Muzzled by My Mate: Saved by the Supreme Alpha

My husband brought his mistress into the care center and forced me to wash her feet.

He had forgotten everything about our marriage after an accident five years ago, treating me like a defective servant while doting on Jada.

But I endured it, hoping his memory would return.

Until Jada's twin boys sprayed me with "water guns" filled with concentrated Wolfsbane acid.

As my skin sizzled and melted, Jada screamed that I was using witchcraft to curse her children.

Jake didn't check my wounds. He didn't ask for the truth.

He looked at me with cold, dead eyes and ordered the guards to bring the Silver Muzzle.

"This will teach you silence," he whispered.

He clamped the torture device onto my face. The silver spikes instantly fused to my burned skin, sealing my mouth shut in agony.

He then hung me from the ceiling, letting me swing there as a warning to the pack, while I bled out.

I looked down at him, my heart finally breaking.

How could the man who was once my soulmate torture me for a woman who smelled of rot and lies?

I closed my eyes and triggered the rejection bond.

*I reject you, Jake Foster.*

The moment the bond snapped, the front doors exploded inward.

A massive force of pure power crushed every wolf in the room to the floor.

The Supreme Alpha had arrived.

And he wasn't happy that someone had touched his Fated Mate.

Chapter 1

Audrey POV:

The air in the Moonlight Care Center didn't just get heavy; it turned into lead. It wasn't the city humidity. It was him.

My husband. Or the shell of him, anyway. Before his wolf went dormant and his memory was wiped clean like a hard drive.

Jake Foster didn't walk through the glass doors; he occupied the space. Broad shoulders, bespoke suit, and eyes that used to look at me like I was the sun, now scanning the room like a security camera.

Hanging off him like a cheap accessory was Jada Floyd. White dress, red lips, and a smile that promised violence.

I gripped the reception desk until my knuckles popped. To the world, I was Audrey, the defective, scentless human charity case the Alpha was stuck with.

"Audrey." Jake's voice was a low rumble. It used to be my favorite sound. Now, it was a warning shot. "VIP suite. Now."

"The suite is ready, Alpha Foster," I said, keeping my eyes on the marble counter. Looking at him was like staring into an eclipse.

"Good. Jada needs rest. Her constitution is... fragile." Jake covered Jada's hand with his own.

I smelled it then. Not a natural scent, but a chemical assault. Sickly sweet florals masking something rot-like. To a damaged nose like Jake's, it registered as a Mate. To anyone else, it was "Charm," a black-market pheromone mimic illegal in three continents.

I slid the admission clipboard across the granite. Hidden beneath the intake form was the divorce settlement he'd been screaming for.

"Sign here for admission," I said.

He didn't read it. He just wanted to bypass the obstacle. Me. He snatched the pen.

Our fingers brushed.

*Zap.*

Static didn't just spark; it cracked like a whip. The *Electric Touch*. My inner wolf, buried under a mountain of suppressants, kicked against her cage.

Jake recoiled, shaking his hand.

"Watch it!" he snarled. "You're like a walking battery. Stop generating so much static, it's annoying."

He felt the shock but missed the signal. His brain rewired the connection into irritation.

He scrawled his name. He didn't know it, but he'd just signed away his marriage.

"I need a foot bath for Jada," Jake barked, tossing the pen. "Her ankles are swelling."

"I'll page a nurse."

"No." Jake leaned over the desk. The air pressure in the room dropped. "You do it."

"I am the director of this facility, Jake. Not the help."

"You are what I say you are."

The *Alpha's Command* hit me like a physical blow to the back of the knees. It wasn't a choice; it was biology. My legs liquidated.

I hit the floor hard.

"Jake, baby, don't be mean," Jada giggled, whipping out her phone. "But since she's already down there... hey guys!"

The livestream counter started ticking up.

"Look at the welcome committee," Jada cooed to the lens. "The ex-Mrs. Foster, bowing down to the future Luna."

I fought the Command, sweat stinging my eyes. But my blood betrayed me. I fetched the basin. I knelt. I washed the woman's feet while she narrated my humiliation to the internet.

Jake watched, his face a mask. For a split second, he rubbed his temple, a flicker of confusion crossing his eyes.

"Pathetic," he muttered, turning his back. "How was I ever mated to something with no spine?"

I stared at his retreating back, the water in the basin rippling.

*You don't know weak, Jake. And you definitely don't know strong. You've forgotten the wolf who dragged you out of the wreckage.*

Audrey POV:

The shame was still drying on my skin an hour later when the reinforcements arrived.

Jake's parents. Susan and Robert Foster.

They swept in like a bad weather front. Susan took one look at me and curled her lip.

"Still here?" she asked. "I thought Jake would have evicted you by now."

"My name is on the deed, Susan," I said, reaching for a towel.

"The Pack owns everything. You're just a squatter," she snapped. Her gaze zeroed in on my throat.

The Moonstone. A milky, iridescent pendant on a silver chain. It was the only thing keeping my scent-and the overwhelming power of the White Wolf-from flooding the building.

"Tacky," Susan said. She moved with predator speed.

"No-"

She ripped it off before I could flinch. The clasp snapped with a sickening *ping*.

"Give that back!" I lunged, panic clawing at my throat.

"Jada needs something blue," Susan said, tossing the heirloom in her purse like it was a candy wrapper. She marched toward the elevator.

I staggered back against the wall. Without the stone, the seal began to fracture. My skin felt too tight. A scent like ozone and impending snow began to leak from my pores.

"God, you smell like sour milk," Susan called over her shoulder. "Go scrub yourself."

I had to move. I had to get to my office safe and re-apply the herbal blockers before I nuked the clinic's sensory grid.

I bolted for the rear exit.

"Hey! Monster!"

I skidded to a halt. Jada's twin boys stood by the dumpsters. Seven years old, yellow eyes, teeth already too sharp.

They were holding modified Super Soakers. The tanks weren't filled with water; the liquid inside was thick and oily.

"We're playing Exterminator!" one yelled.

"Mommy gave us the special juice!" the other screamed.

My stomach dropped. Jada.

"Boys, put those down," I warned, backing up.

"Fire!"

They pulled the triggers.

I didn't get wet. I sizzled.

The liquid hit my face and chest, and the world turned white.

"Ahhhh!"

Smoke curled off my skin. The liquid ate through my silk blouse instantly, burrowing into the meat of my cheek. It felt like holding a soldering iron to my face.

*Concentrated Wolfsbane extract.* Mixed with something caustic.

"Got her!" The boys shrieked with laughter. "Look at her melt!"

I collapsed, clutching my face. The smell of burning skin filled the alley. The pain was blinding, a neurological storm that scrambled my thoughts.

I couldn't shift. Shifting now would pump the poison straight to my heart.

"Help..." I choked out.

The boys just pumped the pressure handles again.

I scrambled up, vision blurring in one eye, and ran. I didn't run like a Luna. I ran like prey.

Jake POV:

My head felt like it was in a vice. Being near Audrey always triggered these migraines, like a warning bell I couldn't find.

I was in the suite with Jada when the smell hit.

Not Jada's perfume. Something acrid. Chemical burns. And beneath it... ozone.

"What is that?" I stood up.

"Audrey probably burned dinner. She's useless in the kitchen," Jada said, scrolling through her feed. She was wearing a moonstone necklace I didn't recognize.

"I'm checking."

I followed the scent to the private residence. The door was locked. I kicked it in.

The bathroom door was ajar. Steam and smoke billowed out.

Audrey was hunched over the sink, frantically scrubbing her face and chest. The water in the basin was turning pink and grey. Her skin was angry, red, and blistering.

On the floor, a pile of towels was smoldering, the chemical reaction eating through the fabric.

"What the hell are you doing?" I roared.

Audrey spun around. Half her face was a ruin.

"Jake," she gasped. "The boys... the water guns... it was acid..."

"Liar!" I shouted, the accusation hitting a nerve. "My boys are seven! They were playing! You're burning... what is this? Voodoo? Are you casting spells in here?"

I looked at the smoldering towels. In the mess, I saw the corner of a photograph. Us. Italy. She was destroying the evidence of the past? Or using it for a hex?

"No, please, it burns," she sobbed, reaching for the water.

"Stop acting!" I grabbed her arm. Her skin was fever-hot. "You're hurting yourself to frame my children. That is sick, Audrey."

I dragged her out. She stumbled, dead weight.

"Where are you taking me?"

"Cooling off period."

I hauled her to the basement containment unit. The Silver Cage.

I threw her in. She hit the metal floor and screamed.

"No! Jake! The silver! It stops the healing!" She scrambled away from the bars, clutching her melting face.

"That's the point," I said coldly. "You don't get to heal until you tell the truth. Who put you up to this? Who are you working for?"

"No one!" she wailed.

I hit the button. The cage walls began to contract.

"Confess!"

She curled into a ball, shaking violently. The Wolfsbane was still active, fighting the silver's suppression, tearing her apart at a cellular level.

Then, a whisper. Not spoken, but projected. A Mind-Link.

*Elliot... please...*

The name hit me like a shovel to the chest.

*Elliot.*

A flash of memory. A beach. A man with eyes like a winter storm handing me a drink. *She's the jewel, Jake. Don't drop her.*

"Stop," I whispered.

I slammed the emergency stop.

Audrey was unconscious.

Why did that name make my blood run cold? And why did hearing her call for another man hurt more than the migraine?