Fate Or Obsession

Chapter One

Sera's POV

The kitchen was a mess. I pulled the tray from the oven and stared at the blackened loaves, feeling my stomach twist. Marcus would be home soon, and he hated when I wasted food.

I scraped the worst of the char off with a knife, my hands shaking slightly. Three years of trying to be the perfect mate, and I still couldn't get basic things right. The other pack wives made it look easy. They had children hanging off their skirts and perfectly risen bread cooling on their counters. Meanwhile, I had burnt crusts and an empty nursery.

The front door slammed and I flinched, nearly dropping the knife.

"Sera?" Marcus called from the hallway.

"I'm in here," I said, wiping my hands on my apron.

He appeared in the doorway, tall and broad-shouldered like all Alpha wolves. His dark hair was messy from running, and his eyes scanned the kitchen before landing on me. Those same eyes that used to look at me with something like affection now held only coldness.

"Were you cooking?" he asked.

"I tried to make bread. It didn't—"

"I can see that." He walked past me to the sink, washing his hands without another word. "I ate with the patrol already."

Of course he did. He barely ate my cooking anymore.

I wrapped the least burnt loaf in cloth and put it away. We moved around each other like strangers, careful not to touch. The mating bond hummed quietly between us, a constant reminder of what we were supposed to be. But bonds didn't guarantee love. I'd learned that the hard way.

"The pack council met today," Marcus said, drying his hands.

I waited. He rarely told me about pack business.

"They're concerned. About us." He turned to face me, his expression unreadable. "Three years is a long time without an heir, Sera."

There it was. The real issue. It wasn't that our marriage was falling apart. Not that he barely looked at me anymore. It was just that I hadn't given him children.

"I know," I whispered.

"My father thinks we should consider options."

My head snapped up. "What kind of options?"

"A second wife. Someone who can—"

"No." The word came out harder than I intended. "You already have a mate."

"A mate who can't give me children." His voice was flat, matter-of-fact, like he was discussing the weather. "The pack needs an heir. I need an heir."

"I'm trying," I said, hating how small my voice sounded. "Maybe if we just—"

"We've tried everything." He cut me off, turning away. "The healers say there's nothing wrong with either of us. It just isn't working."

Because you don't love me, I thought. Because you only took me in when no one else would, and now you regret it.

I'd been alone when Marcus found me. Cast out from my birth pack for reasons they never explained, wandering the neutral territories with nowhere to go. He'd been young then, newly made Alpha after his father stepped down. He'd offered me a place in his pack, safety, and eventually his mating bond and I had thought myself lucky.

"I need to go back out," Marcus said, already heading for the door. "Don't wait up."

"Where are you going?"

He paused, his hand on the doorframe. For a second, I thought he might actually tell me the truth. Then his shoulders tensed.

"Patrol," he said, and left.

I stood in the kitchen for a long time after he was gone, listening to the silence. The bond between us pulled tight, and I could feel him moving away, getting farther with each step. But there was something else too. A flutter of emotion that wasn't mine. Anticipation. Excitement.

He was going to see someone.

I cleaned up the kitchen slowly, trying to ignore the sick feeling in my stomach. I told myself I was being paranoid. Marcus wouldn't break our bond. It was sacred and permanent. You didn't just betray your mate.

But the feeling wouldn't go away.

When the dishes were done and the counters wiped clean, I made a decision I'd probably regret. I grabbed my coat and slipped out the back door.

The night air was cool against my face. My wolf stirred inside me, restless and weak. She'd always been quiet, barely there. Most wolves could shift easily, run with the pack and feel the strength of their animal naturebut mine had always been dormant, like she was sleeping and couldn't quite wake up.

I followed the bond. It pulled me through the trees, past the main pack houses and toward the edge of our territory. My heart pounded harder with each step. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe he really was on patrol.

Then I heard the laughter.

I knew that laugh. It was light and musical, nothing like my rough, uncertain voice. I crept closer, staying in the shadows between the trees.

They were in a small clearing just beyond the territory markers. Marcus had his arms around her, his face buried in her neck. My sister, Lydia. Beautiful, confident Lydia who'd always belonged in the pack in ways I never could.

I couldn't breathe, I couldn't move. I just stood there, watching my mate hold another woman. Watching him smile at her the way he used to smile at me, back before he realized I was broken.

"When are you going to tell her?" Lydia asked, running her fingers through his hair.

"Soon," Marcus said. "After the council meeting next week. They'll approve a second wife, and then—"

"I don't want to be the second wife, Marcus." She pulled back to look at him. "I want to be your real mate. Your true choice."

"You are." He kissed her forehead. "Sera was a mistake. I see that now. I thought I was being noble, taking in a stray. But the pack needs strength, not charity cases."

Each word hit me like a physical blow. A mistake. A charity case. That's all I'd ever been to him.

I must have made a sound, because suddenly they both turned. Marcus's eyes met mine across the clearing, and I saw it all there. Guilt, yes, but also relief. Like he was glad I finally knew.

"Sera," he started, taking a step toward me.

I ran.

My weak wolf couldn't manage a shift, so I just ran on two legs, crashing through the underbrush with tears blinding me. I heard Marcus call my name once, but he didn't chase me. Of course he didn't. Why would he?

I ran until my lungs burned and my legs gave out. When I finally collapsed against a tree, gasping for air, I realized I'd crossed out of our territory entirely. I was in the neutral zone, alone in the dark.

And I had absolutely nowhere to go.