The Lycan King's Hidden mate

Chapter 2: Shattered

SAGE'S POV

The world stopped spinning. Time froze. Everything inside me shattered like glass hitting concrete.

Derek jerked away from Tessa, but he didn't look panicked. He didn't look guilty. He just looked... annoyed. Like I'd interrupted something mildly inconvenient.

"Sage." He reached for his shirt. "This isn't what it looks like."

A laugh bubbled out of my throat, sharp and broken. "Really? Because it looks like you're screwing my stepsister."

"Oh, don't be dramatic." Tessa slid off the desk, completely unbothered by her half-naked state. She grabbed her dress and pulled it on with slow, deliberate movements. "We've been together for six months. Did you really think Derek wanted you?"

Six months. I'd been with Derek for a year. Which meant… "Half our relationship," I whispered. The words tasted like poison. "You were cheating on me for half of it."

Derek finally had the decency to look uncomfortable. He ran a hand through his hair, not meeting my eyes. "Look, Sage. You're a nice girl, but…"

"But what?" My voice cracked. "But I'm not good enough? But I don't have a wolf?"

"Exactly." Tessa smiled, sweet as candy and twice as fake. "Derek needed someone on his level. Someone with actual value to the pack. You were just... practice."

The word hit me like a slap. Practice, that's all I'd been. A placeholder. Something to use and discard.

"How could you?" I looked at Derek, searching his face for any sign of the man I thought I knew. The man who'd held me when I cried about my failed shift. The man who'd promised I was enough just as I was. "You said you loved me."

Derek shrugged. "I said what you needed to hear. Come on, Sage. Did you really think someone like me would end up with someone like you? You're wolfless and weak. You have nothing to offer."

Each word was a knife to the chest. I pressed my hand against my heart, half expecting to find it bleeding.

"This is pathetic." Tessa examined her nails, bored. "Derek and I are meant to be together. We're both strong, both valuable to the pack. You should be thanking me, really. I'm saving you from years of embarrassment when he inevitably left you anyway."

"Tessa's right." Derek moved to stand beside her, and the casual way he put his arm around her waist made bile rise in my throat. "This was always going to happen. You're just not cut out for this world, Sage. Maybe you should leave the pack. Find somewhere you actually belong."

Footsteps echoed in the hallway. I turned, hoping for someone; anyone who might help me. Who might tell me this was all some sick nightmare.

Victoria appeared in the doorway. My stepmother took one look at the scene and smiled.

"Oh good," she said, brushing past me like I was furniture. "You finally told her. I was getting tired of watching this charade."

The room tilted. "You... you knew?"

"Knew?" Victoria laughed, the sound cold and brittle. "Darling, I encouraged it. Derek came to me three months ago, worried about how to break things off with you. I suggested he find someone better first. Someone worthy." She gestured to Tessa with obvious pride. "Tessa was the perfect choice."

"You told him to cheat on me." The words came out flat. Emotionless. I felt like I was floating outside my body, watching this happen to someone else.

"I told him to upgrade." Victoria's eyes were ice. "You're a burden on this family, Sage. You have been since your wolf failed to emerge. No strength, no value. Just a constant reminder of failure." She stepped closer, and I could smell her expensive perfume. "Your father would be ashamed of what you've become."

Something inside me cracked, Like a dam starting to fail.

"Don't talk about my father." My voice shook. "You don't get to talk about him."

"I'll talk about whatever I want." Victoria's smile turned cruel. "He was weak for taking me as a second mate, weak for defending you. And look where it got him. Dead three years, and his legacy is a wolfless disappointment who can't even keep a man interested."

Heat exploded through my chest. Burning. Searing. My wolf; my dormant, broken wolf suddenly thrashed inside me like a caged animal.

She was trying to surface. After five years of silence, she was trying to come out.

"That's it," I gasped, pressing my hands to my chest. "Come on. Please."

The heat intensified. My bones started to ache, that familiar feeling from my failed first shift. But this time felt different. This time, anger fueled it. Rage. Pure, burning fury at everything that had been done to me.

"Is she trying to shift?" Derek's voice held morbid curiosity. "This should be entertaining."

My wolf pushed harder. I could feel her clawing toward the surface, desperate to break free. The pain was excruciating; like being torn apart from the inside.

"Come on," I whispered. "Please. Please work this time."

For one beautiful moment, I felt her; Wild, furious and strong. Then she collapsed inward.

The pain that followed was unlike anything I'd ever experienced. It felt like every bone in my body was breaking and healing wrong. My wolf's presence vanished, sucked back into whatever dark place she'd been trapped for five years.

I screamed, couldn't help it. The sound tore from my throat as I dropped to my knees.

"Pathetic." Victoria's voice was distant, like she was speaking underwater. "She can't even shift properly when motivated by rage. Useless."

Tessa laughed. The sound of it scraped against my ears like nails on a chalkboard.

I had to get out, had to leave. I Couldn't breathe in this room with these people who hated me so much.

I stumbled to my feet and ran.

Behind me, Victoria called out something about embarrassing the family. Derek said something to Tessa that made her laugh again. But I couldn't focus on their words. Could only focus on moving. On escaping.

The festival was still going when I burst outside. Pack members stared as I ran past, my chest heaving, tears streaming down my face. I heard someone call my name; Rowan, maybe but I didn't stop.

I ran into the forest.

Branches tore at my borrowed dress. Roots tried to trip me. I didn't care. Just kept running, letting my feet carry me anywhere that wasn't there.

My wolf was screaming inside me. Not trying to shift; just screaming, crying and dying all over again.

I ran until my lungs burned, until my legs gave out. Until I couldn't run anymore.

When I finally stopped, I had no idea where I was. Deep in the forest, far from the packhouse. Near the border, maybe. Everything looked the same in the dark.

An abandoned cabin loomed ahead, half-hidden by overgrown trees. I stumbled toward it, thinking maybe I could hide there. Maybe I could just disappear and never have to face any of them again.

My foot caught on a root. I went down hard, my palms scraping against rough ground.

And that's when I heard it. A growl. Low and dangerous and very, very close.

I froze. My heart, which had already been racing, kicked into overdrive.

Something moved in the shadows ahead. Something big.

"Hello?" My voice came out small and broken.

The growl came again, closer this time. Then I saw eyes. Silver eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness.

A figure emerged from the shadows.

Massive. Easily over six and a half feet tall, Broad shoulders, uscular frame that screamed danger. And covered in blood.

The metallic smell hit me a second later. Fresh blood, lots of it, coating his chest and arms. In the moonlight filtering through the trees, I could see deep claw marks across his ribs.

He took a step toward me. The growl rumbled from his chest again, and those silver eyes locked onto mine with predatory focus.

"You should not be here, little wolf," he said, his voice rough and dark and absolutely terrifying.

I couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't do anything but stare at this massive, bloodied stranger who stood between me and any hope of escape.

His eyes narrowed. He swayed slightly, and I realized he wasn't just covered in blood.

He was bleeding out.