Alpha's No. 5 Substitute for First Love

I was preparing a gift for our six-year anniversary when my best friend sent me a photo of my Alpha boyfriend kissing another she-wolf.

That's when I found out that my boyfriend of six years had been searching for replacements for his dead childhood sweetheart the whole time.

I was number 5. The she-wolf in the photo was number 18.

Now, besides the heartbreak, I just felt sick.

After calming down, I texted my best friend:

"Your Alpha cousin, the one who had a crush on me and waited four years - is he still single?"

"Of course he's single! He's still waiting for you to be his Luna! Hold on, I'll set up a meeting right now!"

My friend's excited voice was somewhat comforting.

But right after I hung up, a she-wolf appeared in front of me. Looking closer, it was number 18.

"Hi, can I help you?"

I thought number 18 was in the dark like I had been, but instead she was acting all high and mighty, telling me to back out of this 'competition.'

"I'm Linda, Lucas's eighteenth she-wolf."

"Sure, you've been with Lucas for six years - the longest - but that just proves you're the most useless. He hasn't marked you in six years. If you could really capture his heart, would there be all these other she-wolves?"

Her face, so similar to mine, was full of smugness.

"He says you're boring in bed, like a piece of wood. If it wasn't for your face, he would've dumped you ages ago. You're getting old, Lucas is tired of you, but I'm still young."

"You don't need to come here and gloat. I'm not interested in any of this. I hope you'll be his last she-wolf."

At the end of the day, this was all Lucas's fault. I wasn't going to take it out on another she-wolf who was just as pathetic as me, and I wasn't going to keep fighting over him.

I was out of this replacement competition.

Probably thinking I was mocking her, Linda smirked and pulled out a necklace from under her shirt.

"I heard you knelt for three days and nights to get this blessing charm for Lucas. He said I'm the most important person to him now and he wants this charm to protect me."

My eyes widened in shock. My supposedly numb heart felt a sharp stab of pain.

In our second year together, Lucas had been seriously injured in a rogue wolf attack. Everyone told me he wasn't going to make it, even the doctors wanted to give up.

In desperation, I put my faith in Moon Goddess.

For as long as he was unconscious in the hospital, I knelt under the moonlight, finally earning this blessing charm.

I grabbed the charm and yanked it off her neck.

Without giving Linda a chance to scream, I slapped her hard across the face and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look up at me.

"I'm done with Lucas. If you want to pick up trash, be my guest - no one's fighting you for it. This is the first and last piece of advice I'll give you: don't mess with me. I'm not as nice as you think."

Men are the last thing in this world worth fighting over.

Competition is the last thing I'd stoop to.

Linda was young and I'd caught her off guard. She ran off covering her face.

But I underestimated that little girl - she was willing to go pretty far.

She posted intimate videos of herself and Lucas online, then went crying to Lucas, claiming I was the one who leaked them.

Lucas was furious. He sent a group of pack elite warriors to drag me to a warehouse that same night.

They stripped me naked, bound my hands and feet with silver chains, put a hood over my head, and threw me in a pool for them to mess with.

I couldn't see anything, could only hear the terrifying laughter around me, feel disgusting hands all over my body, and the constant sound of cameras recording.

"Who are you?! Don't touch me! This is a crime! I'm Lucas's girlfriend - if he finds out, he won't let you get away with this!"

All I got back was louder laughter.

"Be careful not to let her hood fall off. Don't let her face show - can't disrespect that face."

When I heard that, I knew.

Lucas was behind all of this.

All my earlier threats felt like slaps to my own face, making me look like a pathetic fool.

Turns out these six years meant nothing to Lucas.

Only this face had any value.

The video went on for a full hour before it ended. When I crawled out, trembling all over, the warehouse was completely empty.

I crouched in the corner, washing my body over and over with freezing water.

Humiliation and rage tore at my already numb heart.