At My Engagement, Alpha Mate Asked Me To Hand My Gown to Another She-Wolf

My father went still for a moment. "Our packs have been allied for generations. The mating ceremony is in days. Why would you want to cancel now?""He doesn't love me the way I thought he did. I'd rather never take a mate than spend my life caged with a man who doesn't love me."He exhaled slowly. "All right. If you've made up your mind, I won't force you. Handle it your way. Whatever happens, I've got you."I nodded, grateful. "One more thing. Once the alliance is off, I want every cent of our investment pulled out of their pack."The alliance had always been about leverage. My father's money funded more than half of their pack's operations. Pulling out would gut them.He didn't ask why. Just said yes.I walked back into the hall.It didn't feel like my engagement ceremony at all. Xavier never once looked my way. He spent the whole night circling Yvette.I stood in an empty corner until it was over.The next step, by tradition, was for the two of us to go to the altar together and pra

Xavier hadn't expected that. Something uncomfortable flickered across his face.He recovered fast. Walked over to me."Finally. You're being reasonable. Don't worry—I'll buy you a new one when we get home."He reached out to pull me against him by the waist. I twisted away.My face stayed blank. "No need. Don't bother."His hand hung in the air, caught. His brow furrowed."There you go again, sulking. It's a necklace. When are you going to be half as gracious as Yvette?"I didn't argue. But the words stung all the same.I'd told myself I'd stop caring. But Xavier had been the man I'd loved for eight years. You don't erase that overnight.He slipped his arm around Yvette's slim waist. They were looking at each other with so much sugar it made my teeth ache."Right—there's one more thing I came to do. Yvette's been in poor health all her life. I'm asking the Moon Goddess for a protective charm for her. Something to keep her healthy."My chest caved in.I had one of those charms too.Year

"I won't go through with the mating ceremony. Because I know—you and Yvette are the ones made for each other. I wish you both the best."The words dropped like a bomb. Everyone but my parents froze.Xavier's smile was still stuck to his face. He stared at me like he didn't recognize the language I was speaking.The room went cold.Then he shot to his feet. "Claire! What do you think you're doing? Is this really the time for you to lose it?"I looked him straight in the eye. "Whether I've lost it or not, you know better than anyone."I'd once believed Xavier was the most important person in my life. Now I understood—he was just a passing stranger. A footnote in a long life.The lovesick filter was gone. And without it, he was painfully ordinary.The deadlock stretched. His mother stepped in to smooth things over."Claire, honey—whatever Xavier did to upset you, this isn't the place to joke about it. Please. Just get through the ceremony, and I promise we'll deal with him. We'll make him

Xavier's father turned on him. "Xavier. Explain. Is everything Claire said true? Did you cheat?"Xavier mumbled. Couldn't get a sentence out.His mother grabbed his arm. "Speak. What happened?"Every eye in the hall was on him, waiting.He dropped his head. His voice shook. "I—I didn't know. I thought it was just a regular necklace. I gave it to Yvette."His father jabbed a finger at him. "You—do you know what that necklace means? How could you just give it away?""I only gave her a necklace," he shot back. "That's all. You can call me ignorant for not knowing what it stood for. But that doesn't prove I cheated."Watching him squirm, I felt nothing but pity and disgust."A necklace proves nothing. Fair. Photos, though—those are different."The screen behind me lit up.A second later, a photo of him and Yvette filled the wall.The two of them tangled up in bed. Yvette in a lace nightgown, draped against his shoulder. Marks trailing from her neck down to her chest.There were more. I'd l

I never heard from him again after that. His pack, though—their financial troubles kept hitting the news.Without our funding, the pack had no real income. And the cheating scandal had destroyed any reputation they had left. No other pack would deal with them.They decayed, one day at a time. It was only a matter of time before a stronger pack swallowed them whole.Some time later, over coffee with my best friend, I heard that name again."Claire. Do you remember Xavier?"It had been years. He'd faded in my memory."Vaguely. Why?"She leaned in, clearly enjoying herself. "You want to hear what happened to him?""After you dumped him, he and Yvette went through with the mating ceremony. They've been scraping by in some dark, damp rental.""It was okay at first. Then Xavier started drinking. Every night. Hit the bars, picked up a bar hostess."I took an unhurried sip of my coffee. I wasn't especially surprised."And?""By then Yvette was pregnant. She found out about the hostess and lost