The mate i was never meant to Have

Betrayal

Sophia's POV

“If it isn’t the wolfless mutt,” Kattie’s voice rang sharply through the hallway, her tone dripping with mockery as she blocked the path I was taking back to my room with her usual pack of minions standing behind her.

Of course. The Beta’s daughter herself. I should have known. Wherever Kattie was, her little entourage was never far behind, always buzzing around her like flies around honey. And the last thing I wanted tonight was to deal with her nonsense. Especially not when my head was pounding, my heart was shattered and my body still burned with the poison of alcohol.

“Let me go, Kattie. I don’t have time for this,” I rasped, my voice hoarse as I tried to steady my steps. I staggered slightly, brushing past one of her lackeys, hoping she’d let me through for once. But that was the mistake and I should’ve known better. Kattie never stopped. Not until she was satisfied with the damage she caused.

“I should let you go?” she repeated mockingly, feigning surprise as if she hadn’t heard me right. Then she turned to her friends, her smirk deepening. “Did you all hear that? She said I should let her go.”

Her words were followed by a burst of laughter echoing through the corridor.

“Seems like her mother getting mated to the Alpha has made her think she’s someone now,” one of the girls sneered.

“Someone?” another scoffed. “She’s just a wolfless omega whose gold-digging mother seduced the Alpha. Give it a few days and he’ll throw them both out, back to where they belong. Beneath our feet.”

“Exactly,” a third chimed in, her tone venomous. “She doesn’t belong here. She’s trash just like her mother. A tramp who needs to be crushed.”

Even in my drunken haze, their words sliced through me like knives. Every syllable burned. And Kattie just stood there, her lips curled in satisfaction as her friends tore me apart with their tongues.

“Imagine her thinking she’s someone important,” Kattie said finally, stepping closer. Her perfume, a sickly-sweet scent I’d always hated, filled my nostrils. “Listen to me, Sophia. You’re still that same poor scholarship student from the Academy. You are nothing and you’ll always be nothing. Becoming family with the Alpha doesn’t change who you are.”

Her hand shot out, fisting in my hair. She yanked my head back roughly, forcing me to meet her icy eyes. Pain stung my scalp, but I clenched my jaw, refusing to give her the satisfaction of a scream.

“Let me go, Kattie,” I managed to mutter, my voice trembling. “Please. I don’t want any trouble.”

“Ohhh, I’m so scared,” she mocked, pouting dramatically as her friends laughed behind her. “Did you all hear that? The wolfless freak doesn’t want trouble.”

My throat tightened. I swallowed hard, tasting the bitterness of both the insult and my own restraint.

I was twenty now. Last year, when I turned nineteen and still didn’t awaken my wolf after graduation, the name “wolfless mutt” became my permanent label, thanks to her. Every she-wolf was supposed to connect with her wolf spirit by sixteen, the golden age. But I never did. And as if that wasn’t shame enough, I’d never even found my mate.

I used to pray Reid would be revealed as mine by the Moon Goddess. But now, after everything, I was glad she hadn’t been that cruel.

“Is she keeping silent while Kattie’s talking to her?” one of the girls sneered suddenly, stepping forward with that same mocking glint in her eyes.

I lifted my gaze toward her through the blur of alcohol, my vision swimming but my anger cutting through the haze like fire.

They wanted a reaction. They always did.

And this time, I wasn’t sure if I had the strength or the patience to hold back.

“Her audacity! She never did this while we were at the Academy. She thinks she’s something now because her gold-digging mother seduced the Alpha!” another girl spat.

I opened my mouth, desperate to defend myself but before a word could leave my lips, a resounding slap echoed through the hallway.

My head whipped to the side, the sting burning across my cheek. The taste of blood filled my mouth as I slowly lifted my gaze and met Kattie’s venomous glare.

“You stupid omega!” she yelled, her voice laced with fury. Her hand shot up again, this time fisting my hair so tightly that my scalp screamed in pain. “You’re nothing! You’ll always be nothing! A useless, poor daughter of a gold digger, that’s what you are! You’ll never rise above that. You’ll never be anything more than what your mother is a tramp who sells herself for comfort. Do you understand me?”

I could take the insults, they’d done it all my life but the moment she mentioned my mother, something inside me snapped.

I’d promised myself I would protect her. I swore I would stand by her, no matter how flawed she was. She was still my mother. I wouldn’t let anyone, not even Kattie, drag her name through the mud in front of me.

Without thinking, I lunged forward and yanked Kattie by the hair, my fingers tangling through her glossy strands. Her sharp gasp turned into a shriek as I pulled harder, matching her aggression, refusing to back down.

The tighter she clutched my hair, the harder I pulled hers. Our snarls filled the hallway like wild animals fighting under the moon. Her minions stood frozen, too shocked to intervene.

“What’s wrong with her? She never fought back before!” one of them gasped.

And she was right. I never did. Back at the Academy, I’d endured everything. Every insult, every slap, every humiliation! I’d been mocked for being poor, for being an omega, for being wolfless. I’d swallowed it all in silence. I never wanted trouble. I thought ignoring them would make them stop.

But tonight was different.

Maybe it was the alcohol clouding my restraint. Maybe it was Reid’s betrayal still fresh and bleeding in my chest. Maybe it was the ache of watching my mother choose wealth over love again. I didn’t know which pain pushed me but I wasn’t that silent girl anymore.

I yanked harder, my pulse roaring in my ears.

“Let me go, you b***h!” Kattie screamed.

“Let me go first!” I shouted back, breathless, matching her fury. The audacity of her, demanding I let her go when her hands were still in my hair.

Our struggle lasted another few seconds, both of us refusing to yield until a deep, commanding voice sliced through the tension.

“What’s going on here?”

The voice wasn’t loud, but it carried an authority that made both of us freeze instantly.

Kattie’s grip loosened at once and I released her hair just as quickly. She stumbled back, her face pale. The sound of heavy footsteps drew closer and when I turned, I saw her and her minions scatter like frightened pups the moment they saw who it was.

My head throbbed as I turned toward the newcomer, squinting through my drunken haze. The first thing that hit me was the musky, masculine scent of his cologne.

“What’s going on here?” the voice asked again, closer this time. His tone was firm, yet the slur in his words told me he’d been drinking too. The faint smell of liquor mixed with his scent.

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. My head was spinning and all I wanted was to escape. I turned to walk away, unsteady on my feet, the floor seeming to tilt beneath me.

My heel caught something and I stumbled forward. But before I could hit the ground, a strong arm wrapped around my waist, steadying me.

“You look beautiful,” he whispered, his voice low, thick with alcohol and admiration. His fingers brushed through my tangled hair, smoothing it gently. “You have such beautiful hair.”

Reid had never told me that. Not once.

Reid had never told me I was beautiful, or that my hair was lovely or that I mattered. All he’d ever done was take and leave me with nothing.

And as the image of him from last night flashed in my mind, his body pressed against that blonde, his hands gripping her hips, I being told I was just a bet, I broke.

The ache in my chest turned to fire. The loneliness, the betrayal, the pain, all collided in one reckless, desperate moment.

Before I could think, before I could stop myself, I leaned forward and captured the stranger’s lips in a hungry, trembling kiss.

For once, I didn’t care who saw.

I just wanted to feel something that didn’t hurt.