第1章

On my mating ceremony with my Alpha mate Derek, I felt my heart stop when his stepsister Victoria waltzed in wearing the exact Luna ceremonial dress I had been begging Derek to buy me for months.

"It's just a dress, Scarlett. We need to save our resources for pack matters," Derek had told me when I asked for it.

Victoria glided across the room toward me. She embraced me, her lips brushing against my ear. "Congratulations on becoming Luna."

She whispered, her voice honey-sweet with poison underneath. "Do you really think you deserve that title? You don't even have a proper Luna dress. Derek told me only I am worthy of wearing this gown."

My blood ran cold as she pulled back, still smiling for our audience. Before I could respond, Derek appeared beside us, beaming at his stepsister.

"Victoria, you look stunning tonight," he said, his voice warm with affection he rarely showed me.

Victoria's eyes glistened with false emotion as she raised her glass. "A toast to our new Luna!" she announced loudly. But as she stepped forward, she deliberately tilted her glass, spilling red wine down the front of her own dress.

Her scream silenced the entire hall. "Scarlett! How could you?" she wailed, tears instantly streaming down her face.

"Luna, I know you've always disliked me," she sobbed, clutching Derek's arm. "But I came to congratulate you sincerely today. Why would you treat me like this?"

Derek's face darkened as he stared at me, his eyes flashing with his wolf's anger.

"What is wrong with you?" he hissed, his fingers digging painfully into my arm as he pulled me aside. "This is supposed to be a sacred ceremony, and you're acting like a jealous pup."

"Derek, I didn't spill anything on her," I protested. "She did it herself!"

"Enough!" His Alpha voice made everyone in the room flinch. "You're embarrassing yourself and our pack. This behavior is beneath even an Omega, let alone a Luna."

“If you do this again, I will punish you and send you to jail. No one can disobey the wolf pack laws, not even Luna.” He warned.

I watched in disbelief as Derek returned to Victoria. Just two days ago, when an Omega servant deliberately tore my million-dollar Luna gown at Victoria's instigation, I'd asked Derek to punish her.

His response? "As Luna, you need to be gracious and kind to pack members, Scarlett."

But now he thought I merely spills wine on Victoria's dress, and suddenly Derek's forgotten all about being gracious to pack members?

"Derek," I finally spoke up, my voice low but filled with suppressed rage, "I don't understand why you always favor Victoria. This is our mating ceremony. I'm the one becoming your mate, becoming the Luna of this pack. Yet Victoria is the one wearing the Luna's ceremonial dress, standing here enjoying all your affection."

My words made Derek pause for a moment, confusion flickering across his face. Then his expression hardened as he looked at me coldly, clearly not seeing how outrageously he was behaving.

"Don't overreact, Scarlett," he said in a low voice that carried the unmistakable command of an Alpha. "Victoria is my stepsister. We grew up together. Her parents are dead, and she has no one else. If I don't stand up for her, she'll be bullied. As the Alpha of this pack, I can't allow that. And you, as my mate, should understand me."

Then Derek turned to Victoria, his expression instantly softening with tenderness and indulgence as he comforted her, leaving everyone else forgotten.

Considering this was supposed to be my mating ceremony, I didn't follow them but instead focused on calming the pack members who were witnessing this disaster.

After the ceremony finally ended, Victoria sought me out. Still wearing that expensive dress, she flaunted herself in front of me. "Scarlett, so what if you've become Derek's mate? I'm the one he truly cherishes. You'll never have his real love. His heart will always favor me."

"You're pathetic," I hissed, my wolf's anger rising inside me. “Even if you manipulated Derek, he still marked me today. I am the pack’s Luna and you are nothing.”

Victoria's smile turned predatory. "Maybe I should be Luna then."

Her expression turned vicious as she suddenly shoved me toward the bonfire at the center of the altar. Though my wolf reacted quickly, the flames still caught my dress, burning it and scorching my wolf who howled in pain.

Everyone around us froze, then gathered quickly. Derek stood nearby, his face dark with anger.

Victoria's voice rose above the commotion, her eyes brimming with false tears: "She just tried to tear my dress! I only pushed her away lightly to defend myself! Please, someone save her!"

The pack members looked between us in confusion as I struggled to extinguish the flames licking at my ceremonial gown.

Derek's eyes burned with fury as he stormed toward me, completely ignoring my pain. "What is wrong with you?" he roared, his Alpha voice making the ground beneath us tremble. "You're the Luna of this pack now. Why would you attack my sister over a dress? You've disgraced not only yourself but our entire pack!"

I stared at him in disbelief, my skin still burning from the flames. "Derek, she pushed me into the fire! Can't you see I'm hurt?"

"Stop lying!" he snarled, stepping closer to Victoria protectively. "Your jealousy has gone too far. Victoria would never do such a thing."

"This is already the second time today you've caused trouble for Victoria, Scarlett. If I catch you making things difficult for Victoria again, I won't hesitate to sever our mate bond. I mean every word I say."

The entire pack witnessed my humiliation in shocked silence.

My skin still burned from the flames, angry red welts forming across my arms and shoulder. The ceremonial Luna crown slipped from my singed hair, clattering to the floor while Derek didn't even flinch at the sound.

Something had broken inside me at that ceremony—not just my heart, but my illusions.