Reborn as the alpha's obsession

Tara's POV "Greetings all members of the pack, I, Jaxon Blackwood of the Moon Coluse Pack, hereby announce that my fated mate Lisa will be joining our pack. I hope that everyone will treat both Lisa and my Luna Tara with equal respect in the future." Silence lingers in the air for a moment before the hall erupts into jubilant cheers. "Congratulations, Alpha Jaxon! Long live the Moon Coluse Pack!" "Congratulations!" I stare blankly at the two figures standing at the center of the hall as a cold numbness spreads through my chest, listening to every member of my own pack congratulate them wholeheartedly. My mind goes completely empty, and in that moment I can't even find the words to object. My husband has just announced, in front of our entire pack, on our third wedding anniversary, that he has found his fated mate. The only problem is that his fated mate is another woman, and instead of being shocked by this, every single person in this hall has accepted it without a second thought, offering their blessings like it's the most natural thing in the world. Anger and humiliation surge through me all at once as Basi growls low inside my head. "Tara... what the f**k is going on?" Her voice comes out sharp, furious, the gold band at my throat cracking under the strain of holding her back. "I'm going to tear them both apart. Right now." "Basi, calm down." I try to placate her, try to swallow my own fury down with hers, desperate to keep her from forcing a shift in front of three hundred witnesses. As Luna of Moon Coluse and daughter of the Alpha of Silver Crest, I cannot afford to lose control here, not in front of this many people, not today of all days. "f**k controlling yourself, Tara. What is wrong with you?" Basi snarls, refusing to settle. "I don't care what anyone thinks. Look at them. Standing there so pleased with themselves. I want to rip them both apart." "No. Basi, calm down." I force the words out through my teeth, still facing forward, still holding my spine straight even as everything in me wants to break. How can he do this to me, after every promise he ever made, after everything I've given this pack, and all any of them can do is congratulate him. "Are you insane, Tara?" Basi's voice turns sharp enough to cut. "They're planning to replace you, and here you are playing the weakest wolf in the room." "No. We have to behave. The whole pack is here." Go ask him what he thinks he's doing. Now, Tara. Now. I want to ignore her. I really do. But my feet are already moving, carrying me forward on legs that won't stop shaking, and I bite down hard enough to taste copper, anything to keep the tears from falling in front of everyone I'm supposed to lead. Every eye in the hall follows me, and strangely, it's the only thing keeping me upright. I lift my chin, square my shoulders, and cross the floor toward my husband like my entire world isn't currently coming apart. Only someone looking closely would catch it, the faint purple bleeding into my irises where Basi sits just beneath the surface. I reach him and angle my mouth so no one else can hear. "Jaxon. What the hell do you think you're doing. Do you really plan on doing this to me? On our anniversary day?" He doesn't answer right away. "Can't this wait, Tara?" Jaxon promised me, back when we were eighteen and found out the moon goddess hadn't made us mates, that he would still make me his Luna. We'd been friends since childhood, and he swore every member of this pack would respect that bond regardless, even while we quietly prayed she'd change her mind one day. "Tara. I love you. Mate or not, I still love you. I promise I'll make you my Luna, and every member of this pack will respect that." He said it like a vow. I built three years of my life on top of it. He turns now, slow, a practiced smile sliding onto his face for the crowd's benefit. "My love, I'm sorry. But Lisa is my mate, and you know what that means. If I reject her, she'll be mateless. Alone, forever." "My love, I can't help it. You know what the bond is like. My wolf found it hard to resist from the moment he saw her. I can't just let her go. And you know as well as I do, a true mate bond would increase my power." "Come on," he murmurs, closer now, voice dropped just for me as I shift my weight back to put air between us. "She's a good girl. She could even help in the pack store." I look past him to Lisa, who's watching the two of us with her head tilted down shyly, holding onto the sleeve of his jacket like she's afraid to let go, wearing the pitiful look she clearly needs me to believe. She sniffles delicately before moving toward the long table behind us, lifting one of the wine decanters herself and pouring with small, careful hands. "Respected Luna, please allow me to stay here. I don't want to ruin your marriage, I promise. Jaxon only picked me out of pity for me." A tear slides down her cheek, timed perfectly. "Do you want to know what I think," I say, looking down at her and the wine trembling in her hands. She's still there, still waiting, when Jaxon steps forward between us like he thinks I'm the one who needs stopping. "You need to calm down, Tara." "You're the one who needs to calm down. I'm your Luna, fated or not, and you still went out of your way to choose someone else before me. On our anniversary day. Does a promise mean that little to you?" He's not even looking at me. His eyes have already slid past my shoulder to Lisa, soft and helpless, the same look he used to save only for me. Without hesitation, Lisa drops to her knees in front of me, the wine glass cradled in both hands. "My honored Luna, I beg you. As long as I have a place to stay, I'll do anything. I'll cook. I'll do your laundry. Anything. Please, just let me stay." "Oh, this poor girl," someone murmurs from the crowd. "She's the Alpha's mate. Of course she should stay." "First time I've seen our Luna look this angry. She's really making a scene over it." Each voice lands somewhere soft and vital, stacking up inside my chest like stones. I look at Jaxon one more time, giving him one last chance to prove me wrong. But his whole face is turned toward her, love sitting plain and unguarded in his eyes. My throat tightens around something hot and swelling. I will not cry. Not here. Not in front of three hundred people already deciding, in real time, that I'm the villain of my own anniversary. "Hmph. Pitiful dumbass." Basi's voice goes flat with disgust. "At least you're still Luna of this pack. I don't agree with this, address it publicly, let me go deal with her myself." "Calm down, Basi. It doesn't have to be public. We can handle this. Not here." I reach out and take the glass from Lisa's hands, and I drink it straight down. The crowd gasps behind me. I set the empty glass down hard enough that it rattles, then I grab her by the arm, haul her up off her knees, and push her straight into Jaxon's chest. "Fine. You can have her. But everything we built together ends here." I don't wait to see his face. I turn and I run, out through the side doors, past startled guards, into the treeline, until the music fades behind me and there's nothing left but my own breathing and the dark press of the forest. I run until I reach my spot. Mine and Basi's. The clearing by the stream where we come whenever the pack gets to be too much. Basi. Nothing. Basi, answer me. Still nothing, and that silence terrifies me more than anything that happened back in that hall. My stomach pitches, violent and sudden. I fold forward, hand slapping against the nearest tree trunk to keep myself upright, and my knees hit the dirt before I even feel the impact. The world tilts. I taste copper rising up my throat before I understand what's happening. Blood. On the leaves beneath me. On my own shaking hands. Footsteps. Slow. Unhurried. Closing in through the trees behind me. "Hahaha. My respected Luna." "You enjoyed the wine earlier?”