Mated to My Brother-in-Law

Avery Pov.

The doctor's words felt like thin sharp needles, piercing my heart repeatedly.

“ The baby is gone.”

Four words, yet those words were about to change the course of my life. If my life was bad, it was bound to be worse from now on.

The tears that I didn't want to shed flooded my eyes and I let them fall.

“I’m sorry, there's nothing I could do.” The doctor added. The pity in his voice was unconcealable and that stung. I hated being on the receiving end of that damned emotion.

As the cruel words of the doctors rang in my mind, I knew that it was all over.

Javier was going to kill me and no one would be able to stop him.

I swallowed hard and forced a smile.

“Thank you, Doctor Park. You’ve been a great help to me during these times.” I bit back my tears, blinking them away. It was no time to cry, not now.

“You’re welcome, my lady. If there’s anything you need, perhaps help with breaking the news to your husband, the prince…”

“No.” I interrupted his words only to realize that it sounded rude. He just wanted to help.

“I’ll manage.” I said in a low voice.

The last thing I needed was for Javier to hear that I might never be able to conceive a child for him after my third miscarriage from another source that wasn’t me. The miscarriage had been bad enough, and the doctor had advised me not to consider carrying a child in my womb again.

My own body rejected all my babies. How was I supposed to deal with that?

“Welcome, my lady.” The servants at the door greeted me as I walked through the door. I hastened my steps, hoping to hide my fear from their prying eyes, but I caught pity as they looked at me.

Everyone had seen them rush me out of the palace with blood painting my clothes red. They knew that I had returned from the hospital without a baby, yet again.

“Lady Avery!” Rose, my personal maid, called out as she hurried towards me.

“You’re back.” The tone of her voice told me all I needed to know, but I refused to believe it, not until I saw it with my very own eyes.

For the past six years, my husband had not hesitated to disgrace me in our marriage, no matter how hard I tried to please him. It wouldn’t be the first or last time he was making me appear like a fool in front of the servants.

“Is Javier back?” I asked, fighting my tears back. Even without hearing it, I knew the answer.

Rose just nodded, “When did he come back?”

“As soon as he dropped you at the hospital. We had all expected that he would be with you during the…” she stopped, fear lingering in her eyes.

“You can say the word, Rose. I’ve gotten more used to it than you think.” I chuckled, albeit bitterly. No woman would want to get used to having miscarriages and definitely not me. But that was the portion of my life, one that although bitter, I had come to embrace.

Rose didn't say a word.

My heart throbbed painfully in my chest as if protesting to pop out.

The realization dawned on me. He didn't even wait to see if I survived. Apparently, my life and death didn't concern him.

I knew that but it still stung.

“I’ll go see him.” I announced and shock was evident on Rose's face.

I swallowed my tears and turned around to head to our room only for Rose to stop me.

“ My lady, think about it. Is it worth it?” She said, trying to dissuade me but I shook my head.

I was determined.

“ It's not worth it but at least I'll not have anything to hold me back.” I replied with a smile.

Over the years, Javier wanted to break our marriage but every time, a baby would arrive and halt his plans.

This time, it seemed like nothing could keep us together.

Six years of pain and torture, begging and humiliation. I was tired.

I ran up the flight of stairs so fast that my body hurt but that didn't stop me.

I paused in front of his door and swallowed hard. No matter how much I tried to convince myself, I was still scared of seeing his betrayal.

Taking a deep breath, I pushed the door open.

There he was, Javier, my darling husband of six whole years, on our matrimonial bed with another woman.

She sat beside him at the edge of the bed, tongues intertwined and lips locked together in a rather loud kiss. He didn’t bother to lock the door this time. It was very clear that he was done with me.

My fingers dug into my palms, almost drawing blood.

This wouldn’t be the first time he was cheating on me. He had been doing this all through the six years of our marriage, but he had respected our bond enough to do it behind closed doors and outside of the palace. No, that was not respecting our bond, just trying to hide white.

It didn’t hide anything though. Everyone who knew us knew that Javier was in love with one woman, and that woman wasn’t me.

Watching them entangled without any care in the world, I had this impulse to rush and tear her to pieces but I stopped myself.

No, I absolutely wouldn't stoop so low.

She wasn’t worth it. He wasn’t worth it. My heart squeezed painfully in my chest as I staggered backward. I didn’t have it in me to confront him.

I had begged for so many years. Begged him to give me a chance, begged him to love me back, yet even in my most vulnerable moment, a moment that could have claimed my life, he was in the arms of another woman.

There was nothing more to say to either of them, so I walked away. Maybe my actions could be considered cowardly but at this point, I didn't care.

No one, not even the guards or maids said a word to me. They walked past me, speaking in hushed tones, but I could hear them. Pity, disdain, mockery. Those were the three most distinct emotions I could detect from them.

Standing at the gate, I looked back to the huge palace and made a solemn vow. I was going to make them eat the shit they fed me. The pain, the betrayal, the humiliation. I would pay it back a hundredfold.

The heavy raindrops hitting my bare skin mixed with my tears, washing them away. These were going to be my last tears for that*sshole.

***

Hailing a cab, I left the pack and headed to the city. I stopped at a mall to get a red thigh-high dress and matching red leather boots. I was no longer going to sit around and watch Javier hurt me.

Some might say it was the pain of losing a third child in five years that was driving me crazy, and they could have been right. Others might say the constant betrayal of my husband had pushed me down my cliff, and they would have been equally as correct.

However, when I appeared in the club with my boots and dress and a bottle of cognac in my hand whose contents I didn't hesitate to push down my throat, nothing mattered anymore. I blended into the darkness and rowdiness of the club. I was far away from the palace, no one would ever guess it was me.

I threw my hands in the air and allowed my hips to sway to the beat of the music. I had never tasted alcohol in my life, but I was going to drown my sorrows in as many bottles as I could…

With this alcohol and dance, I was going to let go of everything. I let go of the love I had for that undeserving man.

“What the fuck?!” A male voice screamed loudly as I emptied my throat on his white colored shirt, creating a hideous map made of vomit.

“Eww.”

“Oh my goodness.”

“She had so much to drink.” Random voices were heard as the crowd slowly shifted away from us.

I couldn’t look away from the mess I created on an innocent man, nor could I ignore the steam of annoyance that exuded him.

“I cannot believe this! Why would you keep on drinking if you know you have gone far past your limit?” He scolded.

That voice.

My gaze rose to his face. Blue eyes and shimmering dark hair, a pointed nose that rested above pale red lips adorned by a dark mustache that connected with the beards underneath his chin.

Was it a cruel fate? Or was it just a coincidence that the man I had puked on looked just like Javier, my soon-to-be ex-husband? Did I have a thing for barging into and ruining the lives of people who looked like him?

As the thoughts flooded my mind, I broke into tears. I didn’t know what else to do.

“I’m so sorry.” There and then, every pent-up frustration I had gathered in my heart came rushing out.

“It’s not my fault. It’s not my fault I can’t keep a baby alive in my womb. It’s not my fault that he doesn’t love me! It’s not my fault!”

His eyes narrowed on me, glazed with confusion.

“Miss, are you alright?”

I pushed my hair away from my face and saw his eyes shine with recognition. Did he know me?

He placed his hands on my shoulders and tried to calm me down.

“I’m so sorry for ruining your shirt, for ruining your night, for ruining his life.” I could have imagined it, but I swear his jaw hardened at my last sentence.

The handsome stranger placed his palm on my cheek and brushed the tears from my eyes with his thumb. No one had ever, not even my husband, touched me with so much affection and care.

“It’s alright. You didn’t ruin anything.” He spoke softly. Something about his blue eyes gazing directly at mine made my heart race. “You could never do that Avery, not you.”

That was the most my sanity could take, and I lost it. In a frenzy, I grabbed him by his collar and placed my lips against his.

Avery Pov.

Have you ever been a mess yourself and then ended up messing around even more? That's how I felt when I woke up in a stranger's bed with the smell of sex perfuming the room.

“ Holy shit!” I cursed as the realization struck me hard I jumped up, almost stumbling and falling off.

My eyes widened in shock, only to catch the stranger from last night staring outside from the glass walls of the hotel room. Maybe he was admiring the landscape or in deep thought but that didn't matter, not at this point.

Panic set in almost immediately, and not just because he had the back frame of my husband - just bulkier and hotter - or because of the wolf tattoo that was plastered on his back. I was frightened because I didn’t know who he was, or what he could do with the information of what had transpired between us.

“You are awake.” His voice rang in my ears as he spoke. It was more of a statement than a question.

“I was beginning to think you would sleep in all day.” He added with a hint of teasing in his voice but I ignored that.

“How did this happen?” I fired at him, holding the duvet to cover my naked body. He looked at me with a crooked smile on his face.

“You kissed me with a mouth full of vomit, and I couldn’t resist.”

Eww! That's gross.

I frowned and wrapped the duvet around myself before rising to my feet.

“You should know that this was a damn mistake. It should never have happened.” I said, trying to be more stern than afraid. I couldn’t let him sense any form of weakness at all.

“Oh, you use and discard me just like that? Woman, ain’t you bold?” He blocked my path with his broad body. I had to admit it, he was hotter from up close, and I felt my senses tingling again before I called myself to order.

I glared at him.

“Alright. At least tell me your name.”

“My name is none of your fucking business. This was a mistake.I am a married woman! And I have been married for six years. We will never meet again, nor would whatever happened here leave this room, do you understand?” I warned him. You could say my fear made me a lot more hostile than I intended to be, and I hoped it would do the trick.

His smile grew even thinner and mischief sparked in those bright blue eyes.

“As you wish.” He moved out of my way and I quickly put on my dress, gathered my belongings, and dashed out of the hotel. I boarded a taxi back to the palace, hoping to the goddess that my husband would still be in bed with his mistress. He was the last person I needed to see in my state.

What had I been thinking? How could I have allowed pain to make me stoop so low? How could I be mad at Javier when I just did the same thing he always did to me? I wanted revenge, but this wasn't how I envisioned it to be.

I arrived at the palace and sprinted up to the room, only to find Javier pacing about restlessly. Once he saw me, and properly SAW me - especially in the dress I was in - his eyes turned bloodshot red.

“Where the fuck have you been? You didn’t sleep in the palace last night?” He roared, his eyes blazing with anger.

Hearing his voice brought back memories of what I had seen last night. I could have died with my third miscarriage, yet all he did was sleep with another woman in my bed.

“I’m surprised you noticed.” I replied dryly, moving towards my vanity table. I pulled out my chair and settled into it.

“Do you think this is a fucking joke, Avery?! You were supposed to return back from the hospital with your report yesterday, and I waited all night for you…”

A bitter chuckle forced its way out of my throat, and he clenched his fists in annoyance.

“When did she leave, Javier? This morning? Last night? I saw her, you know. You couldn’t get your tongue out of her mouth.”

His eyes widened in shock, but there was no hint of remorse, no iota of repentance in those cobalt-blue orbs.

“I didn’t disturb the both of you. I allowed you to have your fun. I just wanted to have mine too.”

He stomped across the room, over to where I sat and grabbed me by my neck. It happened so fast, I could almost make no sense of the movement.

“You would not speak to me in that manner, do you understand me, Avery? You went to have fun? Fun?! When you can no longer have children?! You should be in the temple crying your eyes out for mercy from the moon goddess, not parading yourself around the city like the fucking prostitute you are!” He spat on my face as his grip on my neck loosened.

His words cut me right in my heart. It hit me, and it hit me deep, just like he knew it would. I couldn’t fight back my tears.

“I’m not a harlot. All I’ve ever done…all I’ve ever done is to be faithful to you, Javier. Yet you have constantly made me look like a fool in front of the world!” I snapped, letting it all out.

“Yes! Yes! You know why? Because that’s exactly what you are!” As he paced about restlessly, he turned to point at me at regular intervals, sweating profusely despite the tightly air conditioned room.

“Now what? You’re a barren fool! What am I supposed to do with a barren fool for a wife?”

A barren fool? That's what I was in his eyes!

But… I was not barren.

I repeated the words over and over again in my head, hoping that if I said it loud enough for me to hear, I would eventually start to believe it.

“You know what? I can’t deal with this right now. Pack your things and go to any of the guest rooms. You will stay there until I change my mind.” It was an order. One I knew better than to fight against.

I nodded feebly and rose to my feet. I could have put up a fight. I should have yelled at him and rained curses down on him for every hurtful thing he had ever said and done to me.

But…

I couldn’t. Not when my atrocity of last night continued to replay in my mind. It was the only reason I moved myself to the guest room as he had instructed. With Rose's help of course. She had told me that he had sent guards to the hospital when I didn’t return last night, and the doctor sent the report through the guards.

I thanked her and locked myself in the guest room, bawling my eyes out.

I had been promised to Javier as a child. My father was a trusted steward of the late Alpha king, who earned the late king’s trust in so many ways. I had been beautiful as a child, or I was told I was. The alpha king saw me on a visit to our small house and made my father promise my hand in marriage to his son, Javier I didn’t meet Javier until I was sixteen. On the night of his mating ceremony. I had shifted, but was yet to find my mate. When it was clear that Javier hadn’t found his mate too, I was introduced to him. I remember falling for his boldness and looks at first sight. And when he spoke? Heavens! It was like the son of a god had come down to earth.

I spent months trying to prove myself to him until we got married when I turned eighteen. His cruelty began once his father fell ill, and it became worse three months ago after his father died. He blamed me for barging into his life. He said I was the reason his father didn’t let him have a choice, and I was the daughter of a nobody.

I took it all in good faith, giving everything I could to make him happy, until now. I had betrayed our marriage, but he did first. Why did I have to feel guilty about it?

The screams from outside forced their way into my thoughts. I rose from the bed in haste and hurried to the window. My jaw dropped once I took in the sight before me.

The palace gates were on fire! Guards were being shot from every angle, and men in wolf masks trooped into the palace. It was almost dark already, and the attack was being launched from every angle of the palace.

“Heavens! What the fuck is happening?!” Someone screamed.

My heartbeat thundered in my chest. Sweat poured from my face and dropped to every part of my body.

How could this happen?

As I watched flames engulf the once-sturdy entrance of the palace, burning down the sculptures and everything else in its way, panic gripped me.

A knock echoed through the room, and I rushed to the door. Opening it, my personal maid Rose stood there, eyes wide with terror. “Lady Avery, the palace is under attack!” she gasped, her voice trembling.

“I can see that! Where…where is the king?!” The corridor was in commotion as maids and guards ran around.

Rose said nothing, but from the look in her eyes, I knew Javier had been targeted.

“They have already infiltrated the palace. We have to find a place to hide until we’re sure it’s safe to come out.” She beckoned to me, pulling my hand.

Confusion clouded my mind; the Redmoon pack was renowned for its impenetrable defenses. Rose and I ran as fast as our legs could carry us, but just as we were about to run down the stairs into the basement, we were caught by two men who ambushed us from behind.

In an instant, they seized me, dragging me toward the heart of the palace. The throne room unfolded before my eyes. Javier and his mistress lay vulnerable on the cold floor, half-naked, visibly shaking as though they had poured ice on their backs.

It hurt to see it again. He couldn’t even keep his hands off her for a fucking day.

Forced to my knees, I watched helplessly as the attackers, their identities concealed by the haunting masks, wreaked havoc.

Screams echoed from every corner of the palace while my face was pressed to the ground. Three guards fell to their deaths right in front of me, their pool of blood quickly stretching towards me. I pressed my eyes together and fought back my tears.

Perhaps this was my punishment for the sin I had committed. My days were over, and the goddess had allowed these men to penetrate Redmoon to teach me a lesson.

“Sit up. All of you.” One of them yelled, and we all did as instructed. Javier looked beyond petrified. I could tell he had never faced an opposition he couldn’t control in his entire life.

“Do you have any idea who we are?”

“The rogues of the Veil” I coughed out.

“I…I know. I’ve heard about…”

Javier turned to look at me, disbelief masking his fear in that moment. Disgusted, I turned away from him.

“Smart. Very smart.”

The man stepped back, laughing out loud.

A commanding figure, the assumed leader, emerged from the shadows. His chilling voice cut through the turmoil, demanding a choice from my husband.

“Make a choice, Alpha Javier. Who do you want to save, your beautiful wife or your mistress?”

The men crackled behind their masks and my intestines joined to form a tight knot in my stomach.