FALLING FOR MY MATE’S FATHER

Chapter 2

Elara POV

The forest had never felt so hollow.

I lay curled at the roots of an old pine, the bark rough against my cheek, my body trembling long after the mate bond had snapped. The night was quiet except for my ragged breaths and the echo of my wolf’s howls inside my skull.

He broke us. He broke what was sacred.

Her rage was a wildfire, licking at my insides, but it could not burn away the ache that hollowed my chest. Every breath felt like shattered glass. I dug my nails into the dirt, dragging furrows into the soil as if the earth itself might hold me together.

Dawn crept slowly, painting the sky in bruised purples and gray. My cloak was damp with dew by the time I forced myself to rise. The lodge wasn’t far, but each step back felt like a march into enemy territory.

I wanted to disappear. To vanish into the wild where no one could see me, no one could whisper about me. But the bond’s end was not a secret. A broken mate bond carried its own scent sharp, acrid, bitter as rot. Every wolf with keen senses would smell my shame before I even opened my mouth.

When I reached the clearing near the pack’s main hall, the stares began. Heads turned, whispers fluttered like gnats in the morning air. I kept my chin high, though my legs trembled.

“Elara?” A voice called softly.

Marcellus Thorn, Darius Kaelen’s Beta, stepped forward. His dark hair was tied back, his expression unreadable as his sharp eyes scanned me. He wasn’t supposed to care he wasn’t of our pack, not directly. He served the ruthless Alpha across the valley, a man even Ronan tread carefully around. But Marcellus was here often, a watchful shadow on behalf of his Alpha.

“You look…” he paused, his nostrils flaring as he caught the scent. His jaw tightened. “…broken.”

The word struck like a lash.

I opened my mouth to speak, but Selene’s laughter sliced through the air before I could form an answer.

“There she is,” my sister’s voice sang, cruel and clear. “The poor little shadow who thought she could be Luna.”

My chest clenched. I turned as Selene emerged from the hall, her golden hair gleaming in the morning light, lips curved in satisfaction. She wore Ronan’s cloak over her shoulders.

The cloak that should have been mine.

My wolf snarled inside me, clawing to get out.

Rip it from her. Rip everything from her.

But I stood frozen, caught between grief and rage.

Selene leaned close, her whisper meant only for me though I knew Marcellus’s ears caught every poisoned word. “Did you really think fate could make him love you? The bond was a mistake. He chose me, Elara. He always will.”

Her smirk widened as she drew back, her gaze flicking toward Marcellus. “At least some men know the difference between strength and weakness.”

Heat burned behind my eyes, but I refused to let her see me break. Not here. Not before half the pack.

Marcellus’s gaze lingered on me for a moment, something unreadable flickering in his eyes. Then he turned, dismissing Selene entirely.

“You should rest,” he told me evenly. “Wolves who shatter often lose themselves if they don’t find… purpose.”

Purpose. The word rang in my skull, sharp and undeniable.

I didn’t know if he meant it as a warning or advice, but it lodged in me like a seed.

Because he was right. If I didn’t choose a purpose, I would drown. And drowning was not an option.

I would not give Ronan or Selene that victory.

I tried to walk away before Ronan appeared, but fate wasn’t done punishing me yet. His voice came from behind, smooth and steady, the same voice that used to calm storms inside me.

“Elara.”

I froze, my hands curling into fists at my sides. Every instinct screamed to keep walking, but my legs rooted to the ground.

When I turned, he was already crossing the yard toward me. His dark hair was still damp from a wash, his jaw sharp, his posture proud. There was no shame in his eyes. No regret. Only the arrogance of a man who believed he could do no wrong.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he said, low enough for only me to hear.

Anger boiled up, cutting through the ache in my chest. “Why?” My voice shook, but I didn’t care. “So you and Selene can flaunt your betrayal without interruption?”

He sighed, as if I were a burden he was forced to endure. “This is bigger than you, Elara. You were never strong enough to be Luna. Selene… she understands what leadership means. She’ll stand by me without hesitation.”

The words struck hard, each one a blade. I wanted to scream, to hit him, to tear at the smug certainty in his eyes. Instead, I clenched my teeth, holding myself together by the thinnest thread.

“You’re a coward,” I whispered. “Too afraid to face the bond. Too weak to honor the Goddess’s choice.”

His jaw tightened, but he didn’t deny it. He stepped closer, his scent brushing against me, once warm and comforting, now foul with betrayal. “Be careful what you say,” he warned. “The pack already knows. You’ll only humiliate yourself further if you keep holding on.”

A soft laugh carried across the clearing. Selene stood nearby, arms folded, her smirk sharp enough to cut. She didn’t need to add words this time the triumph in her eyes said it all.

Something inside me cracked, but it wasn’t weakness. It was rage, molten and heavy, pushing past the grief. My wolf snarled, her voice hard and cold.

He will kneel. He will regret.

I met Ronan’s gaze one last time, steady despite the storm inside me. “One day, you’ll pay for this. Both of you.”

His lip curled in a mocking smile. “Empty threats, Elara. You’re finished.”

And with that, he brushed past me as though I were nothing. Selene followed, her laughter trailing behind like poison in the wind.

I stood trembling, fury and humiliation battling in my chest, when a whisper reached me from a pair of passing guards.

“…the Alpha won’t like this.”

“Darius Kaelen?” the other muttered. “He doesn’t care what happens in this pack.”

“No, you fool. He’ll care if Draekar keeps flaunting weakness. Everyone knows Ronan fears him. If Kaelen wanted, he could crush him tomorrow.”

The words hit me like a spark in dry tinder. Darius Kaelen.

I’d heard the name countless times. The ruthless Alpha across the valley. Cold, feared, untouchable. Even Ronan lowered his voice when he spoke of him. Some said he was a shadow born of the moon’s darkness, a wolf who had clawed his way to power after being abandoned by his own mate. Others whispered he was more beast than man.

All I knew was this: he was powerful enough to terrify Ronan.

And for the first time since my world had shattered, I felt the stirrings of something sharp and dangerous. A plan.

Maybe fate had torn my bond apart. Maybe Selene had stolen what should have been mine. But I still had fire in my veins, and I would use it.

If Ronan thought me weak, I would make him choke on his mistake.

And I would start with the one name he feared most Darius Kaelen.

By the time I reached the edge of the woods, my hands were still trembling. My whole body felt raw, scraped hollow by the pain of the broken bond, but my wolf would not let me collapse again. She paced inside me, restless, her growl constant.

We will not crawl. We will not beg. We rise.

I pressed my back to the rough bark of an oak, sliding down until I sat in the grass. My chest ached with every breath, but anger kept me upright. Anger was sharper than grief.

I thought of Ronan’s smirk, of Selene’s taunting laugh, of the way the pack had already started whispering, waiting to see if I would fade away quietly. That was what they expected. The broken mate. The discarded one. Wolves like me usually didn’t survive long the emptiness was too much.

But I wasn’t going to die from this. I wasn’t going to let them write me off as a weak little shadow.

They think you’re broken, my wolf whispered. Let them. It makes the strike easier.

I tilted my head back against the tree, closing my eyes. The memory of the guards’ voices drifted back to me. Darius Kaelen. The ruthless Alpha. The one Ronan feared.

A man like that didn’t waste time on weaklings. He wouldn’t pity me. He wouldn’t care about my pain. But maybe that was exactly what I needed. Pity wouldn’t destroy Ronan. Power would.

The thought alone sent a shiver down my spine. Could I really do it? Could I walk into the path of the most dangerous wolf alive and use him for my revenge?

I didn’t know. But the alternative sitting here and letting Selene parade around in my place was worse than death.

The sun climbed higher, gilding the trees in gold. I stood slowly, brushing dirt from my hands, my legs still shaky but my resolve hardening with every step I took.

“This isn’t the end,” I whispered to the forest, to the moon, to myself. “This is where it begins.”

The words steadied me, rooted me.

I wasn’t just a broken mate. I wasn’t just Ronan’s discarded shadow.

I was Elara Veylon.

And if I had to set the world on fire to make him kneel, I would.

The thought of Darius Kaelen lingered like a shadow in my mind, dangerous and sharp. His name was a promise, a weapon I hadn’t yet touched.

But I would. Soon.

Because vengeance was no longer just a whisper in my chest.

It was my purpose.