Bound by Betrayal, Claimed by the Alpha

Selena's POV

I always thought the stories lied, You know, the tales mothers tell their pups about the mate bond.

That warm feeling, that pull in your chest, that certainty that your mate is the one person who will never hurt you.

I believed all of it and then the bond snapped.

It didn't shatter like glass or explode like fire, nothing poetic like that, It simply... tore.

A sudden, sharp ripping sensation right behind my ribs, like someone reached inside me and yanked my heart out with their bare hands after squeezing it. Pain went straight through my chest and down my stomach, so fast and so deep I actually gasped out loud.

My knees buckled and I caught the wall with shaking hands because I honestly thought I might pass out. My wolf let out a sound inside me that didn't feel like a howl, it felt like a cry. A wounded, small, broken cry, and then she disappeared.

Not fully... but she pulled away from me, curled into a dark corner where I couldn't reach her.

I knew what had happened, I didn't want to believe it, but I knew. Still, my legs moved on their own.

I walked toward Kael's door with this horrible, sick feeling spreading through my entire body.

I shouldn't have opened it, moon, I wish I didn't open it. But I did and I saw them.

Kael...

My mate, my first love, the boy I grew up with, the man I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with and my sister.

Lyria.

They didn't hear me at first. They were... busy. Her body draped over his, their legs tangled in his sheets, the room thick with a smell I recognized too well.

It was like the world narrowed to a small, suffocating point. My hand tightened around the doorframe. My mouth went dry.

And then Lyria saw me, Her face changed, not to guilt or fear but this... slow, smug smile.

Like she'd been waiting for me to see it, like she wanted me to.

Kael turned next. His eyes went wide, and he froze completely, like a child caught stealing something he knew he shouldn't touch.

"Selena - shit, wait..." he stammered.

My chest tightened so painfully I almost doubled over.

"Don't," I whispered. My voice barely worked.

Kael pushed Lyria's hands away and stood halfway, like he wanted to come to me. "I'm sorry, I can explain..."

"You can't," I cut in. "You really can't."

My voice cracked on the last word.

Lyria tilted her head, watching me the way someone watches a show they don't care about but find mildly entertaining. "You weren't supposed to come here tonight," she said lightly. "But I guess this works too."

I blinked at her, stunned speechless for a moment.

Then something sharp inside me snapped.

Not the bond or that was already gone, it was something else, something that kept me soft.

"How long?" I asked Kael quietly. My voice wasn't loud, but the question landed heavy.

Kael rubbed his face, avoiding my eyes. "Selena, it just..."

"How long?" I repeated.

"A few weeks," Lyria answered before he could. "He came to me when he got tired of you."

Kael turned sharply toward her, "Lyria, stop..."

"No," I whispered, my throat tight. "Let her speak. She seems to enjoy this."

Lyria leaned back against Kael's pillows like the Queen of Poison. "He realized you're not what he wants," she said, shrugging. "And honestly, he deserves better."

Better.

Better than me.

I'm not sure what hurt more, her saying it, or Kael not immediately denying it.

My stomach twisted, a cold, hollow ache bloomed where my wolf used to be.

Kael reached out again. "Selena, listen..."

"Don't touch me," I said, stepping back. My voice wasn't loud, but the warning in it made Kael freeze.

The air in the room felt tight, heavy and full of betrayal.

I turned and left before my legs gave out.

I made it outside before the tears fell. Hot, humiliating, uncontrollable tears that blurred my vision and made everything look unreal.

I don't even remember shifting.

One moment I was running, the next, my paws hit the earth hard enough to kick dirt behind me. My wolf didn't speak, didn't guide, she just ran.

Maybe she was running from the pain.

Maybe she was running from shame.

Maybe she was running because she didn't know what else to do.

I didn't know either.

When my body finally couldn't go any farther, we collapsed in a patch of cold grass. I shifted back to human form, my chest shaking with every breath.

The forest was quiet.

I curled my knees to my chest and buried my face in them, letting myself cry without holding anything back. It wasn't pretty. It wasn't brave.

But it was real.

After a while, minutes? hours? My wolf stirred weakly.

Not to comfort me but to growl.

A low, rumbling sound that vibrated in the back of my mind, full of rage and something colder.

Revenge.

The word formed slowly in my head, like a flame flickering into existence.

I lifted my head.

My cheeks were wet, my throat raw, but the ache in my chest became... sharper, focused.

Kael didn't break me completely nor did Lyria destroy me.They just woke something else in me.

Something I didn't know existed, something dangerous.

If Kael thought he could betray me and still walk around the pack with his head high, he was mistaken.

If Lyria thought she won, she had no idea what she started. I wiped my face with shaking hands.

No.

I wouldn't kill them, that would be too simple, too merciful.

I would make them regret choosing each other over me.

And there was one person Kael would never, ever be able to forget losing me to.

Alpha Darius, Kael's uncle.

Our pack's Alpha, the man who carried power like a second skin.

A bitter, humorless laugh escaped my lips. "Oh, Kael," I whispered into the night. "Let's see how you like watching me choose someone better."

My wolf growled faint approval.

So I stood up slowly, testing my legs, breathing through the new emptiness in my chest.

I wasn't healed, I wasn't also okay, but I wasn't broken anymore, I was angry.

And that was enough for now.

* * *

The next morning

I stared at myself in the mirror, and for the first time, I didn't recognize the girl looking back. Her eyes were still puffy from crying, but they held something sharp behind them now. Something that wasn't there yesterday.

I took a breath and let it out slowly.

"Alright," I whispered. "Let's do this."

I dressed carefully not to look seductive, not exactly, but to look... unignorable. A fitted black dress, hair loose. Lips tinted with a color I'd never worn before.

When I finished, I didn't look like a victim anymore.

I looked like someone who was done being quiet.

The training grounds were already busy when I arrived. Wolves sparred in the center, their shouts and snarls filling the air. The atmosphere crackled with tension, standard morning routine.

But Darius stood out immediately.

Tall. Broad. Strong.

A presence that pulled attention whether you wanted it or not.

He moved with precision as he sparred with two warriors at once, his expression focused, calm, unreadable. His dark hair fell around his face as he dodged one strike and countered with another.

There was something about him, something steady.

Something that made my wolf stir for the first time since last night.

Not in excitement but In recognition, Power.

He finished the sparring session and dismissed the warriors with a simple nod. When he turned, his gaze swept across the grounds... and stopped when it landed on me.

For a second, neither of us looked away.

His eyes narrowed slightly, like he was trying to figure out what changed. Why I looked different, why my aura felt different, why I was here.

My heart thumped, slow and steady in my chest.

I lifted my chin just a little.

Not in seduction, in challenge.

His gaze flickered, just slightly but I saw it.

And just like that, the first step of my plan began.