Mira's POV
Something is wrong.
I know it the moment I step through the Packhouse doors, three days earlier than planned. My wolf is pacing inside me, anxious and alert.
The house is too quiet.
Damon always knows when I'm coming home. Our mate bond should have told him I'm here. He should be rushing down the stairs, pulling me into his arms, asking about Mom.
But there's only silence.
"Damon?" I call out, setting down my bag. Inside are Mom's homemade cookies—Damon's favorite—and a little stuffed wolf for Kai, our three-year-old son.
No answer.
The living room is empty. The kitchen too. But something makes my skin prickle.
A scent.
Perfume. Heavy and sweet. Definitely not mine.
My heart starts beating faster.
"Maybe he's in his office," I tell myself. "Maybe there's a pack meeting."
But my wolf isn't convinced. She's growling low, warning me.
I climb the stairs, my hands shaking. The perfume smell gets stronger. It's coming from upstairs.
From our bedroom.
No. Please, no.
I reach our door. It's slightly open. I hear voices inside.
Damon's voice. Low and gentle. The way he used to talk to me.
And a woman's laugh. Light and musical.
My hand touches the door. Pushes it open.
The world stops.
Damon is sitting on our bed—OUR bed—with Selene, my best friend since childhood. His arm is around her shoulders. She's leaning against him, smiling up at him like he's her whole world.
They're not kissing. Not touching inappropriately. But the intimacy between them is worse than any kiss.
It's the way he looks at her. Like she matters. Like she's precious.
The way he used to look at me.
"Mira!" Damon jumps up, his face going pale. "You're home early. I thought—"
"What is this?" My voice doesn't sound like mine. It's too high. Too broken.
"It's not what it looks like," Selene says quickly, standing up. But she doesn't look guilty. She looks... comfortable. Like she belongs in my bedroom with my husband.
"Then what IS it?" I demand. "Why are you in my room? On my bed? With my husband?"
"Mira, calm down," Damon says. "Selene and I were just talking. About pack business."
"Pack business requires you to have your arm around her?"
He opens his mouth. Closes it. Can't answer.
My wolf is howling inside me. The mate bond feels wrong. Stretched. Damaged.
"How long?" I whisper. "How long has this been going on?"
"Nothing is going on!" Damon insists. "You're overreacting. Selene is your friend. She's been helping me while you were gone—"
"Helping you? With what?"
Selene steps forward. "Mira, I know this looks bad. But Damon has been stressed. The pack has issues. I've just been... supporting him."
Supporting him. In our bedroom. On our bed.
"Get out," I say quietly.
"Mira—"
"GET OUT!" I scream. "Both of you! Get out of my room!"
Selene grabs her shoes and rushes past me. She pauses at the door. "I'm sorry. I never meant—"
"GO!"
She runs.
Damon stands there, looking torn. "Mira, please. Let me explain."
"Explain what? That my best friend has been sleeping in my house while I was caring for my dying mother? That you've been spending time with her instead of visiting me? Instead of calling me?"
"Your mother needed you. I didn't want to burden you with—"
"With what? The fact that you're replacing me?"
"I'm not replacing you! You're my mate! My wife!"
"Then why does it feel like I'm losing you?" Tears stream down my face. "Why does she smell like she lives here? Why were you looking at her the way you used to look at me?"
He doesn't answer. Can't answer.
Because we both know the truth.
Something has changed. Something is broken.
"Where's Kai?" I ask suddenly. "Where's our son?"
"With my mother. He's fine. Safe."
At least there's that. At least Kai didn't see this.
"I need you to leave," I say. "I need space. I need to think."
"This is my house too. I'm not leaving."
"Fine. Then I will."
I grab my bag and push past him. His hand catches my wrist.
"Mira, wait. Please. Don't go. We need to talk about this."
The mate bond pulls at me. Begs me to stay. To forgive. To understand.
But my heart is screaming to run.
"Let go of me, Damon."
"Not until you listen—"
"I SAID LET GO!"
I yank my arm free and run. Down the stairs. Through the living room. Out the front door.
Behind me, Damon shouts my name. But I don't stop.
I shift mid-run, my wolf taking over. My clothes tear away. I don't care.
I run into the forest, away from the Packhouse, away from my husband, away from the life I thought I had.
My wolf runs for hours until we're exhausted. Until we can't smell Selene's perfume anymore. Until the mate bond is just a dull ache instead of a screaming pain.
Finally, I collapse by a stream. Shift back to human form. Sit there naked and shivering and broken.
What just happened? What did I just see?
Damon and Selene weren't kissing. Weren't in bed together. But the way they looked at each other...
Maybe I am overreacting. Maybe it was innocent.
But my wolf doesn't think so. She's raging inside me, demanding we go back and fight for our mate.
Or reject him.
The thought makes me sick. Reject Damon? My husband? The father of my child? The man I've loved since I was sixteen?
My phone buzzes. I forgot I had it in my bag.
Fifteen missed calls from Damon. Ten texts.
I open the most recent one.
Please come home. Please let me explain. I love you. Only you. Always you.
But then another text comes through. From an unknown number.
You want to know the truth about Damon and Selene? Meet me at the old oak tree. Midnight. Come alone. I'll tell you everything they're hiding.
My blood runs cold.
They're hiding something. I knew it.
Who is this? How do they know what I just saw?
I should ignore it. Should go home. Should talk to Damon like an adult.
But something stops me.
Because what if the text is right? What if there IS something they're hiding?
What if what I saw today was just the tip of something much worse?
Another text comes through. Same unknown number.
This time, it's a photo.
My hands shake as I open it.
It's Damon and Selene. But not from today. From weeks ago, based on the date stamp.
They're at a restaurant. Sitting close. Holding hands across the table.
Holding. Hands.
The message below the photo reads:
This was taken three weeks ago. While you were caring for your mother. While your son cried for you every night. While you sacrificed everything for your family. They were together. Again and again and again.
Midnight. Old oak tree. I have more photos. Videos. Proof of everything.
Come alone, or I send them to the entire pack. Your choice.
I stare at the photo until my vision blurs.
Three weeks ago. They've been doing this for weeks.
While I was at Mom's bedside, holding her hand, watching her fade away, thinking my husband was home taking care of our son...
He was with her.
With Selene.
My best friend since childhood. The girl who stood beside me at my wedding. Who held Kai when he was born. Who I trusted with everything.
She's been betraying me. They both have.
The mate bond throbs painfully. Part of me still wants to believe this is a mistake. A misunderstanding.
But the photo doesn't lie.
I look at the time. 10:47 PM.
I have one hour and thirteen minutes to decide.
Go to the meeting and learn the truth.
Or go home and pretend I never saw that photo.
My wolf makes the decision for me.
We're going to that oak tree.
We're going to find out exactly what my husband and my best friend have been doing behind my back.
And then?
Then we're going to make them pay.
I shift back into wolf form and start running toward the old oak tree.
The moon is full overhead. Perfect for hunting.
Perfect for discovering secrets.
Perfect for revenge.
But as I run through the dark forest, one thought keeps echoing in my mind:
What if the truth is worse than I can imagine?
What if everything I believed about my marriage, my friendship, my life... was a lie?
What if I'm about to lose everything?
The oak tree appears ahead, ancient and massive against the night sky.
Someone is waiting there. A figure in the shadows.
I slow down. Approach carefully.
Who is this person? How do they know about Damon and Selene?
And what else do they know that I don't?
I shift back to human form, grateful I grabbed clothes from my bag before running.
"Hello?" I call out. "I'm here. Show yourself."
The figure steps into the moonlight.
My heart stops.
No.
It can't be.
"Hello, Mira," they say with a sad smile. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way. But you needed to know the truth."
"You?" I whisper. "But why? Why would you—"
"Because someone had to tell you. Someone had to stop this before it destroyed you completely." They hold up a phone. "I have everything. Photos. Videos. Text messages. Proof that Damon and Selene have been having an affair for six months."
Six months.
The world spins.
Six months. Half a year. While I was pregnant with our second child—the baby I lost three months ago. While I was grieving. While I was caring for my dying mother.
He was with her.
"Why?" My voice breaks. "Why would he do this?"
"Because Selene is his true mate."
The words hit like a physical blow.
"That's impossible. I'm his mate. We have the bond. We have Kai—"
"You're his CHOSEN mate. Selene is his TRUE mate. The one the Moon Goddess destined for him." They step closer. "He met her at your wedding. Felt the true mate bond. But he was already married to you. Already committed. So he tried to ignore it. Tried to be faithful."
"But he couldn't," I finish. "He couldn't resist."
"No. And neither could she." They hand me the phone. "See for yourself. Every secret. Every lie. Every moment they stole while you were suffering."
I take the phone with shaking hands.
Open the first video.
And watch my entire world shatter into pieces that can never be put back together.
Because sometimes, the truth doesn't set you free.
Sometimes, it destroys you.