My Mate Cheated, So His Father Claimed Me

BETRAYAL BROUGHT ME TO HIM

Three Nights Earlier

ASTRA

The ceremonial ribbon glimmered under the moonlight as I turned it over in my hands, checking the stitches one last time. The silver threading sparkled faintly, pulling a soft smile from my lips.

It was my mother’s family heirloom, passed down to every first daughter before me. Each of us adds our own embroidered mark before it is tied around our wrist during the bond-blessing ceremony.

It symbolizes devotion, trust, and the merging of two souls.

I traced the delicate embroidery I had just finished, alongside the marks left by the women before me, gratitude swelling quietly in my chest.

In three days, I would stand beside Kaiden Marwood, my fated mate and Alpha, as the Luna of Moonwatch Pack.

He saved my pack from ruin by stepping in as our Alpha after the former one died without an heir, and in doing so, he saved me, too. Because of him, I rose above my family’s ruined name.

So much had changed in the two years we were together, and now we were finally stepping into the next chapter of our lives.

Still smiling, I slipped the ribbon into its velvet pouch and stepped out of the healer’s lodge. I had finished the preparations far too early, excitement making me smile like a fool. Kaiden would tease me for fussing over details, pull me into his arms, and remind me that none of the traditions mattered as much as us.

The thought made me smile widely. I quickened my pace and reached the packhouse soon enough. It was already a little late, but I knew he was still busy with packing affairs at this hour.

I let our mate bond lead me to where he was, only to be hit with the whiplash of desires that were not meant for me. I found myself moving toward his room, my steps heavy with wariness.

I didn’t bother to knock. The door swung open easily.

The first thing I registered was movement. Fast, frantic, and careless. Two silhouettes tangled in the dim light, bodies moving fervently together, followed by moans and breathless grunts.

“Alpha, more. f**k me…more. Yes! Ah!”

My blood ran cold at the sound of her voice. My body moved on its own, carrying me closer.

Lira’s legs were wrapped around Kaiden’s hips, bodies moving with desperate heat, unaware they had been caught.

My best friend. The woman I treated like a sister. And my mate…fucking as if I had never existed.

For several seconds, I couldn’t move or breathe. The world simply narrowed to the bed, to the way his mouth dragged along her neck in the same place he always kissed me.

They were too lost in each other.

A broken sob escaped me, and that was what finally snapped them back to reality.

Kaiden froze mid-thrust. His head snapped up, pleasure draining from his face and replaced by horror. He tore himself away from her and scrambled upright, reaching for the blanket as if covering himself would hide what I’d already seen.

“Astra, it’s not what it looks like.” He muttered, panic breaking his voice while shoving clothes to Lira, who couldn’t even look me in the eyes.

The mate bond only made everything worse. My chest burned, as if my heart were being torn apart. My wolf clawed inside me, howling from a place of pure betrayal.

The next thing I knew, laughter spilled from me. Not because anything was funny, but his excuse is so absurd.

“It’s not what it looks like?” I asked and couldn’t even stomach calling him my Alpha, “So, what is this? You’re just playing with my best friend in your bed, or are you just training together? Give me your best excuse, Kaiden. Tell me that I didn’t just see my mate f*****g my own best friend!” I exclaimed, voice trembling as blood dripped from my hands, and my nails dug into my skin.

Kaiden reached toward me, “Astra, please. It was a mistake. I-I don’t know what came over me. This was just a mistake.”

“You’re right,” I muttered, looking at both of them with nothing but bitterness and contempt, “it is a mistake. A mistake I have to fix. I’m withdrawing from the wedding… and I’m severing our mate bond.”

“What? You can’t do that!”

In an instant, he was in front of me. His pants are barely hanging on his waist. “Astra, I mean it. Take it back. Please, let’s talk about this.”

“I, Astra Wynfell,” I met his gaze as a single tear escaped my eyes, “Sever my mate bond with you, Kaiden Marwood, Alpha of Moonwatch Pack. Goddess of the Moon, hear my plea as I cannot be with a mate who can’t be loyal to me.”

A wave of sharp pain quickly ripped through me. My knees wavered, and I tasted blood as it rose from my throat to my mouth, and tears followed right after.

Kaiden crashed to the floor with a choked cry, his wolf reacting violently to the sudden break of our mate bond. His body trembled, half-shift threatening beneath his skin.

Lira pressed herself against the headboard, horrified at what she was witnessing. “I-I’m sorry, Astra. I didn’t mean to-”

“I hope you enjoyed the show.” I cut her off and looked at her dead in the eyes, “You’re a stranger to me now. I regret that I ever saw you as a friend and a sister.”

I turned and bolted from the room, not answering anyone I passed by.

I found myself running deeper into the pack’s territory, aimlessly through the woods. When my legs finally gave out, I sank to the ground, gasping desperately as the pain in my chest only worsened.

I wiped my tears and saw blood instead. The Goddess is punishing us for rejecting her gift, but this was better than feeling the pain of his betrayal through our bond.

Did I simply assume too much? Was I too ambitious to think that I could find happiness and love despite my past?

“Aren’t you Kaiden’s mate?”

I jolted in surprise, hearing a deep voice from a distance. A figure stepped between the trees, his presence quickly filling the place as he stopped in front of me.

An older alpha with strong features; a strong jaw, broad shoulders shaped by discipline, and eyes nothing like Kaiden’s. Not wild or frantic but controlled… cold and almost cruel.

He was dangerously handsome. I think that was the proper term for it… and I perfectly knew who he was.

Draven Marwood.

Kaiden’s father. The Alpha, which I have only heard from Kaiden’s horror stories of how his father’s tyranny made him leave without looking back.

The man I was taught to fear and avert. He was here as part of a tradition we couldn’t break despite the circumstances, to bless our wedding as his parent.

The wedding that wouldn’t happen anymore.

To my surprise, he suddenly joined me on the ground. He looked at me for a long moment before he reached out to wipe the blood streaks of tears on my cheek.

My eyes widened, surprised by the sudden, gentle gesture.

“Seems like the wedding has been called off.”

I averted his gaze after his remark. Of course, he immediately figured it out. “I apologize Alpha Draven. We didn’t mean to waste your time.” I apologized, voice hoarse from crying.

He reached for my chin, lifting my face to meet his gaze. “Dry your tears, Astra. If my son were too blind to value you, then he doesn’t deserve to even call your name.”