I Hate You

Elara’s POV

The physical and emotional trauma of the mate bond betrayal left me bedridden for three agonizing, suffocating days. The horrific images of Conrad thrusting into Lilith played on an endless, sickening loop in my mind, pulling me down into a dark, inescapable void. During this entire time, my fated mate completely and utterly ignored my existence. Instead of checking on his sick wife, Conrad was entirely occupied with parading Lilith around the estate, proudly introducing his mistress to his loyal pack members as if I was already dead and buried.

The overwhelming pain in my chest was unbearable, broken only by the sudden, sharp ringing of my phone on the nightstand. It was an unexpected call from my college best friend, Hadley.

"Elara! Hey!" Her cheerful voice cut directly through the heavy depression suffocating my room. "I'm just calling to make sure we're still on for your business trip to Thunderglave Reach next week. We definitely need to grab drinks!"

The mention of the trip jolted my fractured memory. I had completely forgotten about the massive Aurelia Metropolis project. It was my personal, tirelessly crafted initiative, a lucrative real estate concept designed specifically to solve Pyrewood Enclave’s looming financial crisis. My master plan was to travel to the world's most powerful faction and pitch the concept directly to Hadley's older brother, Alpha Kaelen Vance. He was a terrifyingly dominant business tycoon and a notorious, unrepentant playboy who famously never wasted a single second on women unless he was interested in fucking them. Getting him to advise on or back the project was a long shot, but it was supposed to be my triumph.

Now, none of that mattered.

"I don't know, Hadley..." I choked out, unable to hold back my tears any longer. My voice cracked into a pathetic sob. "Maybe there’ll be a change of plan. I... I can't go anymore."

"What? Why?"

There was no point in hiding my humiliation from her. I covered my swollen eyes with my free hand. "Conrad is leaving me for another woman… the birth mother of our adopted child. If I'm no longer the Luna, there's no point in me saving his Enclave."

Through the receiver, Hadley erupted in fierce, protective outrage. "WHAT?! That absolute piece of shit!" she screamed. "You need to hire a ruthless divorce lawyer right now, Elara! Take him for every single thing he has. Do not let that bastard get away with this!"

While her explosive anger was comforting, it unexpectedly sparked a fierce, burning resolve deep within my chest. Hadley was right. I was rolling over and dying while the woman who ruined my life paraded through my home. Lilith was not some innocent, tragic victim; she had already coldly abandoned Conrad for another man four years ago. Why should I just surrender my hard-earned marriage and my rightful position without a brutal fight? I didn't need to run away; I just needed to logically prove to Conrad that this manipulative woman couldn't be trusted.

Hoping to find an innocent ally in the little boy I had selflessly and tirelessly raised for the last three years, I forced myself out of bed. I threw on a blouse and walked out to the grand estate gates to wait for Ronin's school bus. I stood in the exact same spot I had stood every single morning and afternoon, desperate for the unconditional love of my son.

The heavy yellow bus pulled up, its brakes squealing. The doors parted, and Ronin hopped down the steps.

"Ronin! Darling! Over here!" I called out, waving my hands, my heart swelling with a desperate need for his comforting hug.

But instead of happily running into my open arms as he always did, the boy froze. He looked at me, and his face twisted. He violently recoiled in sheer terror, sprinting in the opposite direction.

"Get away from me!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Ronin, what—" I lunged forward, confused, managing to catch his shoulder.

"You want my mommy to leave! I hate you!" he screamed, fighting against my grip with frantic energy. "Daddy, Mommy, and I are a real family! Not you!"

Hot tears instantly blurred my vision. I fell to my knees on the pavement, desperately pleading with him. "Ronin, please, it's me. I'm your mom, remember? I'm the one who stayed up with you all night when you had a fever. I read you your bedtime stories. I love you so much..."

But he merely struggled aggressively against my gentle touch, shrieking like I was burning his skin. Onlookers and pack members began to gather, their eyes judging me as the scene escalated.

To my absolute horror, the sweet boy I raised began spinning horrific, calculated lies to the rapidly gathering crowd. "NO! You hit me! You put my head into the toilet! You scare me! I don't want you, I want Mommy Lilith!"

I froze, the blood draining from my face. I had never laid a harmful finger on him. Why would a three-year-old invent such vicious, highly specific lies?

Suddenly, the crowd parted. Lilith rushed frantically through the heavy iron gates, with Conrad sprinting right behind her. She threw herself onto the hard ground, pulling Ronin from my loose grip into a wildly dramatic, theatrical embrace. She rocked him back and forth, loudly wailing over her poor child's supposed suffering at my hands.

"My poor baby! What have you been through?!" she cried, burying her face in his neck.

"You hit Ronin?!" Conrad growled furiously at me. He stepped forward, his massive frame radiating intense Alpha rage, his jaw clenched tight. "Are you doing this because you can’t have your own child and you are jealous of Lilith?"

I stared up at the man I married in sheer, paralyzing shock. My chest physically ached at the cruelty of his words.

Flawlessly playing the ultimate victim, Lilith tearfully looked up at Conrad, her bottom lip quivering perfectly. "Don't blame her, Conrad," she sobbed. "I get it. People only love their biological children. Ronin and I are just poor outsiders ruining your home. Maybe we should just pack our bags and leave immediately..."

"Yes, you absolutely should!" I yelled, furiously agreeing as I scrambled to my feet. "Get the hell out of my pack!"

Conrad completely snapped.

"ENOUGH!" he snarled, his booming voice echoing like thunder across the courtyard. The sheer force of his Alpha command forced a few nearby pack members to their knees. He glared at me with absolute disdain. "Lilith’s the woman I love and Ronin is my only son! I can’t leave them. And they need me."

I stood there, trembling in raw, open agony in front of my pack. "Then what about me, Conrad?" I asked, my voice breaking. "I am your fated mate."

Conrad impatiently brushed off my pain with a wave of his hand. "Nobody is saying you aren't. You will still technically be Pyrewood Enclave's Luna. Lilith is simply here for pure love. She isn't interested in your official title."

Lilith softly chimed in, batting her tear-soaked lashes as she clung to his leg. "You won't even notice I'm here, Elara. I just want to exist quietly and humbly by his side."

I felt physically dizzy at the deeply humiliating prospect. He expected me to remain in this house as a glorified, unpaid employee, managing his territory, while my husband openly slept with another woman in the very next room. I could still see the images of him thrusting into her, still hear her screaming his name.

Yet, as I looked into Conrad's eyes, I absolutely refused to accept this pathetic defeat. I knew deep down that Conrad’s instinctual, primal love for me wasn't entirely dead. The bond was severed, but the wolf inside him could never truly deny its mate. I needed to remind him of what he was throwing away.

With a visibly shaking hand, I slowly reached up to the collar of my blouse. I locked my eyes onto his and deliberately began to undo the delicate buttons. One. Two. Three. I pulled the fabric back, intentionally exposing my bare collarbone and the top swell of my chest to the cool air. I focused my energy inward and forcefully released my heavy, intoxicating mate scent directly into the air, weaponizing the sexual allure of our bond.

Conrad’s reaction was instantaneous.

The moment the pheromones hit him, his chest expanded. His breathing immediately grew incredibly heavy, his nostrils flaring as his wolf violently reacted to my presence. Thick sweat began beading on his forehead, and the fierce anger in his posture melted into rigid tension.

I took a slow, deliberate step closer, holding his gaze captive. I watched his pupils blow wide, swallowing the amber color of his irises.

"Don’t you miss me?" I whispered seductively, making sure only he could hear the dark promise in my tone. "The feeling of being with your mate… it’s better than anything else in the world. You know that."

The dormant mate bond violently flared to life between us, an electric, magnetic pull that demanded to be fed. His eyes turned utterly obsessed and dark with pure lust. He stared deeply into mine, the rational part of his brain completely short-circuiting as his primal instincts took the wheel. He took a staggering step toward me, his lips parting as he helplessly murmured,

"…My mate."