Stepsister's Ex Was My Alpha Husband

I was competing with Circe for a promotion to Senior Wolf Pup Trainer.

But when I learned that the judge for this promotion competition was my husband, Alpha Elias, I knew I would lose to Circe.

She was Elias's unforgettable first love.

When the assessment ended, Elias predictably gave the promotion to Circe.

Circe looked at me mockingly and said:

"Even though you're his wife, in his heart, I'll always come first."

"Everything you struggled so hard to get comes easily to me."

She and I had been rivals since our school days, because her mother was the mistress who stole my father.

And she could just as easily occupy Elias's heart.

I glanced wearily at Elias in the distance and suddenly didn't want to fight with Circe anymore.

This time, I was giving up on him.

Between Elias and my career, I chose my career.

The school was recently holding an assessment competition for promotion to Senior Trainer, and the new judge was so handsome that he caused many young colleagues to squeal with excitement.

The judge was Elias, my husband.

As soon as I learned this news, I knew I had already lost my competition with Circe.

There was only one promotion slot, and that slot would definitely go to Circe.

In the break room, colleagues were gossiping about the new judge.

"The judge this time is actually Alpha Elias from our Rimefang pack."

"I heard he's usually very busy and never participates in these activities, let alone judges trainer competitions. Wonder why he came this time."

"If anyone's training demonstration gets evaluated as excellent by him, they won't have to worry about promotions and raises in the future."

"I bet the promotion slot will probably go to Circe. I've heard that Alpha Elias's first love is Circe."

"Circe and Alpha Elias were high school classmates and each other's first love. Alpha Elias came to be a judge specifically for Circe."

"And I've never heard any reports about Alpha Elias's fated mate. Maybe his fated mate is Circe. Then these two would be a match blessed by the Moon Goddess. How beautiful."

They didn't know that I was Elias's fated mate, and they didn't know that I was Elias's wife.

When we got married, Elias said he wanted to keep it secret, so even colleagues I'd worked with for years didn't know I was married, let alone that my husband was our pack's Alpha.

But Elias had never wanted to hide the details of his relationship with Circe.

My colleagues continued discussing Elias and Circe's romantic history. My heart tightened, and I returned to my office somewhat dazed.

The news that Elias was the judge had already spread.

The principal came to find Circe and me.

"Violet, Circe."

"The judge for our promotion assessment is Alpha Elias. You two will each lead a team to prepare training demonstrations. The official assessment will be in one month."

The principal looked at Circe with meaningful eyes, unable to hide his admiration.

He seemed to know about those rumors too, and understood why Elias had chosen our school.

Before I even left the office, I knew our team's training demonstration would be for nothing.

Competing with Circe, I would probably just be a supporting act.

Outside the office, Circe stopped walking.

We stood face to face.

I met her gaze, and she smiled slightly.

Her smile was proud and triumphant.

"Violet, may the best woman win."

Yet she acted completely confident of victory.

Because she knew very well that between her and me, Elias would definitely choose her.

Watching her strut away, I turned and left.

The school erupted in celebration.

If my team's training demonstration got rejected, I would spend the next period working under Circe, swallowing my pride and accepting all her guidance.

I didn't want to humble myself under her.

Before leaving work, everyone gathered around Circe.

Praising her endlessly.

"Circe, you're so amazing."

I made eye contact with Circe through the crowd.

She was surrounded, with lively chatter all around her.

Compared to her, my area seemed cold and deserted.

I stood in the corner, with no one beside me.

She smiled at me with pursed lips.

I looked away, put on my coat, and walked out.

Elias came home.

His expression was as coolly indifferent as always.

I still couldn't help asking.

"Elias, you're coming to judge the assessment at our school?"

Elias looked up at my voice.

He met my eyes briefly, his expression neutral, and gave a soft "mm."

I continued asking:

"Why did you suddenly want to come judge at our school?"

I said in a joking tone:

"Will you give me special treatment?"

Elias's brow furrowed slightly, his expression serious.

There wasn't a hint of amusement in his eyes.

After a moment of silence, he said:

"This was a decision made by the school's leadership."

"The promotion slot isn't decided by me alone."

The implication was that even though I was his wife, it wouldn't work.

I didn't pursue the question further.

He was always this cold and distant, with his own principles and logic, never willing to make exceptions for me.

And I always foolishly hoped to be his exception.

Elias turned and left, going into his study.

The study door wasn't closed tightly.

I could hear him talking on the phone.

The voice on the other end was Circe's.

Elias occasionally laughed softly in response to Circe.

After hanging up, he pushed open the study door.

He walked to the entryway and casually grabbed his coat from the rack.

Putting on his coat and changing into dress shoes.

He straightened up and said to me:

"I have some work tonight. I'm going out for a bit."

I nodded.

Elias was extremely handsome, with deep-set features, a high nose bridge, and thin lips.

Under his dark coat was a well-fitted suit that made his figure even more striking.

He disappeared through the front door.

He came home very late that night.

The question I wanted to ask stuck in my throat after I saw Circe's Instagram post.

Circe's post was a group photo.

The photo showed four people: Circe, Elias, and two of their high school classmates.

Seeing this photo, I thought that question didn't need to be asked.

I had wanted to ask Elias whether he would favor CirceI thought he would.

In the past, I was used to leaving a light on for Elias when he worked late.

Now, I turned off the light and slept soundly.

When I woke up, Elias and I didn't run into each other. We each went to school separately.

Everyone at our school put Circe on a pedestal, revolving around her.

Everyone knew that if it weren't for Circe, Elias wouldn't have chosen our school.

The fact that Circe and I didn't get along was my problem.

My colleagues only needed to care about their year-end bonuses and getting their work done on time.

Today Elias appeared at school as the assessment judge.

The principal called Circe over.

When Circe came back, everyone's eyes were on her.

"Circe, is Alpha Elias strict?"

Circe's lips curved slightly, her answer ambiguous and suggestive.

"Elias and I have known each other for quite a while. He's not strict."

"Everyone can relax."

Several people exchanged glances and smiled knowingly.

I had already clicked the link and read through Circe and Elias's love story.

If I weren't Elias's wife, I too would sigh about how beautiful young love was.

Unfortunately, seeing the romantic story compiled by Elias and Circe's schoolmates, I could only read heartache into it.

Circe still had a social media account from high school that hadn't been deleted.

It was full of her recorded relationship moments.

I couldn't help scrolling through all these posts.

The more I read, the more I realized Elias had truly loved her.

Elias would patiently read every single one of her posts, then comment and like them.

Elias had been the one to pursue Circe.

The only reason I could be with Elias was because we were fated mates. When Elias wasn't yet Alpha, marrying his fated mate was a powerful advantage for becoming the next Alpha.

When I learned that Elias's ex-girlfriend was Circe, a flash of pleasure crossed my mind, feeling a sense of revenge against Circe.

But I quickly realized I had lost completely.

Elias still had Circe in his heart. Even though I had the Moon Goddess's attraction for him, it couldn't compare to the feeling Circe gave him. To me, this was complete and utter humiliation.

This allowed Circe to get one up on me again.

Circe and I had been rivals since childhood.

We were like fire and water, completely incompatible.

Her mother seduced my father, then moved in with her. My mother attempted suicide from depression.

I almost lost my mother.

My father even arranged for her to attend the same school as me for convenience.

Not long after, my mother returned to the Stormheart pack where my grandparents lived.

And I stayed at my father's house.

I thought if I went too far, Circe and her mother would back down.

My methods weren't sophisticated, even a bit foolish.

Pouring ink into their cupsI was afraid they would actually drink it, so I poured black ink that had color.

I just wanted to scare them, to establish dominance in front of Circe.

Unexpectedly, Circe went to my father to complain. My father's face darkened and he scolded me with a furrowed brow.

I hated them but didn't dare do anything truly excessive.

And everything I did only made my father feel he had wronged them.

In high school, at my strong insistence, Circe and I finally weren't at the same school.

What made me completely give up on my father was when I was seventeen. My father took Circe to a banquet.

He didn't deny that Circe was his daughter.

He even wanted Circe to take his surname and also be called Smith.

I told him that if he let Circe change her surname to Smith, I would stop calling myself Violet Smith and change to my grandparents' surname, becoming Violet Miller.

His eyes filled with rage as he looked at me, his arm raised in mid-air about to strike me.

But he was stopped by a tall figure.

That person was Elias.

At that time, Elias was still the Alpha heir, and my father was the Beta of Rimefang pack. Because of my father's position, I had naturally seen Elias before.

But this time was the first time I truly formed an impression of Elias, and he quietly walked into my heart.

When I was eighteen, I discovered I was Elias's fated mate. The joy in my heart was beyond words.

But it wasn't until after marriage that I learned Circe was his ex-girlfriend.

And Elias had even gone to my house as Circe's boyfriend to meet my father.

So when my father learned about my marriage to Elias, his face darkened and he clutched his chest, almost unable to breathe.

"You did this on purpose?"

"You knew Alpha Elias was Circe's ex-boyfriend and you still married him?"

I was stunned for a long time, even forgetting to explain that I was Elias's fated mate.

In the years of our marriage, I was always reluctant to return to my father's house, but one day Elias insisted on taking me back.

At my father's house, Circe and I got into another conflict.

During the argument, we shoved each other and both fell in the yard.

Elias quickly caught Circe.

I fell hard.

Later, inside the house, I asked Elias with red eyes why he didn't catch me.

He cut fruit with an indifferent expression.

"I didn't see."

When Elias was leaving, Circe came into the bedroom.

She smiled as she looked me over, telling me about everything between her and Elias in high school.

In her words, there was a side of Elias I didn't know.

My heart constricted.

Later, Circe and I crossed paths again.

We both chose careers as wolf pup trainers and ended up working at the same school.

She and I chased each other, neither one willing to concede.

She held the status of the Beta's daughter of Rimefang pack, making the principal treat her with deference.

Now she had the added identity of the Alpha's ex-girlfriend.

Everyone put her on an even higher pedestal.

I knew the promotion slot would most likely not be mine, but I still led my team working overtime to prepare the training demonstration.

A month later, I walked into the assessment room with this training demonstration.

Everyone was there except Circe.

She came in with Elias.

The light fell perfectly on both of them.

Elias occasionally lowered his head, accommodating Circe's height to hear what she was saying.

The man's profile was illuminated, his features sharp and defined.

His eyes were dark, his smile subtle.

In that unintentional moment our eyes met, I wanted to read something different in his gaze.

But there was nothing.

Still the same cold indifference.

We drew lots to determine the presentation order. I was before Circe.

I went on stage with a composed expression, leading my team through the training demonstration.

And during the speech segment after training, I explained all my training ideas and inspiration.

During the speech, I was completely focused.

After stepping down, sparse applause sounded.

The most enthusiastic person clapping was Amy, the young woman who had been following me since her graduation internship.

Elias was expressionless. No one could read what he was thinking.

The principal tried to gauge the meaning in his expression from the corner of his eye.

It was Circe's turn.

She naturally made eye contact with Elias.

They smiled at each other.

The colleagues below exchanged glances with gossipy smiles.

Amy moved closer to me and whispered:

"Violet, is our team going to be eliminated?"

I pulled at the corners of my lips, forcing out a strained smile.

After Circe's training demonstration ended, her applause was clearly much louder than mine.

Even the principal clapped excitedly for her.

Elias's lips curved slightly upward.

There was a thirty-minute break midway.

Lately, I had been caught up in rumors about Elias and Circe, almost suffocating.

The way he looked at me was too cold, making my heart tighten.

From colleagues' gossip, I learned more about Elias and Circe's past.

Elias had actively pursued Circe.

He unfailingly walked her back to her dorm and brought her breakfast.

Their classmates all knew how much Elias loved Circe.

I sat motionless in my chair.

Watching Elias and Circe's backs as they walked out side by side, my nose tingled.

The man I had struggled so hard to get had my most hated person in his heart.

Only Amy and I remained in the assessment room.

Amy held my hand.

The thirty minutes ended.

The results were in.

Elias and the people he brought had already left.

Our principal announced the results.

Three votes total.

All three votes went to Circe.

When the results were announced, my eyes stung and tears welled up.

I forced those tears back down.

The principal and Circe exchanged glances, affirming her.

Several colleagues surrounded Circe.

"Circe, you're amazing."

"Getting promoted to Senior Trainer at such a young age, you have an incredible future ahead."

My figure was lonely as I exited.

But Circe caught up with me.

"Violet."

I stopped in my tracks.

Her eyes curved with her smile.

"Even though you're his wife, to him I'll always be first."

"Everything you struggled so hard to get comes easily to me."

Yes, when we were young, Circe could easily take away my father's love for me.

Now she could also occupy Elias's heart.

In the distance, Elias was ushered into the elevator by the principal, his posture lazy and casual.

Suddenly I felt exhausted.

I didn't want to fight with Circe anymore.

I didn't want Elias anymore either.

The elevator stayed still.

The principal was very perceptive and quickly called for Circe and me to get in the elevator together.

The elevator slowly descended.

The principal flattered him.

"Alpha Elias, you and Circe make such a handsome couple. You're perfectly matched."

Several others chimed in.

"Exactly. I heard Alpha Elias and Circe are already married, just haven't announced the news to the public. Alpha Elias really dotes on his wife, coming to our school specifically to be a judge for Circe."

I numbly listened to these flattering words, unable to stir up any emotion.

I felt a subtle but burning gaze from beside me. I looked over.

Elias's face stiffened.

The principal poked my arm, hinting that I should also say something.

"Violet, don't you think so? Alpha Elias and Circe are such a perfect match."

The elevator doors opened.

I calmly met Elias's eyes.

"Indeed, a perfect match."

Panic flashed through his indifferent eyes, his thin lips parting as if to say something.