Marry Me Again, Mate!

Maya

My hands wouldn't stop shaking as I stared at the pregnancy test.

Come on. Show me something. Anything.

I'd been holding my breath for so long my lungs were burning, but I couldn't look away from that little window. Not for a second.

Then I saw them. Two pink lines, faint but unmistakable, cutting through the white like lightning.

"Oh my God," I whispered.

The test slipped from my fingers and clattered onto the bathroom counter. I grabbed the edge of the sink to steady myself as tears blurred my vision.

I'm pregnant.

After a whole year of trying, of disappointment after disappointment, it had finally happened. I was carrying Mason's child.

Our child.

The contract flashed through my mind... that stupid, cold piece of paper I'd signed twelve months ago. Clause Two was burned into my memory: The Luna agrees to produce one pure-blood heir within reasonable time. Upon successful delivery of said heir, both parties may pursue dissolution of marriage.

Mason had demanded it. And I... I'd been desperate enough to sign it.

But here's the crazy thing. I wasn't thinking about the contract right now. I wasn't thinking about Mason's father or pack politics or any of that.

I was thinking about Mason.

About the way he sometimes smiled at me when he thought I wasn't looking. About Thursday nights when we'd lie in the dark afterward and he'd trace patterns on my shoulder with his fingertips. About that one time he'd carried me back from the gardens when I'd twisted my ankle, and how his arms had felt like the safest place in the world.

Maybe he's started to feel something too. Maybe this baby will bring us closer. Maybe-

"Stop it, Maya," I muttered to myself, wiping my eyes. "You sound insane."

But I couldn't help it. We were mates. That had to mean something, didn't it? Even if he'd loved someone else before me, even if this marriage had started as just an obligation... mates were supposed to be mates. Forever.

I grabbed the test again, clutching it like proof of something magical.

I have to tell him. Right now.

The thought of seeing his face when I gave him the news sent electricity racing through my veins. Would he smile? Would he pull me close? Would those ice-blue eyes finally, finally look at me with something other than distant politeness?

I practically flew out of the Luna's wing, my feet barely touching the marble floors as I headed toward the Alpha's quarters on the opposite side of the packhouse. My heart was doing somersaults in my chest.

He's going to be so happy. I know he will. He has to be.

But halfway down the corridor, I heard voices.

Two maids were huddled together near a decorative pillar, whispering in that urgent way people do when they're sharing gossip they probably shouldn't.

"-can't believe she just showed up like that-"

"Does the Luna even know yet?"

"Poor thing. How is she supposed to compete now that she's back?"

"Do you think he'll divorce her? Now that Miss Seraphina's returned?"

The name hit me like a physical blow.

Seraphina.

My feet stopped moving. Everything stopped moving.

I knew exactly who they were talking about. Everyone in the Southern Pack knew about Seraphina, Mason's first love. The woman he'd wanted to marry before his father had put his foot down and forced Mason to honor the mate bond with me instead.

She'd left a year ago in a dramatic storm of tears and accusations, telling Mason that if he really loved her, he'd reject his mate and choose her. Mason had begged her to stay, promised he'd find a way to be with her eventually.

But she'd left anyway.

And now she was back?

"No," I breathed. "No, no, no-"

I spun on my heel and practically ran back the way I'd come, making sure the maids didn't see me. The last thing I needed was their pity.

By the time I burst into my room, my lungs were screaming and my vision was swimming with unshed tears.

Why now? Why NOW?

I pressed my back against the door and slid down to the floor, my legs giving out beneath me.

Of course she'd come back now. Mason's father, the man who'd been the only obstacle between them had died three months ago. Mason had been sworn in as Alpha barely two weeks later. The timing was too perfect to be a coincidence.

She'd waited until the coast was clear, and now she was here to claim what she'd always believed was rightfully hers. Mason.

My chest felt like it was being crushed. I couldn't breathe properly.

"Stupid," I choked out, angry tears spilling down my cheeks. "You're so stupid, Maya."

The contract had spelled it out from the very beginning. Clause One: This marriage is one of convenience and obligation. Neither party should expect romantic love or emotional attachment.

I'd known that. I'd signed that. But somewhere along the way, I'd let myself forget. I'd let myself hope.

And now reality was crashing down around me like a house of cards.

My hands moved to my stomach without conscious thought, pressing against the flat surface where our baby was growing.

"What am I supposed to do?" I whispered. "What happens to us now?"

According to the contract, once the baby was born, I was supposed to hand it over and disappear from Mason's life. We'd both get what we wanted-him, his heir; me, my freedom.

Except I didn't want freedom anymore.

I wanted him.

A sharp knock on the door made me jump.

"Luna?" Flora's voice drifted through the wood. "The Alpha has requested your presence in his room."

My stomach dropped.

Right. Thursday.

Thursday nights were our "scheduled intimacy" nights, Mason's clinical term for the one night a week we were supposed to try for an heir. He'd always treated it like a business meeting on his calendar. Meanwhile, I'd spent every Thursday counting down the hours until I could be close to him.

"Tell him I'll be there in a few minutes," I managed to say.

Flora's footsteps faded away.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror across the room. My eyes were red and puffy. My hair was a mess. I looked exactly like what I was, a woman whose world was falling apart.

Get it together. You can do this.

But as I stood up and smoothed down my dress, I couldn't shake the terrible certainty settling in my bones.

Tonight might be the last time Mason and I were together like this.

Everything was about to change.

---

Mason's door was exactly where it had always been, but somehow it felt like I was walking toward a guillotine instead of my husband's bedroom.

I raised my hand and knocked, my knuckles barely making a sound against the heavy wood.

"Come in, Maya." His voice rumbled from inside, deep, smooth, devastatingly attractive.

A voice that had never said he loved me.

I pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Mason's room was massive, decorated in dark woods and deep blues that screamed wealth and power. Everything about it was designed to remind you that you were in the Alpha's private domain.

He was sitting at his desk across the room, head bent over a stack of papers, pen moving across one of them in quick, decisive strokes. He didn't look up when I entered.

For a moment, I just stood there, drinking in the sight of him.

Even now, even with my heart breaking, I couldn't deny how beautiful he was. Sharp jawline, high cheekbones, ginger hair that was always just slightly too long. He looked like he'd been carved from marble by an artist who specialized in devastating women.

But tonight, there was something different about him. A tension in his shoulders. A distraction in the way he kept stopping mid-sentence to stare at nothing.

He's thinking about her, I realized with a sick twist in my gut.

I moved to the bed and sat down, my hands folded in my lap like a good, obedient wife.

"I visited your parents today," Mason said suddenly, still not looking at me.

My head snapped up. "What?"

"I paid them this month's fee." His tone was flat, businesslike. "Your mother asked for more. Something about maintaining appearances as the Luna's family."

Heat flooded my cheeks. "I'm sorry, she-"

"I gave her what she wanted," Mason interrupted, finally setting down his pen. "It's fine. I promised to take care of your family's needs until we..."

He trailed off.

Until we divorce.

The words hung between us, unspoken but deafening.

I should tell him about the baby. I should just blurt it out right now and get it over with. But my throat had closed up completely, and all I could think about was Seraphina, Seraphina, Seraphina-

"Is it true?" The question burst out of me before I could stop it.

Mason's eyes finally met mine, one dark eyebrow rising slightly. "Is what true?"

"Is Seraphina really back?"

The temperature in the room dropped about ten degrees.

Mason's expression didn't change, but something flickered behind his eyes-something I couldn't read.

"So what?" he said coldly.

Two words. That's all he gave me.

So what.

It felt like he'd reached across the room and slapped me.

What did that even mean? So what do you care? Or so what if she is? Or so what does it matter to you?

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. What could I possibly say?

He didn't owe me an explanation. He didn't owe me anything, not really. That's what the contract was for, to make sure neither of us owed the other more than what was written on paper.

Mason stood up and started unbuttoning his shirt.

"We should get this over with, Maya," he said, his voice brisk and efficient. "I have a lot to do tonight."

I bet you do, I thought bitterly. I bet Seraphina's waiting for you somewhere right now.

But I didn't say it. I just lay back on the bed and closed my eyes as he climbed on top of me.

His hands were familiar now, I knew every callus, every scar, every place where his touch made my breath catch. For one year, I'd memorized every detail of these Thursday nights, storing them away like precious treasures.

Tonight was different, though.

Tonight, every kiss felt like goodbye.

Tonight, I could practically feel him thinking about someone else while his body moved against mine.

It was unbearable. And before I could stop myself, before I could think about what I was saying, the words tumbled out:

"I think we should get a divorce."

Maya

Mason went completely still on top of me.

The room felt like all the oxygen had been sucked out of it. I could feel his heartbeat against my chest... fast, confused, angry.

"What..." His voice came out rough. "What did you just say?"

I pulled the sheets up to cover myself, suddenly very aware of how naked and vulnerable I was. "I said we should-"

A sharp knock at the door cut me off.

"Alpha!" Blackburn's voice came through, urgent and breathless. Blackburn was Mason's beta-his right hand, his best friend since childhood. He never interrupted unless it was serious. "You have a visitor. She says it's urgent."

She.

My stomach dropped.

Mason's jaw clenched. "Are you kidding me right now, Blackburn? I'm with my wife. Tell whoever it is to come back tomorrow."

"She insists it can't wait," Blackburn said, and I could hear the strain in his voice. "She says you'll want to hear what she has to say."

The air between Mason and me had turned to ice.

"It's fine," I heard myself saying. "Go deal with your guest, Alpha. We can... we can talk later."

Mason stared down at me for a long moment, his blue eyes unreadable. Then he climbed off the bed and grabbed his robe from the chair, yanking it on with sharp, angry movements.

He paused at the door and looked back at me.

"There's nothing to talk about, Maya," he said, his voice like steel. "We're not getting a divorce."

Then he was gone, the door slamming behind him hard enough to rattle the frame.

I sat there in the sudden silence, my heart pounding so hard I thought it might crack my ribs.

What the hell just happened?

Why was he angry? Why did he care? His first love was back, the woman he'd actually chosen, the woman he'd begged to stay. He should be thrilled that I was giving him an easy out.

So why did he look at me like I'd just stabbed him?

I pressed my hands to my face, trying to think through the chaos in my head.

The baby. I have to think about the baby.

The contract said I was supposed to hand over the child once it was born. Just give up my baby and walk away like none of this ever happened.

But I couldn't do that. Not now. Not ever.

The thought of Mason raising my child with her, with Seraphina playing stepmother, probably erasing every trace of me from the baby's life, made me want to throw up.

No. Absolutely not.

A plan started forming in my mind, desperate and half-formed but better than nothing.

I wouldn't tell Mason about the pregnancy. I'd wait until things settled down, then I'd leave. Disappear. Start over somewhere far away where the Southern Pack's influence couldn't reach me.

I'd raise my baby alone. It would be hard, maybe impossible, but at least my child would be mine.

Decision made, I got dressed and slipped out of Mason's room.

I'd been waiting for almost two hours, but he never came back. Whatever his "urgent visitor" wanted, it was taking a long time.

Or maybe he's just avoiding me, I thought bitterly.

I needed to get out of here. Back to my own room where I could think, where I could breathe.

I headed for the staircase that led down from the Alpha's wing, my mind spinning with plans and contingencies and-

I walked straight into someone at the top of the stairs.

"Oh!" I stumbled backward, catching myself on the railing.

Then I looked up only to see Seraphina standing in front of me, blocking my path.

She looked... different. Fuller than I remembered, curves that definitely hadn't been there a year ago. Her dress was red and tight and left almost nothing to the imagination, the kind of outfit you wore when you wanted someone's attention.

When you wanted someone to remember what they'd been missing.

For a second, she just stared at me. Then something ugly flickered across her face, something that looked a lot like hate. It was gone so fast I almost thought I'd imagined it.

"Good evening, Luna," Seraphina said, her voice dripping with fake sweetness. She even gave me a little bow. "It's been quite some time."

I blinked at her, caught completely off guard by the sudden politeness.

She laughed... sharp and brittle. "Why do you look so confused? Are you not used to being called 'Luna' yet?" Her smile turned sharp. "Or maybe it's guilt. Maybe deep down you know that title doesn't really belong to you."

The words hit like a slap, but I kept my face neutral. I wouldn't give her the satisfaction of seeing me flinch.

Seraphina moved closer, invading my space until I could smell her perfume, something expensive and cloying. She was taller than me, more graceful, more everything.

She'd make a perfect Luna, a small, cruel voice in my head whispered.

Then I noticed it, her lipstick was smudged. Just slightly, at the corner of her mouth, like someone had kissed her hard enough to mess it up.

My eyes locked on that smudge. I couldn't look away.

Seraphina noticed where I was staring. She reached up and touched her lips, a satisfied smile spreading across her face.

"This?" she said, like we were girlfriends sharing gossip. "Someone got a little... enthusiastic when he saw me. Couldn't keep his hands to himself. Kept saying how much he missed me, how empty everything's been without me."

She leaned in closer, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper.

"I'm sure you can guess who I'm talking about, Luna." She drew out the title like an insult. "Or should I say... soon-to-be ex-Luna?"

Something inside me snapped.

"Hello, Miss Seraphina," I said, my voice artificially bright. I stuck out my hand. "Since this is our first official meeting, I suppose I should say... nice to meet you?"

She looked at my outstretched hand like it was a dead fish.

"Is it, though?" she said. "Nice to meet me? Let's not pretend, Maya. We both hate this. We both hate each other. So why bother with the fake pleasantries?"

"I don't hate you," I said, and I was surprised to realize it was true.

Seraphina laughed. "Maybe you don't. But I certainly hate you." Her eyes flashed with genuine venom. "You've spent a whole year playing house with a man who doesn't belong to you. You sleep next to him every night knowing you destroyed what we had. Tell me, dear Luna...how does that feel? Do you sleep well at night?"

I rolled my eyes before I could stop myself. My patience was officially gone.

"We're mates, Miss Seraphina," I retorted, my voice tinged with frustration. "It's not a choice I made or desired. Fate bound us together, it is not my fault that fate did not choose you. If you have grievances, perhaps they're better directed at the moon goddess herself, wouldn't you agree?"

I saw the rage flare in Seraphina's eyes before she could hide it.

"Oh, how convenient," she hissed. "Blame everything on fate. Pretend you're just an innocent victim in all this. You're bolder than I thought, Maya."

"There doesn't have to be animosity between us," I said tiredly. "It's nobody's fault. We're bound by a mate bond. That's just reality."

Seraphina's smile turned predatory.

"You know," she said slowly, "you talk about this mate bond so much. Like it's this sacred, unbreakable thing." She tilted her head, studying me. "It makes me wonder... is it really as strong as you think?"

My chest tightened. "What are you talking about?"

"An experiment," Seraphina said, her eyes glittering with malice. "Let's test this mate bond of yours. If it's really so powerful, if it really means Mason is bound to you..." She paused dramatically. "Then he'd choose you over me, wouldn't he? His mate over the love of his life?"

Before I could process what she was saying, before I could even move-

Seraphina threw herself backward down the stairs.

Everything happened in slow motion. Seraphina's body tumbling down the staircase, her limbs flailing, her scream echoing off the walls. The sickening series of thuds as she hit each step.

Then she was at the bottom, crumpled and still.

I stood frozen at the top of the stairs, my hand still outstretched like I could somehow have caught her.

What just happened? Did she just-did she really just-

Suddenly the packhouse exploded with noise.

Maids came running. Pack members emerged from doorways. And Mason came sprinting down the hallway, his face white with panic.

He dropped to his knees beside Seraphina's body.

That's when I saw it.

The baby.

Mason was holding a baby. A tiny infant, maybe six months old, cradled against his chest like he'd been carrying it the whole time.

My brain couldn't make sense of it. Where had the baby come from? Why did Mason have it? What-

"Luna!"

Seraphina's voice cut through my spiraling thoughts.

She was sitting up now, one hand pressed to her head, the other reaching toward the crowd that had gathered around her. She looked fragile and hurt and innocent.

Her eyes found mine. And in them, just for a split second, I saw triumph.

"Luna, I don't understand," Seraphina said, her voice trembling. "Why would you assume I'm here to steal the Alpha from you?"

She pressed her hand to her chest, tears gathering in her eyes.

"I greeted you with nothing but respect," Seraphina continued, her voice breaking beautifully. "Yes, I came unexpectedly but do I really deserve to be assaulted by you?"

Her words rang perfectly, a performance worthy of an Oscar award but since I was the pawn in this, the only question in my head was, what game was Seraphina playing?

Maya

The whispers started immediately.

"Did you see that?"

"The Luna pushed her!"

"I always knew there was something off about her..."

"Poor Miss Seraphina, and with a baby too..."

I stood at the top of the stairs, frozen like a statue while the crowd below buzzed with gossip. Their voices merged into one awful accusation: jealous Luna attacks Alpha's ex-lover.

My brain couldn't process what had just happened.

One second, Seraphina was talking about testing the mate bond. The next, she was throwing herself backward down the stairs like some kind of stunt performer. And then Mason appeared out of nowhere, holding a baby that looked exactly like him, and Seraphina was crying about being a new mother and I was the villain in a story I didn't even know I was part of.

None of it made sense.

Mason's eyes met mine across the chaos. The disappointment in them felt like a physical blow, knocking the air from my lungs.

But that wasn't the worst part.

The worst part was watching him hand the baby to a maid and rush to Seraphina's side. Watching her throw her arms around his neck like some damsel in a cheap romance novel. Watching him hold her like she was made of glass.

"Why, Maya?" Mason's voice cut through the noise. "Why would you do something so cruel?"

Seraphina's lips curved into the tiniest smile over his shoulder. A smile meant only for me.

"I... I..." My mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. What could I possibly say that would make any difference?

"Collins!" Mason barked at his beta. "Get a doctor here now. Set up a guest room for Seraphina and assign two maids to help with the baby."

The crowd scattered without being told. Nobody wanted to stick around and watch their Alpha lose his temper.

Seraphina caught my eye one last time before the maids helped her away. That mischievous glint was still there, barely hidden under her performance of pain and injury.

She planned this. All of it.

"As for you, Maya." Mason's hand clamped around my arm. "My room. Now."

I tried to pull away. "Mason, I can explain-"

"Now!" He practically dragged me down the hallway.

The second we were inside his room, he slammed the door and whirled on me.

"What the hell was that?" His voice shook with barely controlled rage. "Why would you push Seraphina down the stairs? Have you always been this cruel and I just never noticed? Because I never thought you were capable of something like this, Maya. Not in a million years!"

He ran his hands through his hair, pacing like a caged animal.

"Do you understand what you've done? This will spread through the entire pack in less than an hour. Everyone's going to think their Luna is some kind of monster."

Something inside me snapped.

"Now what?" I shot back. "Now I'll be the villain because someone showed up and put on a good show?" My voice rose with each word. "You took her side immediately. You didn't even ask me what happened!"

The unfairness of it all crashed over me like a wave. Seraphina was right. He'd chosen her. Just like she said he would.

That's when I saw it. A tiny smudge of red lipstick at the corner of Mason's mouth. So faint I almost missed it.

But it was there.

Proof that Seraphina had been telling the truth about him kissing her.

Fresh rage flooded through my veins.

"Are you seriously suggesting Seraphina made this up?" Mason's tone softened slightly, like he was considering the possibility that I might be innocent.

But I knew better. He wasn't really considering anything. He was just going through the motions.

"What's the point, Mason?" Exhaustion hit me like a truck. "Whether she fell, jumped, or I pushed her... what does it matter? You've already decided who to believe. So why pretend to care about my side of the story?"

"Are you kidding me right now?" Mason's eyes flashed. "Instead of taking responsibility, you're playing the victim?"

"Victim?" I laughed, sharp and bitter. "How about you being a hypocrite?"

Mason's head snapped back like I'd slapped him.

"You drag me in here to interrogate me, but you won't address the real issues! When are you going to explain Seraphina's sudden return? Or that lipstick smudge on your lips? What about the baby you were holding-obviously hers, obviously yours?"

My voice cracked but I pushed forward.

"You're so focused on blaming me that you won't acknowledge your own actions. Do you have any idea how small you've made me feel tonight? How humiliated? Or is that my fault too?"

Silence fell between us, thick and suffocating.

When Mason finally spoke, his words knocked the wind out of me.

"I don't care about any of that. You need to apologize to Seraphina. Right now. If you want to fix this, that's what needs to happen."

I stared at him, genuinely shocked.

"Apologize?" I scoffed. "To her? I'd rather swim in a swamp. Heck, I'd rather eat dirt. I will never apologize for something I didn't do."

Mason looked stunned. I'd never defied him like this before. Never raised my voice or refused a direct request.

But I wasn't done. "And you know what? I meant what I said earlier." My hands were shaking but my voice stayed steady. "I want a divorce, Mason. You have a son now, don't you?"

His guilty expression told me everything.

"I don't need to be a genius to figure that out," I continued. "So let's end this. I want a divorce, and I want it as soon as possible."

The silence that followed was deafening.

Then Mason's face went cold. Colder than I'd ever seen it.

"You're right," he said, his voice like ice. "It's time to end this. I've honored my father's wishes long enough. Now that he's gone and I'm Alpha, what's the point of pretending this marriage means anything?"

Each word felt like a knife between my ribs.

"Mates or not, this is exactly why I don't believe in that bond. We've been together a whole year, and instead of falling in love, look where we are."

He wasn't finished. He moved to his desk and grabbed some papers.

"You want to know what I really married you for? A pure-blood heir. That's what my father believed only mates could produce. And after an entire year, your womb is still empty. So what's the point?"

The papers hit my chest. I caught them reflexively.

"Here. The divorce papers. Sign them and we can both move on with our lives. I'm tired of this too."

Then he stormed out.

It was almost funny. An hour ago, he'd said we weren't getting divorced. Now he was shoving the papers at me himself.

The first tear slid down my cheek before I could stop it.

My hand moved to my stomach, pressing against the flat surface where our baby was growing. The baby he'd just said didn't exist.

The baby I would never, ever tell him about now.

"Heartless bastard," I whispered to the empty room. "Complete and total hypocrite."