My mate is my Father-in-law

Eighteen years.

The word echoed in her mind like a bell, sweet and solemn. That day was not just a birthday; it was the line separating who Lirah was from who she could become. And at the center of all her hopes, there was a name: Fael.

The air at the university was charged with a different kind of electricity. It wasn’t just the usual hallway bustle; it was something unusual, as if some event were taking place. A tremor ran through the pack and made even the most serious professors whisper behind half-open doors.

Her inner wolf, normally so submissive, stirred beneath her skin, sniffing out the change. Whenever that happened, the reason had only one name: the Alpha’s House, which Lirah had never had any interest in knowing until the right moment arrived.

She adjusted the strap of her backpack, slipping between groups of students with bright eyes. Then she caught fragments of a conversation that made her step falter.

"The main hall, at noon! The Alpha himself is going to introduce Fael’s future Luna."

The world seemed to reduce its noise to a dull hum. Noon. Alpha’s Mansion. Future Luna.

Her pulse quickened, each beat a hammer against her temples.

Fael. He hadn’t answered her calls. He hadn’t shown up. But now… all the pieces fit together with a painfully beautiful precision that made her chest scream.

Her birthday. Their date. The promise.

The memory of his whisper, warm against her ear on a moonlit night, flooded her with force — but not only that night, all the times he had sworn: *“When you turn eighteen, Lirah, I’ll introduce you to the world. Not as the Beta’s daughter. As my partner. My one and only Luna.”*

An irrepressible smile bloomed on her lips, small and hers alone. He had done it. It had all been a secret, a magnificent ruse to crown them before everyone. The yearning to see him became a knot of fire in her stomach.

Lirah flew home. Her mother, always graceful, arranged silver lilies — her lilies — on the table. Her father, Beta Aron, watched with the firm posture and silent pride that were his second skin. His gaze weighed on her, analytical.

"Excited for the banquet, my lily?" her mother asked, with a smile that knew all her secrets — except that one.

"Very," Lirah replied, her voice slightly higher than normal.

Her father approached. His familiar scent — earth, oak, and authority — enveloped her.

"Lirah," he said, his voice a low bass of warning. "Stay discreet. Today is not just any day. It’s about the pack’s future, about alliances and power. The focus is the heir."

"Are you afraid?" she challenged.

"No! It’s just that everyone knows the Beta has a daughter, but today is not the day for them to find out. You would draw more attention because you are someone many have wanted to meet for a long time, besides the fact that many leaders will be there."

His gaze seemed to see beyond the layers of his daughter’s illusion.

"This is not the time for… distractions."

"Afraid I’ll find my *mate* now that I’m eighteen?" Lirah tried to sound unconcerned.

"Finding a *mate* is not a fairy tale, little wolf. It’s strategy. It’s duty. Especially for us."

His fingers lifted a strand of her silver hair, as pale as her mother’s.

"You inherited her beauty. And beauty, in these circles, attracts more glances than you imagine. It attracts trouble."

"It’s fine, Father, don’t worry," she said, turning and climbing the stairs.

After all, that wolf already had an owner.

Lirah dressed with trembling hands. The light-blue dress fitted her body like a second skin, and the silver details shimmered in the light like fish scales under the moon.

In the mirror, a stranger stared back at her. Woman, not girl. With a spark of determination in her eyes that she barely recognized herself. *Today*, she thought, feeling the wolf inside her lift its head. *Today everything changes.*

---

The Alpha’s mansion was a living organism, pulsating with the pack’s luxury and power. The air smelled of expensive flowers, rich food, and ambition disguised as perfume. In the center of the great hall, a majestic staircase descended onto a red carpet, leading to two empty thrones. The buzz was a hive of speculation. Everyone knew the ritual. Everyone awaited the revelation.

Lirah walked around the hall, saw many distinguished people. All she knew was that Alpha Kaelom was like an Alpha King — he ruled over all packs as the universal leader, and within them, he himself appointed each lesser Alpha. His empire grew and grew stronger with every war; he took enemy territories, put his name on them, and gave them a new government and Alpha. Lirah had heard her father tell how they won wars and how the conquered packs received new direction. By all accounts, a direction toward glory and prosperity. Kaelom seemed to be an excellent Alpha indeed.

"The future Alpha of the Eastern Pack presents himself!" the announcement sounded.

And then, he appeared.

Fael. And behind him, those imposing figures.

A tall, strong man with an authoritative posture — Alpha Kaelom — next to a slender woman with long black hair. And behind them, the Beta, her father. All three were breathtaking figures in terms of power and authority.

But Lirah’s focus was her dear Fael.

He stood at the top of the staircase like a prince from an ancient dream. His ceremonial attire emphasized the breadth of his shoulders, his innate commanding posture.

Her heart tried to escape through her throat. *Our eyes met across the crowd*, she thought, holding her breath, preparing for his smile, for the nod that would confirm their conspiracy of love.

But he didn’t smile. In fact, he seemed not to see her — or pretended not to.

His face remained a smooth stone mask. And then, his eyes looked away from her, as if sweeping the crowd and finding nothing of value.

A crack of ice scratched Lirah’s certainty. Her hands trembled, plunging her into distress and anxiety.

Before despair could take shape, a movement beside Fael caught her attention.

A figure glided into the space beside him, elegant and confident. Light fell on curly hair and a smile that Lirah knew as well as her own reflection.

Jady.

Her best friend since childhood. The person to whom she had entrusted every secret, every doubt about Fael.

She placed her hand on his arm, possessive, natural. And then, Fael — Lirah’s Fael — raised his hand for silence.

His voice, so familiar, echoed through the hall with a coldness she had never heard from him:

"Today it is with great honor that I present the future Luna of the Eastern Pack. My chosen partner."

Time stretched, elastic and cruel. Lirah saw his lips move. She saw the name form in the air between them.

"Jady…"

Not Lirah. But Jady.

The word did not hit her ears as a sound. It hit her as a physical impact, a punch to the solar plexus that stole all the air from the world.

The roar of applause that exploded seemed to muffle itself, turning into a deafening buzz. Her feet, which had moved toward the steps of their own accord, rooted themselves to the cold marble.

Her desperate gaze clung to his. *Look at me*, she pleaded silently. *Say it’s a joke. A mistake.*

He looked. And in his eyes, where Lirah used to find a shared secret, there was neither love nor remorse. There was embarrassment. The quick irritation of someone whose flawless plan had been interrupted by an accident.

In that moment, she understood.

She hadn’t known about the dinner because she wasn’t meant to be there. That must be why her father had suggested she behave. Maybe he hadn’t said he didn’t want to take her because she was his daughter, but… really, Lirah never attended these ceremonies. But that one was supposed to be hers.

Jady, with her smile now so sharp, squeezed Fael’s hand. An intimate gesture. Her eyes met Lirah’s over his shoulder, and in them shone not shame, but pure, crystalline, triumphant victory.

And in that instant, under the glorious light of noon, on her eighteenth birthday, Lirah did not feel only the betrayal of one man.

She felt the silent collapse of every truth with which she had built her world.

The phrase continued to echo in Lirah’s mind, each word a knife turning in slow motion. *My future Luna, Jady.* Why? How? The man she loved had his arms around another woman, introducing her to the world as if the secret year between them had never existed.

*When?* her thought screamed, chaotic and deafening. Jady didn’t even like Fael! She had always called him a "spoiled playboy" in their late-night conversations. Was it all a lie? Was their friendship a sham?

Her heart didn’t scream. It simply stopped. For one infinite second, Lirah stood empty, a cocoon of flesh and bone where life had once been.

Then the pain arrived. Like a silent implosion that sucked all the air from the hall and left only the icy vacuum of betrayal.

It was Jady whom he pulled into the spotlight. It was on her that the pack focused its respectful gaze. She was the chosen one.

On the day Lirah turned eighteen.

On the morning when Fael’s last whisper, through the mental link