The video of my fated mate, Alpha Leopold, going down on one knee to propose to his female Beta rocketed to the top of the trending searches. Humans called it “the most romantic moment of the year”.
The Beta, glowing with triumph, even posted a public declaration of love:
“I finally waited for you. I’m glad I never gave up. Leopold, please protect me and mark me as yours for the rest of my life.”
The comments section was flooded with squeals:
“I’m obsessed! The Beta and the Alpha—my CP is the sweetest!”
I didn’t cry. I didn’t rage or shift into my wolf. Instead, I closed the page with steady fingers, found my mate, and demanded an explanation.
What I got was worse.
From outside his office, I overheard him speaking to a friend, his voice low but unguarded.
“I had no choice,” he muttered. “If I don’t marry her, her family will force her to take a bond she doesn’t want.”
The friend scoffed. “And what about Rowena? She’s your true mate. Aren’t you afraid of tearing her apart?”
“So what if she’s upset?” Leopold’s tone hardened. “Rowena’s been bound to me for seven years. She can’t live without me. She’ll endure.”
My wolf bristled at those words, a low growl rumbling in my chest.
Later, fate played its cruelest trick.
Leopold and I both wed on the very same day—but not to each other. Our wedding processions crossed on the main road, two packs celebrating, two bonds sealed under the eyes of the Moon Goddess.
As our cars rolled past, I caught his gaze through the glass. His bride’s bouquet brushed against mine, and for one fleeting moment the world seemed to still. When Leopold saw me in white, marked not by him but by another, his composure shattered like glass beneath a wolf’s paw.
“Mom, I’ve agreed to the family’s arranged marriage.”
My voice was little more than a whisper in the dimly lit living room, flat and hollow, like something inside me had finally broken.
On the other end of the line, my mother went still. “Didn’t you say before that you didn’t want it? Why the sudden change? Rowena, marriage isn’t a game. It isn’t just a union of families—it’s the binding of wolves. The arrangement itself doesn’t matter. What matters is whether you’ll find happiness. Think it through carefully, don’t act on impulse.”
Her words made my chest tighten. My eyes burned with unshed tears. “Mom, I’ve thought it through. You can start preparing the wedding.”
She fell silent for a long moment. Then her voice softened, weighted with sympathy. “You’ve been with Leopold for so many years, and yet he never claimed you before the pack, never brought you home to stand before his parents. Your father and I knew it couldn’t last. A true mate would have howled your name to the moon the moment he found you.”
Her words pierced me like claws through flesh.