The Mate Who Broke Me

Chapter One: The Woman He Brought Home Selene’s POV

I had been waiting all day.

I cleaned every room in the house, even the corners no one ever noticed. I brushed my long silver hair twice, then again, just to keep my hands busy. My heart felt full. Nervous, yes. But full. I hadn’t seen him in seven days.

Every time I heard a sound at the door, I rushed to it, only to find nothing. Just the wind. Just silence.

So I returned to the kitchen and checked the stew again.

He loved stew, especially when I added wild mushrooms. I remembered how he used to smile when I served it, how he would kiss my forehead and say, “No one cooks like you, Selene.” So I made it today, just like that.

The table was already set. Two silver plates. Two wine cups. A fresh bottle of moonflower wine. The napkins folded neatly on his side—he liked them that way.

I wanted tonight to be warm. I wanted us to feel close again. He’d been so distant lately. Quiet. Cold. But maybe he was just tired. Maybe the weight of being Alpha was too heavy on him.

I wanted him to come home, eat, laugh, hold me in his arms like he used to.

I wanted to believe everything would be okay again.

I heard the front door creak open.

My heart jumped.

I wiped my hands on my dress and rushed out of the kitchen, already smiling. But then I stopped.

He was standing at the door.

And he was holding another woman’s hand.

Her smile was soft. She was beautiful. Pale hair, big green eyes, a soft voice that used to call me Luna. I knew her.

Mira.

The omega we rescued from the borderlands.

She was the woman I once gave clothes to, food, shelter, even protection when the elders said she was not one of us. I stood by her. I called her sister. She used to say I was her savior.

Now she was holding my husband’s hand.

He didn’t say hello.

He didn’t ask how I was.

He just looked at me and said calmly, like he was reading the weather, “She’s pregnant.” The words slammed into me like a storm.

I couldn’t speak.

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. Not even a whisper.

I looked at him. Then at her. Then back at him.

My fingers trembled. My knees felt weak.

The stew... I had to check the stew.

I turned away from them, walked back into the kitchen, and lifted the lid off the pot. It had burned.

I stood there, staring at the stew. My hands on the edge of the pot. My chest tight. I had spent all day preparing for him.

And he came home with her.

He walked in with the woman I once saved and said she was carrying his child.

I didn’t ask him why. I didn’t ask when. I didn’t ask how he could do this to me. Because part of me already knew.

I walked slowly to the living room and sat down on the edge of the chair. My dress rustled beneath me. The silver one he said made me look like a queen.

He was standing in front of me, saying something, but I couldn’t hear it. The room was quiet, but my mind was loud.

I looked up at him with tears in my eyes.

“I still love you,” I whispered. “Even now.”

He looked surprised. Maybe even confused.

I smiled, broken.

“If you love her... it’s okay. We can all stay together.”

My voice was small. Weak. It didn’t sound like me.

“I just want you to be happy,” I said. “Even if it’s not with me.”

Mira looked uncomfortable. She looked away. Maybe she was ashamed. Maybe not.

He didn’t say anything.

He didn’t tell me to stop.

He didn’t say thank you.

He didn’t say I’m sorry.

I stood up slowly and walked to the window. The sun had started to set. The sky turned orange, then red, like it was bleeding.

Just like I was.

In my chest. In my soul.

Tears dripped down my cheeks. One, then two, then a whole bunch. I didn't wipe them away. I let them flow.

My heart hurt like it had shattered into a thousand silent pieces.

He had once been mine.

But now... he was someone else's.

I whirled around and faced him once more.

"You know," I breathed, "my father trusted you."

He looked down at the floor.

"My father gave you his blessing when no one else would. He saw something in you. When the elders said you were too weak to be Alpha, I stood up for you. I lost my birthright for you. I gave you my name. My title. My everything."

I placed a hand over my chest.

"I loved you so much that I gave you pieces of myself I'll never get back."

I smiled, kind of. It sounded hollow.

"Maybe that was my mistake."

I looked at Mira again. She didn't even look my way.

"You were nothing when I picked you up," I breathed. "Just a broken wolf with nowhere to turn. But I believed in you. I fought for you.".

"I slept through the night nursing your wounds when you came back from raids. I stood by your side with every council gathering. I let them call me weak, only so that you would not feel inferior."

I closed my eyes. "But I was not weak."

When I opened them once more, they were filled with tears. "I was in love."

He still never said anything.

And maybe that hurt the most.

Because it meant that none of it mattered.

Not the love. Not the memories. Not the promises. He chose her.

And I was merely left behind.