The Snow Wolf's Mate

Jealousy Wears a Crown:

[POV: Hayden]

I hadn’t felt like myself since that night on the training field.

Her scent still clung to me, burned into my memory like fire that refused to be extinguished. It wasn’t just her fragrance. It was what it did to me.

The raw, primal ache. The maddening need. The confusion.

I’d told myself it was her fault. Her inexperience. Her lack of control. I’d told myself it was just the shifters' nature. Instinct. But the more I tried to rationalize it, the less sense it made. I’d been around other wolves before.

Omegas, Gammas, Betas, Alphas, warriors in heat. Their scents never did this.

Only hers. And it wasn’t just the scent. It was her.

The way her voice wavered when she challenged me. The fire in her eyes when she fought back. The way her lips parted in surprise when I whispered too close.

The look in her eyes that said she didn’t know how dangerous she was—or maybe she did, and simply didn’t care.

I needed to get her out of my head.

I shifted and bolted into the forest, tearing through the undergrowth in my wolf form. Sirius surged beneath my skin, claws digging into the earth, lungs burning with the wild freedom of the run.

But no matter how far I went, I couldn’t outrun her. And when I neared the outer edge of the territory—just before the border—her scent hit me again.

Fresh.

I skidded to a halt, hackles rising. She was here.

Sirius snarled low in my chest, already on edge. “Follow her. Find her.”

So I did.

We moved through the trees in silence, paws silent on the moss-covered ground. The trail was recent, sharp and clear. And it wasn’t just hers.

There was another scent too. Male. Unfamiliar.

I shifted back into my human form, moving low and quiet between the trees until I spotted them.

Aria. And a man I didn’t recognize—tall, brown-haired, his voice low and hesitant as he stood far too close to her.

Too close.

Then I heard him say it. “Do you still love me?”

The world stopped. A white-hot roar exploded through my chest.

Sirius screamed, a feral howl that ripped through my thoughts, demanding I tear the stranger apart limb by limb.

I stepped out of the trees slowly, fury barely restrained. Aria’s head whipped around—and the horror in her face when she saw me only sharpened the knife twisting inside me.

“Run,” she whispered to him. “Run!”

The man shifted in a flash, his brown wolf darting into the forest and disappearing into the trees beyond the border.

Coward.

I stepped into the clearing fully, eyes locked on Aria. “Who was that?” I growled.

She didn’t answer.

I was in front of her in a heartbeat.

She took a step back, but I grabbed her arm and shoved her hard against the nearest tree, slamming my palm just above her head. My body boxed her in, cutting off escape.

My voice dropped, deadly calm. “I asked you a question. Who the hell was that?”

Her eyes widened, breath shallow. “Hayden—”

“Are you plotting something?” I snarled. “Working with rogues? Planning an attack?”

“No!” she cried.

“I’ve received reports,” I went on, “about you hanging around the borders. I let it slide. Thought maybe you were just… odd. Quiet. Needing space. But this?” My voice dipped darker. “If you’re a threat to this pack—if you’ve been lying this whole time—I’ll tear you apart myself!”

She flinched, eyes filling with panic, but she didn’t look away.

“I’m not!” she shouted. “That wasn’t what you think!”

I pressed closer. “Then explain it.”

Her voice shook. “He’s just an old friend. From before. From back when I had no one else. He helped me—saved me. I owe him everything. We don’t meet often, only when it’s safe, only to talk. That’s all it’s ever been!”

I didn’t move.

“I never lied to you,” she whispered. “Never planned anything against you. Or the pack. I wouldn’t.”

Sirius growled, but this time not in fury.

“She’s telling the truth,” he said. “You’re scaring her. Our mate. Stop it.”

Mate.

The word made something shift. I looked down at her—really looked.

Her body trembled under mine, but she didn’t push me away. Her eyes brimmed with tears, but she didn’t turn her face.

She stayed. She faced me.

“I just wanted to see him,” she whispered. “Because he was the only one who ever made me feel like I mattered.”

That last word cracked something open in me. And I hated it.

Because beneath my fury, beneath the betrayal, beneath the rage, there was something worse.

Jealousy.

The kind that burned in your stomach and made your hands shake.

Sirius whined low in my chest. “You hurt her. You scared her. Fix it. Now!”

But I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. Because all I could think about was the way she looked at him. The way he asked if she still loved him. The way she told him to run.

My grip loosened. My body eased just slightly.

But Aria was already crying, silent tears falling down her cheeks.

“I’m not your enemy,” she whispered. “I never was and never could.”