Claimed By My Mate's Brother

Episode Four:Life As Theo's Wifr

Nyx’s POV:

A week into my marriage, and I'd already mastered the art of becoming invisible. It wasn't hard – Theo preferred it that way. He'd made that clear the first night when he'd taken one look at me in the honeymoon suite and walked right back out, leaving me alone with my relief and my shame.

The relief didn't last long.

"I assume you're tracking your cycle?" Eleanor's voice cut through the quiet dinner table like a blade. I nearly choked on my wine, feeling every eye in the room turn to me. "A Luna's first duty is to ensure the bloodline continues."

*Not his bloodline,* Eva snarled. *Never his.*

I forced myself to swallow, to breathe, to maintain the mask of docile submission I'd worn since the wedding. "Of course, Luna Sterling."

Across the table, Theo lounged in his chair, crystal goblet dangling carelessly from his fingers. His shirt collar didn't quite hide the purple mark on his neck – one I certainly hadn't put there. "Don't worry yourself, Mother. We'll get there when we get there."

The casual cruelty in his tone made my fingers tighten around my fork. He knew exactly what he was doing, knew how his words would echo through the pack gossip channels. Already, whispers followed me through the halls. *Defective. Inadequate. Unworthy.*

If they only knew.

I made the mistake of glancing up, and immediately met Xander's gaze. For a split second, I saw everything he wasn't saying – the rage, the possessiveness, the helpless frustration that mirrored my own. Then Camilla's hand slid up his arm, her blood-red nails digging in slightly, and the moment shattered.

"I heard the most interesting rumor today," Camilla drawled, her smile sharp as a knife. "Apparently, the Red Moon Club has a new regular. Someone who looks an awful lot like our dear Theo."

My cheeks burned. Theo didn't even have the decency to deny it.

"Jealous, Camilla?" He winked at her, and something in the way she smiled back made my skin crawl. There was history there, hidden beneath layers of pack politics and pretense.

"That's enough," Eleanor snapped. "We have standards to maintain."

The rest of dinner passed in a blur of pointed comments and loaded silences. I escaped as soon as I could, retreating to the safety of my room – not our room, never our room. Theo had made it clear this was my space alone, though he kept his clothes here for appearance's sake.

It was well past midnight when I heard him stumble in, the sharp scent of whiskey and foreign perfume preceding him. I sat up in bed, my heart racing despite myself. In the silvery moonlight streaming through the windows, his eyes looked almost black.

"Still awake, darling?" He leaned against the doorframe, his usual smirk twisted by alcohol into something uglier. "How devoted. But then again, that's your role, isn't it?"

"What do you want, Theo?" I was proud that my voice didn't shake.

He pushed off the doorframe, moving toward me with predatory grace that didn't quite mask his intoxication. "Want? From you?" He laughed, the sound scraping against my nerves. "Don't flatter yourself. You're just a convenient solution to an inconvenient problem."

I pressed back against the headboard as he approached, Eva rising to the surface with a warning growl. "What problem is that?"

He stopped at the foot of the bed, bracing his hands on the ornate footboard. "The problem of expectations, dear wife. Of duty and bloodlines and all that tedious pack politics." His lip curled. "You're the perfect shield, you know. The dutiful wife, so patient, so understanding. No one questions why I haven't marked you yet. After all..." His eyes raked over me dismissively. "You're hardly worth the effort."

Relief warred with humiliation in my chest. He didn't want me – good. But the way he looked at me, like I was something he'd scraped off his shoe...

"Don't worry your pretty little head," he continued, already turning away. "As long as you play your part, I'll play mine. Everybody wins."

The door clicked shut behind him, leaving me alone with my thundering heart and Eva's restless pacing.

*We're not safe here,* she insisted. *We need our mate.*

A noise from outside caught my attention – voices carrying on the night breeze through the open balcony doors. I moved closer, drawn by a familiar deep timbre that made my pulse skip.

"You're being ridiculous." Camilla's voice, sharp with anger. "I've waited too long, worked too hard—"

"I never promised you anything." Xander's response was low, controlled, but I could hear the tension underneath.

"Don't lie to me!" Something shattered – glass against stone. "I don't care what happened at the wedding, Xander. I see the way you look at her, like you're dying of thirst and she's the last drop of water in the world. But let me make something very clear." Her voice dropped, venomous and precise. "If you betray me, if you so much as breathe in her direction, I will destroy her. And I'll make you watch."

I stumbled back from the balcony, my hand pressed to my mouth to stifle any sound. My legs hit the bed and I sank down, trembling.

I'd thought I was playing a simple part in Elara’s scheme. But sitting there in the dark, caught between Theo's disdain and Camilla's threats, with my mate's presence a constant ache in my chest, I realized the truth.

I wasn't just playing a part.

I was a pawn in a much bigger game.

And I had no idea who was really moving the pieces.