My Fiancé Betrayed Me For A Pregnant Mistress — Then I Uncovered His Sickest Secret

Part 1

The hallway of the pack house was entirely silent when the ultimate betrayal unfolded right before my eyes.

As I stood frozen by the cracked wooden door of his bedroom, the air caught painfully in my throat.

Through the narrow gap, the sight of Craig tangled intimately in the messy sheets with Brenda practically stopped my heart.

His low and animalistic groans echoed loudly through the otherwise quiet house.

Tomorrow morning, this was the man destined to become my permanent mate.

He was the powerful Alpha who had swooped in to save our vulnerable pack.

My trembling hand pressed firmly against my chest to keep my heart from bursting.

Desperate duty to my people had forced my acceptance of this arranged union, especially after a mysterious coma inexplicably claimed my older sister Heather weeks ago.

Since we lacked any clear explanation for her sudden illness, our small pack had been left entirely defenseless.

This vulnerability led Craig to demand my hand in exchange for his warriors’ protection.

Now, as I watched him bury his face in Brenda’s neck, the brutal truth was undeniable.

Hot tears stung my eyes, forcing a rapid retreat from the bedroom door.

My bare feet made no sound against the polished hardwood floor during the frantic escape.

The steep stairs proved treacherous, and my flight ended with a heavy collapse onto the cold kitchen tiles.

The freezing stone grounded me slightly against the chilling weight of my rapidly deteriorating situation.

After dragging my tired body up from the floor, finding my childhood friend Sarah to confess the horrifying truth became my only priority.

While sitting quietly on the back porch under the bright moonlight, she took a slow and calculated sip of her herbal tea instead of offering the shared righteous outrage I expected.

Thinking an Alpha like him would ever stay loyal was the mark of a complete fool, she casually declared.

Her pure dismissive pity felt exactly like a physical slap across the face.

She bluntly justified his actions by highlighting the protection he provided our pack.

My entire pack had made a willing choice to trade my personal dignity for their own physical security.

Suffocating speed brought the dreaded morning of the mating ceremony entirely too fast.

Although allowing Brenda to help me into my extravagant white gown required every ounce of self-control, I endured it.

She carried Craig’s distinct musky scent heavily on her skin.

When she patted her stomach with a sickeningly sweet expression, her complaints about pregnancy draining her energy caused the polished floor to tilt beneath my feet.

Craig entered the room a moment later, looking effortlessly handsome, and kissed my pale cheek as if nothing was wrong.

My hands shook uncontrollably at my sides when I turned to face him.

The hollow whisper acknowledging the baby slipped out before I could stop it.

His strong jaw tightened for a tiny fraction of a second, betraying a brief flicker of annoyance.

He then smoothed the lapel of his tailored jacket without a single ounce of shame.

Brenda would have her child, but becoming his official mate remained my mandatory obligation, he commanded with a terrifying finality.

Walking down the long aisle an hour later felt like a prisoner marching to the gallows.

The blurring faces of my family offered no comfort whatsoever.

Craig grasped my arm with crushing force, leaning in closely to permanently mark my neck with his sharp teeth.

A sudden ringing pierced my ears while my breath hitched in a tight gasp.

My hands shoved his chest away on pure instinct.

As the entire crowd gasped in shocked horror, bolting frantically toward the reception house without looking back was my only logical reaction.

Pacing the floor of the bridal suite like a caged animal, my sharp instincts screamed loudly that something was deeply wrong.

I crept toward the open balcony to carefully catch my breath.

Quiet voices drifted up from the stone patio below, shattering the quiet evening air with a heated argument between Craig and Brenda.

With an angry growl, Craig demanded to know why Brenda had told me about the baby.

She prompted a bold declaration about fully understanding what was truly at stake.

Chilling aggression leaked from Craig’s tone as he let out a harsh and humorless laugh.

He snapped that they needed this pack.

According to his cruel statement, Brenda had been so obsessed with Heather that she had actively poisoned her.

My blood turned to ice.

My beloved sister was not mysteriously or naturally ill; deliberately poisoning her to get her completely out of the way had been Brenda’s malicious plan all along.

Because Craig fully knew this dark truth the entire time, he was using the terrible tragedy to steal our territory.

Throwing open the balcony doors, I allowed my innate shifter magic to shrink and melt my human form into a flurry of dark feathers.

Escaping these terrible monsters became paramount as I launched into the evening sky as a small bird.

A sharp arrow suddenly pierced straight through my delicate right wing while I flew desperately toward the dense forest border.

The white-hot agony brought a sudden loss of altitude.

Plummeting rapidly through the thick tree canopy ended with a violent crash onto the hard forest floor.

I shifted back into human form out of sheer necessity to survive the massive impact.

Heavy footsteps approached rapidly, crunching loudly through the dry underbrush nearby as thick blood pooled on my ruined wedding dress.

My vision faded, and dragging my broken body away proved impossible.

An impossible golden light surrounded me when I woke up an indeterminate number of hours later.

I lay comfortably on a massive bed in a breathtakingly opulent room.

This was definitely not the familiar pack infirmary.

The deep bandaged wound on my arm brought a wave of confusion.

When I swung my bare legs over the soft edge of the mattress cautiously, a dark shadow shifted silently in the far corner.

I froze instantly as an incredibly tall figure stepped partially into the dim light.

His quiet presence felt ancient and overwhelming.

Desperately trying to speak proved futile against a completely dry throat.

I felt his freezing fingers brush against mine as he whispered, ‘I saved your life, but if you value it, you must never, ever look at my face.’.