After Leaving My Betraying Alpha, I Married His Greatest Enemy

"Fuck, you are amazing."

The heavy bass of the ballroom speakers cut out, replaced by the wet, slapping sounds of skin against skin.

Every wolf in the grand hall froze.

Champagne flutes hovered near open mouths.

The string quartet stopped playing, leaving only the agonizingly loud audio broadcasting from the Alpha suite.

"Olivia Ashbourne wouldn't bend like this for you, would she?" a female voice purred through the sound system.

Sophia Winters.

My best friend.

And the man groaning into the microphone was my mate, Alpha Ethan Blackwood.

"Don't bring her up right now," Ethan grunted.

The bedsprings squeaked loudly over the PA system, echoing off the marble pillars.

"Then why is she still your Luna?" Sophia whined. "I told you back in school she was too stiff. She doesn't know how to please an Alpha."

"Her royal bloodline," Ethan panted. "An Ashbourne who turned her back on her crown for our pack? That kind of power is too useful to toss aside. Her name alone keeps the neighboring territories from challenging our borders."

"What about me?" Sophia asked. "What about us?"

"I've been slipping sterilization potions into her daily supplements for three years," Ethan chuckled.

His laughter bounced off the crystal chandeliers overhead.

"She just warms the Luna seat. Everything I build here goes to our future pups."

My hand slammed against my stomach.

Three years.

Three years of choking down foul, dark sludge while Ethan stroked my hair, telling me our pup would come when the Goddess deemed it time.

I had cried in his arms, apologizing for my failing body.

He had kissed my forehead and told me he didn't care about children, that having me was enough.

My wolf thrashed against my ribs, a phantom tearing sensation ripping through my chest.

A screech of feedback pierced the room.

Lucas Hayes, Ethan's secretary, sprinted to the DJ booth and ripped a thick black cable from the soundboard.

The silence that followed deafened me.

Hundreds of eyes shifted toward where I stood by the ice sculpture.

I didn't wait for the whispers to start.

I took the marble stairs two at a time.

The heavy oak door to the Alpha suite stood cracked open, the intercom box on the wall glowing with a green transmission light.

I kicked the door wide.

They scrambled apart, ripping the silk sheets up to cover themselves.

I grabbed the glass pitcher of ice water off the nightstand and hurled the liquid directly at Ethan's face.

He sputtered, swiping freezing water from his eyes.

"Olivia! Wait, it's not—"

A harsh, jagged laugh tore from my throat.

Tears should have come, but only this dry, hollow sound clawed its way out.

"Not what?" I asked. "Not a broadcast? Because the entire pack just heard about my sterile womb."

Sophia clutched the blanket to her chest.

"Liv, please. We drank too much. We didn't know what we were saying."

"Get out," I told her.

Ethan grabbed my wrist.

"Don't speak to her like that. She's your friend."

I yanked my arm free, my nails digging into my palms to keep my hands from shaking.

"My friend? She's fucking my mate on my bed."

"You're being hysterical," Ethan snapped. "Go downstairs and fix this. Tell them it was a prank."

"I will tell them nothing," I whispered.

"You are the Luna!" he shouted, his voice vibrating with authority. "You will go down there and smile, or you will ruin everything we built!"

"You ruined it," I shot back, turning on my heel.

Two hours later, an emergency pack bulletin lit up every phone in the territory.

"A regrettable incident caused by tainted alcohol. Sophia Winters is hereby exiled to the Silent Lands."

I read the text on my screen, then raised my head.

Sophia sat cross-legged on my velvet living room sofa, wrapped in Ethan's oversized grey sweater.

She sipped from a mug of tea, completely unbothered.

"She's exiled," I stated.

I tossed the phone onto the glass coffee table.

"Why is she drinking my chamomile?"

Ethan stepped up behind me, wrapping his heavy arms around my waist.

He buried his face in the crook of my neck.

"We can't actually throw her out to the rogues, Liv," Ethan murmured. "It was just a drunken mistake. You know I love you."

I stared at Sophia's smug reflection in the dark windowpane.

"You fed me poison," I said.

"It was just a temporary contraceptive," Ethan lied. "I wanted us to have more time together before pups ruined your figure. The audio made it sound worse than it was."

Sophia set her mug down.

"I'm so sorry, Olivia. I was so drunk I didn't even know it was Ethan. You have to believe me."

"She's your best friend," Ethan pressed. "You need to trust us. I promise it won't happen again."

"Where else are you going to go, Olivia?" Ethan asked softly, his lips brushing my ear. "Your father disowned you. The Ashbourne court hates you for leaving. This pack is your only home."

I stiffened.

"And I am your Alpha," he continued. "I provide for you. I protect you. All I ask for is a little understanding."

My jaw locked.

I had burned every bridge to stand in this house.

I renounced my title, severed ties with my father, King Victor Ashbourne, and swore I would never return to the royal court.

I even learned to hate my own high-born blood just to fit into Ethan's rugged world.

I had nowhere else to run.

He knew that.

They both knew that.

A sharp hum vibrated at the base of my skull.

The dormant telepathic link flared to life.

The magic crackled through my veins, hot and demanding.

"Dear Olivia."

The deep, resonant voice of King Victor Ashbourne echoed through my mind, clear as a ringing bell.

"Are you in trouble? I felt your pain."

A single tear broke free and tracked down my cheek.