When My Mate Let My Parents Die to Save Her

The rain hit like bullets against my skin as I ran the northern border patrol. Three years as Ethan's mate, three years as a Delta warrior for the Silver Moon Pack, and I still pulled the graveyard shifts. Luna, my wolf, stirred restlessly inside me, sensing something off in the air.

Then the mind-link crackled.

It wasn't meant for me. The storm was interfering with the pack frequency, bleeding private channels into the general link. But I heard it clear as day.

"Meet me at the Old Oak, my love." Amanda's voice. Sickeningly sweet, like poisoned honey. "Our little secret is growing inside me. I can't wait to tell you in person."

I froze mid-stride. The world tilted.

Luna howled inside my head, a sound of pure anguish that made my bones ache. The mate bond—that golden thread connecting me to Ethan—turned to barbed wire in my chest.

No. No, this couldn't be real.

But then the scent hit me. Even through the rain, even from half a mile away, I caught it on the wind. Cloying vanilla mixed with something rotten, something wrong. Amanda's scent. And underneath it, the metallic tang I'd smelled a hundred times in the healer's ward.

Pregnancy.

My legs moved before my brain caught up. I tracked the scent trail through the woods, my Delta training kicking in automatically. Every step felt like walking through broken glass, but I couldn't stop. I had to see.

The Old Oak loomed ahead, ancient and twisted. And there, tucked into the hollow at its base, was the proof I didn't want to find.

Ethan's Alpha cloak. The one with his personal scent woven into every fiber. Wrapped around a bundle of soft nesting materials—blankets, pillows, all soaked in Amanda's perfume. The pregnancy scent was stronger here, unmistakable.

I grabbed the bundle with shaking hands. Luna was screaming now, clawing at my insides, begging me to shift and run and never look back. But I was done running.

I was done being the loyal mate who took silver knives meant for him. Done being the Delta who bled for a pack that didn't value her. Done pretending the mate bond was enough when respect was absent.

The pack house was quiet when I stormed through the doors, dripping rainwater and rage. I didn't knock on Ethan's office door. I kicked it open.

He looked up from his desk, those green eyes widening in surprise. "Eliana? What—"

I threw the bundle onto his desk. It landed with a wet thump, Amanda's scent exploding into the room.

"Tell me the truth," I said. My voice came out cold, detached. "About Amanda. About this."

Ethan's jaw tightened. He didn't even try to deny it. "You're being dramatic."

"Dramatic?" The word tasted like ash. "There's a pregnancy scent all over your cloak, Ethan. All over nesting materials hidden at your secret meeting spot. And you're calling me dramatic?"

"Amanda is scared. She needs support." He stood, his Alpha aura beginning to press against