CHAPTER 01

LAYLA’s POV

I felt my thighs throbbing as I tried to turn lazily on the bed. I wasn’t sure why but my eyes shot open only to see my body wrapped in the arms of the most alluring, handsome man that I absolutely did not recognize. Worse still was that I had no memory of what had happened last night.

I closed my eyes again for a few seconds hoping and praying that it was only a dream but slowly opening my eyes again, I came face to face with a pair of icy blue eyes. Sounds crazy but I yelled out so loud until he covered my mouth.

My life had been perfect until yesterday when I found my fiancé in bed with another woman fourteen days before our wedding. I wish I could say I handled it with dignity but I didn’t.

I stood outside his bedroom with my hand still wrapped around the door handle, staring at the man I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with as though I had never seen him before.

The curtains were half drawn, leaving the room dim despite the afternoon sunlight outside. His shirt was lying on the floor and on the bed, he was naked and pressed up against another girl, thrusting and moaning as their sweaty bodies edged to climax.

Adrian was my chosen mate. I trusted him so much but in a matter of seconds, that illusion was utterly shattered into a million pieces.

“Fuck me, Adrian! Yeah, baby, that’s it!” I shut my ears tightly with my hands, not wanting to hear anything anymore except the violent pounding of my heart.

I was traumatized even as the tears were already rushing down my face and I couldn’t help but scream his name. “Adrian…”

His head snapped toward me and I could see the color drained from his face. “Layla?”

The woman beside him suddenly pulled the blanket higher over herself. I stared at them in total disgust, then at the engagement ring on my finger and then back at him.

In exactly fourteen days, I was supposed to walk down the aisle and become the Luna of the Vega Pack. My wedding dress had already been fitted and the invitations had been sent.

The entire pack knew that Alpha Adrian had finally chosen his mate or at least, that was what I had believed.

My fingers slowly loosened around the door. “Who is she?”

Adrian pushed himself upright. “Layla, listen to me.”

I laughed humorlessly. “For the past five years, I have listened to you and this is what I get. So what the hell gives you the audacity to tell me what to do right now, Adrian.”

“Please.”

“I fucking hate you, Adrian Vale.” My voice cracked, and that seemed to frighten him more than if I had screamed.

I stepped into the room and that usual familiar calm and sweet scent of my fiancé made me sick. I pressed a hand against my stomach.

How could I have been so foolish? I thought he really loved me. My name is Layla, and I’m the daughter of the Alpha of Artemis pack. You would think that would make me special but instead, it made my life a living hell.

My mother was my father’s first love, until he decided she was no longer enough because he needed a male heir. He brought his pregnant mistress and her daughter into our home and that humiliation broke her.

She died not long after and my father barely mourned her because he was too busy waiting for the son his mistress was carrying and when she finally gave birth to his male heir, whatever little place I had left in my father’s heart disappeared.

I became invisible. No, Invisible would have been kinder. He treated me like a mistake he couldn’t undo. I was a constant reminder of everything he never wanted.

At eighteen, I still hadn’t shifted. I had no strength, no abilities, no scent that marked me as a true werewolf. In a pack where weakness was unforgivable, I was nothing.

I was my father’s shame and his unwanted daughter. So when Adrian, the soon to be Alpha of one of the most powerful packs showed interest in me, my father didn’t hesitate. To him, marrying me off was the perfect solution.

Everything in my life was an absolute nightmare except, Adrian and my best friend, Aria.

He was one of the most powerful wolves in the Vega Pack, intelligent, handsome, and desired by almost every unmated girl in the pack. Yet somehow, he had chosen me.

We dated for five years and I was foolish enough to believe that just maybe, Adrian would be the one person who I would spend the rest of my life with.

Adrian climbed out of the bed and reached for me but I stepped backward.

“How long?” I whispered.

Adrian frowned. “How long what?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Adrian!” I was beginning to lose whatever little patience I had left but then his silence was a giveaway. I removed the ring and threw it at him before rushing out of his house, daring myself not to look back and too heartbroken to care as I bolted home.

I took a deep breath as I pushed the front door open so hard that it slammed against the wall, startling one of the maids in the hallway. I ignored her startled expression and hurried upstairs, desperate to get somewhere no one could see me fall apart.

But before I could reach my bedroom, a familiar voice stopped me. “Layla?”

I quickly wiped the tears from my face and turned around. My best friend, Aria, stood at the end of the hallway, staring at me with confusion. She had known me long enough to recognize the difference between an ordinary bad day and the kind of pain that left someone barely breathing.

Aria was the Beta’s daughter and my closest confidant in Artemis Pack. “What happened?”

“Nothing.” I turned around again as the tears in my eyes threatened to fall again but Aria hurriedly caught my wrist.

“Don’t lie to me.”

That was all it took. The tears I had been fighting came rushing back, and I covered my face as a broken sob escaped my lips. “Adrian cheated on me.”

Aria’s expression changed instantly. “What?”

“I caught him.” My voice trembled. “I caught him in bed with another woman.”

For a moment, she said nothing. She dragged me into my room, locked the doors and pulled me into her arms. I buried my face against her shoulder, finally allowing myself to cry.

“He said he loved me,” I whispered. “How could he do this to me?”

“I don’t know, Layla” she murmured, gently rubbing my back.

“I loved him so much.” I pulled away and wiped my cheeks, but more tears immediately replaced the ones I had brushed away.

“I know, Layla. Just calm yourself.”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do now. I think this time my father is really going to disown me completely.”

Aria looked at me for a long moment before taking both my hands in hers. “Listen, Layla, you don’t have to figure everything out tonight. You need to breathe to think.”

I sniffed, shaking my head. “I just want to forget everything even if it’s for a few hours.”

A small smile touched her lips. “Then that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

I frowned. “Aria…that’s not what I meant.”

She slipped her arm around my shoulders and pulled me towards my wardrobe. “I know what you need right now.”

“What?” I tried to protest, but she was already all in.

“Let’s get you dressed. It’s time to get drunk!”

I had no idea where Aria was taking me but perhaps that was exactly what I needed.