MATED TO MY EX’S UNCLE

CHAPTER 2

Mara woke up screaming.

"Who are you?!"

All the blood drained from her face in a single violent rush. She scrambled backward so fast she tumbled clean off the edge of the bed, the soreness between her thighs screaming at the impact, her knee colliding against the hard floor.

She grabbed the sheets and pulled it around herself.

"You're… you're not my husband."

The figure stirred. He turned over and lifted his face from the pillow and a pair of amber eyes came into view.

She knew those eyes.

Every wolf in this pack knew those eyes.

Derick Wellington pulled himself against the headboard, bare chested and narrowed his eyes at her.

Every hair on her body stood when she punched herself and nothing happened. Oh goddess, she wasn't dreaming. She had clawed at his back, nibbled on his skin—proof that they had indeed done it last night.

"How did we… how did you… oh goddess, did you plan this? Did you come in here and take advantage of me while my husband was away? Is this your idea of getting back at him? Because whatever your issue is with Caleb, using me to settle scores makes you the most pathetic—"

"I don't remember." His voice came out raspy and confused. "I don't remember coming in. I only remember… drinking?" He looked around at his clothes scattered on the ground. He rose up from the bed and she shut her eyes tight. She hated that they caught a glimpse of his butt. He grabbed his pants and slid them on.

"You don't remember? You don't remember coming into your nephew's bedroom and sleeping with his wife on his matrimonial bed?! You took advantage of me! My senses were... I thought you were Caleb."

He turned to her. "And I thought you were my wife, I don't remember how I ended up here, or why. All I remember is drinking and… feeling strange and nothing else." The trail of her slick still coated his lips.

Her stomach sank.

She had to do something, she had to tell Caleb. She pushed herself to her chubby feet and bolted out of the door in a panic. She nearly collided into a maid.

"Luna! Wha—"

"Merith," she caught her arm. "Have you seen my husband? Please, it's… it's urgent."

"Luna, is something wrong?"

"Merith, please just answer the question."

"I last saw the Alpha in the guest chambers, my Luna. Last night. I believe he had some business there."

She heaved a sigh of relief. He was around, thank goodness.

"Thank you."

She ran down the hallway ignoring every other person until she stopped in front of the guest chambers. The "keep out" sign was hung above it, which meant that he was inside and didn't want to be disturbed. But this was urgent and she couldn't wait. She twisted the knob quietly and opened it a few inches wide.

"Cal—" The word turned into a whisper and died in her throat.

Mira Wellington lay across him, completely bare, her dark hair covered his chest like a blanket and their legs were intertwined. They were too engrossed in each other to hear her come in.

"She keeps blaming herself." Caleb's voice was filled with amusement. "She thinks her womb is cursed and she spends half her time weeping to the Moon Goddess about what she did wrong. She has no idea I have been putting contraceptive powder in her food since the first month of our marriage. It is almost too easy."

Mira laughed softly and pressed her lips to his jaw. "You are terrible."

"I am practical. I assumed she was an Alpha wolf when I married her. I would be damned if I let an omega birth my children."

Mara's fingers had gone cold. The doorframe was the only reason she was still standing.

"The Nichole bloodline produces one of the purest alpha bloods through and through, her dead sisters were alphas. She should've died in at least one of their places so that I could have married one of them instead."

She did not realize she was crying until she felt the wetness at her jaw.

She felt someone's chest press slightly against her back. Derick's arm stretched forward and pushed the door open. Mira shrieked and grabbed the sheets, scrambling upright. He walked past her into the room.

"Hello, wife. Nice morning, ain't it?"

She pressed her palms together in panic. "D-Derick this isn't… it isn't—"

"What it looks like? It's quite obvious that it is."

There was not a single morsel of anger in his tone.

But she? She felt like a blade had been rammed right into her heart and twisted continuously until there was no remaining flesh to hold the knife any longer. Her knees wobbled and her hands curled into a weak fist.

She wanted to ask him why. She wanted to ask him what theater class he had attended in order to deceive her this well for the past three years. But he beat her to the question first.

"Mara. Why are you wrapped in sheets and why is my uncle standing shirtless behind you?"

Caleb had risen from the bed with nothing but a pair of wet crumpled briefs hanging low on his waist.

"I—Caleb, you… y-you—"

"Questioning her despite being caught red-handed," Derick chuckled. "The hypocrisy is too mighty, even for you, nephew."

His eyes snapped to Derick. "I don't remember speaking to you. Oaf."

A flicker of a flame glinted in Derick's amber eyes and for a brief second the room was enveloped with thick suffocating pheromones.

"Watch your tone with me, boy. I am not your father. I will not hesitate to collapse that thing you call a throat."

Caleb's muscles flared visibly beneath his skin. He crossed the room in three strides, grabbed her wrist, and dragged her into the hallway. She stumbled behind him, looking back over her shoulder long enough to see Derick watch them go before he turned and walked into the room, the door shutting behind him. She heard Mira's voice rise into pleading before the sound cut off.

Then Caleb pulled her into their chambers and shoved her through the door.

She hit the floor hard.

"Tell me you didn't f**k my enemy like a whore."

She pushed herself up from the ground.

"Tell me you didn't sleep with his wife—ah!"

His palm collided against her cheek, sending her sprawling face-flat against the rug. His bare feet rested against her cheek and pressed her head even harder into the ground. Fear had rendered her immobile under his strength.

"Mark my words, Mara. Before this morning is over, you will hang for treason in front of the entire pack.”