Chapter 1

For generations, we she-wolves born into the Frostmoon Pack have never been free to choose whom we bond with.

When a Frostmoon Omega comes of age, the pack chooses the Alpha best suited to her based on bloodline, territory, and the interests of both packs.

The Alpha chosen for me was Lucas Grant, future Alpha of the Blackstone Pack.

According to our centuries-old tradition, I was expected to bond with him without question.

But my parents, who had always put pack duty above everything else, urged me for the first time to defy the arrangement.

My mother, Claire Reed, said, "I don't see any love in the way he looks at you. Not even a hint of affection. Even his wolf rejects you."

My father, Daniel Reed, was more blunt.

"Throughout the negotiations, Lucas only cared about what we could offer his pack. He never asked what you wanted."

At the final meeting before the bonding ceremony, my father even told me that if I refused the arrangement, he would accept whatever consequences came from breaking the alliance.

But I didn't refuse.

I'd fallen for Lucas during the few arranged meetings we'd had. I convinced myself my parents were simply reluctant to send me so far from home and were reading too much into his coldness.

I believed the arrangement only determined how a bond began. What came after was still ours to shape.

Lucas didn't love me yet, but I believed that one day, he would.

So in front of the elders of both packs, I signed the bonding agreement and declared that I was going through with the bonding ceremony of my own free will.

My father didn't try to stop me again. As we'd agreed beforehand, he froze my status in Frostmoon along with my inheritance account.

If I was so certain Lucas was worthy, then I would have to prove I'd made the right choice without the protection of my pack. It was my father's punishment—and, in his own way, his attempt to protect me.

And so I joined Blackstone.

On the day of our bonding ceremony, Lucas told me in front of the elders of both packs that he would honor the alliance, but he would never love me.

I was young and foolish enough to believe I could change his mind.

Ten years passed, and Lucas never once held a Luna ceremony for me.

To everyone in Blackstone, I remained nothing more than "the Alpha's mate."

I was allowed to live there and attend official pack banquets, but Lucas never let me stand beside him and receive the pack's allegiance as his Luna.

As for fidelity, that had never been part of our bonding agreement in the first place.

Over the years, I'd seen countless she-wolves come and go at his side.

None of them lasted long. Each time, I comforted myself with the thought that if I could just give Blackstone an heir, Lucas might finally accept this bond for real.

And now, after ten years, I was finally pregnant.

I spent the entire ride home from the hospital with one hand resting protectively over my belly.

I even found myself wondering if Lucas might smile at me for the first time when I told him.

But when I returned to the penthouse earlier than expected and opened the bedroom door, the first thing that hit me was the scent of another she-wolf.

Vivian Cole was lying in the middle of our bed, wrapped in the moonsilk quilt Lucas and I shared.

The sickly sweet scent of gardenia moonlure clung heavily to her body.

Lucas sat on the edge of the bed, using his scent to soothe her restless wolf.

He saw me but didn't bother to stand.

"Wasn't your follow-up scheduled for this afternoon?"

My fingers tightened around the door handle.

He wasn't asking why I'd come back early. He was asking why my appointment had been moved.

That could only mean this wasn't the first time he'd brought Vivian into our bedroom while I was away at the hospital.

He simply hadn't expected me back so soon.

"I'm sorry, Evelyn." Vivian shrank back, her eyes red. "I only found out today that I'm pregnant. My wolf keeps trembling. The doctor said only the pup's father's scent can calm it."

She took Lucas's hand and pressed it to her belly.

"The pup is the Alpha's."

My fingers curled around the pregnancy report in my pocket, crumpling the paper.

My wolf picked up Vivian's scent and began whimpering restlessly inside me.

Lucas immediately released his Alpha dominance, forcing my wolf into submission.

A crushing pressure slammed into my chest. I grabbed the doorframe to keep myself from falling to my knees.

Lucas looked at me with nothing but warning in his eyes.

"Vivian can't handle stress right now. If you're going to cry or break things, leave first."

"I can go," Vivian said in a small voice. "This is Evelyn's room, after all."

"No need."

Lucas pulled his jacket around her shoulders again.

"From today, Vivian stays here. You'll move to the east guest room.

"You're still my mate, Blackstone will keep providing for you. But Vivian is carrying my pup. Her needs come first. Evelyn, don't make things ugly for everyone."

Just like that, he threw me out of the bedroom I'd called mine for ten years. He didn't even bother asking my opinion.

In the past, I would have stormed up to him and demanded to know why ten years together hadn't earned me even a shred of dignity.

This time, I simply nodded.

"Fine."

My answer came so quickly that Lucas gave me a second look. He probably thought I'd finally learned to accept my place.

I didn't even bother opening the closet.

Every expensive dress and piece of jewelry inside belonged to Blackstone. I wanted none of it.

Instead, I walked into the adjoining study and opened the wall safe. I took only my passport, birth certificate, and the severance agreement I'd prepared long ago.

At the bottom of the safe lay the application for my Luna ceremony. It had never taken effect.

During our first year together, I'd prepared it according to Blackstone tradition and asked Lucas to submit it to the Council.

He never signed it.

For nine years, that dead application had sat untouched in the safe, its edges faded.

I left it exactly where it was and closed the safe.

If Lucas hadn't been willing to acknowledge me for nine years, I no longer needed his acknowledgment.

I returned to the bedroom and placed the severance agreement in front of him.

"Since Vivian can give you the heir you want, there's no reason left to keep our bond going."

"Lucas, I want to sever our bond."