The Alpha’s Forbidden Bond

Jax’s POV "Whore." The word left me low and rough, scraping my throat on the way out, because that was the only thing I could find to call the woman tangled in my bedsheets with her mouth on Cassian's. Catherine froze first. Her spine went rigid before her head even turned, like some animal instinct in her recognized my voice before her mind caught up. When she finally looked at me, her whole face drained of color. She shoved Cassian off her and yanked the comforter up to her collarbone, as if that single motion could undo what I'd already watched with my own eyes. My hands were shaking. Not from fear I didn't know fear, not really, not until that exact second but from the effort of not lunging across the room and putting my fist through Cassian's smug jaw. My molars ground together so hard I tasted copper. Of all the people in this world who could carve me open, I never once imagined it would be these two. The woman I was supposed to marry. The man who'd stood beside me since we were pups learning to shift. "Jax, wait, I can this isn't you don't understand what you're " Catherine's voice cracked on every other syllable. "Don't." My voice came out flat, dangerous. "Don't you dare tell me my own eyes betrayed me. I watched you kiss him. There's no version of that sentence that ends in 'it's not what it looks like.'" Tonight, of all nights. Tonight, when the entire pack was gathered downstairs waiting to watch her crowned as Luna of the Giant Razor. She'd chosen this moment, this exact hour, to gut me in front of no one but myself. "Was I not enough for you? Is that it? You needed him instead?" I swung my glare toward Cassian, my finger jabbing the air between us. "And you. My brother in everything but blood. You knew what she meant to me, and you still climbed into my bed." That was when Cassian laughed. Not a nervous laugh, not an apologetic one, a slow, delighted cackle, like he'd been waiting years for this exact stage to perform on. "You should be thanking me, Alpha," he said, tipping his head back toward the ceiling before letting it drop again, that same rotten smirk stretched across his face. "Would you have preferred finding out after the ceremony? After you'd already put your Jax on her throat?" Bastard. The word rang through my skull on repeat. Then he delivered the second blow, almost gleeful about it. "We've actually got a date picked out. Few weeks from now. You're invited, of course, seeing as you'll technically be family." He said it like a punchline he'd been rehearsing. I felt something in my chest cave inward. "What is wrong with you, Catherine?!" I was shouting now, walking toward her though I couldn't have said what I meant to do once I got there. Tears I refused to acknowledge were already sliding down my face. An Alpha does not cry. I kept repeating that to myself even as the proof ran hot down my cheeks. "Why? Out of every person who could've done this to me, why did it have to be you?" "Please, just let me explain, it's not what I was only trying to " "No." I clapped both hands over my ears like a child, absurd and furious and past caring how it looked. "I don't want to hear another lie leave your mouth." I stepped back from both of them, memorizing the scene: the rumpled sheets, her tear-streaked face, his ugly grin so I would never again let myself forget what betrayal looked like up close. "Remember this, Cassian. The second I walk out that door, you disappear. Both of you. If I ever see either of your faces on pack land again, I will end you myself." I didn't wait for a response. I slammed the door hard enough to rattle the frame and stormed off before either of them could throw more excuses at my back. My mother caught me in the hallway, practically glowing. "Jax! Where are you, Catherine? Everyone's downstairs, we're about to start the " "There's no ceremony tonight." My fists were already curling. "Send everyone home. Tell them to forget any of this was supposed to happen." Her smile collapsed into confusion. "What? Did something happen between you two? Let me talk to her, maybe I can " "Mom." My voice broke on her name. "She was in bed with Cassian. Both of them. Do you need a deeper explanation than that? I'm done. She is not my mate anymore, not after this. I don't want to see anyone's face when I get back tonight." I watched her flinch like I'd struck her, and something in me deflated. "I'm sorry," I muttered. "Just please don't ask me anything else right now. Don't come after me." I didn't stay for her answer. I pushed past her, shed my shirt somewhere between the kitchen and the back door, and broke into a run the second my bare feet hit the grass. The forest swallowed me whole. Cold air bit against my skin, but in human form I barely registered it. I vaulted over roots, ducked beneath low branches, let the burn in my lungs drown out everything happening in my skull. None of it made sense. Twenty-four hours ago she'd been glowing about becoming Luna, clinging to my arm like she couldn't stand a foot of distance between us. And now this. I shook my head hard, trying to physically dislodge the thoughts. This forest was the only place that ever quieted the noise in my head, the one spot where being Alpha didn't matter and nobody needed anything from me. Tonight it wasn't working fast enough. "Alpha." The voice was barely there at first, thin as smoke. I stopped mid-stride. "Alpha…" Louder this time, closer. "Who's there?" I called out, scanning the dark tree line. A crescent moon hung directly overhead, giving just enough light that my eyes should've caught any movement instantly. There was nothing. No shape, no silhouette, no scent even, which unsettled me more than anything.