My Fiance Cheated So I Claimed His Lycan Bosses

SELLING THE SPOT

Claire’s POV

I yelled, “YOU MONSTER!”

The words ripped out of me raw and loud. My throat burned. For a second I actually thought my heart might stop from how much it hurt.

I clenched my fists so hard my nails cut into my palms. The sting kept me upright while everything else inside me tried to collapse.

Tyler stood frozen, looking properly shocked for once. Behind him was Marcus—my father, the man who had walked into Saint Mary’s orphanage when I was twelve and chosen me. The man I had spent years trying to make proud.

His pants were back on, but his shirt still hung open. He didn’t look sorry. He looked mildly inconvenienced, like I’d interrupted a meeting that had run long.

I let out a broken, ugly laugh.

“You’ve both been treating me like a fool this whole time, haven’t you?”

Neither of them answered.

“Every single time you cheated, Tyler, I blamed myself first. I didn’t even get mad right away. I just sat there wondering what the hell was wrong with me.”

Tears kept sliding down my face. I didn’t bother wiping them. Let them see it. Let them watch the mess they’d made.

“Was I too inexperienced? Too shy? Too awkward? Too damaged from growing up without real parents? Not pretty enough, not exciting enough? For years I tried to turn myself into someone you would actually stay faithful to.”

Tyler shifted his weight like the floor had gotten uncomfortable.

“Even when you brought another woman into our relationship, I stayed. Even when people said I deserved better, I stayed. Even when I cried myself to sleep wondering why I still wasn’t enough, I stayed.”

My chest felt tight, but my voice kept going.

“I defended you to everyone. I defended you when they called you selfish. I defended you when they said I was stupid for staying. I even defended you when my own gut was screaming at me to leave.”

Tyler’s jaw tightened. The fake soft look he always used on me disappeared. The charming future Alpha everyone liked was gone. Now he just looked tired of pretending.

“How was I supposed to stay faithful?” he snapped.

There it was. No apology. Just the excuse, fully formed and ready.

He threw his hands up. “You want the truth? You could never satisfy me, Claire. You turned s*x into a f*****g performance review. You were always nervous. You always needed reassurance. You always asked if you were doing it right, like some dumb virgin.”

He laughed, mean and short. “Do you know how tiring that is?”

My stomach twisted, but something sharper rose up behind the pain.

Tyler stepped closer. “I’m an Alpha. I have needs. I have instincts. My s*x drive doesn’t just stop because you overthink every single night.”

“Wow,” I said, blinking at him. “You really practiced that speech, didn’t you?”

His face darkened.

“No, seriously.” I wiped my cheeks with the back of my hand. “I thought you cheated because you had no self-control. Turns out you’re just an asshole. That almost feels better. At least assholes are consistent.”

“Claire.”

“No, thank you.” I pressed a hand to my chest like I was accepting an award. “Finding out you’re a terrible person is actually doing wonders for my self-esteem right now. Who knew betrayal could be this clarifying?”

“Stop twisting my words.”

“Your words don’t need twisting. They’re already a masterpiece of bullshit.”

I looked past him at Marcus. Seeing him standing there hurt worse than anything Tyler had just said.

“You know what’s really impressive?” I asked quietly. “You adopted an orphan and still managed to make her feel unwanted. That’s talent.”

The silence that followed felt thick enough to choke on.

Marcus crossed his arms. “I gave you everything as a child, Claire.”

“Here comes the speech where you turn basic parenting into a lifelong debt I can never pay off. Classic.”

“You should be grateful.”

“I was.” My voice shook, but I didn’t look away. “I was grateful every single day for the school stuff, the tutors, the pack traditions. I was grateful every time you called me your daughter in front of people. I thought that meant something.”

For half a second something flickered across his face. Then it was gone.

“You owe me respect.”

“No.” The word surprised even me. “Kids don’t owe parents forever just because they fed them and bought them clothes. That’s not how this works. That’s not how any of this works.”

Tyler cut in, irritated. “You’re being too emotional.”

“Of course I’m emotional.” I laughed, the sound cracked and disbelieving. “I’m standing here watching my fiancé and my father explain why cheating on me is somehow my fault. What should I do instead? Clap? Ask for notes? Rate the performance out of ten?”

I looked down at the Luna ring on my finger. I stared at it for a long second, then pulled it off. It hit the marble floor with a sharp, clear sound that seemed to echo longer than it should have.

“Claire,” Tyler said.

I ignored him. My voice had gone strangely calm.

“You’re free. I release you from this. Whatever obligation you felt, it’s gone.”

“Claire, stop.”

“No, this is perfect.” I waved a hand between the two of them. “You two clearly have something special going on. Go make it official. Have a ceremony. Get matching clothes. Send thank-you cards. I’ll even write a glowing review. Five stars for the plot twist.”

“You’re overreacting.”

“Oh, and congratulations, Dad.” I tilted my head at Marcus. “I never thought you’d steal my fiancé, but here we are. Full-service parenting. Adoption, education, and now this. Really covering all the bases.”

“That’s enough,” Marcus snapped.

“No.” I shook my head. “What’s enough is me being the only one expected to act right while the two of you do whatever the hell you want.”

Tyler’s panic finally started showing. “Claire, please. You don’t mean this. You wanted this life. You want to be Luna. You’re not going to throw it away over this.”

“I feel disgusted,” I said, almost to myself. “You keep bringing up the Luna title like it’s supposed to make me stay. You think I wanted it for power? No. I wanted to belong. I wanted a family. That’s it. That’s the whole pathetic list.”

They both knew how much that had meant to me. They had used it anyway.

I gave them a small, tired smile.

“Thanks for the roof, Marcus. Thanks for the education. Thanks for everything you paid for since you adopted me at twelve.”

I pulled out my phone. My hands shook a little as I opened the banking app. I had saved for years so I would never be stuck like this again.

I hit send on the transfer.

Then I turned the screen toward them. “There.”

Marcus looked surprised for the first time.

“Five hundred thousand dollars?” Tyler’s voice went high. “What the hell?”

“Congratulations,” I told Marcus. “That should cover everything you spent on me, right? We’re even. Receipt’s in the notes if you need it for taxes.”

Marcus’s face hardened. “You don’t get to buy your way out of being my daughter.”

“Funny.” I slid the phone back into my pocket. “Because earlier it kind of sounded like you were selling the spot.”

I looked at both of them one last time—my cheating ex and my cold father. The two men who had spent years making me feel like I was never quite enough. They didn’t look so powerful anymore. Just messy and caught.

“I hope you two are happy together. I really mean it.”

I pointed toward the bedroom behind them.

“Now if you’ll excuse me. I think the newlyweds need privacy.”