Chapter 1 MY HUSBAND IS GAY

EMBER'S POV

"Poor Ember. Eight years, and her husband still barely looks at her. What kind of omega can't even hold her own mate's attention?"

The cruel whispers of the pack filled my head as I clutched the expensive shopping bags, my hands trembling. Inside was a red piece of lingerie - half my savings spent on a desperate, pathetic attempt to reignite a spark between my husband and me.

Christmas Eve was supposed to be a time for miracles. When love triumphed, and broken things became whole again. My mate, Gale, had even insisted that I spend the day at the spa.

"Relax, baby. Get your nails done. I need you perfect for tomorrow's Christmas gala."

That single word - baby - had made my heart leap with foolish hope. Maybe things would finally change. Maybe tonight he'd want me again.

I pulled into our driveway, gripping the steering wheel so tightly my knuckles turned white. Tonight had to work. It had to.

But the moment I opened the front door, I knew something was horribly wrong.

The scent hit me immediately. Raw, musky, and unmistakably intimate.

My wolf, Sapphire, bristled, warning me to turn around and leave. But I kept walking like an idiot, following the low groans, the breathless laughter, the unmistakable rhythm of bodies moving together. They were coming from the living room.

I rounded the corner and stopped breathing.

The scene in front of me defied everything I thought I knew about my life.

My husband was completely bare, on his knees, utterly worshipping Logan Reeves - his so-called MALE business partner who came over twice a week for "late-night strategy sessions."

They weren't alone. Two other men I didn't recognise were with them on the couch, moving intimately in musk and sweat.

My brain couldn't process what I was seeing. Gale always talked about strict pack traditions. He had spent years publicly shaming people for being gay, punishing anyone who stepped outside the rigid expectations of an Alpha's marriage.

And now here he was, secretly gay himself, living a complete lie.

But the shock of seeing him with men wasn't even the worst part.

"Goddess, Gale," Logan groaned, his fingers tangled in my husband's hair. "You're incredible. No wonder you keep that useless omega around for appearances."

One of the strangers laughed breathlessly. "Does she even know her Alpha husband has never been interested in women?"

"Of course not," Gale said. His voice was casual, amused, like they were discussing the weather. "She's too stupid to figure it out. Too desperate and pathetic to see what's right in front of her face."

Then he did something that made my world fall apart completely. He mimicked my voice, high-pitched and whiny.

"Gale, please look at me. Gale, don't you want me? Gale, what am I doing wrong?"

They all burst into cruel laughter that bounced off the walls.

My hands went numb. The shopping bags slipped from my fingers and hit the marble floor with a crash. Red lace spilt out across the white tile.

Four heads whipped toward me.

Gale's face went pale, then flushed with panic.

"Ember, this isn't what it looks like-"

I was already running. Down the hallway, through the front door, and into my car. My hands shook so violently I could barely get the key in the ignition.

My phone started buzzing immediately. Text after text flooding in.

Gale: It's not what it looked like.

Gale: Come back so we can talk.

Gale: You're being dramatic.

Then, the threats started.

Gale: If you tell anyone what you saw, I will destroy you. The treaty requires our marriage. You ruin me, you ruin both packs. Think about that, Ember.

Tears blurred my vision as I drove. I didn't know where I was going until I saw the airport sign and turned in automatically.

I needed to get away. Needed to go home to Alaska, to my family's house. I'd file for divorce the moment I landed. I couldn't stay married to him. I couldn't.

I made it to the airport in shock, my body moving on autopilot while my brain tried to process what I'd seen. At the ticket counter, I pulled out my credit card with shaking hands.

"Next available first-class ticket to Alaska," I told the woman, my voice barely above a whisper.

She processed the payment quickly. It took almost all the money I could access from my personal account, but I didn't care. I just needed to get out of this city.

My phone kept buzzing. I looked down at the screen and saw message after message flooding in. Gale's texts had shifted from apologetic to threatening to manipulative.

Gale: Please, baby, let me explain.

Gale: You're overreacting. It was just stress relief.

Gale: If you leave me, you'll have nothing. NOTHING.

Gale: Your parents will disown you for breaking the treaty.

Gale: Come home right now, or I'll make sure every pack knows what a failure you are.

I blocked his number with trembling fingers and shoved the phone deep into my purse.

I made it onto the plane somehow and found my seat. The numbness started wearing off, replaced by a pain so intense I couldn't breathe.

Eight years I'd given him. Two years of dating, where he'd courted me to convince his father I was the right choice- submissive, obedient, from a good family. The perfect arranged match.

Six years of marriage, during which I'd tried everything to please him, to be the perfect omega wife, to earn a single scrap of his affection. And it was all a lie.

Good. Maybe now you'll stop defending the bastard who hits you, Sapphire snarled with venom.

My wolf had hated him from the start. But I'd loved him. Or thought I did.

I was the useless omega who couldn't even keep her husband's attention. The failure that drove her mate away. No, not even that. He'd never wanted me at all.

I stumbled to the bathroom and locked myself inside. The sobs came from somewhere deep in my chest, ugly and raw and unstoppable.

I pressed my hands over my mouth, trying to stay quiet, but the grief was too big to contain.

I'd spent months questioning everything about myself. Was I too much, or not enough?

And when I pushed too hard for answers, for affection, for anything, his temper would flare up. I always hid the bruises where no one could see.

Someone knocked on the door hard enough to rattle it.

"Occupied!" I choked out.

The knocking continued, louder and more insistent.

"I said it's occupied! Go away!"

The door opened anyway.

"You do realise this is the men's room, right?"

The voice was deep and rough, vibrating through the tiny space and cutting straight through my spiral. I looked up through tear-blurred eyes and froze.

He was the most breathtaking man I had ever seen.

Tall enough that he had to duck slightly through the doorway, with broad shoulders that filled the entire frame.

Dark hair that looked like he'd been running his hands through it, a sharp jawline, and eyes so piercingly blue they looked unnatural.

There was something lethal about him, something predatory that made my wolf sit up and take notice despite my broken state.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realise-" I tried to squeeze past him, but the bathroom was too small, he was too big, and suddenly we were close enough that I could feel the heat radiating off his body.

He caught my arm gently but firmly, stopping me completely. The touch sent a jolt up my skin that made me gasp.

"Why are you crying?" His voice had gone cold and commanding in a way that tightened something low in my stomach.

I couldn't speak. His blue eyes bored into mine as he could see straight through to my soul, and the simmering heat in that gaze stole my breath.

I knew this man from somewhere. I'd seen his face before, maybe in pack newsletters or territory reports, but I couldn't place it through the fog of my own grief.

His scent felt like a drug. Pine and winter and something wild that made my head spin.

"It's none of your business," I whispered, trying to pull my arm free. "Please just let me go."

His grip tightened slightly, possessive in a way that should have scared me but didn't.

"I think it is my business. I don't like seeing a beautiful woman cry."

Beautiful. The word hit me with unexpected force.

When was the last time anyone had called me beautiful? When was the last time someone had looked at me like I was worth something, instead of a disappointing burden?

Fresh tears spilled down my cheeks before I could stop them.

"You want to know why I'm crying? Fine!" The words came out bitter and sharp. "I just caught my husband having 'fun' with his business partners in our living room and on our couch. They were all laughing about how stupid and desperate I am to keep a marriage he never even wanted."

His expression darkened instantly. His blue eyes went feral for half a second before the heat replaced them, flushing my skin despite the chill of the cabin air.

"Your husband is a fool," he said, his voice dropping to a low, rough rumble that made my knees weak. "What kind of man would have you and choose anyone else?"

The words were so unexpected, so genuine, that I felt the blow of them go straight through me.

This stranger was looking at me with more appreciation in five minutes than my own husband had shown me in years.

My voice broke as I spoke.

"I tried so hard to be what he wanted." I looked away, unable to meet his gaze as I admitted this to a stranger. "And the whole time, he was just... laughing at me."

His jaw clenched, a muscle ticking there. "There's nothing wrong with you. The problem is him."

"You don't know that," I murmured.

"I know enough from where I'm standing." He stepped closer, crowding me back against the small sink. His hand came up to cup my face, his thumb brushing away my tears with surprising gentleness. "You're trembling."

"I'm angry," I whispered, but it came out breathless because his touch was doing things to my pulse that I didn't understand. I swallowed hard. "I don't know what to do with all of it."

"What do you want to do?"

What did I want? I wanted to stop feeling worthless. I wanted to stop being the pathetic omega everyone pitied. I wanted to feel desired instead of discarded.

I wanted someone to look at me like this stranger was looking at me right now - like I was something precious and wanted and worth devouring.

I was so tired of playing by the rules while everyone else broke them. I was tired of being the perfect, obedient wife to a man who made a fool of me.

If Gale could destroy our vows, why couldn't I?

"If you really want to play the hero right now and save a damsel in distress..." I paused, watching his eyes darken further, his pupils dilating wide. "Then maybe you should make me forget him."

"How?" His voice was carefully low, eyes completely black.

"Take me, right here."