THE SUPREME ALPHA’S FORBIDDEN LINA

CHAPTER ONE THE BED THAT BROKE MY WORLD My hand was still on the door when I heard my sister laugh. I froze right there, staring at the thin sliver of light beneath the door. Something was off. Lena wasn’t supposed to be here. Adrian, either. I’d just spent an hour searching for him. The Moon Ceremony was starting soon — less than sixty minutes — and Adrian promised he’d meet me before, that we’d walk in together. He swore he’d be by my side tonight. My mate. The guy I’d loved for five years. I rapped softly on the door. “Adrian?” The laughing stopped. Instantly. My smile disappeared. The air felt wrong. I knocked again, a little louder. “Adrian, are you in there?” No answer. Was he asleep? I frowned. Maybe he’d just dozed off. I pushed open the door. And time fell apart. Adrian stood there. So did Lena. My sister. Both of them were too close to the bed. Way too close. For a second, my mind refused to process what my eyes were showing me. Lena’s hair a mess, Adrian’s shirt undone, his clothes tossed across the floor, my sister’s bracelet sitting on the bedside table. I knew that bracelet. I’d picked it out for her birthday, three years ago. She wore it constantly. But it’s not the bracelet that really hit me. It was Adrian’s wrist. He still had on the thin silver band I’d given him on our first anniversary. My name was etched inside it. He’d promised never to take it off. My fingers felt numb. “No.” I barely heard my own voice. Neither of them moved. I backed away from the doorway. Maybe I’d gotten the wrong room. Maybe this was just a nightmare. Then Adrian looked straight at me. I saw guilt right before he even said anything. “Elara…” My throat felt dry. “Tell me I’m wrong.” He stayed silent. My pulse pounded in my ears. “Adrian.” Still nothing from him. I turned to Lena. She looked pale and glassy-eyed, already ready to cry. “Say something,” I whispered. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Back to Adrian. “Tell me I’m wrong.” He dropped his eyes. That silence punched harder than any excuse. I let out a shaky laugh. “Wow.” “No. No, this is crazy.” I gestured between them. “There has to be some reason—” “Elara—” “Don’t.” My voice cracked. I pressed a hand to my chest. “Don’t say my name like that.” Adrian inched toward me. I stepped back. “Stay there.” He stopped. I wiped at my burning eyes. “How long?” He just looked at me. “How long has this been going on?” “Elara, it wasn’t—” “How long?” The sound of my voice echoed in the room. Lena flinched. Adrian ran a hand over his face. “I… I don’t know.” “You don’t know?” “I didn’t plan for this.” A bitter laugh escaped my throat. “Neither did I.” My eyes flicked to his wrist. That bracelet. My gift. He still wore it. “Take it off.” He stared, confused. “What?” “The bracelet,” I spat. His hand moved toward it automatically. “Don’t.” I stepped in closer. “Leave it. I need to see how long you were wearing it while you were with her.” Adrian’s jaw clenched. “It’s not what you think.” “Then tell me what it is.” He fell silent again. I turned to Lena. “You knew.” She was trembling. “Elara…” “You knew he was my mate.” “I know.” “You knew I was going to marry him.” “I know.” “You knew I loved him.” Her tears finally came. “I know.” Something inside me just snapped. “Then why?” Lena wiped her cheek. “I didn’t mean for this—" “Things don’t just happen.” She glanced at Adrian. That tiny look killed my last hope. She loved him. Maybe she always had. Maybe I was just the fool who refused to see it. My stomach twisted up. “Did you sleep with him?” Adrian’s jaw got tighter. “That’s enough.” “No,” I shot back, eyes on him. “I deserve the truth.” He wouldn’t look at me. My wolf stirred under my skin, confused and anxious, picking up my pain but still trusting Adrian. I hated her for that, hated myself for letting it happen. “Did you sleep with my sister?” He finally met my gaze. “Yes.” One word. That was all it took. I almost collapsed. I gripped the doorframe for balance. Lena was sobbing now. “I’m sorry.” I looked at her, cold. “Don’t.” “I never wanted to hurt you.” “Then you should have stopped.” She cried harder. “I tried…” “No, you didn’t.” My voice was low. “You wanted him.” She didn’t deny it. That hurt more than anything. I looked at Adrian. “You wanted her too?” He hesitated. “I care about Lena.” “Do you love her?” He couldn’t answer right away. That silence just burned. “Adrian.” He shut his eyes, pained. “I don’t know.” There it was. Just emptiness in my chest, so quiet it almost felt gentle. Five years. Five years waiting, loving, imagining the Moon Ceremony, our bond announced to everyone. And now, he didn’t even know if he loved me. I watched the man who once held my face, promised I was the only woman for him. “Do you still love me?” He looked at me, lips barely moving. “I don’t know.” Each word ripped another piece from me. I nodded. “Right.” “Elara—” “I understand.” “No, you don’t.” “I do.” I wiped my face. “I just wish I knew when you stopped.” His expression shifted. “I never wanted to hurt you.” I gave a half-laugh. “Funny. You chose the one person who could.” Lena stepped forward. “Elara, please—” I shut her down with a glare. “Don’t call me that.” She stopped cold. “You lost the right the minute you cared more about what you wanted than about me.” Her face crumpled from crying. That part I hated seeing her like that. That was the worst thing. She was still my sister. The girl who crawled into my bed during storms, whose hair I braided, whose hand I held when she felt sick, who I protected for years. And now she’d taken the person I loved most. No, this was more than betrayal. This wrecked two relationships at once. Adrian reached for me. “Elara, please, listen.” I moved away. “No.” “Where are you going?” “Home.” He looked around, confused. “This is your home.” I looked back — the bed, Lena, Adrian — then at him. “No.” My voice was thin, quiet. “It isn’t, anymore.” I turned away. “Elara.” I stopped. “I’m sorry.” I closed my eyes, wishing I could hate him, or scream. Instead, I whispered, “So am I.” I walked out. The hallway felt endless and empty. Three steps in, my eyes blurred. I leaned against the wall, instinctively pressing my hand to my neck. The mating mark burned. Not the warm kind — this was sharp, blazing, like something wanted out from beneath my skin. I gasped. “What is happening?” My wolf whimpered. I pressed harder, and the sensation grew worse. I almost cried out. Behind me, Adrian’s door opened. “Elara!” I didn’t turn. “Wait.” I looked back. He stood there in the doorway, and for a second, I wanted him to run to me. Tell me it was a mistake, a one-time thing, that he still chose me. Instead, he said the words that smashed my last hope. “Maybe…” He swallowed. “Maybe the Moon Goddess made a mistake.” I stared at him. My fingers pressed into my mark. The pain exploded. I gasped as something shifted inside, heat and frost, my wolf screaming. I fell to my knees. Adrian rushed to me, calling my name, but I couldn’t hear him — just my wolf’s cries, not pleading, just fury and misery. And for the first time ever, I wondered if Adrian was right. Maybe the Moon Goddess picked wrong. Or maybe someone else did.