Sorry, Alpha. This Pup Isn’t Yours

On the day of our fourth wedding anniversary, Adrian Blackwood came to pick me up in person. As the Alpha of the Blackwood Pack, he hated having a chauffeur. He always said his mate belonged beside him, not in the back while someone else sat between them. For four years, no one but I had ever occupied the passenger seat of his black SUV. Yet when I opened the door that day, a young woman was already sitting there. She looked no older than 23. Soft blonde hair fell over her shoulders, and a silver staff badge rested against her chest. "Hello, Luna." She tilted her face up at me with a bright smile, two adorable dimples showing. Then she stayed exactly where she was. The seat had been adjusted higher, and the rearview mirror had been turned toward her. Adrian's familiar cedar scent lingered in the cabin, mixed with an overly sweet fragrance of gardenias. The smell hit my nose, and my wolf let out a low growl in the depths of my mind. That wasn't just any seat. For four years, I'd sat there beside him—through blizzards, through border runs, through late nights after negotiations when I'd fallen asleep against his shoulder. Adrian had once said no one was ever to touch the seat that belonged to his mate. "Who are you?" I asked. "I'm Chloe Hart, Alpha's new intern secretary." She straightened the badge on her chest and spoke with the ease of an old acquaintance. "Only high-ranking wolves could attend tonight's Moon Goddess Auction, and I'd never seen anything like it. I begged Alpha to let me tag along." She glanced back, her smile taking on an innocent look, like a harmless little bunny. "Luna, the back seats are roomier. You don't mind, do you?" I almost laughed. "Not at all." Her eyes immediately brightened. "Because that's where you'll be sitting," I replied. The smile on Chloe's face stiffened. "Get out." I didn't raise my voice. I merely released a sliver of the pressure that belonged to the heir of the Silvercrest Pack. Chloe's shoulders instantly slumped. Her wolf was far more honest than she was. It couldn't defy the command of a superior bloodline. "I-I only thought it wasn't appropriate for an employee to sit in the back while the boss drove." She bit her lip, her eyes quickly reddening. "So was it appropriate to put Alpha's wife there instead?" Adrian finished his phone call right then. He walked around the front of the SUV and looked at me. "What's going on?" "Nothing." Chloe hurriedly shook her head, her voice already trembling with tears. "I was the one who didn't know the rules." I ignored her pathetic little act and got into the passenger seat without a second glance. Adrian didn't question me in front of his employee. He leaned over to fasten my seat belt, his fingers lingering briefly against the side of my neck. "If you're not in the mood today, we can go home." "I really don't want to take her." I stared straight ahead, my voice flat. "Chloe, get a cab yourself." She shot a look at Adrian, her eyes full of wounded pleading. Adrian only said, "Do as Luna says." Chloe's face went pale, and she answered softly, "Yes, Alpha." Once we left the estate, Adrian reached over and took my hand. "She only graduated from a human university recently. She didn't understand pack customs. Why argue with an intern?" A faint sting came from the mate mark on the inside of my wrist. "Because this was the first time." "The first time for what?" "You let another woman sit in my seat." Adrian paused, then let out a quiet laugh. "So my Luna could get jealous after all." He brought my hand to his lips and kissed it gently. "She's only an employee. I was on the phone when she climbed into that seat herself." "She knew it belonged to me," I said. "Serena." His voice carried quiet patience, as though he were comforting a child throwing a tantrum. "There will never be anything between us." I stared at his profile, a chill spreading through my chest. Adrian was 35 years old. He led the largest pack in the Northern Territory and controlled a business empire that stretched across six states. Women had always thrown themselves at him. Yet when it came to relationships, he was almost ruthless about keeping boundaries. What hurt me in that moment wasn't Chloe's provocation. It was the fact that Adrian saw it as nothing—just a small thing to laugh off. His disregard for a mate's territorial instinct suffocated me more than any betrayal ever could. "Fine." I pulled my hand back and turned my gaze to the endless night outside the window. "First time. Last time." That night, Adrian won a rare blue moonstone necklace at the auction. We had chosen it months earlier as our anniversary gift. Yet he never gave it to me on the way home. The following morning, Mara, the Chief Administrative Officer, sent me a screenshot. Chloe was standing in the headquarters lobby with the blue moonstone necklace around her neck. Her post contained only one sentence: Alpha said every she-wolf who is hurt deserves to be protected.