Iris:
One moment, I was intimate with my husband on the kitchen counter. The next, he shoved me into the pantry to hide me from his ex.
…..
"My Alpha, promise me you'll never cheat on me?" I asked playfully, feeling his arms around me and his lips brushing my neck.
"I won't. But if I ever did, leave me and let me suffer the loss," he murmured, kissing my earlobe and making me shiver.
"How am I supposed to cook breakfast with your hands all over me?" I teased, wriggling in his arms.
Never had mornings been so beautiful until Kash came into my life. Our arranged marriage began when we discovered our mate bond on my eighteenth birthday. Our marriage didn't begin like most.
"I can't get enough of you. Once my family returns tomorrow, I won't be free to show my affection so openly," he murmured, tugging at my strap and whispering against my skin.
I giggled, struggling to focus on the spatula in my hand and the pancake sizzling in the pan.
His hands slid to the front, lifting my dress and slipping beneath it. I closed my eyes, tilting my neck back against his shoulder. I lost all thought of the pancakes. I lost hold of the spatula when his hands slipped under my bra. His touch burned like fire against dry wood.
"Uhmm!" A soft moan escaped my lips as I turned to face him. Silence filled the kitchen as we locked eyes.He kissed me fiercely. My fingers dug into the counter's edge as he lifted me and placed me on top.
As the kiss deepened, my legs wrapped around his waist. He ripped off my panties, tossing them onto the ground as we kissed like we'd been starving for years.
However, the once-beautiful atmosphere shifted when someone's voice echoed through the mansion.
"Darling!"
Both Kash and I froze as the click of a woman's heels grew louder towards the kitchen.
I felt my husband freeze, as though his heart stopped. Before I could speak, I caught the fear in his eyes, not of me, but of the intruder.
He suddenly gripped my waist and pulled me off the counter. I landed on my feet, barely keeping my balance.
"What's going on, Kash? Who is it?" I asked, but he didn't respond.
"Lara? Shit!" he cursed, spitting out the name of the woman in our mansion.
Lara?
Her name had surfaced many times in our home before. She was his first true love. She had been the third thread in our marriage, one I thought was finally severed.
He swore she was out of our lives.
But today–here she was, again.
They'd ended things a month before our wedding. Why return a year later?
His hands clamped down on my shoulders, steering me out of the way.
"Why is she here, Kash?" I demanded, baffled by his sudden coldness that made me feel insignificant.
His hands pressed hard against me, a reminder of how massive he was and how delicate I seemed beside him. He was a good 6 feet 7 inches tall, a powerful alpha king, and I was barely 5 feet 5.
With one hard shove, he sent me stumbling into the small pantry.
I struck a shelf as I stumbled inside and quickly turned to see what was happening.
My husband stood at the door, all color gone from his face. He noticed the red panties on the ground and kicked them toward me.
Without another word, he slammed the door shut and locked it.
I froze in the darkness that swallowed me whole. I pressed against the shelves, trembling in shock.
"Baby, what are you doing here?" I heard my husband speak so softly, more lovingly than he had ever been with me.
"I came to see you. You weren't lying! You really did kick her out of your mansion and your life," she replied joyfully.
She was referring to me.
Tears welled in my eyes as realization slowly sank in.
"She's staying in the guestroom now," Kash replied with a sly tone, and I lifted a hand to my mouth in disbelief.
"Just divorce her already so we can finally marry! I can't bear a single day without you," her voice was low and alluring.
They must be close. Touching eachother?
A flood of questions consumed me.
I pressed my hands to my ears, but the sound of my heartbeat echoed within me. My heart once beat for my husband, now all I felt was pain.
I didn't deserve this.
"I will do it later. Right now, I just want you. I've missed you more than anything," Kash whispered, his tone dripping with tenderness.
His words destroyed me.
"Let's take this to the bedroom," she purred. her tone dripping with seduction. Then came her laugh, and I realized he was carrying her; his lone footsteps moving away proved it.
He was carrying his mistress to the bedroom. Our bedroom. While I remained forgotten, locked in the pantry.
I ran to the pantry door, only to find it locked. I rattled the door, knowing damn well I couldn't open it, and then slowly, steadily slid to the floor, hugging my knees as I sobbed.
I stayed in that pantry for hours. I couldn't move. I couldn't speak. What was I supposed to do while he fucked his mistress in our bed?
At last, frantic footsteps echoed in the kitchen. Finally, he remembered that he locked his wife in the pantry.
As soon as the door opened, I looked up and met his eyes.
Mine were filled with tears, but his remained empty and cold.
"I'm so sorry! I forgot you were in here," he said. "Let me help you up."
He extended his hand toward me. I stared at it for a few seconds. Then I stood up and walked past him, exiting the pantry. I could barely look at him now.
"I need an explanation for your betrayal," I whispered, staring at the burnt pancakes. The day had slipped by while I was hidden away, treated like nothing.
"I'm sorry you had to find out like that," he admitted, not pleading, not explaining. "I cannot live without her."
"That's it? My voice cracked, "What about me?"
Had I not seen them today, would he have ever told me? Would I have just been tossed aside like trash?
"You will stay my wife, but—" He hesitated as I nodded slightly.
"But she will be the one to warm your bed while I will stay in the guestroom. Just as you told her," I laughed bitterly at my own foolishness for believing I could have a happy ending.
"If you truly love and trust me, you'll accept this," he murmured, glancing at a new text on his phone.
That's when I noticed he was fully dressed, showered, and ready to leave.
"You're going out with her, aren't you?" I asked, eyes wide with shock and confusion. It seemed like she left, and he took his time getting ready before unlocking the pantry door for me.
"I've said all I need to. You'll be taken care of. If you loved me, you wouldn't question me," he finished, not looking up from his phone as he recorded an audio message for her.
"I'm coming, babe. Wrapping up some office work," he said, sending the message. He finally looked up, making eye contact with me.
"Did you ever even love me, Kash?" I asked, my voice trembling, pain heavy in my chest.
"I did. That's why you're standing here, and I'm not rejecting you. "I'm the Alpha King of North, I can take care of two mates," he said, unaware of the pain and tears in my eyes.
"Please move your things to the guest room," he said, attempting to pass me.
"If you leave now—if you go to her tonight, Kash—this will be the —end of us," I shouted, my voice trembling.
He paused briefly but didn't turn back.
"It's your choice. If you walk out now, I'm gone for good," I warned, fists clenched, swallowing my pride one last time.
He said nothing. He left the mansion. The silence held by his decision was so heavy it suffocated me.
My throat closed. A wave of nausea hit me. I bolted to the kitchen sink and threw up. A dark realization dawned.
"Am I pregnant?"