He Put His Ex First So I Found My True Mate Chapter 01
When I found the rigged envelopes in the cliffside house at Tidewatch Coast, my fiancé was on the lawn, finishing his third event with his former partner.
The so-called Founding Families Decathlon claimed that partners were chosen at random from wax-sealed envelopes.
I was the only one who hadn’t been allowed to draw.
Graham had said that since I hadn’t completed my pack oath and we hadn’t finished our partner registration, I was best suited to handle drinks, watch the pups, keep score, and take photos.
For the first three rounds, he drew Blair every single time.
Blindfolded feeding. Tandem rowing. Then a slow dance, close and intimate, to an old family tune everyone knew.
They moved together with the ease of two people whose deregistration papers might as well have never existed.
I stood there holding the camera while friends of the Whitmore family sang their praises.
“For the pups’ sake, you two are still the most complete family.”
After Blair won the third round, she smiled at me.
“Thanks for organizing everything so thoughtfully. You don’t mind, do you?”
I bit down hard and went to the storage room for spare scorecards.
In the trash, I saw a torn envelope.
Along the dark wax seal was a faint indentation—subtle enough to hide from most, but obvious to anyone who knew what to look for.
I took out the remaining envelopes and held them to the light, one by one.
Every single one had a different mark.
The draw had never been random. It had all been arranged.
It wasn’t just bad luck.
Before I’d even sworn my oath to this pack, they had already crossed me out of the family.
Outside the door, I heard Graham and Blair laughing again.
Someone knocked and told me to get back out there to keep score.
Members of Tidewatch could notify each other through the heart-link. I was the only one who had to wait for someone to remember I existed and deliver the message out loud.
But this time, I wouldn’t be keeping track of their scores alone.
…
I put the envelopes back where I found them and walked out of the storage room.
My reflection flashed in the floor-to-ceiling windows.
The sea wind had whipped my hair loose. There were shadows under my eyes from too many late nights. A wooden event coordinator tag still hung from my neck. Out on the lawn, people were drinking champagne, and I looked less like a guest than like the staff hired to keep the house running.
In the past, Ember, the wolf inside me, would have stirred at the cedar-and-leather scent on Graham.
Now, she sent only a warning.
This wasn’t the first time Graham had asked me to endure something for the sake of peace.
Three months ago, Blair had let herself into our Grayhaven home with an old key, unannounced, and redecorated the pups’ bedroom.
I’d asked Graham if, since they were no longer registered partners, she should respect the boundaries of our home.
His expression had gone cold.
“Co-parenting is complicated enough, Mara. You need to be more understanding.”
After that, Blair meddled with the date of our partnership ceremony, changed the pups’ summer camp plans without consulting me, and had Graham accompany her to a family dinner at the pack school.
Every time I objected, they painted me as the jealous outsider—resentful of the ex, blind to the needs of the children.
I’d thought giving ground would earn me their acceptance.
Now I knew all it did was teach them they could keep crossing the line.
“Final round!”
Cynthia tapped her champagne glass.
“Family portrait!”
Graham and Blair opened the last two envelopes.
The wax seals bore the same gold mark. Again.
Cheers erupted across the lawn.
“Seven pairings out of ten rounds? Of course you two are the champions.”
“Get the pups over here! Let’s get a complete family photo for the Whitmores!”
Everyone there came from Tidewatch’s old families. That photo would go into the Founding Families commemorative album, and those same families would all have a say at the acceptance gathering for new members.
They knew that in two months, my partner oath was supposed to place me in the Whitmore family registry and allow me to apply for pack membership.
And still, not one of them questioned why I was the one left outside the frame.
Blair smiled and drew the two pups to her side.
She had once been Graham’s registered partner. She was the pups’ mother. Among these old families, she still held solid standing.
Graham moved to stand beside her as if it were the most natural thing in the world, resting a hand on his son’s shoulder.
From beneath the table, Cynthia produced a dark wooden frame carved with the Tidewatch crest.
“I had this prepared specially. Once the photo’s developed, it goes in the Founding Families gallery.”
She handed the camera to me.
“Mara, you always take the best photos.”
I didn’t take it.
“I’m Graham’s publicly promised future partner.”
The lawn went quiet for a beat.
Blair sighed softly, a sound of pure indulgence for someone who clearly didn’t understand pack customs.
“Of course. No one is denying that.”
She drew her daughter closer.
“This is just a keepsake for the pups. It matters to them that their parents can be in one picture together. Surely you’re not going to begrudge them a single photo?”
“Then why do I have to be the one to take it?”
Graham frowned.
“Mara, you’re making this more complicated than it needs to be.”
He took the camera himself and shoved it into my hands.
“Just take the picture. Don’t disappoint the pups.”
He didn’t ask why I had suddenly gone silent.
I gripped the camera and stepped back to the edge of the lawn.
In the viewfinder, Graham and Blair stood in the center, their two children in front of them. The setting sun cast a golden sheen over the sea. The four of them were smiling as if their family had never been broken at all.
I was the one shut out of the picture.
I pressed the shutter.
When I finished, Blair didn’t step away.
She turned her face and offered her cheek to Graham.
“The rules have a bonus point for a kiss.”
The crowd erupted.
“Kiss her!”
“The champions can’t skip that point!”
I watched Graham through the camera lens.
If he said no, the whole farce would end.
Instead, he bent down and kissed Blair on the cheek.
Blair closed her eyes, one hand resting against his chest.
Someone must have jostled my arm, because the camera clicked again, saving the moment forever.
The score flipped to the highest total.
Cynthia raised her glass. “The champions of this year’s Founding Families Decathlon are Graham and Blair!”
Applause and whistles drowned out the sound of the waves.
She fetched two crowns woven from wildflowers and ivy, then held them out to me.
“Event coordinator. Crown the winners.”
I didn’t move.
She pushed them a little closer.
“Everyone’s waiting.”
Graham was staring at me now, a clear warning in his eyes.
For the past three years, he had always framed his personal demands as if they were pack law, something I was required to obey.
I took the crowns and placed them on his head, and then on Blair’s.
Blair laughed and wrapped her arms around his waist.
Cynthia urged, “Mara, a photo. This is the best moment of the year.”
I raised the camera.
In the lens, the two of them stood wearing the crowns I had made, celebrating a victory during a weekend I had paid for in full.
My mind went unnaturally still.
Ember no longer reacted to Graham’s scent at all.
When the photo was done, Blair touched her crown and said, “Shouldn’t the champions get a prize, too?”
She pointed toward the third floor of the house.
“I want the ocean-view master.”
That was the room I had reserved on my credit card, the one I’d paid the deposit for.
I looked at Graham.
He lifted his champagne glass without a word of protest.
By the time we went back inside, my luggage was gone from the master bedroom.
George was carrying my suitcase down the stairs. He dropped it beside the long sofa in the main hall.
“The champions obviously get the best room.”
“Put my things back.”
“Don’t take a traditional game so seriously. It’s just for one night.”
I walked past him, straight to Graham.
“That was our room.”
“The kids want to sleep with Blair tonight.” He lowered his voice. “Don’t argue in front of them.”
“Then where am I sleeping?”
Graham pointed to the folded sofa bed beside the fireplace.
“You can stay in the hall tonight. You get cold easily, so you’ll be right next to the fire.”
A few people snickered.
I took out my phone and called the front desk.
“I’ll book another room.”
George reached over and ended the call.
“This is a private Tidewatch shore. There are no spare rooms. Don’t ruin the mood over one bedroom.”
I dialed again.
Graham caught my wrist.
“Mara. That’s enough.”
My wolf instincts flared. My pulse hammered under his grip, and my canines ached with a defensive pressure.
I looked up at him.
There was no guilt in his face.
Only irritation that I was no longer cooperating.
“We’ve known each other since we were pups,” he said. “This is a gathering of Tidewatch’s old families. For the children’s sake, can’t you just be a little more mature?”