Chapter 1

KEIRA'S POV

Everything has to be perfect for today.

The smell of freshly baked bread blessed my nose as I went up the stairs, headed for Dominic's quarters with the lunch I had spent all morning making.

Dominic was my mate and fiance.

With today being our one year anniversary, I had made everything he liked: roasted chicken, meat broth, fresh bread, dumplings, macarons etc.

I wanted everything to be perfect for our anniversary this year because I was so happy it was with him, binding us together forever or so I thought.

Soon, I reached the door.

That was when I stopped to take a deep breath and tune down my excitement.

The door instantly swung open under my touch , surprising me greatly.

It was unlocked?

That was odd.

Dominic usually kept his quarters secured due to attacks from other packs.

He was never this sloppy.

Unless something had happened.

Panic rose inside of me as I rushed into the house with the basket of food.

"Dominic?" I started to call out, expecting to see him attacked, maybe wounded.

But the words instantly died in my throat as my eyes fell on the bedroom door.

It had been left ajar.

I could clearly see a lady bouncing through the gap.

My heart started to pound in my chest.

Curiosity pushed me and I quietly went for a closer look.

"Fuck, yeahhh," Dominic moaned and I realized the lady was bouncing in him.

And by the flaming red hair moving behind her, I recognized her as Vivienne.

My step-sister.

A gasp left my lips.

It instantly dawned on me that my fiance and mate was fucking my step sister.

The basket of food slipped from my fingers and chuckled to the floor.

The glass jar of wine shattered loudly into smithereens as sauce joined it.

Dominic pushed Vivienne away to get a clear look at the entrance.

I'm sure he must have thought that he was being attacked or something.

But in actuality, it was actually I who was being attacked.

At least by the horrific unfolding scene.

"What's going on here?" I asked.

Our gazes locked.

But he just stared back at me without an iota of shock or guilt.

His eyes were simply cold and empty.

"Who's that?" Vivienne asked him.

Her gaze moved towards me.

She was wide eyed as she hurriedly began grabbing the polkadot bed spread to cover her nakedness, muttering curses in a bind.

"What are you doing here, Kiera?" He finally asked me with complete difference.

Or was it nonchalance?

"Dominic?"

My voice came out as a whisper.

"You interrupted us," he continued as he pulled Vivienne against his chest.

I staggered backwards.

"Interrupted?" I managed as my shoulders hit the doorframe behind me.

"Yes, Kiera."

I gasped.

My vision started to swim as he wrapped his arms possessively around her shoulders.

"You don't mean that."

He leaned down and planted a kiss on Vivienne who smirked at me.

The mate bond swiftly began to twist inside of my chest like an assassin's sword.

"How could you?"

A dry scoff escaped his lips.

"How could I?"

He laughed.

But the sound was without humor.

"This bond was a mistake, Keira. I have never wanted you as a mate."

Every single word he said felt like a crisp slap.

My hand came up to my chest, pressing down in a bid to contain the pain that was now radiating in every single corner of it.

The bond was beginning to burn because of the hurtful nature of his words.

"Keira, darling."

I whirled around to find my stepmother, Cordelia, the owner of that mawkishly poisonous voice standing right behind me.

I had no idea when she had come in.

Or had she been there the whole time?

But I guessed she must have been three for a while judging by the expression on her face, dripping with fake sympathy.

"Step away, Kiera darling," she said to me in the most quiet of voices.

"But, I, he was…"

I started to stammer.

She reached out and grabbed me with impatience.

Her voice was a sharp contrast to her iron grip.

She yanked me towards the door and I was too stunned to say even a word as she drew me from the bedroom to the living room.

Finally, she stopped.

She stared down at me with a tsk sound.

"You know Kiera, you were never good enough for the Alpha's son."

"Who are you to decide that?" I spat.

Her grip tightened.

I winced when her acrylic nails were dug deep into my flesh.

"Vivienne has always been the better choice."

Her tone left no room for argument.

Well, as if I would argue with someone whose favourite colour was five.

I quirked a brow.

"Surely you knew that."

"The rat has a history of acting like a dumb bunny mama," Vivianne said.

I turned to see her standing behind me.

She was now wrapped in the polkadot sheet.

Wasn't she meant to be apologizing?

But she wasn't.

Rather, she was smiling.

"Well, it's time she realized he was never hers, body or soul. Dominic belongs to my daughter now, you orphan."

My eyes widened and at the same time, tears built in my eyes.

The room started to tilt the moment I realized that they had planned this.

All of them.

The people I called my own family had orchestrated my humiliation like it was some kind of sick game to them.

"Don't throw a tantrum now."

I raised my head and looked past Cordelia to see Dominic step in.

We stared straight into each other's eyes.

The pain in my chest transformed into something much colder as I felt nothing but utter numbness and extreme emptiness.

"I reject you, Dominic Crane."

The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop and have a rethink.

I almost sighed in relief because my voice came out without shaking.

"Hey Kiera you can't…"

"I reject this bond," I continued.

I felt the mate bond burn between us.

It was resisting.

"I sever the tie between me and you. You will no longer be called my mate."

The bond snapped.

Pain rippled through me.

I gasped in fright as my hand flew to my chest to press my pounding heart down.

My knees turned to jelly, buckling underneath me without notice.

But I locked in and forced the appendages to remain standing, carrying my weight.

I would not fall.

At least not in front of them.

I would never give them that satisfaction.

Not in a million years.

Dominic stormed up to me and roughly grabbed me by the shoulders.

The look in his eyes clearly told me something.

Fury had replaced his earlier indifference.

"How dare you reject me?!" He bellowed like an upset wolf animal.

I laughed at his words.

The sound was bitter and without humour.

"You don't deserve me."

His jaw tightened.

Fear gripped me the more his eyes darkened and his veins popped.

Then he exploded in my face.

"You will regret this Kiera. You will come crawling back to me, begging!"

A dry scoff was all I offered.

"I will make sure no wolf in this entire territory dares to take you as a mate."

I lifted my head high and tilted my chin to meet his raging eyes with icy ones.

"Then I will find another mate before the next full moon. You just try to stop me."

He let go of me.

"You will never. Mark my words."

I ignored him and turned, walking towards the door after one last glance at him.

I realized that it was really over and each step I took felt like going into fire.

Still, I did not run.

And I did not cry.

I walked out the entrance and descended the narrow stairs with my head high.

I was gone now.

It was his loss.

I repeated that all the way to my room.

But my trembling legs gave out the moment the door was closed and I collapsed and slid down the door with hot stinging tears.

The dam I had been holding back burst open and sobs raked the entirety of my body even as the severed mate bond ached like hell.

They had all betrayed me.

Dominic who had sworn to cherish me and Vivienne who I had called a sister.

I didn't want to think of Cordelia who my father had trusted with my care.

My father had made Cordelia promise to take care of me and treat me like her own daughter on his death bed.

What a fool he had been.

What a fool I had been.

I stayed there crying until my throat grew raw and I had no tears left to five.

I knew that by tomorrow the repercussions for terminating a bond would come.

But today, I just wanted to mourn everything I had lost in peace.

And maybe by tomorrow, I would begin to plan how to exert my own revenge.