Betrayed Only To Become The Alpha's Fake Mate

LENA'S POV

I stood before the gates of my father's mansion, inside the heavy rain. I was dripping from head to toe, shaking from the cold but I remained there. The constriction in my chest wasn't due to the storm, though, it was due to the crushing weight of hopelessness.

"Please," I breathed, the rain consuming my voice. "Please, Father. Just save Mother."

The house stood vacant, light dancing across the windows, beckoning me in. I squeezed my fists so hard my claws ached to burst forth. My wolf growled, eager to tear the gate off its hinges, to burst in and shatter on my wail. But I calm myself. I had come to plead, not to fight and cause trouble.

I wondered how we had managed to get to this point.

My parents were not fated mates, but they loved each other so much that they got married and vowed to reject their fated mates when they came across them.

My poor mother kept her promise and rejected her mate but my father lied to her that he did the same only for her to find out years later that he had been seeing her secretly and they had a child who was a year older than i am. She confronted him only for us to get kicked out to bring in his mistress and bastard daughter.

My wolf whined deep inside me, pitifully torn by anger and sorrow. She hated this shame, hated that I had come here. But I had no choice. I needed money for my mother's treatment. Her health greatly deteriorated since the fall out between her and dad.

A shining headlights flashed on me out of nowhere, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Shit!" I sprang away from a black car coming in my direction, managing to avoid the car by the whisker.

The car halted and the door opened to reveal Nina-my father's little bastard daughter with an umbrella in her hands and a wicked smile on her face, walking towards the gate as if it was hers.

"Oh dear," she feigned to be in shock. "Lena, I didn't notice you there. You look so small after getting wet in the rain."

She dripped in sarcasm, and my wolf growled in anger.

"Indeed?" I folded my arms. "Perhaps you ought to have your eyes examined. Or are you merely blind to see things when your head is up your ass?"

Nina's smile quivered.

"You should get out of here immediately," she shouted at me abruptly. "This is Petrakis land. And hear me, I am the only heiress of the pretakis family."

I laughed, a harsh, mirthless laugh that echoed in the darkness.

"Daughter?" I strode towards her with every particle of rage that churned within me. "You're a product of a dirty affair. You will always be an illegitimate child as long as your mother is not legally married to father,"

Her eyes blazed with anger.

"You cunt!" she yelled into my face and slapped me across the cheek before I even had time to open my mouth.

My own head whipped back, but she hadn't begun to pull out her hand when I attacked her again-faster, more frantic. The impact of the sound boomed out and shook the air like a slab of thunder.

Nina moved back in an outraged way.

"What in the world is the matter here?" a voice boomed.

I was rigid and slowly turned toward the gate.

There he was. My dad. Standing on the porch with his arms crossed, his cold eyes left me and glanced at Nina, whose hand was on her cheeks as she sobbed loudly like I had stabbed her.

That fucking pretender.

"She hit me, Father!" Nina wept, fleeing to him. "I wanted to give the umbrella, but she hit me!"

I didn't expect any better from her.

"You liar. You hit me first." I yelled back.

But my father would not even listen to me. His eyes held a lot of disgust when they stared at me, like I was filth on the ground.

"I knew you were always an ungrateful child, Lena," he taunted. "Get out of here and suffer with your dying mother. I never want to see your face again."

Something inside me snapped. The very last skinny strand that held me to him snapped.

"I see now," I snarled, my words spitting out from between my teeth, my voice shaking-not of fear, but of anger building in my blood. "You are not my father. You are a coward who will die in his lies. May you and your harlot choke on their shame one day."

"Lena-"

"No!" I interrupted. My claws extended, my amber eyes ablaze in the night. "You'll pay for what you've done to Mother. All of you, I promise you that."

I didn't want to hear any more. I wheeled about and walked away, my heart pounding, my wolf boiling over.

And when I stepped onto the sidewalk, a blinding pain erupted in my chest.

"Aaah!" I doubled over, clutching my side. My knees buckled, and I sat, rain and tears streaming down my face.

Not now. Not this accursed pain again.

I have been having this recurring pain for months. At first, it came once in a while but it has become more frequent. I went to see a doctor but they couldn't find anything.

Remembering that I had to save my mother, I dragged myself to my feet. "I can't be weak now."

I thought about everyone around me that I can go to for help and the only person I could think of was my mate, Trevor.

He was from a wealthy family and had a company he was managing to himself. He was the only person that could help me.

Fighting through the pain in my chest, I walked to his place which was a few miles away.

I arrived at his doorstep and the pain intensified. I knocked on the door. "Trevor, open the door."

There was no response. I knocked over and over again, still response.

I was scared that something might have happened to him so I searched my brain to remember his password which I got on the fourth try.

I pushed the door open and just stood, frozen.

The floor of the living room was littered with clothes. Not just men clothings but female clothings too. There were heels and a very familiar purse on the ground.

The pain in my chest became sharper and my inside burned like it was on fire.

"No." I gasped.

I stepped further toward the bedroom, every cell in me crying out to me to turn around, to leave. But I had to see.

And then I heard it.

A loud moan.

A groan, followed by his voice. "Baby, you feel so good."

And then, her voice. "Don't stop, please. I'm coming," she yelled

I froze on my spot. That voice. no. No, it couldn't be.

That was when I realised the source of the pain I had been feeling in the past month. Why didn't I even think in his direction?

I pushed the room door open and Trevor and Alina, my best friend pulled apart. They both lie underneath the blanket, their underwear laid out on the ground everywhere in the room. My hands clenched in fist in anger and my wolf snarled within me, scratching to come out and tear the both of them apart.

Trevor flailed, holding his briefs before him like a shield to ward off shame.

"Lena, baby, listen to me, it's not what it looks like." he stepped closer to me.

"Don't even dare touch me with those filthy hands," I interrupted him, moving away from him. "Go on, Trevor. Let's hear the grand explanation you have for this."

Alina crossed her eyes and sat up, the blanket wrinkle-fresh in her lap. "Oh, please, Lena. You're so miserable. You knew you weren't good enough for him."

My eyes stretched into hers. The girl who was like my sister. The girl I trusted above all.

"You? You of all people?" I spit, not with fear, but fury for having been so betrayed. "You were my best friend, Alina. I fought for you, trusted you. And this is what you choose to be? A cunting backstabber?"

She's smiling hesitantly. "Whatever. He wanted me. Not my fault.".

Trevor stepped closer to me, palms raised in pacification mode as if to placate me. "Lena, It's complicated. I didn't intend for things to get to this point. It just.happened."

I forced myself to calm down and laughed. "That just happened? Did you trip and fall into bed with her? You sound so pathetic right now."

He flinched and his eyes widened in shock. "You know what? I'm tired of pretending. Alina and I have been together for a year. We are in a serious relationship and you were nothing but the other woman, Lena. you should be lucky i'm even keeping you around."

The words slammed into my face, but I wasn't going to let him see that his words had an effect on me. My wolf snarled underneath me to rip him limb from limb, to rip him apart for shame. But I wasn't going to give him that satisfaction.

I gritted, fighting the tears in the corners of my eyes from falling.

"You're going to pay for this, the both of you." I glared at Alina with seething anger, and she averted her eyes from me. "The two of you are clearly a perfect fit for each other."

"You're making a big-" Trevor started but I cut him off.

"No." I held my head up high and tried to sound authoritative. "I'm done."

My eyes bored into his as I said, "I, Lena Petrakis, reject you, Trevor Hale as my mate."

The room turned chilly and Trevor stared at me in shock. Alina looked back and forth between us, awaiting Trevor's action.

"You are joking, right?" he laughed as he stepped closer, reaching for my arm.

"Does it look like I am?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

His laughter turned to rage. "Do you think you can survive without me? I'm the only one that can help you save your dying mother."

I knew I was throwing away the last option I had to save my mother but I couldn't take the insult and betrayal from them any longer.

"I'd rather die than accept any of your dirt money." I spat in his face.

"Lena!" Trevor yelled at me.

I glared at Alina, whose face had gone white as a ghost.

"Fuck you, Alina," I spat at her. "You will need a lot of luck if this is the kind of life you choose." I moved closer to the bed where she was still sitting with my lip curled in disgust. "Slut is a great name for you. You'll be a good one."

I turned on my heel and walked away.

The moment I exited the compound, onto the sidewalk, raw reality was kicking my gut. My legs turned jelly when I registered what just happened. I squatted on the sidewalk and cried my eyes out as the rain poured heavily on me.

"How could they do this to me?" I breathed, rain and tears shimmering in the air all around me. "What did I do to deserve all this?" I yelled toward the sky, hoping that the moon goddess would give me a reply.

I was tired. I wanted to give up. I craved the warmth and comfort that I had been deprived of since our perfect family fell apart. But giving up was the one thing I could not do. I had a mom to rescue.

Pushing myself up, I dragged my feet in the rain under the dark sky and made my way home.

I stumbled into my one-bedroom apartment, dripping and defeated. I took off my wet sneakers, stripped out of my soggy tee shirt, wrapped myself up in a large shirt, and fell onto my bed.

My brain would not settle.

"Ninety-nine thousand," I said, glaring at the ceiling. That's what I needed to save my mother but all I could gather from all my savings and jobs was three hundred thousand. Where was I supposed to get the remaining money? I had no one I could turn to for help anymore. Trevor was my last option.

I shut my eyelids close tight, trying to hold back the tears.

"There's gotta be another way. There has to be. My mom can't die like this."

I rolled back and thought it all through in my head, maybe I could sell some of my belongings like some of the few expensive jewelry i had, the small plot of land my mother left me back home. It would never quite be enough, though it would still add little to the amount I needed.

I didn't know when I fell asleep but I woke up the next morning to my phone ringing on the nightstand beside me. Grabbing the phone with sleepy eyes, I squinted my eyes at the screen to see who was calling.

It was a hospital.

I jolted and sat up on the bed with my heart thudding in my chest.

With trembling hands, I answered the call, "Hello."

"Miss Pretakis, you have to come to the hospital immediately. It's about your mother."

"Three days?" I raised my voice at Dr. Reynolds as my eyes widened in shock.

He was a pleasant fellow, but he was strict when it came to his job.

"Lena, we've done everything, and the hospital board won't cover more treatment unless you clear your pending payment. Sorry."

I gritted my jaws together and swallowed repeatedly, hoping to push the ball back down my throat. "I see. Thank you, Doctor."

Three days. These were the only three days that I had in which to get through to save my mother.

I exited his office, his words binding me. Three days to make six hundred thousand. My heart was racing and fear churned in my gut, but I could not surrender.

I had to work. I had to think of something, fast.

"Breathe, Lena," I instructed myself, re-ponying my hair, putting on scrubs and getting ready for my morning shift at the hospital.

The Moonlit hospital in the Shadow pack was a hospital donated by the Moonlit pack as a peace offering to my pack, the shadow pack decades ago.The elders of the pack decided to name it after the moonlit pack because the hospital had saved a lot of lives and created employment opportunities for people.

I moved the hospital halls with a knife stuck in my chest. With each beep of the monitor machine, each groan of each patient, each panicked flurrying of the nurse's feet, I was reminded of what rode. I could not focus as I moved ward by ward, reading charts, reassuring patients, weighted with IV drip tubes.

I'd been passing by and heard the sound of a familiar voice across the hall.

"Lucas, for Pete's sake, you're not getting any younger and I'm getting older. I need to see my great grandkids before I die." I heard Luna Flora nagged

Luna Flora was the Moonlit Alpha's mother and she was popular in the hospital because she was an indigene of the Shadow pack and was the real influence behind the peace in the two packs.

I heard she has always visited the Moonlit hospital anytime she was sick because she believed being in her hometown would make her heal faster.

"We've talked about it, Grandma," came a short, but direct response. "I'll get married when I'm ready. Besides, the doctor said you are okay, stop exaggerating your condition just to blackmail me into getting married."

"For God's sake, Lucas. You're the Alpha son.. You need your Luna by your side when you take over your father's position. I'm not going to give up.I will set you up on a thousand of blind dates if I have to."

He responded immediately. "No blind dates. On any terms."

The rumour of the Moonlit pack heir being unable to find his mate was indeed true.

There was silence in the room

"Ahh!" she started after a pause. "My chest hurts, Lucas. I think I'm going to die soon."

"Fine, I'll think about it."

I clenched my teeth so I would not laugh. Everyone was accustomed to Luna Flora overreacting just to get whatever she wanted.

Their conversation stirred something in me. My heart pounded faster, no longer shrinking, but in something else-desperation? Hope? Or maybe both.

I made my way into her room to administer her description. She smiled at me as soon as I walked in.

"Lena, sweetie. My favorite Doctor," she said, smiling and stroking my hand softly as I was giving her pills. "Lena, meet Lucas, my grandson." She smiled at me widely. "Is he not handsome?"

"He is." I turned to the handsome man in front of me and bowed in respect.

I had seen Lucas Anderson on Tv and social media but he looks so much better in person. But the way he stared at me intimidated me. Was it his Alpha Aura? Or something else entirely?

Shifting uncomfortable, I turned my attention back to Luna Flora.

"You're single, right? He's single too and he's a good husband material," she continued.

"Grandma!" Lucas cut off his grandma, clearly annoyed. He glanced at me with an apologetic look. "Ignore whatever she says."

"Okay." I whispered.

Luna Flora rolled her eyes and remained quiet.

Alpha Lucas took his grandmother out of the ward to be scanned, and I continued with my head spinning with different thoughts.

What if this was the key? The key to saving my mom's life?

After they came back, I saw Alpha Lucas standing outside the ward, on the phone. 'This was my chance.' I thought.

I wiped my wet palm on my scrubs and walked over to him.

"Alpha Lucas?" I called, trying to make my trembling voice unnoticeable.

He turned to my direction and was taken aback to see me standing before him. "Yeah?"

"Can i please..talk to you? Alone?"

His furrowed brow then nodded. "Okay."

He hung up the call and followed me down the hallway. I walked into one of the supply closets at the end of the hallway, creaking the door shut behind me when I confirmed that no one saw us.

He's in the middle of the room, arms crossed over his chest. This better be good."

My heart was pounding so hard he could have heard the ring of my hammer.

"I'd like to make a deal with you." I swallowed hard.

"A deal? What kind of deal?"

With all the desperation in me, I summoned the courage and spoke up, "Take me as your mate."