James's POV

James POV

Avery is my wife, and I love her. I love her so much that my heart aches sometimes. From the moment I first saw her, I was struck by how stunning and kind she was.

Her Hazel eyes glowed with specks of gold in the sun and I felt my heart stop immediately. I was in love, and I needed her with me forever.

I knew that she was a commoner, and I knew about her disability —that she couldn't shift, but I didn't care. I just wanted her.

When I had sworn to reject any fated mate that I might find, I meant it. I loved her so much that I could never imagine another woman taking her place.

I was 23 and way past the age of finding a fated mate. I honestly believed I didn’t have a fated mate, and I would have never Imagined in a thousand years that my fated mate would be her sister Lizzy.

I truly felt horrible. Avery loves Lizzy so much.

Why did it have to be her sister? Fate really was cruel.

That evening, I was upstairs changing, when I heard knocking on the door. Thinking it was my beta, I invited the person in.

The scent that wafted in, hit me hard and threw me off my balance.

She smelt exotic, fresh and flowery.

My head snapped up and I saw her. Her big round eyes widened as our gazes locked. She stepped closer and my vision blurred out everything that wasn’t her.

In that moment, nothing else mattered. Not Avery, not the fact that she was downstairs and not the fact that this was her sister.

Everything I felt about Avery changed there and then.

I tried to remember why I should not touch Lizzy but my love for Avery felt like a distant memory in that moment.

“Mate?” Lizzy whispered and I lost it.

I needed to touch her, taste her, have her.

I tried to shake my head clear of these thoughts, but Lizzy placed her delicate fingers on my chest and my wolf howled with joy. He had found his mate.

She pressed her body against me but I tried to stop her.

“Lizzy, wait, we can’t.” I gasped.

“Alpha please.” She begged, looking up at me with needy eyes.

I tried to pull away from her but she buried her face in my neck, kissing and nipping until I snapped.

I kissed her with all the passion that I didn’t know was bottled up inside me. Soon we were on the bed and that’s how Avery found us.

I felt guilty that Avery caught us, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t make myself regret what we did.

After Avery left, I tried to leave but Lizzy clung to me.

“Please Alpha, don’t reject me. My heart won’t survive it. Please! I will do anything you want, be whoever you want me to be. You want me to be your concubine? Your sex slave? Your mistress? Anything! Just tell me and I’ll do it! Just don’t leave me.” She cried.

Seeing her tears hurt my heart. It wasn’t her fault. She was an innocent young girl who just got caught up in my mess.

I could do as Lizzy suggested, keep her with us as my mistress. But Avery would have to consent to that too.

Was that even possible? Would Avery agree to share me with Lizzy?

I know that it was a cruel thing for me to ask of her, but what was I supposed to do? I couldn’t reject either of them so what other option was left?!

Was the moon goddess seeing this? If so, why did she let it happen? Why was Avery being punished for loving me? Why was Lizzy being punished for wanting her fated mate? Why was I turned into a bad guy for being in love?

I tried to leave the room but Lizzy started touching me again, begging me not to abandon her.

I almost gave in, but I managed to overcome my lust and push her away.

I searched for Avery but couldn’t find her. I sent everyone home, especially Lizzy. I wanted to be alone with my wife when she got back.

The most infuriating thing was that no one would understand me. If I told my uncle about this, he would tell me to just reject Lizzy and deal with the consequences later.

My uncle loved Avery, and he especially loved the influence Avery had on this pack as the Luna.

The people loved her and saw her as the savior who helped the new Alpha bring them into an era of peace and prosperity. They weren’t wrong too.

If I ever tried to reject Avery, it would turn the pack against me. I’m sure that there would even be a few riots in her name. So for the sake of the peace of and for all she and I had been through together, I couldn’t reject her.

I slumped down on a chair and let out a deep groan of frustration.

Just then, Avery walked in wet and covered in dirt. From her swollen eyes, I knew she had been crying.

I felt shame and guilt well up in me. I had never seen her look so broken before.

I tried to talk to her but she shut me down with her questions. Asking me if I was trying to replace her with her younger sister.

I remained quiet. What could I say to make her feel better? What could I say to take her pain away?

Meeting Lizzy might have made me forget what I had with Avery, but seeing Avery now brought back some of my feelings for her.

So later that night, I did the only thing I could think of to make the situation better. I knelt by her bed and swore to never sleep with Lizzy.

……

The next morning, I had a meeting with Tyler, my Beta to discuss pack matters.

I noticed that he kept giving me an odd look, like there was something he was barely holding himself back from saying.

“What is it Tyler?” I asked after getting fed up with his stares.

“Well, it’s nothing much sir…. But are the rumors true?” He blurted.

“What rumors?”

“The rumors that you and the Luna’s sister are you know…. Fated?” His tone made it obvious that he didn’t want the rumors to be true.

I released a tired sigh. “Don’t say another word about this to anyone else Tyler, it’s a complicated family affair. How did you even find out about this?” I asked.

“Almost half of the pack was downstairs when it happened sir. And everyone saw the Luna storm out before Miss Elizabeth left the house looking like you and her had been——“

He didn’t need to finish the statement. I know what it looked like to everyone.

I sighed again, I needed help, I needed advice, I needed to talk to someone who had gone through what I was going through.

I needed to call Ron.

Ron was one of my oldest friends from childhood. He had found himself in a similar situation as me a few years ago.

“Well shit man!” Ron exclaimed when I explained what had happened. “I don’t know whether to congratulate you on finding your mate or sending my sympathy for your divorce.”

“Divorce? I didn’t say anything about a divorce.”

“Well what else do you want to do James? You realize that Avery will feel the pain whenever you’re with her sister right? I think it’s best you just let her go. Choose Lizzy or else you'll regret it." He said and I frowned.

“You know I can’t do that Ron, Avery has been my wife for 3 years. I can’t let her go just like that, the pack members won’t even let me.”

“Still you have to claim Elizabeth to stop the bond from hurting Avery anytime you’re having sex with her sister. If you claim Lizzy, the bond will recognize her as your legal mate too and will stop alerting Avery and causing her pain.”

I shook my head. “There is no need for that. I already promised Avery that I wouldn’t sleep with Lizzy.” Ron laughed at that.

“Can you honestly promise that James? You know what the mating pull feels like now. Can you honestly promise that you will be able to resist your mate now?”

Memories of yesterday flashed through my mind. Memories of Lizzy touching me, kissing me, looking up at me with those big beautiful eyes.

I could lie to a lot of people, but I couldn’t lie to Ron. “No, I can’t promise that."

“I thought so. If you really love Avery, you’d stop her pain. Claim Lizzy.”

I closed my eyes in agony. Was I going to break the vow I had just made to Avery? Wasn’t there another way to handle this?