didn’t blame him. He copied from the adults’ behavior, and he thought it was okay to do what he wanted. I knew the mess was all left for me to clear and clean up. “You'd better stay in your room for the rest of the evening after cleaning up. You should stop acting all jealous and throwing tantrums at every turn just to get my attention. I'm your mate already. Your tantrums are beginning to really piss me off these days,” Pete said, his voice stifled but audibly authoritative. 'My tantrums? Was showing displeasure now called tantrums? I hardly said anything to Pete or Sharon, I literally obeyed their commands like a servant. My knees almost buckled as I stumbled back. The man clearly hated me now and the sad part was, I didn't know how he could hate with his mate bond intact. 'Did he somehow....? Oh no, I don't want to think about that. I surely would have felt it break.'