FALLING FOR MY MATE’S FATHER

Elara POV The night air carried a sweetness that should have soothed me, but it only made my chest tighter. The moon hung fat and luminous over the pines, casting silver light on the worn path that wound toward Ronan’s home. My pulse thrummed with a rhythm I couldn’t calm, not even when I tried to slow my steps. I had spent weeks imagining this night how it would unfold, how he would look at me, how the bond that pulsed like fire under my skin would finally settle into something whole. Ronan had promised we’d talk, that he wanted us to plan our future properly, to start thinking about claiming each other under the moon. My heart had nearly leapt from my chest when he said the words. The mate bond was already a living thing between us, curling around my ribs, tethering me to him. Every time I closed my eyes, I could feel it the pull, the warmth, the certainty that he was mine and I was his. I remembered the way his hand had brushed mine at the river two days ago, rough and calloused from training, but warm, steady. He had kissed me then, brief and secret, as though the world wasn’t ready to see us together yet. “Soon,” he had whispered. “We’ll tell everyone soon.” That promise was what carried me now, my boots crunching lightly against the forest floor. The nerves fluttering in my stomach felt like anticipation, not fear. For once, I didn’t second-guess myself. I thought of my sister, Selene, with her knowing smile and sharp tongue. She had teased me mercilessly when she guessed Ronan was my mate, but even then, I thought she was happy for me. She had always been radiant every eye in the pack lingered on her when she entered a room but she wasn’t bonded to him. That was mine. Fate had chosen me. And I had believed, perhaps naively, that fate could not be cruel. The lanterns outside Ronan’s lodge flickered in the dark, faint shapes of guards posted along the perimeter bowing slightly as I passed. My cheeks warmed. They all knew. Everyone knew. The whispers had spread weeks ago: Ronan Draekar had found his mate. And soon, the ceremony would make it official. My wolf stirred inside me, restless with anticipation. He’s ours, she murmured, her voice low and sultry in the back of my mind. Stop doubting. Tonight, it begins. I smiled, clutched the edge of my cloak tighter, and climbed the steps to his door. That was when I heard it the faintest sound. A breathless laugh. A moan muffled by wood and shadows. I froze. For a heartbeat, I told myself it couldn’t be what it sounded like. Perhaps a servant, perhaps anything else. But the bond flared in my chest, sharp and uneasy, as if it already knew what I would find. My hand shook when I touched the door. My wolf growled low, unsettled. But I pushed, needing to see, needing to prove the dread in my bones wrong. The door creaked open. And in that instant, my world ended. The air inside was thickhumid, heavy with the scent of sweat and something sweeter, sharper. My stomach churned as I took a hesitant step forward, the soft thud of my boots lost beneath the sounds that slithered through the silence. A voice, low and familiar. Ronan’s. “Selene goddess, you’re” I didn’t hear the rest. I couldn’t. Because there, sprawled across the wide fur rug before the hearth, was my sister her golden hair tumbling loose over her bare shoulders, her lips parted in a smile of satisfaction. And pressed above her, his body moving against hers in a rhythm that made bile rise in my throat, was Ronan. My Ronan. The man the Moon Goddess had bound to me. For a moment, I couldn’t breathe. My body locked in place, my mind screaming at me to look away, to close the door and pretend it wasn’t real. But the bond between us didn’t allow ignorance. It blazed with a fury I had never known, searing through my veins until I staggered. Ronan’s head turned then, his gaze catching mine over Selene’s shoulder. For a flicker of a second, horror flashed in his eyes. But it was gone just as quickly, smothered by something darker defiance, arrogance, as though being caught meant nothing. “Elara,” he said, breathless but unashamed. “You shouldn’t be here.” The sound of my name on his lips was a dagger. Selene didn’t move to cover herself. She didn’t even flinch. Instead, she tilted her head back against the rug and laughed, that silvery laugh I had grown up hearing, though never before had it sounded so venomous. “Poor sister,” she purred. “Did you really think he wanted you?” My throat closed. Words tried to form but tangled and died on my tongue. The pain wasn’t just emotional it was physical, ripping through me, clawing at the very core of my being. The mate bond, that sacred tether of warmth and light, was unraveling strand by strand, breaking with every breath they shared, every movement of his body against hers. I doubled over, clutching my chest as if I could hold the pieces together. My wolf howled inside me, a raw, guttural sound that rattled through my bones. Betrayal, she snarled. He was ours. He chose her. Tear them apart. I wanted to scream, to claw at their faces until nothing of them remained, but my legs refused to move. My body shook, weak from the tearing bond. Every pulse of their union was agony, as though knives were being driven through my ribcage. Ronan stood then, finally pulling away from Selene. He didn’t reach for me. He didn’t explain. His eyes, once the anchor of my world, were cold. “This” he gestured between them, “is real. Whatever you thought we had… it wasn’t enough. You’re too weak, Elara. Too fragile to stand beside me as Luna. Selene understands what it takes.” His words were worse than the sight itself. Selene rose gracefully to her feet, the firelight gilding her skin. She came toward me, smiling sweetly as though this were nothing more than another childish prank. “You never deserved him,” she whispered. “You were always the shadow, Elara. Always second to me. The Goddess gave you Ronan, but he still chose me. That must sting.” Her breath brushed my ear like ice, and my knees nearly gave out. My vision blurred, the tears burning but refusing to fall. I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction. Inside me, my wolf raged, battering against my restraint. End her. End them both. Spill their blood and let the world see they cannot break us. But I couldn’t move. The pain anchored me, a storm of fire and glass in my veins. My heart was shattering, and with every c***k, the bond disintegrated further, until only fragments remained. Ronan’s voice came again, final and merciless. “Leave, Elara. Before you humiliate yourself any further.” That broke me. Not the sight of their betrayal, not even the venom of Selene’s words but his dismissal, as though I were nothing more than a nuisance. I stumbled backward, my hand fumbling for the doorframe to steady myself. My eyes locked with his one last time, searching desperately for any trace of the man I thought I knew. But there was nothing. No warmth. No remorse. Only cold triumph. I turned and fled. The night air was a blade against my skin, my lungs burning as I gasped, each breath jagged and sharp. I ran blindly through the trees, branches clawing at my arms, tears finally spilling hot down my cheeks. My wolf’s howls echoed in my skull, mingling with the pounding of my heart. When I finally collapsed against a tree, the bond ripped completely, a final, brutal snap that sent me crashing to the ground with a scream. It was like being gutted alive, every nerve ending aflame. And in that agony, something else was born. Not despair. Not weakness. But fury. A cold, vengeful flame that licked at the edges of my grief, whispering promises of retribution. I pressed my forehead to the earth, clawing at the soil with shaking hands. My voice cracked when it finally left my throat, but the words were steady. “He will pay. They both will pay.” The vow settled into my bones, stronger than the bond that had been severed. And in the silence of the forest, with the moon watching above, I swore that Ronan Draekar would one day kneel before me in regret and Selene would choke on the ashes of her victory.