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.
He Put His Ex First So I Found My True Mate Chapter 10 At that same moment, I was at home in Grayhaven, packing the last cardboard box. Inside were all the “gifts” Graham had given me. A stand mixer for baking cakes for their gatherings. An expensive camera for documenting birthdays,
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He Put His Ex First So I Found My True Mate Chapter 09 The moment my attorney left, the hall erupted. George slammed the invoice down on the table. “Has Mara lost her mind? She’s sending formal collection notices over this amount of money?” “The amount isn’t the point—this is vicious.” Cynthia
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He Put His Ex First So I Found My True Mate Chapter 08 Meanwhile, back at the cliff house, Graham stood in the empty main hall and finally felt the first stir of unease. My phone was off. The obsidian-and-gold courtship ring lay on the bedside table. It had only ever been
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He Put His Ex First So I Found My True Mate Chapter 07 Back at the cliff house, no one noticed there was no breakfast until seven o’clock. Cynthia called my phone several times, her face darkening with each unanswered ring. “Mara is way too sensitive. When she gets back, she needs to
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He Put His Ex First So I Found My True Mate Chapter 06 I kept scrolling. They complained that the restaurant I’d booked “wasn’t appropriate for a founding family” and had privately told Graham to switch it to a more expensive one. Cynthia asked, “Won’t that blow the budget?” George answered, “Who
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He Put His Ex First So I Found My True Mate Chapter 05 I didn’t close the page. I kept scrolling. At the bottom of the folder was another file: *Chat Backup*. The earliest date was three months ago. Blair had written first: “Let’s do the Founding Families Decathlon this
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He Put His Ex First So I Found My True Mate Chapter 04 Once my bags were packed, I could have left right then. But the camera was still on the table. As the “event coordinator,” I had agreed to upload the photos that night. One last thing. Graham’s laptop wasn’t
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He Put His Ex First So I Found My True Mate Chapter 03 With that, Blair linked her arm through Graham’s and walked with him toward the kayaks. I stayed crouched in the sand, picking up each item and wiping it clean before placing it back in the first-aid kit. My course completion
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He Put His Ex First So I Found My True Mate Chapter 02 Graham let go of my wrist as if the argument was already settled. “I’m going upstairs to get the pups settled. You clean up down here and get some rest.” Then he picked up Blair’s luggage and carried it into
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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
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