The Alpha Who Chose Wrong Chapter 02
Odette threw herself into Evander’s arms.
The room erupted in cheers.
They thought his growl belonged to her.
Only Evander and I knew the truth.
His wolf fought to reach me. I felt it through the new
bond. Hunger. Shock. Possession.
Then my mother found me behind the curtain.
Her nails sank into my arm.
“Don’t move.”
“You felt it.”
Her face had gone white.
“You are confused.”
“Evander is my mate.”
“A wolfless woman cannot be an Alpha’s mate.”
Onstage, the chair of the leadership board raised a glass.
“Ironwood has waited years for this union. Alpha
Evander, will you name Odette Vale as your Luna
candidate?”
Evander looked over Odette’s shoulder.
At me.
I waited for him to tell the truth.
He could stop everything with one sentence.
My mother tightened her grip.
Evander turned back to the board.
“Yes.”
The bond inside me twisted.
The whole pack cheered while Odette kissed his cheek.
I walked away before anyone saw me cry.
I locked myself in my small room on the staff floor.
An hour later, the lock opened.
Evander entered without knocking.
“Go back to her.”
He closed the door,
“Nerys,”
“You knew. You felt the bond and chose her anyway.”
“The board has spent five years preparing Odette. She
has alliances, training, and the pack’s trust.”
“And I have no wolf.”
His silence answered.
I laughed through my tears.
“Your fated mate is too embarrassing to stand beside you.”
“That isn’t what I said.”
“Then name me Luna.”
His jaw locked.
“I can’t.”
“You mean you won’t.”
He crossed the room.
The bond burned hotter with every step. His scent
filled my lungs. My body recognized him even while
my heart tried to hate him.
“I have protected this pack since I was twenty–three,”
he said. “If I break the agreement tonight, half the
board walks. Our border deal fails. Odette’s family
controls our security division.”
“My family too.”
“They don’t treat you like family.”
“And neither did you downstairs.”
That stopped him.
For a moment, pain crossed his face.
Then he touched my cheek.
“I can’t lose you.”
“You already chose to.”
“I can keep you safe. Give you your own place. Let you
finish your medical training anywhere you want.”
“As what?”
He said nothing.
“Your secret?”
“My mate.”
“A mate you will never claim.”
His eyes flashed gold.
“The bond doesn’t care what the board wants. Neither
does my wolf.”
“But you do.”
I should have opened the door.
I should have screamed until the whole pack came.
upstairs and found their Alpha in my room.
Instead, I kissed him.
I had loved him for seven years.
The mate bond had turned that love into fire beneath my skin.
Evander caught my face between his hands.
“If you tell me to stop, I stop.”
“Choose me.”
His forehead rested against mine.
“Ask me for anything else.”
That should have been enough to end it.
It was not.
I pulled him back to my mouth.
He lifted me, and I wrapped my legs around his waist.
My back hit the mattress.
His black shirt landed beside my work uniform,
Every touch was desperate.
Years of hidden looks and unfinished words became
his mouth on my breasts, my nails in his back, and his name breaking from my lips.
When he moved between my thighs, he stopped.
“Nerys, look at me.”
I did.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
He slid inside me slowly.
The bond flared so brightly that my sleeping wolf cried out.
Evander froze.
“I heard her.”
“So did I.”
For one perfect second, hope returned.
Then music rose from the ballroom below.
Odette was still celebrating.
“Keep quiet,” Evander breathed against my mouth as
his hips drove into mine. “Odette can never know.”
Those words poisoned everything beautiful about the moment.
Afterward, he held me until my breathing slowed.
“This doesn’t have to be the last time,” he said.
I stared at the ceiling.
“Will you mark her?”
“The ceremony is in three months.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
His arm tightened around me.
“I don’t know.”
But he did know.
He wanted Odette in the light and me in the dark.
That night, I became the mate my Alpha took in secret
and denied before his pack.