Trading My Cheating Husband For The Lycan King

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."

EMBER'S POV

The words hung between us, and I couldn't believe I had just said them to a total stranger.

But there was no denying the feral intensity of my desire for this man, a wild, reckless need cutting straight through the centre of my heartbreak.

Sapphire was pacing inside my mind, practically purring at his proximity. We didn't even know him, yet my wolf was ready to submit.

He raised a dark eyebrow, danger and amusement warring on his face.

"Is that really what you want?" His voice dropped lower, rough and gravelly and far too close.

I nodded. My pulse was a frantic drumbeat in my ears. I knew it was madness, but I couldn't stop.

I needed to feel wanted instead of worthless. I needed to erase the image of Gale on his knees, to drown out the cruel laughter.

But just as the fire between us threatened to consume all the oxygen in the tiny space, he took a step back. His expression cooled into a mask of cold indifference.

"As tempting as it is, I'm afraid I have other business to attend to."

What? Was he rejecting me? Something hot and humiliating flooded through my chest.

Of course. Of course, even a stranger didn't want me.

Gale had been right - I was desperate, pathetic, not worth-

No.

Screw that.

A wild, defiant instinct snapped inside me.

Before I could second-guess myself, before propriety or fear could lock me back inside the cage of my ruined marriage, I grabbed his arm as he turned.

I yanked him back toward me, rose on my toes, and pressed my mouth to his.

For a split second, he was perfectly still. Panic clawed at my throat. Oh Goddess, he really doesn't want me-

Then, he growled.

It was a purely animalistic sound that vibrated straight through to my bones.

His hands slammed against the wall on either side of my head, caging me in. He kissed me back with bruising intensity, all heat and dominance, a hunger that turned my knees to water.

My fingers tangled in his dark hair as I clung to him, desperate to lose myself in the overwhelming sensation of being claimed.

His hands slid to my waist, his grip firm and possessive, and every point of contact buzzed.

Nothing had ever felt like this. Gale's touch had always been clinical, rushed. This man kissed me like he wanted to devour me.

He backed me against the tiny counter, his body pressing flush against mine. The heat radiating off him was intoxicating.

He trailed open-mouthed kisses down my jaw, his breath hot against my neck, before his teeth scraped over my pulse point.

A breathless sound escaped my lips.

"Such pretty sounds," he murmured against my skin. "I wonder what else I can make you do."

My whole body was trembling. I was burning up, completely at the mercy of a man whose name I didn't even know.

His hand slid up my thigh, his touch scorching through the fabric of my dress. My breath hitched, my eyes fluttering shut as I leaned into his warmth.

"I want to hear you say it," he whispered, his thumb grazing my hip bone. "Tell me exactly what you want."

"I want you," I gasped, the confession tearing out of me. "Please. I just want to forget... "

He chuckled darkly, the vibration settling deep in my chest. He pulled back just enough to look at me, his thumbs stroking my jawline.

"I never thought I'd see the day you'd be this reckless, Ember."

I froze.

The desire snapped, and cold clarity rushed in.

I stared up at the gorgeous stranger, my heart stopping.

"W-what?" My voice shook. "How do you know my name?"

The smirk that crossed his face held no warmth.

The amusement vanished from his eyes, replaced by a calculating authority that had my wolf dropping her head before I could stop her.

It hit me then. The dark hair. The unearthly blue eyes. The terrifying aura of absolute power.

"Don't tell me you don't recognise your Lycan King, Ember darling," he said smoothly, the title dropping like a bomb in the tiny space. "I certainly know about the beautiful, dutiful mate of Alpha Gale Crawford."

No.

Oh Goddess, no.

King Knox Volkov.

I had just thrown myself at the most dangerous man in our world. I had just kissed the Lycan King in an aeroplane bathroom.

My husband's boss.

As the Lycan King, Knox ruled with an iron fist. He was the supreme authority over every pack in North America, a billionaire CEO who operated above the law of men and wolves alike.

He was ruthless, unforgiving, and legendary for his cruelty.

There were stories of Alphas who crossed him and simply vanished. Packs that challenged his authority were wiped off the map.

And I had just thrown myself at him.

Mortification crashed over me.

Do you know how ruined my life would be if word got out? Alpha Gale's wife, acting like a desperate fool with the King himself? The scandal would destroy what little reputation I had left.

"Please," I stammered, frantically pushing against his chest. "I didn't know. I'm sorry. I have to go. This was a mistake-"

Instead of letting me go, Knox stepped closer, pinning me effortlessly with nothing but his imposing size. His eyes flashed gold- his Lycan rising to the surface, demanding obedience.

"It's too late for regrets," Knox murmured, his voice a dangerous rumble that made me shiver. "You asked me to make you forget him, Ember. And as your King, I intend to oblige."

He leaned in, his lips hovering a millimetre from mine, the tension so thick it was suffocating.

I was paralysed, trapped between terror and a completely inappropriate, overwhelming wave of need.

BANG. BANG. BANG.

I jumped out of my skin as someone pounded furiously on the bathroom door.

"This is the flight attendant! This is urgent. You need to exit the lavatory immediately!"

EMBER'S POV

The attendant's frantic knocks did nothing. Knox did not retreat.

In the span of a few breathless minutes against the cold porcelain, he dismantled every defence I had. He devoured and claimed me so completely that by the time he consumed my final, muffled gasp, the submissive wife I had been was gone forever.

BANG. BANG. BANG.

"Sir? Miss? I need you to open this door immediately!"

Knox finally pulled out and stepped back. The sudden loss of his heat left me shivering, my legs shaking so badly I had to grip the edge of the sink just to stay upright.

My thighs ached with a heavy, unfamiliar soreness.

He calmly adjusted his suit jacket and ran a hand through his dark hair, entirely unbothered, as if he hadn't just thoroughly ruined me. I, on the other hand, was a flushed, trembling mess.

He leaned down, his hand scooping up the torn scraps of my red lace from the floor.

Instead of handing my ruined underwear back to me, he slid the fabric into his suit pocket. A wicked smirk played on his lips.

"You won't be needing those for the rest of the flight," he murmured, his voice still rough. "I want you to remember exactly who just claimed you."

My face burned. This man had absolutely no shame.

Knox pulled open the door to face the mortified flight attendant.

The woman's eyes went wide the second she recognised him - everyone knew what the Lycan King looked like - and the colour drained completely from her face.

Knox slipped several crisp hundred-dollar bills into her trembling hand.

"For your discretion and excellent service," he said smoothly.

Then he walked back to his seat without a backward glance, leaving me standing in the bathroom doorway - breathless, entirely claimed, and acutely aware of the cool cabin air against my bare skin.

Oh, my Goddess. Oh, my Goddess. What did I just do?

This isn't happening. This can't be happening.

I just gave myself to the Lycan King. In an airplane bathroom. And now he was keeping my torn lace in his pocket like some kind of dark trophy.

I don't know how I made it back to my seat. My legs felt like lead as I collapsed into the leather upholstery.

The businessman in 3B was definitely smirking like he'd heard everything. The flight attendant wouldn't make eye contact, keeping her distance, her face flushed.

I refused to look across the aisle where Knox had returned to his seat. He was reading something on his phone, looking as composed as a CEO in a boardroom, while I was sitting here trying not to hyperventilate.

I had just broken my vows - even though my husband was literally tangled up with other men - with the most dangerous man in the werewolf world.

The Lycan King.

Gale's boss.

The man who could destroy both our packs with a single word.

I needed to process this. Needed to think. Needed to figure out what the hell I was going to do now.

My phone buzzed in my bag.

I pulled it out and saw an unknown number calling.

My finger hovered over the decline button, but a sick sense of intuition made me answer.

"Ember! Thank Goddess you picked up!"

Gale's voice made my entire body go rigid with rage. Sapphire snarled in my mind.

He was calling from someone else's phone since I had blocked him. Of course he was. Of course, he found a way around my boundaries.

"Don't hang up, please, just listen to me for one second-"

"I have nothing to say to you," I snapped, but he talked right over me like he always did.

"What you saw wasn't what you think!" His voice was high-pitched, hysterical, and manic. "I love you, Ember. I swear to the Goddess, I love you. Those men meant nothing. It was just stress relief; it doesn't count as cheating-"

Doesn't count as cheating?

DOESN'T COUNT AS CHEATING?

I could hear Logan Reeves coaching him in the background. "Tell her you'll go to therapy. Tell her you'll change. Women love that. Tell her it'll never happen again."

The audacity. The absolute audacity of both of them.

"You're calling me from Logan's phone?" I gasped, my grip on the device turning my knuckles white. "The same Logan who was tangled up with you two hours ago. Do you see the irony here, Gale? Do you?"

"Baby, please, you have to understand-"

"Don't. Call. Me. That."

"I was confused! I didn't know what I wanted! But I know now, I know I want you. I want our marriage-"

"What you want," I interrupted, my voice shaking with barely contained fury, "is for me to keep playing the perfect, obedient little omega wife while you do whatever you want behind my back. That's what you want."

"No! That's not - where are you right now? Just tell me where you are, and we can talk about this face-to-face. We can work through this together like adults-"

"Work through this? You want to work through the fact that I caught you utterly worshipping another man on our living room couch?"

"It wasn't - you're making it sound worse than it was-"

"How am I making it worse? They were laughing at me, Gale! Laughing about how pathetic I am!"

Gale's voice shifted. The panic bled out, replaced by a cold, calculating edge I knew all too well.

"Our marriage is a pact treaty, Ember. If you leave me, you destroy both our packs. Is that what you want? To be responsible for a war? Think about your parents. Think about everyone who depends on this alliance-"

"Oh, so now you're threatening me?"

"I'm not threatening you; I'm just being realistic. You can't just run away because you're upset. You have responsibilities. We both do. This is bigger than us-"

A large, warm hand wrapped around my wrist.

I startled and looked to my left. Knox had moved from his seat across the aisle and was now sitting in the empty seat right beside me.

His blue eyes were fixed on mine with an intensity that stole the air from my lungs.

When did he - how did I not notice him moving?

Before I could ask, before I could utter a single syllable of protest, Knox plucked the phone from my hand with the casual, terrifying dominance of a man who expected obedience without question.

My eyes went wide. "What are you-"

Knox put the call on speaker, holding the phone steady between us.

Gale's pathetic pleading filled the quiet space of our row.

"-I know I hurt you, but running away isn't the answer. Come home, and we'll figure this out. I promise I'll be better. I'll be the husband you deserve. I'll do whatever it takes-"

Then, Knox did something that made my brain completely short-circuit.

He slid his hand over my knee, his touch disappearing past the hem of my skirt to claim the most absolute, devastating leverage.

Right there.

In my seat.

With other passengers nearby.

With my husband on the phone.

I opened my mouth to protest, but only a strangled gasp came out. Knox's eyes met mine, wicked amusement swimming in that blue gaze as heat flared through my core.

"What the - are you okay, Ember? Why are you breathing like that?" Gale's voice sharpened with suspicion over the speaker. "Who's there with you? Is someone there?"

I couldn't answer. I couldn't form a single coherent word.

My nails dug into the leather armrest, my knuckles turning white as Knox drove me closer to the edge with a maddening, unhurried rhythm.

This was insane. This was absolutely insane.

I was furious - how dare he answer my phone, how dare he do this in public - but my body was melting into the seat, dangerously close to coming apart, and I couldn't find the breath to tell him to stop.

My hand gripped the armrest so hard it ached. I bit down on my lip until I tasted copper just to keep from making a sound.

Gale was still talking. "Ember, answer me! Who's breathing like that? Are you with someone? Tell me right now!"

Knox leaned down, his lips brushing my ear.

"Should I tell him? Should I tell your pathetic excuse for a husband exactly what I'm doing to you right now, and how desperately you want it?"

I shook my head frantically, eyes wide with panic and overwhelming heat.

Knox chuckled darkly and straightened up, his movements never faltering. Then he spoke into the phone, his voice cold and commanding.

"She heard you clearly, Gale. She's done."

Silence on the other end. Complete, dead silence.

Then-

"Who the hell is this?"

"The divorce papers are already being prepared by my legal team," Knox continued smoothly, as if discussing a minor business merger. "And I assure you, they're very thorough. Very expensive. You won't like the settlement terms."

My breath hitched, my free hand flying up to bite against my own fist.

Gale's breathing stuttered through the speaker. "Is that... no. No way. Is that King Knox Volkov?" He sounded like he was choking on the name. "What the hell is going on? Ember, what did you do? WHAT DID YOU DO?"

"What she did," Knox said, his voice dropping to a dark, possessive register, "is realise she deserves far better than a lying coward who doesn't even know how to satisfy his own mate."

Oh, my Goddess. He did not just say that.

"You son of a bitch! You think you can just swoop in and-"

"I don't think anything," Knox interrupted, baring his teeth. "I know. And here's what else I know: Ember will be far too busy screaming my name to take any more of your pathetic calls. Do not contact her again."

"You're touching her? You're touching my wife?! How long?!" Gale was screaming now. "I'll destroy you! I'll go to the Council! I'll-"

Knox ended the call and dropped the phone into my lap.

He didn't stop. The invisible pressure became firmer, more demanding. His dark eyes held mine, reading every reaction on my face as I fought a losing battle against the mounting tension.

I was right on the edge, trembling, trying desperately to stay quiet.

"Let go for me," Knox murmured, his voice a low, gravelly command. "While you think about how much better this feels than anything he ever gave you."

His words pushed me straight over.

I bit down hard on my fist, my entire body bowing against the seat as wave after wave of heat crashed through me. Knox held my gaze through every second of it, drawing it out until I was boneless and gasping.

Slowly, he withdrew his hand, cleaned it off, and straightened his cuffs with infuriating composure.

"Delicious," he said softly.

Then he returned to his seat across the aisle like he hadn't just unravelled me in the middle of a commercial flight.

I sat there trembling, unable to move, unable to think, my mind completely blank except for one repeating thought:

What the hell just happened?