Claimed by the Hellbound Alpha

An Even More Painful Betrayal

Kaia

“Charles, Myriam,” Alpha Damian greeted when he saw my parents enter. “I assume you are already aware of the situation that brings us together tonight.”

“We are, Alpha,” my father replied after meeting my gaze. “This is… surprising.”

I hadn’t told them anything, and I hadn’t planned to until after the meeting with our Alpha, so I assumed they had used the link to communicate the latest news.

“It certainly is, but it has also proven to be problematic,” Luna Kelly added as she greeted my mother with a kiss on the cheek. My father, faithful to his martial rigor, offered a bow to his Luna before pulling a chair for my mother and then sitting down beside me.

Now that they had arrived, I trusted my father to use his influence as Beta to make Alpha Damian see reason about what was not only most appropriate, but right, just, aligned with the law of the packs and the will of the Goddess. So what he said next left me even more bewildered than before.

“Daughter, Kaia, it is time to understand that the interests of the pack stand above your own. It is what we have always told you, and the time has come to apply the values and education we have given you.”

“What?” I exclaimed. “What are you trying to say, Father?”

“Kaia, darling, I am truly so sorry. This must be so painful for you,” my mother added, seated on the opposite side from my father. “I cannot even imagine how much you must be suffering.”

Of course she had no way of imagining it. She had married her mate and lived the happiest marriage in the world, but now that she had the opportunity to support her daughter in having the same, all she offered me was her pity.

“This cannot be happening. You cannot be speaking seriously,” I said, not knowing which of the two to look at with more resentment. “Marcus is my mate. He is the one the Goddess chose for me, he is my destined partner, and now, when what I need is your support, I hear that you are turning your backs on me—my parents.”

If Alpha Damian believed that summoning his Beta would resolve the situation, he was completely mistaken. The atmosphere grew even heavier, the energy thickened with a dark current that only made everything more uncomfortable.

“I haven’t heard you say anything, Marcus,” I exclaimed, once again forced to turn to look my mate in the eyes. “Say something! Anything—but say something!”

I saw my cousin about to cover for him again, but a simple gesture of my hand was enough to make her fall silent.

“I am not going to allow my first child to be a bastard,” Marcus said—my last and unlikely hope for redemption. Now the board was set, and every piece was against me, including my parents and my mate. “I will marry your cousin, mate. I’m sorry.”

If it hadn’t been for the pregnant woman standing between us, I would have thrown myself at him to tear out his always perfectly styled hair strand by strand.

“Let us all calm down a bit,” Luna Kelly proposed, sensing—as the others must have—that my wolf was beginning to howl in pure rage. “There are options, Kaia, a proposal we would like to extend to you to resolve this… impasse.”

Impasse?

Was she calling the loss of my mate, to my face, an impasse?

“Listen to me, Kaia,” Alpha Damian said, taking up his wife’s words. “I know you obtained your degree in Administration, and that you have been educated and trained by your father to serve the pack in the highest positions—and it is what you deserve by your lineage and birth—so you will be able to attend to the administrative affairs of the pack from an executive position, a high-ranking role, and be nominally the mate of my son—a designation that ensures you a place of honor, at his side, in all ceremonies and official events.”

It had taken long enough for the offer—the consolation prize—to come, which could only mean that no one in that room was going to change their mind, and that it had already been decided that my cousin would replace me at the altar where I was meant to stand with my mate.

“It is an excellent proposal,” my mother said. “Kaia, please accept it. It hurts now, but you will see how later you will be grateful for having thought clearly today.”

“You will be installed in the Pack House,” Alpha Damian continued, extending his concessions. “As my son’s mate, you will have a room in the private wing and will always occupy a place at his side in the dining hall.”

“Yes, it seems like a perfect proposal,” I said, making them all react with a smile of relief that I immediately wiped from their faces, “if I wanted to be his concubine. But I am his mate—the one who should be his rightful and only wife, and lover.”

“You do not have to decide now,” Alpha Damian said after a tense silence. “I understand that at this moment you cannot evaluate the generosity of my offer, and that it may take you some days to process it, but I want you to know, Kaia, that not only because you are my son’s mate, but also because of the loyalty and friendship that bind me to your father, I will allow you to take whatever days you need to process and think about the offer I have made you—although this…”

Luna Kelly seemed to want to restrain her husband, but he continued.

“You must make your decision before the next full moon, because it must be settled by the time of the wedding.”

It was the final blow, the cherry on my back, to end the meeting and let everyone go on with their lives as if nothing had happened, as if I hadn't been left shattered, broken, completely devastated after what they'd done to me.

"We slept together," I said when it seemed like that was the end of it.