Chapter 1

The day after my first shift, my Alpha mate Marcus Stone couldn’t wait to mark me as his Luna. But later I discovered I was nothing more than a substitute for his childhood sweetheart.

Even when I was attacked by rogue wolves and lost our baby, he was by his first love's side. After learning the truth, I decided to leave him completely.

He was twelve years older than me, a top-tier Alpha whose territory ranked in the top 5 for power in the Northern Regions.

Rumors said he kept his distance from women—almost every beautiful she-wolf in the Northern Regions couldn't shake his cold, commanding presence. Only I was the exception. With me, he acts different. Soft. Gentle.

I casually mentioned wanting to see fireworks, and that very night Marcus ordered a sweep of the entire territory for the finest and rarest fireworks.

I said I wanted to see the northern lights, but our territory didn't have them. When Marcus found out, he spent 100 million dollars on a luxury private jet, saying he'd take me to Northern Europe to see the aurora.

Every anniversary, he would give me an exquisite red haute couture dress and a carefully arranged bouquet of moonflowers.

I thought he loved the scent of moonflowers, so even though I was allergic to them, I happily accepted the gifts every time.

Until at our mating ceremony anniversary banquet, I saw Marcus's childhood sweetheart Rose wearing a red dress, adorned with moonflower decorations.

That's when I realized it was Rose who loved red dresses and moonflowers.

No wonder every anniversary, when I wore the red dress he gave me, Marcus would get especially excited and be particularly passionate with me. It was because only dressed like that did I look more like Rose.

…

So I was just Rose's substitute. This realization left me mentally dazed. On my way home, Marcus's enemies—a group of rogue wolves—surrounded me. Their goal was to kidnap me and use me and the child in my womb to threaten Marcus.

They swarmed me, tearing at my arms and legs with their claws. I fought back desperately, but there were too many of them. Soon I was overpowered.

The rogue wolves' leader, seeing my fierce resistance would make it difficult to take me quickly, decided to kill me instead. He cruelly drove his claws through my abdomen. Excruciating pain instantly swept through my entire body.

In that critical moment, I tried to reach Marcus through our mind-link for help, only to discover the connection was blocked. I immediately called his phone.

The call was answered and immediately hung up. But in that brief instant before he hung up, I clearly heard Rose's laughter on the other end.

My strength to resist quickly drained away, and I fell unconscious.

When I woke up again, the healer sadly told me that my child had been clawed out alive by the rogue wolves and lost his life.

I gritted my teeth and didn't cry, but when the healer asked "Do you want to see the baby?" I broke down and shook my head.

When I was discharged from the hospital, I immediately drafted a mate bond dissolution agreement.

As the pack's Alpha and his mate, we couldn't directly sever the mate bond—we needed to submit a dissolution application that would only be processed after the Alpha Council's approval.

Then I called Marcus.

Before, he always answered my calls instantly, then asked in a gentle voice: "Baby, what's wrong?"

But this time, I called eighteen times, and no one answered.

So I went directly to the hunting forest Marcus had mentioned yesterday. Before leaving, he'd told me: "I'm going hunting tomorrow. It's too dangerous there, and you're pregnant, so just stay home and wait for me to come back."

At the hunting forest, I finally found him after much searching. Just as I was about to walk toward him, I heard the guard wolves talking:

"How destructive is a first love? Rose comes back, and the Alpha immediately abandons his four-months-pregnant mate at home."

"Well, his mate is just a substitute anyway. Don't you see how much the Alpha loved Rose back then? When they broke up, he was devastated every day, nearly killed by rogue wolves. He never forgot her all these years, and he brought his current mate back as a replacement."

"His mate is still in the dark about it, clinging to the Alpha every day. Last time I saw them embracing tightly, the way she looked at the Alpha so lovingly was really touching. If it were me, I would've forgotten about Rose long ago."

"Who can blame the Alpha? He looks cold on the surface, but he's actually a romantic fool who only loves Rose in this lifetime. Look, Rose casually mentioned wanting French food, and the Alpha spent millions of dollars to poach a Michelin three-star chef and created a private kitchen team just for Rose. We get to enjoy the good food too."

How ridiculous. I naively thought that chef was specially hired because I was pregnant. I never imagined it was my own wishful thinking—he did it for Rose.

I watched Marcus pick up an escargot and intimately feed it to Rose. How laughable—he said he was an Alpha who needed to maintain his dignified image in front of pack members, so he never showed such intimate gestures with me in public.

At that moment, Marcus's wolf detected me hiding behind the tree.

Marcus suddenly snapped coldly at his Gamma: "Everyone stop talking!"

Footsteps approached from that direction, then quickly returned to silence.

I crouched on the ground, face buried in my arms, and heard Marcus's voice that I'd been intoxicated by speaking gently from above: "Baby, why are you here? Did you miss me?"

I took a deep breath: "I came to ask you to sign the dissolution—"

Before I could finish, a woman's voice interrupted: "Marcus, I want steak..."

He was silent for a moment, then hurriedly said to me: "Be good, go home first. I still need to discuss the autumn hunt. I'll come back later to keep you company."

Then he turned and left. I looked back and saw him walking quickly toward that woman.

I smiled. Today finally confirmed my suspicions. After wiping away all my tears, I resolutely went home.

Back home, after adjusting my emotions, I prepared two things, both for Marcus.

One was the mate bond dissolution agreement. The other was our wolf pup that the rogue wolves had clawed out alive.

People who lie to those who love them should suffer. I'm young, but I won't accept this betrayal.

I love deeply. But I can also let go completely.

I am Serena Cross. I won't keep someone who deceives me.

I sat for hours before I finally sent the box by mail. That's when I heard Marcus's car in the driveway.

"Baby, why are you still awake?" He took off his jacket and loosened his tie. "What are you doing?"

I just looked at him. How was he so good at pretending?

Marcus seemed bothered by my silence. He waved to his assistant, who brought out shopping bags. "Didn't you want those purses last week? I bought you the whole set."

He pulled out expensive leather bags. Different colors and sizes. All exactly my style. Marcus still knew what I liked.

Before today, I would have thought this proved he loved me. Now I knew it was just part of his act.

"Why aren't you saying anything? Is the baby making you feel sick?"

He reached to touch my stomach. It was flat now. Empty. The baby was gone.

I pushed his hand away. I gave him the divorce papers. "Sign these."

He looked confused. He was about to read them when his phone rang. Rose was calling.

I couldn't hear what she said, but his face changed. After he hung up, he signed the papers without reading them.

He grabbed his car keys and headed for the door.

"Baby, I have to handle something urgent. Go to sleep."

At the door, he turned back. "If you need anything, just ask my assistant. You don't have to find me to sign things. We're mates. What's mine is yours."

He signed our divorce papers without even looking at them.

I held the signed papers in my hand. I smiled for the first time in days.

"Marcus Stone, very soon, we won't be mates anymore."