Lethal Temptation

04 Dealing With The Girlfriend Too

Mara

Darian followed me upstairs to my room. For the first time, it felt… wrong. Foreign. Like something had cracked in the familiar walls we’d built around each other.

It had always been a little awkward since I started falling for him, but now—now it felt unbearable.

I didn’t know what it would be like living in their house. The Nighthorn mansion. Sharing space with Lucian.

Walking the same halls as Darian, seeing him every day while wearing the title of someone else’s mate.

His brother’s mate. The thought made me feel sick. I didn’t trust my heart not to betray me in some devastating way.

“I’ll wait here,” Darian said softly, settling into the chair by my desk while I headed into the bathroom.

As soon as the water hit me, the tears came.

I sank to the floor, knees pulled to my chest, sobbing so hard my ribs ached. I cried for the life I almost had. For the love I could never confess. For the hell I was being handed like some twisted reward for being too good.

And in that cracked, broken place, I thought about running. Disappearing. Going rogue. Letting the world forget I ever existed.

But then I remembered what that meant. What it would do to my family. What it would do to me.

I dressed in the bathroom, even though modesty had long since evaporated between Darian and me during years of shifting and training together. But things were different now.

Everything was different. Even standing in front of him felt like holding a glass that could shatter if either of us moved too fast.

“How are you feeling?” he asked when I stepped back into the room.

I just nodded, unable to trust my voice. His eyes were still tinged with crimson, like he’d been holding back more tears of his own.

“Lucian doesn’t want the union either,” he said suddenly.

I looked up, startled. “What?”

“That’s how I found out,” he continued. “I overheard him yelling at our father. He was furious. Said he didn’t want you. Didn’t want any of it. And honestly… that’s what scares me the most.”

I understood what he meant before he said it.

Lucian didn’t want me. Which meant he’d resent me. And with the kind of man he was—violent, spiteful—that resentment wouldn’t just sit quietly in the corner. He’d find a way to punish me for it.

“Then why won’t he reject it?” I asked, voice barely above a whisper.

Darian exhaled slowly, like the weight of it all was dragging him under too.

“Because ever since Father chose me as Alpha instead of him, Lucian hasn’t dared to oppose him. I think the shame crushed something inside him. He’s quiet now, but that doesn’t mean he’s safe. And…” He hesitated. “Lucian’s in love—with someone else. Has been for a while.”

I swallowed hard. That somehow made it worse. I wasn’t just being forced into a bond with a monster—I was a wedge, a weapon used to separate him from someone he actually cared about. A curse he’d wear every day.

“This isn’t fair,” I said bitterly. “Not to me. Not to her. Not to anyone.”

Darian didn’t argue.

“Will I still be your Gamma?” I asked, knowing it was selfish but needing to ask anyway. Because even if I couldn’t be his mate, I still wanted to stand by his side in some way. Any way.

“Yes,” he said softly. “Unless you choose to step down, you’ll remain my Gamma.”

I shook my head. I couldn’t make that decision yet. Not when everything inside me felt broken and scattered. I just needed time. Space to breathe, to mourn, to accept the weight of what had been forced on me.

Darian left quietly, carrying his own sadness like a wound. I watched him go and felt another piece of me fall apart.

I stayed in bed the rest of the day. Staring at the ceiling. Crying into my pillow until it was soaked.

My parents tried to check on me—brought food, soft words, empty comfort—but I ignored them all. I didn’t want kindness from the people who had let this happen. I didn’t want anyone.

If the Alpha had chosen to bind me to Darian, I would have said yes without hesitation. I would have given him everything.

But instead, I was being handed over to his brother.

Why Lucian? Of all the wolves in this pack, why did fate—or power, or cruelty—choose him?

And what the hell was I supposed to do now?

Two weeks.

Two long, miserable weeks of crying, sulking, and avoiding the world like it had personally betrayed me—because in a way, it had.

I refused to go to any gatherings, skipped every function, and barely spoke to anyone who wasn’t Darian. Not that I saw him much.

He’d gotten himself into trouble more than once that week, and Alpha Vander had taken it as an excuse to load him up with responsibilities. I missed him. But missing him was a dangerous thing now.

Luna Martha Nighthorn came by twice to speak with my parents about the “arrangements.” She was Darian’s mother—not Lucian’s.

Lucian’s biological mother had died when he was young. Alpha Vander had bonded with Martha later, and ever since, everyone just assumed she was the mother of both boys.

Everyone except Lucian, who never missed a chance to correct them.

I didn’t care for the politics of it. I didn’t care about her visit, her soft reassurances, or the way she avoided looking me in the eye.

I didn’t care about any of it. I just wanted to disappear. Burn the whole damn future and vanish into ash. But I couldn’t.

I was sitting on the patio, trying to catch my breath from another heavy day of doing absolutely nothing, when a sleek black car pulled into our driveway.

I squinted at the figure stepping out. A young woman—tall, porcelain-skinned, striking brunette. And angry.

I stood slowly, assuming she was lost and needed directions.

She didn’t waste time.

“Are you Mara Thornridge?” she asked, sharp and cold.

I nodded, guarded.

“You gold-digging b***h,” she snapped. “What do your parents have on Alpha Vander? Huh?”

I blinked, stunned. What?

“Do you know how long Lucian and I have been together?” she choked out, her eyes welling up with tears. “We were sweethearts for years. And now I find out you—you’ve been chosen for him? You?”

I stood there, frozen, every cell in my body screaming for a break. I had no words. I was still trying to process this marriage from hell myself, and now this?

She stepped closer, her voice low and trembling with rage. “How dare you, Mara? I swear, we will make your life a living hell.”

And that was it.

I snapped.

“Watch it,” I growled, the shift stirring beneath my skin. “I don’t give two f***s about Lucian. I didn’t ask for this. I don’t want this. So maybe aim that rage where it belongs—at him, or at his father, or at the Moon Goddess herself. Not me.”

She blinked, caught off guard.

“If you’re so mad, tell your beloved boyfriend to grow a spine and say something to his father. Trust me, you’d be doing me a huge favor. Because let’s be honest—Lucian isn’t exactly a prize. He’s an entitled, violent asshole, and I wouldn’t want to be bound to him if he was the last breathing wolf in existence.”

She stepped toward me like she was about to swing. I didn’t even flinch—I welcomed it. Hell, I needed it.

I let out a low, warning growl, eyes locked on hers. “You need to f**k off, now. While I’m still being nice. Because if you don’t, I swear on every ancestor in my bloodline, I will tear you apart. And right now? I wouldn’t even regret it.”

Something in my voice must’ve landed. She backed away slowly, fury still burning in her eyes, but something else too—fear.

She slid into her car and slammed the door, then peeled out of the driveway without another word.

I stood there breathing hard, body trembling with all the rage and frustration I’d buried these past two weeks. Now I had to deal with Lucian’s girlfriend too?

I wasn’t even officially mated to him yet, and already the drama was spilling into my yard like blood on the snow. And Lucian—he hadn’t shown up. Hadn’t spoken to me. Hadn’t so much as sent a message. I guessed the feeling was mutual.

This was going to be hell.

And it hadn’t even started yet.