Twice Tempted: Between Two Alphas (Mia and Cameron) novel Chapter 1

Chapter One
“Don’t lie to me, Mia!”

“Your brother’s happy and that’s all that matters.”

Jace’s eyes hold sympathy. Of course he pities me. Everyone does.

He squeezes my hand. “I’m sorry. Cameron’s a fool.”

I’d only left Cam’s bed a few hours ago.

The scent of him is still on my skin. We’d f*cked countless times and when I drifted off to sleep it was with a contentment that for most of my life had been foreign to me. Cam was my best friend, my alpha, the only man I’d ever love.

And now he was marrying someone else.

_____________________

“This union is a gift of the Goddess,” my father says.

As the senior beta in the pack, it’s his job to officiate mating ceremonies. He’s speaking to the smiling couple, but his eyes are on me.

Message received, Dad.

He warned me not to get involved with Cameron. He’d told me it was a mistake. And I have no one but myself to blame for thinking there could ever be a future between me and the Alpha.

Tears roll down my face and I swipe them away.

More wolves rush in to watch the ceremony. We’re in the grand hall and the entire pack crams in for a better view.

“You didn’t really think he would end up with you?” Cameron’s sister Claire pauses beside me. She smiles cruelly. “Oh, you did! Wow. Mia, you were never going to be more than a temporary diversion. I’m sorry you had to learn this the hard way.”

She’s smiling so I’m pretty sure she isn’t sorry about anything.

When I was four, Claire kept telling me all about how my mom died and how no one would ever love me, because I was pack trash. So I shouldn’t be surprised to see her laughing at me now.

“What did Claire say?” Jace asks as he rushes in a few seconds behind her.

“Nothing.”

With my dad as beta, I grew up in the same house as Cameron and Jace. They were always kind to me. Their older sister Claire…not so much.

“Are you okay?” Jace whispers.

I try to smile so it’s not so obvious I’m hung up on Cameron. Because Cam and I have shifted beneath full moons our whole lives, and we’ve been sleeping together for the better part of two years. If our bond was going to grow, it would have happened by now.

“I’m fine, Jace.” It’s a lie, but I need him to believe it. “Your brother’s happy and that’s all that matters.”

Jace’s expression hold sympathy. He’s six-foot-four, with the same eyes and build as Cam. He’s not quite as strong, but he’s more compassionate. Why the hell couldn’t I have been drawn to him?