My Fated Mate Said My Scent Faded, So I Rejected Him

The second time I reached for my husband that night, he turned me down. Said he was tired.

Not long after, I heard what he really thought. He said it to his best friend.

"I don't know what it is. Ever since Nora turned thirty-two, her scent's changed... It's faded."

"She was already a few years older than me. Honestly? I smell her now and I feel nothing."

Then he found himself a young Omega behind my back.

Twenty years old. Still in college.

He thought he'd hidden it perfectly. Instead, I handed him divorce papers. And then, as Alpha, I rejected our mate bond right to his face.

He must have forgotten that eight years ago, he was nothing but a homeless rogue.

I'm the one who brought him in out of the rain. I gave him a pack, a place in this world, and a home.

Here's the thing about a woman of thirty-two. She's built her life. She has money and time to burn.

She can afford to play.

And she can damn well afford to lose.

The Pack healer said my heat cycles were all over the place, and the mating mark on my neck was fading. My wolf was starving. She ached for her mate's touch. More time with him, the healer said, would help.

So that night, I slipped into a black lace nightgown and knocked on Leon's door.

What followed was fast and hot.

Afterward, I trailed my fingers along the back of his neck, wanting more.

He rolled away from me. "Babe, I'm kind of wiped."

Truth was, the first round hadn't been great.

Didn't even last thirty minutes. Distracted. Going through the motions.

Now he'd turned his back to me. The message couldn't have been clearer.

He was my fated mate. The Moon Goddess herself had bound us together, and being turned away by him felt like a silver blade pressed to my chest.

But I was the Alpha of the Silver Creek Pack. If I pushed any harder, I'd just look desperate.

I knew when to take a hint. I rolled back to my side of the bed.

A minute later, he got up and said he was going to shower.

As he climbed out of bed, I caught it. A scent so faint I almost missed it.

Sweet. Like an overripe peach.

The scent of a young Omega.

Buried under his usual cedar body wash, barely there at all.

That was when his phone rang.

Leon was already at the bathroom door.

At the first ring, he was back across the room with a wolf's speed. He snatched up the phone before I could reach it and declined the call with practiced ease.

"Who calls this late? Telemarketers are the worst."

His voice was easy. His movements were natural. Not a single crack in the act.

But after he hung up, he took the phone into the bathroom with him.

And when he came out, he did something he'd never done before. He tossed it to me.

"Hey, babe, I've got a business trip tomorrow. Can you book me a flight?"

Leon dropped the phone in my lap and went back into the bathroom to blow-dry his hair.

The phone sat quietly in my hand.

But I knew there was nothing left on it for me to find.

He'd spent fifteen minutes in there with it. Whatever needed deleting was long gone.

When the hair dryer clicked off, he leaned out the door. "Oh, and book one for Marcus too. Something blew up with the Seattle project. He's coming with me."

How very convincing.

The company really did have a project in Seattle.

Marcus really was co-lead on it. He was also Leon's oldest friend.

Airtight. Logical. A witness and a paper trail.

Nothing for me to question.

But I was a wolf. And I was the Alpha of this territory.

My nose doesn't lie.

Leon was cheating on me.