Mate what?!
1385 Words
Claire's POV
“YOU MONSTER!”
The words tore out of me like shattered glass, raw and jagged. My throat burned, and for one dizzying second, I was certain my heart would give out under the crushing weight of betrayal.
I clenched my fists so tightly that my nails bit into my palms. The sharp sting was the only thing anchoring me as my entire world crumbled.
Tyler stood before me, his face frozen in shock. Behind him was Marcus—my father—the man who had taken me from Saint Mary’s orphanage when I was twelve. The man I had spent half my life trying to earn approval from.
His pants were finally pulled up, his shirt hanging open. Instead of shame, he looked merely annoyed, as if I had interrupted a minor inconvenience.
A broken laugh escaped me.
“You’ve been looking at me like I’m a fool this entire time, haven’t you?”
Neither of them answered.
“God, that’s what hurts the most.”
My voice cracked, but I forced myself to continue.
“Every single time you cheated, Tyler, I blamed myself first. I never started with anger at you. I started by wondering what was wrong with me.”
Hot tears streamed down my face, humiliating yet unstoppable. I refused to hide them.
“Was I too inexperienced? Too shy? Too awkward? Too damaged from growing up unwanted? Was I not attractive enough? Not exciting enough? For years, I tried to reshape myself into whatever version of me would finally make you stay faithful.”
Tyler shifted uncomfortably.
Good. Let him feel even a fraction of the discomfort I had endured for years.
“Even when you brought another woman into our relationship, I stayed. Even when everyone told me I deserved better, I stayed. Even when I cried myself to sleep wondering why I wasn’t enough for the man I loved, I stayed.”
My chest tightened painfully.
“I defended you. I defended you when people called you selfish. I defended you when they said I was being stupid. I defended you even when my own instincts screamed at me to run.”
Tyler’s jaw flexed, and just like that, the mask slipped away. The apologetic expression vanished. The charming future Alpha everyone adored disappeared, replaced by a man tired of pretending.
“How the hell was I supposed to stay faithful?” he snapped, the words echoing harshly through the hallway.
There it was—the truth. Not remorse. Not regret. Only resentment.
Tyler threw his hands up. “You want honesty? Fine. You could never satisfy me, Claire. You turned intimacy into a performance review. Every single time you were nervous. Every single time you needed reassurance. Every single time you kept asking if you were doing something right like a f*****g dumb virgin.”
He laughed bitterly. “Do you know how exhausting that gets?”
My stomach twisted.
Tyler stepped forward. “I am an Alpha. I have needs. I have instincts. I have a s*x drive that doesn’t disappear because you spent another night overthinking everything.”
“Wow,” I said, the word slipping out before I could stop it. “You really practiced that speech, didn’t you?”
His expression darkened.
“No, seriously,” I continued, wiping my cheeks. “For years I thought you were cheating because you lacked self-control. Turns out you were cheating because you’re an asshole. Honestly, that’s almost refreshing.”
“Claire.”
“No, thank you,” I said, placing a hand over my chest dramatically. “Finding out you’re just a terrible person is actually doing wonders for my self-esteem.”
“Stop twisting my words.”
“Your words don’t need my help.”
I turned my gaze to Marcus. The sight of him hurt in a far deeper way than Tyler’s betrayal ever could.
“You know what’s really impressive?” I asked quietly. “You managed to adopt an orphan and still make her feel unwanted.”
The silence that followed was sharp and suffocating.
Marcus’s expression hardened. “I gave you everything as a child Claire.”
“Here it is,” I replied. “The speech where generosity becomes a debt.”
Marcus folded his arms. “You should be grateful.”
“I was,” I said instantly, my voice trembling. “I was grateful every single day—for the school supplies, the tutors, the pack traditions. I was grateful when you called me your daughter.”
For a fleeting second, something flickered across his face before vanishing.
“You owe me respect.”
“No.” The word surprised even me. “Children don’t owe their parents eternal obedience just because they were fed.”
Tyler’s jaw tightened. “You are being emotional.”
“Of course I’m emotional,” I laughed. “I’m standing in a hallway watching my fiancé and my father explain why betraying me is somehow my fault. What would be an appropriate reaction? Jazz hands?”
I reached for the Luna ring on my finger—the symbol of the future I had once believed in. For a moment, I simply stared at it, then twisted it free. The metal felt cold as it slipped from my finger and clinked sharply against the marble floor.
Tyler’s eyes widened. “Claire.”
I ignored him, my voice terrifyingly calm now.
“You’re free. I release you from whatever miserable obligation you think you’ve been suffering through.”
“Claire, stop.”
“No, this is perfect timing,” I said, gesturing between them. “You two clearly have something special. Honestly, who am I to stand in the way of true love? You should make it official. Have a ceremony. Get matching outfits. Maybe send thank-you cards.”
“You’re overreacting.”
“Oh, and congratulations, Dad. I never expected you to steal my fiancé, but life is full of surprises.”
“That’s enough,” Marcus snapped.
“No,” I replied. “What’s enough is me being the only person in this house expected to have dignity.”
Tyler’s panic surfaced fully. “Claire, please listen to me. You don’t mean this right? You wanted this life after all, you want to be Luna, you're not going to throw it away because of this,” he added.
“I feel disgusted right now,” I said, shaking my head. “You keep talking about the Luna title. You think I wanted to be Luna because I wanted power. No. I wanted to belong. I wanted a family.”
The confession hung raw and painful between us. They knew exactly how much that meant to me and they had used it against me anyway.
A slow, humorless smile spread across my face.
“I appreciate the roof, Marcus. I appreciate the education. I appreciate every single thing you paid for as a father figure for me all these years”
I pulled out my phone, my fingers trembling slightly as I opened my banking app. Years of careful saving. Years of preparing for the worst. Years of refusing to ever be helpless again.
The transfer processed.
I held up the screen. “There.”
Marcus froze, genuine surprise crossing his face for the first time.
“Five hundred thousand dollars?” Tyler blurted. “For what?”
“Congratulations,” I said. “You said I owed you Dad, that should be more than what you've spent on me ever since you adopted me at twelve right?”
Marcus’s expression darkened. “You don’t get to buy your way out of being my daughter.”
“Funny,” I replied, slipping my phone back into my purse. “Because a few minutes ago it sounded like you were trying to sell the position.”
I looked between them one final time—my cheating ex-fiancé and my emotionally bankrupt father. The two men who had spent years convincing me I wasn’t enough. Suddenly, neither of them looked as powerful as they once had.
“I hope you two are very happy together. I genuinely do trust me.”
Then I pointed toward the bedroom. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I think the newlyweds deserve some privacy.”
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