My Brother In Law is My True Mate

Banished

The air in the Cathedral was thick with the scent of lilies and rain. It was Seraphina’s scent. It was the smell of a True Luna, and it was driving the wolves in the room wild.

"Dark magic!" Selina screamed. She clutched her chest and began to wobble. "She’s using dark magic to trick the bond! Silas, help me!"

Selina collapsed onto the altar floor. She made sure to fall gracefully, her white dress spreading out like a fan.

"Guards!" Beta Thomas, Seraphina’s father, roared. "Seize the traitor! She is trying to bewitch the Alpha!"

Four large guards rushed forward. They grabbed Seraphina by the arms. She didn't fight them. She couldn't. Her body was still shaking from the shock of the Alpha’s power.

"I didn't do anything," she tried to say, but her voice was a raspy whisper. Her throat was raw from where the collar had been.

Silas stepped down from the altar. He moved like a predator. His eyes were still black, his wolf pacing inside him. He walked right up to Seraphina. He leaned in, his nose brushing against her temple. He inhaled deeply.

"Silas, don't look at her!" her mother cried out. "She’s a monster! She’s been practicing forbidden spells in the cellar!"

Silas looked torn. His wolf was howling, *MATE! MATE! PROTECT HER!* But his mind was filled with three years of lies. He looked at the bruises on her neck. He looked at her tattered dress.

"Why do you smell like my soul?" Silas growled. His voice was low and dangerous.

"Because I am your soul," Seraphina whispered.

"Liar!" Selina shrieked from the floor. She "woke up" from her faint, pointing a trembling finger. "She stole a vial of my blood! She used it to make a potion! She wants to steal my husband!"

The Elders of the pack began to whisper. They were the oldest wolves, the ones who kept the laws.

"This is a disgrace," Elder Marcus said, standing up. "The Binding has been interrupted. The moon is clouded. We cannot have a Luna whose scent is being mimicked by a criminal."

"She is a criminal!" Beta Thomas stepped forward, standing between Silas and Seraphina. "Alpha, I am her father. It breaks my heart to say this, but Seraphina has been obsessed with you since we were children. She hated that you chose Selina. She has been self-harming and blaming us. She even hurt herself today to make it look like we abused her!"

Seraphina stared at her father. "Father... how can you say that?"

"Be silent!" he yelled. He turned to a guard. "Bring the muzzle. She shouldn't be allowed to speak her lies anymore."

---

**The Pack Hall: The Trial of Lies**

They dragged Seraphina to the Great Hall. They didn't give her a chair. They made her kneel on the cold stone floor in the center of the room. A heavy leather muzzle was buckled over her face. It was tight, pressing her lips together. She could only make muffled sounds.

Silas sat on his high throne. He looked miserable. He kept rubbing his chest, right over his heart.

"Alpha," Elder Marcus addressed him. "The pack is in chaos. The people saw the light choose her. If you do not act, they will think the Moon Goddess has rejected your union with Selina."

"The light didn't choose her," Beta Thomas argued. "The magic was corrupted. My daughter is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. She has been working with the hunters. She wanted to weaken Silas so they could attack."

"Is this true?" Silas asked, his voice sounding hollow. He looked down at Seraphina. "Did you work with the hunters?"

Seraphina shook her head violently. She tried to speak through the muzzle. *No! No, I love you!*

"She’s lying again," Selina said. She was sitting in a chair next to the throne, sipping water. "She has a map of the pack borders hidden in her room. I found it this morning."

"The evidence is clear," Elder Marcus said. "For the safety of the pack, the traitor must be banished. But since she is the daughter of a Beta and tried to steal the Alpha, the law is strict. She must be branded."

Silas flinched. "Branded?"

"Yes," the Elder said. "The 'Traitor’s Mark.' It will burn her wolf away forever. She will be a human. A lone, broken human. And you, Alpha, must be the one to do it. You must show the pack that you choose your Luna over this... shadow."

Silas looked at the branding iron sitting in the fireplace. The metal was starting to glow orange.

"Silas, please," Selina whispered, taking his hand. "Do it for us. Do it so we can finally be happy. As long as she is here, she will try to kill me. She will try to take you."

Silas stood up. He felt a sharp pain in his gut. His wolf was scratching at his insides, trying to take control. *DO NOT HURT HER. SHE IS THE ONE.*

But Silas was a man of duty. He believed his Beta. He believed the woman he thought was his mate. He believed the eyes of his pack were on him.

"Bring the iron," Silas said. His voice was cold, but his hands were shaking.

---

**The Banishment**

The guards held Seraphina down. They ripped the lace away from her left shoulder, exposing her pale skin.

Silas walked toward her. The room was silent except for the crackling of the fire. He held the long iron rod. The tip was shaped like a broken wolf’s head—the mark of a traitor.

He stopped in front of her. He looked into her eyes. They weren't filled with anger. They were filled with a deep, soul-crushing sadness.

"You had everything," Silas said, his voice dripping with hurt. "You were my friend once. Why did you become this? Why did you try to ruin the one thing that made me happy?"

Seraphina’s eyes filled with tears. They ran down her cheeks and soaked into the leather muzzle. She wanted to tell him about the bridge. She wanted to tell him about the cellar. She wanted to tell him that she had felt his heart beating for three years through a bond he was trying to kill.

"You are nothing to me now," Silas lied. He said it to convince himself. "You are not a wolf. You are not a sister. You are a traitor."

He raised the iron.

"Do it!" Beta Thomas shouted.

"Mark her!" the pack members cried.

Silas pressed the glowing orange metal against Seraphina’s shoulder.

The sound was horrible—the sizzle of skin. The smell of burning flesh filled the air.

Seraphina didn't scream. She couldn't. She let out a muffled, strangled cry behind the muzzle. Her body went rigid. Her eyes rolled back in her head.

But then, something impossible happened.

Silas let out a scream of pure agony. He dropped the branding iron. It clattered onto the stone floor.

He clutched his own left shoulder. He fell to his knees, gasping for air.

"Alpha!" the guards shouted, rushing to him.

"My shoulder..." Silas gasped. "It’s burning... it’s burning!"

He ripped open his own shirt. On his left shoulder, in the exact same spot where he had touched Seraphina with the iron, a red mark was forming. It wasn't a brand, but the skin was blistering. It was a phantom wound.

A True Mate bond was so strong that the Alpha felt the physical pain of his Luna.

Silas looked at Seraphina. She had fainted from the pain. Her head hung low, the muzzle still locked in place.

"No," Silas whispered. His eyes went wide with horror. "What have I done?"

He reached out for her, his fingers trembling. "Seraphina? Sera, look at me!"

"She’s poisoned you!" Beta Thomas shouted, stepping forward. "It’s a curse! Guards, get her out of here! Take her to the border and throw her into the ravine! She’s killing the Alpha!"

"Wait!" Silas roared, trying to stand up. But the pain in his shoulder was so intense he couldn't move. It felt like his own soul was being ripped in half.

The guards didn't listen to the weakened Alpha. They followed the Beta’s orders. They grabbed Seraphina’s limp body by her hair and her legs.

"Get her out!" Selina yelled, her face twisted in a mask of hate. "Throw her to the rogues!"

Silas watched through blurred vision as the heavy oak doors of the hall slammed shut. His mate was gone. The brand was set. And as he collapsed onto the floor, the only thing he could hear was his wolf howling a single, heartbreaking word.

MURDERER.

Seraphina is dumped at the border, unconscious and branded. But as the guards leave, a pair of glowing red eyes emerges from the dark forest.