My Alpha Husband Got His Mistress Pregnant Because I Was ‘Defective’ — Now He’s Hunting Down The Human Who Saved Me
Part 1
I stood in the doorway of the dining room.
My hands smoothed over the golden silk of my gown.
Dan had been away on territory business for twenty-two days.
He was my mate, the Alpha of our pack.
We had never been apart this long.
Through our mate bond, I could feel his overwhelming happiness.
It radiated through my chest like sunlight.
I pushed the carved doors open with a smile on my face.
That smile died instantly.
Dan sat at the head of our long oak table.
Across from him sat Ashley.
She was his first love, a woman I hadn’t seen in years.
Her scent hit me like a physical blow.
Dan’s musk clung to her skin, thick and possessive.
Rising from his chair, genuine delight lit his eyes as he cupped my face with familiar tenderness.
After pressing a warm kiss to my cheek, he slipped his arm around my waist and asked if I remembered Ashley.
Ashley inclined her head with perfect deference.
Her smile held a confidence that made my chest tighten with dread.
Dan hovered over Ashley, pulling out her chair with solicitous care.
“You must be careful in your condition,” he murmured, gently guiding her into the seat.
“Our child needs proper nourishment.”
Pride pulsed from him through our mate bond.
It hit me with a nauseating intensity that turned my knees to water.
I forced a hollow smile, offering my stiff congratulations on her pregnancy.
Dan leaned back in his heavy oak chair, crossing his arms over his broad chest with a satisfied grin.
“The pup is mine,” he announced, completely unfazed as he reached for a goblet of wine.
“And soon, it will be ours.”
My heart stopped.
Through the bond, not a single drop of guilt or shame seeped into my mind.
There was only his overwhelming gratitude toward the woman sitting across from him.
“Ashley has graciously agreed to give us the strong shifter heir you never could,” he continued, taking a careless sip of his drink.
He rested his large hand casually over hers.
“Her sacrifice in stepping up as my official mistress is nothing short of heroic.”
He reached out and tried to grab my hand with a sickeningly eager smile.
“We can finally have the family we’ve always dreamed of.”
I ripped my fingers out of his grasp.
“Dan, I need a word with you in private,” I ground out, my voice barely more than a whisper.
He rolled his eyes and waved his fork dismissively in the air.
“Don’t be dramatic.”
“Whatever you have to say can be said right here in front of the mother of my child.”
“I truly hope we can be friends,” Ashley chimed in, offering a sickeningly sympathetic pout.
At that exact moment, our mate bond betrayed every secret Dan thought he was keeping.
Images flooded my mind.
I saw Ashley tangled in his sheets.
I saw his hands mapping her curves with desperate hunger.
I felt his raw, consuming desire for her.
It wasn’t the patient affection he showed me.
It was the hunger of a man utterly in love.
I gasped and stumbled backward.
My shoulders hit the cold stone wall.
Dan rose from his chair in alarm.
The words died in my throat.
I turned and walked from the room.
Only when the heavy doors closed behind me did I break into a run.
I ran through the pristine gardens.
I ran toward the wild forest beyond the estate.
Through the bond, Dan’s voice echoed in my head.
He asked where I was going.
He said we needed to discuss arrangements for the nursery.
He wasn’t worried or guilty.
He simply couldn’t fathom why I would be upset.
My legs gave out somewhere deep in the woods.
My silk gown was torn and stained with dirt.
I dug my nails into the damp earth.
Dan was still calling out to me through the bond.
He told me to stop being dramatic.
A branch snapped in the undergrowth.
Shadows pooled between the ancient trees.
Something large moved through the brush.
A wild, feral wolf emerged from the darkness.
Its yellow eyes held no recognition of humanity.
It was starving and desperate.
I scrambled backward.
My hands scraped against roots and stones.
The beast lunged at me.
In that moment of sheer terror, my own beast finally woke up.
Power rushed through my veins.
My bones began to snap like dry kindling.
The pain was an overwhelming symphony of agony.
My spine stretched.
Fur erupted from my skin.
I was no longer human when my paws hit the forest floor.
I snarled at the wild wolf.
We circled each other in the fading light.
When it lunged again, I dodged.
But the feral wolf was cunning.
Its teeth closed around my right forepaw with crushing force.
I let out a scream no human throat could make.
The beast released me and melted back into the shadows.
My paw hung useless.
My legs buckled and I crashed to the dirt.
I tried to shift back to human form.
My body refused to obey.
I was trapped in the body I had waited my whole life to find.
I lay there for three days.
I was starving and shivering.
Then I heard the sound of small footsteps.
An eight-year-old boy crept through the brush.
He carried a small bundle of bread and cheese.
For the first time in my life, my survival depended entirely on the kindness of a human child.
